_ 302 _ too large for you to engage in combat or to enable you to assist the King, you will set sail for Qishm, taking the King of Qishm with you, and you will put him in charge of the city and return to India.(A) But if intelligence of the Turks is uncertain and you cannot discover the truth about the number and class of ships which are in the nieghbourhood of Aden, go directly to the islands of Canequim; as soon as you sight the islands, dispatch two small ships to explore and secure them. When you enter port, send two catures with the rest of the oarsmen you have in the direction of Aden to see if there is a fleet near the port and city. You will go after them, but do not pass the fortress situated about twenty-five leagues from the city. There you will wait for the catures keeping close watch on the sea until they return. If they are lost, which God forbid, the Turks will be unable to take you by surprise or approach you unobserved. To guard against this possibility, keep four ships always at some distance from the fleet, but within sight of you, and you of them, day and night. (A) This was the King of Qishm who so often requested D. João de Castro’s assistance against the King of Ash-Shihr, who had ousted him from his city. (See Letter XLIV, note 1.)
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