_ 68 _ ships coming from the Strait, to see how many there are, and to come ahead of them to warn the fleet that will be in Muscat. If these ships do not come from the Strait, there is much to do about the Nodhaki. They are so bold that when a Portuguese carrack, in which André Cortes was sailing with large cargo of valuable goods, had the misfortune to go aground on shoal off the island of Masirah and was wrecked there, the Nodhaki took and stole all the merchandize from the carrack and killed all the Portuguese, and only spared André Cortes and his wife and daughter, whom they later released for ransom. André Cortes lost all he had but because he fought well, he escaped although he received eight arrow wounds, all large ones. They would not let him into the parau where he was except [a Partido]. Besides this they seized a town belonging Moors, and in the fighting for others they wounded men. Because of these things, and other things they do every year, this fleet, with God’s help, will go to lay waste to the Nodhaki coast, and burn as many terrradas as possible. This fleet sails every year to escort the carracks, and now it will serve Your Lordship in these two ways to attack the Turkish foists as well as patrolling where they have done every year in the past.
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