_ 96 _ merchandise and everything else, so why was he ordering the cloth to be sold without me saying what their price should be. I then caused them to be sold for more than twice what Rui de Araujo was selling them for. I think the Captain-in-Chief will tell Your Highness at length about this, and what kind of man I am, and he certainly knew that nobody knew more than I and all the merchants about the customs of the whole of India and of that country. I ask Your Highness that in return for all my services that you grant me the title of Dom and grant me a patent, since the Captain-in-Chief treats me as such but I would like to hold it by royal decree, to encourage me in the service of Your Highness. The more so where we are going now, through the Strait of Mecca where I hope to demonstrate my good will in the service of Your Highness, and my services show that it is as I write to Your Highness. When we have taken Aden, I will tell the Captain-in-Chief that I will undertake to scour the seas as for as Jiddah with two ships, and master all that country and make it pay tribute to Your Highness. With these two ships I undertake to take the island called Dahlak, where there is a large pearl fishery, and a bowshot away from it is the land of Prester John, which is called Arkik (and of Quenon (sic), which is another country;
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