_ 10 _ captaincy of all that territory as far as Cambay. Now that he was with this squadron and fleet, he wished to take advice from the captains named below, informing them that he had it on good authority from Khwaja Bequin that the ships that sailed from Mecca this year brought news that the Rumes had just begun to build fifteen or twenty naus there. Let them note that we had one thousand eight hundred men and twenty-three ships. With the help of Our Lord and with such a large fleet and fighting force in his opinion Aden could be taken very easily. He also thought it a good idea to go and capture Aden and then continue on to Suez, where the aforementioned naus of the Ruses were being built, because His Highness strongly recommended it and he ordered Dom Francisco de Almeida, and later the late Jorge de Aguier to do so. With twenty-two vessels and six more that Duarte de Lemos had, now was a good moment to enter the Red Sea and it would be a great service to His Highness because nothing could resist such a large fleet. Thus, Khwaja Bequin, who was the person who knew about the Great Sultan’s fleet, was questioned through Abraldez, in the presence of the said captains.
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