_ 566 _ regard. Now there is good reason not to respect us but to think very little of us. He went to the Strait where he told me the most impressive deed in the world would be done: and the galleys were in a place where they could really have been burned, but now I think it will never be possible to burn them. As for the services to Your Highness for which he went to the Strait, he has made the places that were weak very strong(A). What he actually did on his expeditionto the Strait will cause the Turkish fleet to return to India sooner than may be thought. From what is known here in India it is said that the chief reason for the Turk ordering these galleys to be built (A) Many were of this opinion. In Areka D.João de Castro had already advised D.Estévão; 'Since everyone knew that delays and bad weather had taken from us the possibility of victory, really what we now had to do was to contrive to keep our fleet and our men and turn back towards India without any further loss or damage'. In this way the Turks would believe that the Portuguese had found the difficulties of navigating among the shoals of the Red Sea insuperable and would not give themselves the trouble of fortifying the Strait. 'If this happened then another opportunity might arise for him or some other governor to recover what for the present we had completely lost’. (Cartas, p.71). 'Please God such a voyage will never take place, since it would cost so much and achieve so little...' exclaims Manuel Coutinho (letter cited).
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