Francis had issued new orders, commanding the general sequestration of all the property of the king of Portugal and of his people, the embargo of all his vessels to be found in the ports of France, without the declaration of any new cause, or the statement of any reason for this order, the opposite of what had before been promulgated.  The king in consequence, directed Joao da Silveyra to take truthful information of the particulars and the reasons for this proceeding and commanded his presence before the council, to make them known.

“Following this, hostilities having been declared between the kingdoms and seignories of the emperor and the king of France, they waging cruel strife by land and sea, the French with an armament afloat took a Spanish ship with gold, belonging to the emperor, within the limits of the Portuguese coast, besides much property of individuals, regardless of where she had been found, so little attentive were they in those times, to Portugal and Portuguese; seized her by force as belonging to their enemies, and carried her off, as good prize of war.  Pedro Batelho was sailing the while, giving protection to the coast of Portugal, by the royal order, according to the ancient custom of this kingdom, held always to be useful and necessary, the value of which became evident from what occurred afterwards, when it fell into disuse.

“The captain coming out one morning with his fleet, near those who were carrying of the Spanish ship, he obliged them by force to take in sail, as they hesitated to obey for some time, until he informed himself of what had passed.  Discovering that there were some doubts and that deliberation would be necessary to do justice, he brought all before him to the port of Lisbon, where the prize was sequestrated and they made prisoners, and the case, by order of the king, was sent to the Casa da Supplicacam where sentence was pronounced the following year.  This news, which was directly known in France, made great change in the order of affairs with Portugal, and produced the state they were afterwards in, during the following nine consecutive years that Joao da Silveyra was there, in which time, he accomplished nothing he had in hand, except to embargo the voyage of the Florentine, of which mention is made before, and of some few vessels of corsairs which was but sheer justice to us."[Footnote:  Cronica de muyto alto, emuyto poderoso rey destes reynos de Portugal Dom Joao o III deste nome.  By Francisco d’Andrade.  Part I, c. 13 and 14. (Lisbon 1613.)]

The time when these preparations were being made by Verrazzano is more definitely fixed by a despatch of Silveira to the king, from Paris on the 25th of April 1523, in which he states that “Verazano” had not yet left for Cathay that this whole story of an intended voyage of discovery was proposed for the purpose of concealing the real object of the preparations which were going on in Normandy, of seizing the treasure