_ 233 _ brilliant and glorious was to keep one’s hands clean of any mean interest, as was the case of our heroic Captain. He did not accept from the King of Ormuz any of the income from his ships, the use of his horses, his clothes, and rights to provisions, as earlier Captains had hitherto done, although the King offered them. In three years forty thousand xerafins accumulated because the King did not pay his account. He was able to relax many measures in the service of His Majesty, thus fulfilling his obligations, often, to coin a phrase, with a more real/royal(A) confidence than that of the King he was having dealing with. He offered him all possible assistance, both in terms of money, and in other matters, in order to help him with his debts. He actually assisted him with a loan to pay the Shah what he owed him, thus persuading him not to give cause for undertaking another war. He did not take oaths on the faith of his godfathers, nor did he regard as sufficient the ways of former Captains, nor allow these to restrict his own methods, but conducted himself with his natural vivacity, limited only by reason and virtue, but without excessive formality. (A) Translator’s Note: “Real” in Portuguese can be translated as real [a coin] or royal. A pun may be intended here.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy