_ 93 _ about Dom Lourenco’s predicament they decided to go and rescue him aboard the galley, Duarte de Melo and Diogo Pires saying Dom Lourenco’s life was in their hands. They ordered the men to row, for they meant to rescue him, to save him and all his men. They would either bring them back from the ship or would defend them until they were able to leave it. Diogo Pires, tears streaming down his face, begged everyone to go and rescue Dom Lourenco one can readily believe it, since he had brought him up. But as they could not go straight towards the ship on account of the current, they rowed along the bank, thinking that it wouldn’t be so strong there, and that the oarsmen would be able to cope. However, this was not the case because they were all very tired from the previous day and some were wounded so that they did not succeed. When Pero Barreto saw this, he thought they were doing it on purpose and began to prick them with his sword, but it was no use, because they were completely exhausted. He then killed about seven of them, and wounded some others to force them to row, but they couldn’t and so he finally gave up and returned to his ship to wait for the turn of the tide; when he and the other captains would go and rescue, Dom Lourenco. While Diogo Pires had been trying to go
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