_ 230 _ am sending you, in which they set out the repairs needed to each ship, her age, and a transcript of the report I made together with every one of the rotten galleys, and of those which cannot sail. For this reason I shall forebear to make a more detailed account of the matter(A). When I saw the feeble state of this fleet and perceived the great danger to which as a result this land is exposed, I resolved, with the agreement of many of Your Highness's noblemen, captains and officials, not to leave Goa that summer and to divert the cost and expense which it was intended to devote to my own vessel to the repair of the fleet because all other needs are subordinate to this one. I therefore ordered columns, capstans and tow-cables to be made, because there were none in the shipyard for the equipping of the ships. I sent the albetocas and other ships to bring me a great quantity of timber. I also sent to Bassein and other places for the greatest quantity possible. I did all this in order to be able to repair rapidly the whole fleet which was at sea. Apart from this measure I ordered two caravels to be built in Bassein, four in Cochin, two in Chaul, and two more in Goa. (A) See the Carta testemunhável with the report made at the behest of D João de Castro of 30 December 1545. (Torre do Tombo, Col. de São Lourenço IV, fls. 119 ff).
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