_ 152 _ even better because they have no sons to steal for. For these reasons slaves are most appreciated by Arabs. The heathen kings do not use slaves for these purposes. Although they may have dealings with their governors, these slaves have little status. These same slaves as we shall see as we continue our story, often killed their masters and took possession of their kingdom because human beings suffer subjection with great difficulty. Because of this love of freedom there is no place in the world where arms are not taken up to defend it. We return to Khwaja Attar, who was one of those who had turned himself into tyrant in a kingdom of Ormuz because the kind was a child and rather like statue having no will of its own, when he heard about all the things that Afonso d’ Albuquerque was doing along the coast of Arabia he not only provided himself with all the ships he could but he detained those ships and their merchandise which called at the port of Ormuz from abroad, waiting all the while for the time when our men would be arriving. Besides being very astute he had also gained credit among the people for being a great warrior in the wars and conflicts that had taken places in Ormuz. The city
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