_ 78 _ On learning this, the captain immediately dispatched a man as secretly as possible. He did this with great ingenuity because we were surrounded by guards. He was to tell Nicolau Coelho to leave there immediately and make for the ships and ensure that they were safe and sound. When Nicolau Coelho received the message, he left with great haste. But as he was leaving, those who were guarding us were alerted and they quickly made ready many almadias and pursued him for a short while. When they saw that they could not capture them, they returned to the captain and told him to write a letter to his brother telling him to bring the ships nearer the land and further inside the port. The captain answered that he was quite willing but that his brother would not do it, and even if he wanted and decided to do so, those who had come with him would not agree nor did they want to die. They replied that they well knew that if he ordered it, whatever he wanted would be done. The captain had no intention of ordering the ships inside the port because he believed, and so did we, that once they were within they could be seized and the men
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