_ 71 _ When the captain saw their determination not to hand on his gifts, he said that since they would not let him deliver them to the king, he wanted to go and talk to him, to see whether he wished to come to his ships. They replied that that was fine and that he should wait a short time while they did a little negotiating and they would then return to him and accompany him to the palace. The captain waited the whole of that day and they never turned up. Consequently, he became so angry to see such indifferent and unreliable people that he considered going to the palace without them. However, he decided that the best course would be to wait till the following day. Despite this, we did not stop enjoying ourselves, and we sang and danced to the sound of the trumpets and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. When Wednesday morning arrived, the Moors came and took the captain to the palace and us with him. It was crammed with armed men. The captain was with those who had accompanied him for a good four hours at a gate which was not opened until the king sent word for them to enter. The captain was not to take more than two men with him, so he should decide who he wanted to go. The captain said that he wanted Fernão Martins, who knew how to speak the language, and his clerk, to go
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