_ 60 _ Travelling in a junk were five hundred Nairs of the King of Cochin under the captaincy of Diogo Pereira de Cochin. In this fleet three thousand Portuguese were carried, including Duarte Galvao, going as ambassador to the Prester and Mateus, ambassador of the same Prester. After leaving Goa they took on water at Socotra, and continuing their journey to Aden, one morning they caught a glimpse of it, six leagues away. At this the governor appeared and had counsel with the captains and nobles of the fleet and announced that there would be fighting with the Mamelukes if they met them on the sea, but not on land, because these were the instructions of the King his master. He gave the order to Dom Garcia Coutinho to take the lead. If the Mameluke ships were not in the port, they would approach the city in order to seize pilots who would guide them through the Strait. He ordered the captains of the caravelles and gallies to go along the coast, and not to concern themselves with any vessels they might find from Aden. On arriving at the part of Aden with the whole fleet, and not finding the Mameluke ships, the governor entered the bay and saluted the city with the artillery and trumpets.
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