_ 201 _ Lacerda, Manuel Teles, Afonso Lopes da Costa and other noblemen went to see if they could find another entrance. They saw that there was a staircase which led to the tower from the wall. This they climbed and reached the top of the tower without coming across any Arabs, for the roof doors were firmly bolted. They stayed on the ground-floor and bravely defended the entrance by throwing stones and spears, wounding some of our men. However, this struggle did not last long because our soldiers soon succeeded in breaking down the doors with the axes. Antonio de Noronha, who was a valiant knight, wanted to be the first to go in and put his head inside the hole which had been made. The enemy at once tried to stab him behind the helmet with a knife and would have cut off his head if it hadn't been for Afonso de Albuquerque, who immediately protected him with his shield. Once the door had been broken down the Arabs fled to the middle-storey. There were only 25 of them but they were so courageous that they were bold enough to fight to the death. They locked themselves behind the door, which was small, and stayed there. As Afonso de Albuquerque prepared to attack them in their new refuge the commander-inchief arrived with his son Nuno da Cunha and the others. At once Afonso de Albuquerque gave orders for the doors to be broken down with the axes.
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