_ 105 _ It is an order here that a person must stay in the house of a Portuguese, designated for this, for twenty days, and if at the end of twenty days he wishes to become a Christian he may. But this man takes no notice of this order unless he wants to. He is not suitable to be vicar of Ormuz. I have ordered quarters for him to live outside the fortress, and he comes here to say Mass. I will give Your Lordship a brief report on myself which I will make truthful. I have never been so poor as I am now in Ormuz, because the country is very expensive, and even water costs a lot of money. [...] of my household, and with other persons to whom I give hospitality I feed more than forty persons. [...] Your Lordship must believe that I cannot keep this up except with favours and rewards which I hope you will grant me, because they will be well merited. These people are inside the fortress day and night, whereas in other times the captains were in the fortress with a couple of servants. There are always Moors and guazils coming into the fortress, bringing soldiers with them, and it is dangerous to be a captain without being accompanied. I am in this fortress with no power in anything except to pay wages. Payments are due to Cristóvão de Gouveia and to Your Lordship's servants the clerks of this galleon, and I have not the means to make payment to them of what they
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