_ 335 _ suitable to him, with a gift of five very fine horses, a gold saddle, readymade clothes, silk and brocade material, apricots, pine seeds and Tabriz wine, as well as a horse for Dom Garcia de Noronha. Ibrahim Beque told them that Sheikh Ismael was urgently sending him with men to El Katif and Bahrain, which had revolted against him, so as toreturn them to the obedience of the Sheikh and he was sending a request to the Captain General for transport for the aforementioned troops. To this the Ambassador replied that the Captain General had already left for India and that without his authorization the Captain of Ormuz would not supply transport. The Sheikh received this reply immediately and his answer was that it was nothing but excuses, that there were other places and ports that had facilities for ships. Moreover, the mainland belonged to him and Ormuz would be lost without it. Sheikh Ismael is a man of thirty, stocky and of medium height; light- skinned, with a close-cropped beard, full face and wide mouth, cheerful, smiling, very pleasant person. Once extremely rich and with a large income, he is now very poor. He gives generously of what he has, and his losses cannot be estimated, nor can there be sufficient funds in the world to cover them. He was the owner of
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