_ 227 _ king followed the Arabs’ advice. From then on the enemy did not attempt to pitch camp any longer and continued to raid the stockade, without bothering us much however, because they could no longer use their artillery. When our men were thus relieved a great disaster befell them, leaving them in a much worse position than before; one night a servant of Lopo Cabreira, the factor of Cannanore, forgot to put out a candle at the factory. The house had a thatched roof and caught fire at once. But the fire also spread to all the other houses, and they were all burnt, together with the merchandise and provisions. In spite of all their efforts the men were unable to put it out and everything was lost, reducing the men to poverty. Nevertheless, the most damaging thing was the loss of the provisions, both at the factory and in the houses, as a result of which everyone at the factory went hungry from then on. All that was left to them were the King's (of Portugal) provisions which were housed inside the fortress and therefore escaped. But these were scant considering all the mouths that had to be fed, as well as the length of time they had to stay there. The captain therefore concealed the fact from the common people, so that they might not defect to the enemy in despair and let them know of our plight (this
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