We remained at Cochin, imprisoned and at liberty, about two months. In the meantime there arrived a fleet of fifty Portuguese galiots, under the command of a Portuguese lord. He was on his way from the coast of Cape Comorin and from Point de Galle in the island of Ceylon, and came to Cochin for refreshment in passing. This is their ordinary practice; for the Portuguese and the viceroy of Goa are wont every year at the beginning of summer, which is in the month of September, to equip two fleets of a hundred galiots, along with three or four large galleys. Half of this fleet they send to the north, as far as Diu or Cambaye, and thereabouts, to guard the coast, and hold their power over the sea, and prevent any from sailing there without their passport. The other half they send to the south, as far as Cape Comorin, for the same purpose, but principally to purge the sea of the Malabar corsairs, who wage war with them and with all traders. So it is, that in those parts of India none dare navigate the seas without a passport from the Portuguese, unless they feel themselves sufficiently strong to resist, as do the Arabs and the men of Sumatra and others, who are always at war with them.