_ 495 _ assemble the fleet he considered necessary to conclude the Ormuz enterprise. The second conquest of the famous city was easily achieved because of the disparity of strength and the demoralization of the opponents of Portuguese domination. Contemporary chroniclers have left detailed accounts of events, such as Gaspar Correia, who was an eye-witness of the death of Rais Hamid(A). In a letter dated 22 September 1515, Albuquerque himself wrote: It is no small matter, Sire, for us to have arrived with a cudgel in our hands and for Ormuz to give us a hundred and twenty thousand xerafins in cash, with the tribute that was owing and with a little merchandise we brought from India, and this with very little trouble(B). Pero de Alpoim's letter to the King here published, gives a concise description of what happened in the city at the time of Albuquerque's second conquest. The Secretary of the State of India gives plentiful information of a political and economic nature which was particularly interesting to the Court in Lisbon. He also refers to the illness fom which the Governor was suffering: 'He has been ill for ten or fifteen days'. Because (A) Lendas da Índia, chap. L. (B) Cartas de Affonso de Albuquerque, vol. I, pp. 370-371.
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