He there observed that Khojah Attar had completed the fort formerly begun by the Portuguese.  In this new attempt the success was no greater than it had been formerly.  On one occasion Diego de Melo and eight private men were slain; and on another Albuquerque was himself in much danger.  Finding himself unable to effectuate any thing of importance, he returned to India, having taken a ship in which was a great quantity of valuable pearls from Bahrayn, and Francisco de Tavora took another ship belonging to Mecca.

[Footnote 102:  No year is mentioned in the text of Faria, which is throughout extremely defective in dates; but from the context it was now probably the year 1508—­E.]

[Footnote 103:  Turumbaka, in the plan of Ormuz mentioned in a former note, is a palace belonging to the king of Ormuz, in the same island with the city.  The Isle of Keyshom has already been stated as the place whence Ormuz was supplied with water; but there may have been tanks or cisterns at Turumbaka.—­E]

During the time when Albuquerque was employed before Ormuz, the Soldan of Egypt fitted out a fleet of twelve sail with 1500 Mamelukes, which he sent under the command of Mir Husseyn to oppose the Portuguese in India.  While on his voyage up the Red Sea, Husseyn attacked the towns of Yembo and Jiddah, putting the sheikhs of both places to death, and making great plunder.  He then sailed for Diu, where Malek Azz commanded for the king of Cambaya, with whom he was ordered to join his forces to oppose the Portuguese.  The timber of which these ships were built was cut in the mountains of Dalmatia, by procurement as it was said of the Venetians, as the Soldan and the Turks were then at variance.  It was conveyed from Dalmatia to Egypt in twenty-five vessels, commanded by a nephew of the Soldan, who had a force of 800 Mamelukes on board, besides mariners.  At this time the gallies of Malta were commanded by a Portuguese knight, Andrea de Amarall; who, learning that the timber was designed to be employed against his countrymen in India, attacked the Egyptian fleet with six ships and four gallies, in which he had 600 soldiers.  After a sharp engagement of three hours, he took seven ships and sunk five; but the rest escaped to Alexandria, whence the timber was carried up the Nile to Cairo, and thence on camels to Suez.

At this time the viceroy Almeyda was on the coast of Malabar, and had sent his son Don Lorenzo with eight ships to scour the coast as far as Chaul, a town of considerable size and importance seated on the banks of a river about two leagues from the sea, and subject to the Nizam-al-Mulk[104], by whose orders Don Lorenzo was well received.  They had some intelligence of the fleet of the Soldan, but believed it an unfounded rumour, till it appeared in sight while Don Lorenzo was on shore with most of his officers.  They hastened immediately on board, giving such orders as the time permitted, and were hardly on board when