_ 108 _ treasure Khwaja Sofar did not dare return to Jidda nor to Suez because of their treason to the Turk. They therefore decided to take Aden and make Mustafa its ruler. He would have his seat there. Mustapha gathered ten rowing vessels, large and small, from the armada that Soleiman Rais had brought and forty zambucos and gelvas. Then he descended upon Aden where they arrived swiftly with six hundred Turkish warriors and many local men who had joined to earn some pay. He besieged Aden from the sea and on the land side he ordered a refuge to be built in which four basiliscos were placed. With these he knocked down all the walls in that part several times, the Moors returning to rebuild it. The Moors were so brave and defended so well that Mustafa was not able to take the city in the five months that the siege lasted. During this time many poor people there died of hunger and thirst. When Mustafa learned that our armada was sailing in the Strait, he was afraid that it would go to Aden as in the past. They might take it as its people were fatigued with the war. He therefore lifted the siege and went to Kamaran, leaving Aden free.
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