_ 52 _ He ordered the Captains to hand over all the captives they had taken from Ormuz, which were /880/ more than a hundred, and let them go free. Among them was a very respected man called Khwaja Zafaruddin, who said that he was a relative of Khwaja Attar, and the Viceroy entrusted the other captives to him and gave him letters full of goodwill towards Khwaja Attar and the King, and this was the letter shown to the Captain-in-Chief. Because there was no ship going to Ormuz, he gave them a warrant with which they all went to embark at Cannanore and sailed to Ormuz from there. The Viceroy did this to show the Captains that he believed what they said, but to show the Captains that they were also at fault, he ordered that witnesses were to be questioned so that the Captains could not say that he did not act justly and said that they were impartial witnesses so that Afonso d’ Albuquerque could demand his right. When the Moor had returned to land with his message, the Captain-in-Chief talked with the Captains and men of rank, whom he summoned to his ship for the purpose, about the Viceroy’s letter, requesting them all to give him their true advice, because he could not make up his mind what would be best. Not content with not punishing the Captains who had fled and left him in time of war, the
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