_ 581 _ Portugal, and of the secretary,(A), and João de Sepúlveda(B), Rui Vaz Pereira(C), LuÍs Coutinho(D) and Diogo da Silva(E), all of whom were present when I told him these things. Close to this place is a town called Surat which is under a Turk called Khwaja Shafar. He has built a fortress here at the entrance to the river which is said to be so strong that I do not know whether Your Highness's governors could take it now. It has many large, reinforced bastions, and of one of them it is said that it is larger than the São in the time of Lope Vaz de Sampaio (Couto, Década 4a, p. 141). He was awarded successively the following captaincies: the Moluccas (1526, Registo da Casa da Índia, no.153), Cannanore (1527, Ibid., no. 221), Cannanore again (1530, Ibid., no.228) and in 1540 Diu, which he had renounced (Ibid.,no. 325). (A) João da Costa. (B) In 1538 João de Sepúlveda was awarded the captaincy of Sofalá(Reg. Casa da India, no.311). He embarked for India that year, but having reached Mozambique late he went to winter in Ormuz, continuing his journey to India in September 1539. In 1540 D.Estévão despatched him to his captaincy of Sofalá (Correia, Lendas IV, pp.10 and 143). (C) Rui Vaz Pereira, the son of João Rodrigues Marramaque, was in India from the time of Lope Vaz Sampaio. In 1543 he was Captain of Malacca. (D) In 1538 LuÍs Coutinho was sent by the Viceroy D. Garcia de Noronha to the bay of Cambay aas commander of six oared vessels. (E) Diogo da Silva had served in India under D. Henrique de Meneses. In 1532 he was granted the office of factor and alcaide-môr of Quilon (Reg.da Casa da Índia, no.256). According to Gaspar Correia he was Captain of Quilon in 1538 and 1540.
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