_ 196 _ que went on a skiff as he had given his barge to his nephew Afonso de Noronha. The latter took 40 riflemen with him, together with one cannon and two ladders to scale the fortress walls. As they rowed the sun rose and Afonso de Albuquerque saw that the sea was very quiet and that they could quite safely disembark on the beach opposite the fleet. He didn't wish to row any further therefore, since by disembarking closer to the fortress than Tristan da Cunha he would be able to reach it first and take credit for the whole enterprise. He himself was the first to reach land, followed by the others. They went ashore without any complication, taking it in their stride, because Sheikh Abraham was expecting the attack elsewhere. When he saw Tristan da Cunha's men land at the expected site, i.e. the palm-grove, he rushed to meet them with his soldiers. He was so confident that one would have thought his men were sufficient to repel ours. And it could well be that since his men were so brave he could have resisted us, provided he had stayed at the fortress and sent for reinforcements. In that case he might have given us considerable trouble. But as he went towards Tristan da Cunha's men, he caught sight of Afonso de Albuquerque's landing on the other site and took some of his men to go and fight him.
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