_ 211 _ Because of this, we should sail along this coast more often, and with Our Lord’s help and once Ormuz is secure, no one in this region will be outside your dominion, nor could be even if they wanted to, because they have as their protection and capital the city of Ormuz, and as their opponents and enemies, the Arabs, in whose land they are. Sir, Bahrain is a very important and rich place. Pearl fishing is not something to take over just because those who fish are poor workers who go there every year to earn a living. It seems to me that fishing by trawling in this area would bring you twice the profit and I agree, Sir, with this initiative. As I have already said in another letter, Your Highness has been well advised to take possession of Ormuz and I concur with that decision because although these things seem to be similar and are just as difficult to maintain as to set up, they are cheap to run and very profitable. The Moors of this area, as men who seized these lands and governed then without receiving them as an inheritance from their ancestors, will soon, abandon them under pressure and if they are well defended against them, when Ormuz is won, Bahrain is secure and everything in the Persian Gulf. This is not a jewel to be left in the control of
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