_ 181 _ Because of all the insults that he addressed me, I presented an instrument, which neither he nor his scribe deigned to answer, for Your Excellency to exact justice. It was not enough for him to dishonour me, but all my descendants as well, as the captains who are on their way to India will tell you at length. Afonso de Albuquerque is writing a letter to you there, which is exactly the opposite of what he writes, because he never had any consideration for Your Excellency, and he wished harm on anyone who spoke about you. These are the captains that the King sends, to ruin all your dealings in India! He does not hold on to the truth, even for an hour. As soon as these captains left, he arrested and imprisoned me, I did not want to give him the nau nor did I surrender it to him, because he never wanted me to go to India in the “Flor de la Mar”. So, Sir, I am a prisoner. May I be the first to thank you for remembering me because I am a brother of Alvaro Piriz, who is very devoted to you. Since I have not served Your Excellency quite as much as he, arrange some way for me to leave for India, because Afonso de Albuquerque still expects to spend the winter with these naus in Socotrá. He does nothing except to let them fall to pieces, as they no longer have hawsers or cables and they are all riddled with worms, as João da Nova will tell you.
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