_ 206 _ the Red Sea and equipped with good men and artillery as appears appropriate, and there may be enough to block the passage from India into the Red Sea and to do battle with those against whom we have ordered them to do so and not to be idle in our service. Item: The captains of the fleets which we are sending to those parts, in particular to this place, and the others for the region beyond India, praise be to Our Lord, are masters of the sea in such a way that no carrack or ship in the parts where they are can sail except under the protection of our captains, not even the Malabaris, who are the people of the coast of India, except under the hand of those who sail the sea with the permission of our Viceroy. Item: On this voyage made by Tristão da Cunha many carracks belonging to Moors have been captured in the area of the mouth of the Red Sea, including much wealth in spices and cloths and other things. Of these a very great part cannot be accommodated in our carracks, and according to the information we have received, a thousand pieces of cloth were thrown into the sea of the kind which are sold cheaply and worn by the people of Arabia. Item: In the land and island of St Laurence [Madagascar], which Tristão da Cunha went to visit after he left here, and where he did great damage to the Moors, the island
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