_ 130 _ Already the enemy arrows were beginning to rain down, wounding three of his oarsmen. When he saw this, he told his men to protect them with shields, and ordered two pieces of artillery to be fired from the prow. However, this did not cause the enemy any harm because they were standing in the trench which I mentioned. From the mosque they shot so many arrows that in a short space of time the beach was covered with them, and they wounded our men. The commander-in-chief did not wish to move the pinnace away, rather, when he saw that the barges failed to arrive, he decided to jump ashore with 28 men, which was all he had, and went straight towards the mosque, breaking through the clouds of arrows the enemy were shooting. When he reached the trench he halted, in order to cross it slowly. The enemy feeling the effect of our crossbows and rifles, abandoned the trench and sought shelter behind the mosque walls. Some climbed onto the “platform” on which the mosque was built, above ground level. Others ran round it in both directions. Our men at once crossed the trench and went after them. They attacked the staircase which led to the top of the “platform”, which the enemy defended fiercely; however, our men went up. Among the first to do so were Antonio de Sa, Lourenco da Silva, Jaime Teixeira, Simao Velho, Goncalo
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