_ 310 _ he should not do so, because his job was to govern India, and at no time or on any occasion that might arise would it ever be his duty to travel so far from its borders. Dom Antonio de Noronha, who was sailing from Goa to Ormuz, arrived safely in that fortress, where he was very well received by its captain. Later, when they were both discussing the business of the fortress of El Katiff with the king, it was agreed that he would be given 3,000 men for that expedition under the captaincy of Rais Sharaf, the guazil of the kingdom, and of Mir Maxet, the guazil of Moghistan, whom the king ordered to quickly prepare some terradas and other vessels for these people to sail in. Meanwhile, Dom Antonio dispatched Manuel de Vasconcelos with a fleet of twelve light craft to attack El Katiff, and prevent any aid that might come to it from Basra. These ships all arrived in El Katiff in a few days and anchored in that port. Every day, they went to the beach at high tide to bathe the fortress, blocking every kind of aid that could come from the sea, so effectively that nothing ever entered it. Consequently, they caused it great difficulty and distress. After stocking up with plenty of blankets, ladders, provisions, munitions and some siege guns, Dom Antonio set sail with an enormous fleet at the end of July and in
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