_ 187 _ Guardafui and Mogadishu, after reaching Socotra, such a great storm overtook them that two naus were lost there. One of them put into harbour from Batecala, from which the cinnamon went to you in the naus of Dom Garcia and Jorge de Malo. Mahomed Macari, the most important merchant of Calicut, on his way to Cairo, with all his property and family, as well as Simão Ranjel (whom he had bribed), was sailing with three of his naus laden with spices when he ran into a storm among the Camdaluz and Maldive islands. Two naus sank in the large open bay. He reached the islands in his ship but was wrecked when he sailed among them. He saved some spices there and bought some provisions from the islands. When the opportunity arose, he left in his ship with the spices that had survived. Accompanied by Simão Ranjel, he came to visit Kalhat, where he lost his provisions. He departed from there in a nau from Ormuz and came to Aden. This is the true account. May Your Highness now look at the letters that the people of India wrote to you, and see, Sir, if you find this in them. The year that Dom Garcia arrived, I left Cochin, and we attacked Benasterim. Our Lord came to our aid, and we drove the Turks off the island with the bonus of their
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