_ 171 _ had been captain of the party of John of Austria in the fleet of Hellespont(A). With much care everything was being prepared. The city and all the noblemen offered both money and people as this matter was important to the state. From this it can be clearly seen how important it was to the King [of Portugal) to keep the Strait secure and governed, and how much harm can be done in this region to such a cruel enemy as the Turks, and for this reason our people in Ethiopia have been asking for help for so many years. It appears that in this way the state was brought back to life and it can be said that it remained content, peaceful and well-supplied, since there were many wonderful new things in all India, so that rice, which is grown in this country, cost nothing. 3. Daman, which is a frontier city of Cambay, was this year besieged by the Mongols(B). The reason for this sudden siege and without anything having happened to the Grand Mogul to cause it and with destruction like this, to rupture the peace that existed between him and us and the prefects Ferdinando Boto Machado and Cosmo de Faria, saying nothing of Ludovico da Costa. (A) In 1571 three was a naval battle near the islands of Aechinadas (commonly known as Lepanto) in which D John of Austria won a glorious victory (cf Documenta Indica VIII 624 731). (B) Cf Couto, Dec X, 2, cc 5-8.
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