_ 268 _ damage his position, and especially because his hopes of becoming the master of the Persian Strait would be dashed, since they would close the mouth of the River Euphrates to him, through which his fleets had to leave), he decided to attend to this matter and make that fortress safe, so he gave orders to quickly prepare twenty-five galleys from among those that were in Suez. He appointed as captain and general of this expedition a notorious pirate and very determined man called Piribec (Piri Reis), and gave instructions to muster one thousand two hundred men in Alexandria and other ports, embark them in the galleys and sail to Basra where they would find orders about what they were to do. However, under no circumstances were they to enter Muscat or Ormuz or have anything to do with what belonged to the Portuguese. Rather should they make every effort to carry on to Basra without being seen by the inhabitants. With orders to leave, Piri Reis sailed to Suez where he spent the whole of the winter repairing the galleys and fitting them out. After his departure, the Turk gave instructions to the Pasha of Basra, ordering him to make 15,000 men and a host of terradas and other vessels ready, so that when Piri Reis arrived with the galleys, he would go
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