_ 106 _ much kindness at a time when we were in such need, he offered a present to the king and sent word to him by one of the men who could speak Arabic, asking him for an ivory horn to take to his Lord, the King of Portugal, and asking permission to place a padrão ashore. This would remain as a sign of friendship. The king replied that he would be very happy to do all this, and that, out of love for the King of Portugal, he promised to obey and be ever faithful to his service. In fact, he promptly sent the horn to the captain and had the padrão brought ashore. He then ordered a young Moor, who wanted to see Portugal, to travel with us. The king highly recommended him to the captain. Furthermore, he explained that he was sending the young man so that the King of Portugal would know how much he desired his friendship. We spent five days in that place, resting and recuperating from the enormous hardships that we had suffered on the voyage, where we were at death's door. We left on Friday morning and when Saturday arrived, which was the twelfth of that month, we passed close to Mozambique, and on Sunday we anchored in the Shallows of S. Rafael. There we set fire to the ship of that name, since it was impossible to sail three ships with the small number of hands that we had. Here we transferred everything from that ship to the other two that remained to us.
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