_ 179 _ I think it wrong for ships to go directly from India to Basra, because they sail laden with a great deal of planking and many other war materials, and though some may say that a powerful fleet cannot be built from the timber coming here, that may be so, but since the ships few though they are that come from there, if they come from so close, twenty are equivalent to fifty. I do not think it a bad idea to have a factor in Basra, because if he is there Your Lordship can have a daily report of what these people do and plan, which would not happen if shipping were prevented. Your Lordship needs two cutters in the Strait, crewed by trusty men, to seek ships coming from India and to search them and compel all of them o come to the port of Ormuz. This is my opinion. Manuel Coutinho
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