_ 152 _ grant permission or consent to any ship leaving for Basra from Ormuz or any other place on the coast of Arabia, and that every effort be made to prevent any shipping going there. It is clear and evident that Basra was formerly very small and has become very wealthy because of ships coming from Ormuz, and if this shipping is prevented now, it seems unlikely that the Turks will be able to maintain it, since they will receive no benefit from it, nor will it be of any advantage to them to keep it when no merchandise goes to them there. But if it does go it could be very damaging to Our Lord the King. This would completely ruin not only Basra but also Baghdad, and many other places would suffer great loss. Because of the many goods and caravans that go there, the Turks ordered the route that went through the desert to be changed to go by way of Baghdad, so as to give them this profit. If this route is closed to them the Turks lose so much that they will consider it better to order Turks to abandon it and leave it as it was before. Besides, having received information about this when I went to Ormuz, I have now learned from Jewish and Moorish merchants that the Turks
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