_ 210 _ men he'd brought at the fortress. There were now 400 men there, both Portuguese. and Malabar, although there were less Malabar men. Don Lourenco returned to Cochin with the greatest difficulty because there were many storms, and much thunder. Chapter: 44 In 1507 the King of Portugal sent another armada to India. This was to be divided into three bodies, commanded respectively by Jorge de Melo, Filipe de Crasto and Farnao Soares, Vasco Gomes de Abreu was sent to take charge of the fortress at Sofala and to build another in Mozambique, which would also be under his jurisdiction. They were also ordered to patrol the East African coast to prevent any Arab ships from taking gold to the Red Sea, India or any other place. This would make it impossible for the Arabs to have many contacts with the natives. In this way it would be easier to spread our holy faith and to obtain more profits in Sofala. They left Portugal in mid-April. Chapter: 45 After Don Lourenco returned to Cochin, Lourenco de Brito prepared for the battle he was expecting, and had a stockade erected between the fortress and the well, but closer to the well than to the fortress so that our men might not have to walk far when they desired to fetch water. As
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