The Portuguese in the Sea of Oman

_ 169 _ There is no question but that in this city you find people from Fez, Morocco, Oran, Tremecem, Tunis, Tripoli, the Barbary coast, Cairo, Aden and Ormuz…. and from Tamis and Lahan. Thus, I say...... four corners of the world they flock to Malacca... I say, and not less in volume than the rivers flowing into the sea. Item 41: That same year in which Amir Hussain had left India for Jidda, a great fleet belonging to Your Highness arrived with Dom Garcia and Jorge de Melo. Amir Hussain said to the Sultan that it was against these naus that that fleet of fustas was being sent, and it was not powerful enough to oppose the Portuguese because it was so ill-equipped. It was right for Amir Hussain to speak to him in this way, in spite of the fact that it was an unpalatable truth. It was also incumbent on Amir Hussain, through his action and respect, to exalt the affairs of Your Highness. Item 42: Aden is a land more accessible by sea than by land, which cannot survive without shipping. It would not be surprising if, because it had not made an agreement with Your Highness, it became depopulated. The reason is that it does not have a green tree, drainage, water or grass within its boundaries and only the port is populated. The entrance to it is the one I mentioned to Your Highness.

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