_ 229 _ Having obtained the acquiescence of the Sultan the pilot Alvaro Madeira fled away from Constantinople and gave himself up in Portugal. He informed the king of the passage of the Turkish armada to India, which was the first time he had learnt of it. Having made everything ready for his armada Soleiman Pasha set off from Suez at the beginning of July 1538. He took a fleet of sixty-four vessels, namely fifteen small galleys, each with thirty-three benches of oars, twenty-five true galleys of thirty benches, ten slim galleys, four Turkish vessels which they call Maonas, six galleons of two topsails, and another four smaller ships, making in all sixty four vessels. They were all equipped with ample and good metal artillery and carried six thousand five hundred warriors, namely fifteen hundred Janissaries, two thousand Turks all picked men of unmixed race who had gone from Constantinople, and three thousand other men, who being accustomed to the sea would serve on the ships and as soldiers if needed. There were also seven thousand galley slaves to man the pars who were unarmed. Because some tried to mutiny, he ordered two hundred to be beheaded and apart from this he committed many
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