_ 83 _ ashore. When Francisco de Anhaia saw this, he positioned his caravelle and a small barge between them and land, and began to kill them with lances, had it not been for this the enemy would have completely deserted the fleet. Instead, when they saw they were in danger and that it was impossible to reach the shore they returned to the fleet, whilst our men in their barges returned to the ships, Payo de Sousa and Diogo Pires, took the galleys they had captured to Dom Lourenco, who was still with Pero Barreto, exchanging fire with Mirocem. Mirocem and his men had by now taken such a beating that they dared not show their faces. Our common soldiers started to threaten them, waving ropes and saying they were going to hang them. When Dom Lourenco saw how things were turning out he wished to board the enemy, in spite of the fact that he and many of his men were wounded and he wished his captains to do the same, because even though there was still no wind, the ships could be towed by the barges, as he said to the Council. But the members of the Council replied that this wouldn’t be wise, because he was badly wounded, and most of the men were very tired; if they met with any resistance at all from the enemy, they would be completely exhausted.
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