_ 101 _ king had given him were not to be discussed by the council; he therefore notified them of the king's decision, which was that he should go to Aden and capture it if possible, and from there proceed to sail up the strait of Mecca. However, if they had any objections to such an expedition, they should speak up. They all said that they had none, and that it was necessary to undertake this voyage which the king had ordered; they then signed their names on the minutes of the meeting and returned to their ships and vessels, which numbered 18 and a caravelle. Besides the governor, the captains were as follows: Dom Garcia de Noronha, Manuel de Lacerda, Lopo Vaz de Sampaio, Dom João de Lima, Dom João de Eca, Pero da Fonseca.de Crasto, Simao Velho, Fernao Gomes de Lemos, Aires da Silva, Simao de Andrade, Antonio Raposa, Duarte de Melo, Rui Galvao, Jorge da Silveira, Garcia de Sousa, Diogo Fernandes de Beja, and João Gomes Cheira Dinheiro. This fleet carried 1700 Portuguese men, as well as 1000 Canarims and Malabars. The governor left 400 of our men in Goa, not counting the natives, and six pinnaces at sea, under the general command of João Machado. He left Rui Pereira as chief-alcalde of the fortress in Benastarim, which was stocked with plenty of artillery, as was also the fortress
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