_ 576 _ caused the pagans great trouble, and some of the Christians attacked the pagans and led them to rebel in anger so that they expelled the Portuguese from the city and island and Afonso barely escaped. Nevertheless, they sent to the Viceroy of the King of Portugal in India to tell him that they would give what was due to the King, that they would pay the tribute, but they would not tolerate Afonso(A). They have continued in this way up to the present. Item: In the year 1507 the Viceroy of India sent his son, D Lourenço, to some islands to look for meat and rice, which he took in his ships. He reached the island of Ceylon, which is the island of Taprobana about which the ancients wrote so much. They wished to speak to the King, and this was granted to them. [In the margin: only there does cinnamon grow.] They judged that they could compel this king to pay them tribute. He then replied to them that if the Christians were the lords of the sea, he was lord of the land and owed them nothing. However, as a gesture of friendship he would give 60 bahars of cinnamon as a gift to the King of Portugal, and he handed this over immediately; but as soon (A) Valentim evokes here an echo of the “coffee” intrigues and reveals that the plot at court against Afonso de Albuquerque which manifested itself later had deep roots.
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