_ 55 _ When the firman had been issued, the Secretary Antonio Cardoso went to the customs house with the Guazil and the King's factor and other officials and took possession of it on behalf of the King of Portugal. From that day forward it has functioned for him, but no changes were made in the running of it. After this, the Secretary took in hand the revenues from arack, which brought in over four thousand cruzados, according to the Governor's instructions, because as the King had been granted all the expenses of his household from customs house income, his orders were to collect the other revenues of the island. The King complained about this, making protests and petitions, saying that he was poor and without means of maintaining his position, for which he requested documents to be sent to Portugal. There is on the island only one shop for arack, which is a wine made from palm sugar, and this was so small a matter at first that when Afonso de Albuquerque had built the fortress and left a half-breed named Gaspar Pires as interpreter for the King, who was then Saif al-Din, because he thought he spoke it well, the King gave him the income from arack to him as a pension, which then amounted to about two hundred pardaos.
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