_ 148 _ some days they bombarded the wall which closed off the entrance to the hill. But as [p.107] D. Gonçalo heard that the King of Lar’s son was coming to the aid of the garrison of the fortress with five or six thousand cavalry, our men decided to strengthen their present position and seek a solution before the aid arrived. As the effect of the bombardment had been slight, they decided to set fire to the gates, but they found another thicker and stronger wall inside, and so they started the bombardment again. In the meantime, the King of Lar died. His two sons started an armed dispute for the possession of the kingdom, and so the people of Lar defending [Xamel] lost hope of aid and decided to surrender the fortress to the King of Ormuz: which later they did. “So, all Mogostan was secured, the fears of the traders and natives were allayed, the caravans began to pass and the fortress of Ormuz became prosperous again”(A). In January 1583 Matias de Albuquerque left Goa to assume the captaincy of Ormuz. He found the fortress confronted by the Turks “who had almost made themselves masters of the Strait”. It was poorly defended and so he had it rebuilt inside. As the soldiers with responsibility for it lived outside, scattered about the city, “and the (A) Barros, Década X, part 1, Book II, Cap X to XIV.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy