_ 183 _ which fish for pearls and others which are larger, there must be more than two hundred and fifty, and it is said that there are more than four thousand seamen. Because of the terradas and the seamen in the island the Turks must greatly covet it. In addition to this the Turks have forty barges in Basra, and from places obedient to Basra they could assemble thirty terradas. Also, because of their fear of the Turks, as many terradas as they ask for will be sent from other places. When the Turks went from Basra to the fortress of [Areca], I was unhappy about their taking eight terradas from Bahrain. My opinion, which I am giving to Your Lordship, is that all these will be ordered to attack this fortress of Ormuz. Your Lordship will give the best opinion of all, because it is being said here that they cannot take the fortress if they do not first take the city of Ormuz. They say that this is their advice and that the Lord God will not wish nor permit such a thing to happen. There are some things which I am not writing about to Your Lordship because there is no certainty that they are true. This island of Ormuz is something so important that a catur patrols it every night as if they were going to [take
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