_ 458 _ that were bringing the heavy artillery had not yet arrived from Goa. This did little damage to the castle. However, when the caravel arrived, five days after they had been engaged in this work, they disembarked two camelos with which they demolished part of the castle. The Moors raised a white flag and sent a message by a woman to Dom Alvaro, saying that if he allowed them to leave with their wives, clothing and arms, they would surrender the castle to him. Then, the king who was present and rather pleased with the message, said to Dom Alvaro that he thought it would be a good idea not to risk the men, because what they had set out to do was ending without harm or loss. After discussing the matter, a number of conceited youths, who were perhaps keen on taking the Moors as slaves, said to Dom Alvaro, that he should not go along with this, as he would be accused of weakness in not punishing the insolence of the enemy. They, moreover, would avenge the insult committed against the king by putting all of them to death, which was the reason why they had come there. One fidalgo asked Dom Alvaro for the woman who had brought the message as his captive, to which he consented.
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