_ 579 _ Coromandel. According to documents some one thousand two hundred men are idle here, and everything is drifting. Everyone in general is astonished by the Governor D.Estévão da Gama. Since he has been Governor, he has not made me any payment of my salary, nor any pay as an officer, nor any reward made in Your Highness's name. He gives command of Your Highness's fleets to persons whose fathers Your Highness probably does not know, nor even their names, so I shall not write who they are nor their names. In this country I see many worthy fidalgos who are anxious to serve Your Highness, to whom you could entrust your fortresses, but the Governor does not appoint them to these posts which are so important to your service but gives them to persons Your Highness does not know. Your Highness has granted me the great favour of Bassein, but the Governor left one António de Lemos there(A), and all the time we were in the Strait this fortress (A) He had to leave him there because neither D.Francisco de Meneses who was next in succession, nor D.Manuel de Lima, who was to succeed when next it fell vacant, wanted to remain in Bassein when the fleet was going to the Red Sea, as can be learned from a 'Copy of a memorandum from Dom...de Lima to the Lord Governor, and his Lordships's reply of 30 October 1540' (Corp.Cron. Parte I. Maço 68, Doc. 84). According to this, the Governor sent as interim captain António de Lima, brother of Fernão Gomes de Lemos who at that time was
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