_ 53 _ hesitated because of the lack of light and postponed the combat for the following daybreak. During the night, each of the galleys supplemented its crew with an extra 150 janissaries and in the morning, they openly showed off the large number of soldiers that they had. They advanced and fired esperas and selagens [artillery pieces], before which our ships withdrew. Fortunately, D. Alvaro da Silveira arrived. He united the two squadrons, returned by way of El Katiff and, taking advantage of the fog that fell, made for Bahrain. He reached the galleys without being seen, boarded and captured them with cold steel after a fierce battle. He took them in tow, appeared before the besieged fortress, bombarded the beleaguered citizens and blockaded the waters. It was however the unhealthy season in the Persian Gulf (September), during which it was already known from unhappy earlier experience that the Portuguese succumbed like thrushes attacked by a sudden and acute intestinal sickness (cholera, dysentery?) which killed them in a few hours. Those very courageous soldiers of ours, with no wish to desert the field of combat, but terror-stricken by the
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