_ 482 _ Francisco de Almeida's letter is not dated, and reading it suggests that it was not all written at one time. The last paragraph was added after receiving Afonso de Albuquerque's letter describing the conquest of Ormuz which took place at the end of September 1507(A). The Viceroy was accustomed to entrust to his secretaries the detailed description of events, but given the importance of the matters treated here (accusations, nominations, evaluation of officials) it may be presumed that he left the writing of these confidential notes to the last days before the departure of fleets bound for Lisbon, written in several vias in case of the loss of some of them by shipwreck or another cause; they were dated, sealed and handed into the charge of the captains of various ships. King Manuel had occasion to reprove the Viceroy for sending insufficient information to Portugal(B). According to Castanheda, the ships of the 1507 monsoon under the command of Tristão da Cunha left India on December 7, or, according to Barros, on the 10th(C). (A) On the conquest of Ormuz see the article by Jean Aubin, 'Cojeatar et Albuquerque' in Mare Luso-Indicum,I,Geneva-Paris 1971,p.124. (B) Gaspar Correia, Lendas da Índia, vol.I, Oporto 1975, pp.907-908; A.Baião,op.cit.,vol.II,p.112. (C) Fernão Lopes de Castanheda, História do Descobrimento e Conquista da Índia pelos Portugueses,book II, chap.84; João de
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