_ 145 _ de Noronha. From these letters the Viceroy learnt that the king ordered him to leave, as did all those who were in Cochin. These men loved the Viceroy, Dom Francisco de Almeida, but they feared Afonso de Albuquerque, because of the bad things they had heard about him from the captains who had escaped from Ormuz. They began to worry and requested the Viceroy not to go back to Portugal, even if the ship which was to take him there arrived. But he replied that he could not but follow the king his master’s orders to the letter. For this reason, and also because of the difficult situation of the Portuguese in India, many asked his permission to return to Portugal in the ships which were then being loaded those who term of office had run out specially desired to leave. Among the latter were Alvaro de Noronha, the captain of Cochin, The Viceroy, was very sad that he should leave, because he was an unusually capable man and a very brave knight, whom he greatly trusted. He replaced him with Jorge Barreto Crasto who now became captain of Cochin, because the king had given instructions that he was to be given the first post. which became vacant, either at sea or on land. When the appointment was made, Manuel Pessanha was very annoyed specially because the Viceroy told him that since
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