When this interview which the Marshal held with the King of Cochim had come to an end, because his object was to destroy Calicut before he set out for Portugal, in order not to lose any time on the following day, he summoned to his house Gaspar Pereira, Secretary of India, and told him privately that the King had trusted greatly in him, and ordered him in his instructions to destroy Calicut before his departure, if it should seem good to Afonso Dalboquerque, and therefore he begged him graciously to be minded to help him in the matter (for if this project were to fail, he would not have come to India on any account, seeing that his ancestors were never mere merchants), and that up to this time Afonso Dalboquerque had not mentioned the matter to any one, although Manuel Peçanha, if the reports that were in circulation at Cochim were true, had attempted to sound him on the subject very often, making light of the matter. And he added that he, Gaspar, must obtain knowledge of Afonso Dalboquerque's opinion; and if he should appear to have doubts, he must remove them, for there were some persons who would make him believe that Afonso Dalboquerque would disapprove of the plan.