_ 71 _ Chapter: 76 In the beginning of January 1508, after Tristan da Cunha had left for Portugal, Dom Lourenco sailed with his fleet along the coast up to Chaul in order to protect the ships in Cochin. He was accompanied by Pero Barreto, Antonio Lobo Teixeira, Duarte de Melo, Felipe Rodrigues, Francisco de Anhaia, Paio de Sousa, and Diogo Pires, Garcia de Sousa, Pero Cao and Simao Martins stayed by the Malabar coast. He passed the Queimado (Burnt) islets and entered all the rivers and ports on the coast, sometimes with the entire fleet, at other times just with the low vessels and barges. Here he captured many Arab ships, sometimes by force, sometimes because they surrendered in fear. He captured and burnt all of them, causing great destruction not only at sea but also on land. The Arabs were very afraid as a result and doubted that the Roumeliotes would be able to defeat us. The Roumeliotes were the Sultan’s men who were in Diu, for this is what the Indians call them. Our men were very pleased with their victories and arrived at the Dabul river. The ships were all decorated with flags and canopies, and they entered the harbor making a great deal of noise with their artillery and the sound of trumpets. Dom Lourenco had decided to cause as much damage as possible here, to avenge Maymame’s destruction of the ships in Cochin. It seems that the Arabs
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