_ 490 _ His Highness, because this evil is universal and not only could this fortress be in danger but the whole of India, which Our Lord would not countenance. According to the news coming from Basra, the King greatly fears the arrival of these people, so I believe it would serve the interests of His Highness to write a letter to the King of Basra (a transcript of which I am sending there to Your Lordship) while the King is living there near [Zaquia] and is at war and quarrelling with other kings and nobles. But the important thing is to decide whether it is possible to make peace with these neighbouring nobles of [Zaquia], so as to block passage of the Turks, if they should want to attack Basra. I sent a Portuguese with this letter to see the fortress of [Zaquia] and its site and everything else useful for accurate information. My intention in this business was to help the King of Basra against these wicked people and to see if that fortress which they had built could be taken from them, because with the King of Basra going by land and four or five hundred Portuguese by sea, no-one would survive there and the fortress would be captured from them with Our Lord's help, because there are few people in it and it is very weak.
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