_ 232 _ magazines, the majority of the lascars in Goa, well paid in the barracks, and seamen paid by the month. These matters were all in good order, and from this fact alone, taking nothing further into consideration, it can be inferred what a good Captain Martim Afonso is. The King of Ormuz, with the help of the Portuguese, whose captain was Bemaldim de Sousa(A), captured a place on the coast of Arabia called El Katiff(B), which at one time belonged to the Kingdom of Ormuz. Luís Falcão(C) writes to me requesting me to place a Portuguese there as Captain, but this does not seem right. It seems to me better to reduce our fortresses to a small number and keep our power together and united than to spread ourselves out more than at present and become neighbors of Basra and the lands of the Turk, where they are watching us in order to make war. (A) Bernaldim de Sousa had arrived in India in 1537 in the time of Governor Nuno da Cunha. In 1545 Martim Afonso de Sousa had sent him to winter in Ormuz with his brother João de Sousa. (B) A fortress on the coast of Arabia opposite Ormuz. (C) Luís Falcão Pereira was Captain of Ormuz from 1544 onwards.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy