_ 145 _ they were to pursue the galleys “even into the port of Mecca if necessary.” If they did not find the galleys, they were to go to the Baloches on their return and destroy “all those ports and villages, on account of the great damage and robbery which they caused along the Strait every year.” The Turks, however, after staying for six days in Muscat, set sail, towing the three carracks full of goods and followed as far as Cape Ras Al Hadd by the vessels we had sent to watch them. These then returned to Muscat and Ormuz, but the catur was lost in a storm on the way. When the fleet from Ormuz arrived in Muscat, the galleys had left eight days earlier. As it was useless to try to catch up with them, the fleet continued to the Beluchistan coast, where it inflicted great destruction.(A) (A) Barros, Década X, Book 1, Ch. XI, XII, XIII. From carracks arriving at Diu from the ports of Mecca the Viceroy learnt that in Moca three galleys were being made ready, the same ones that went to Muscat. As he was afraid they would go down the coast of Malindi and on to Mozambique, he sent two foists to the Malindi coast with instructions that if they received reliable news of the galleys they were to gather together the Portuguese on the coast and place them in the new fortress in Mozambique, which was still incomplete, so that the Turks should not capture it. From the coast they were to send a message by one of the foists to D. Jerónimo de Mascarenhas who would be at Monte de Feliz waiting to be put on alert that the galleys were on their way back, for in this case they would not be able to escape from him. The foists left
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy