_ 90 _ He also sent a letter to the captain which he was to deliver to the King of Portugal. It was written by Diogo Dias on a palm leaf, because in this country everything is written on these leaves, and the pen used for writing was made of iron. The gist of the letter was as follows: "Vasco da Gama, a nobleman of your household, came to my land, and this pleased me greatly. In my country there is a lot of cinnamon, cloves, pepper and many precious stones, and what I would like from yours is gold, silver, coral and scarlet cloth". While we were anchored on Monday morning, the twenty-seventh of the said month, seven boats arrived full of people, including Diogo Dias accompanied by another man. Not daring to put him aboard, they placed him in the captain's boat, which was still attached to the stern. They did not bring the merchandise because they believed that Diogo Dias would return ashore. As soon as the captain saw them aboard the ship, he decided that they should not return to land. He gave the padrão to those in the boat, since the king had ordered it to be set up ashore. Moreover, he released six of the highest ranking men that he held prisoner, while a number of others remained behind, and he promised that when the
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