Purchas Himself Reformed The Style, But With Caution As He Had Not The Original To Consult, And Abbreviated The Whole, In Which We Hope He Used Equal Circumspection:

For, as it stands in Purchas[254] it still is most intolerably verbose, and at the same time scarcely intelligible in many places; owing, we apprehend, to the translator being not thoroughly acquainted with the meaning of the original, if not to the fault of the abbreviator.

These two inconveniences we have endeavoured to remedy the best we could, and though we have not been always able to clear up the sense, we presume to have succeeded for the most part; and by entirely changing the language, except where the places were obscure, we have made the journal more fit for being read, and we hope without doing it any manner of injury[255].

[Footnote 254: Pilgrims, Vol. II. p. 1122, under the title of A Rutter, or Journal, &c. from India to Suez, dedicated to the Infant Don Luys. - Astl. I. 107. b.]

[Footnote 255: On the present occasion we have followed the example of the Editor of Astleys Collection, having employed the original abbreviated translation by Purchas modernized in the language and endeavouring to elucidate obscurities; using as our assistance the version in Astley. - E.]

This expedition was undertaken for two important purposes. One, to carry succours to the emperor of Habash or Abyssinia; and the other, to endeavour to destroy the Turkish ships at Suez. For, soon after the retreat of Solyman Pacha from Diu, it was rumoured that another fleet of the Rumes or Turks was on its way to India; but as Don Stefano de Gama was afterwards informed that the Turks could not set out during the year 1540, he determined to be before hand with them, in some measure to be revenged for the late siege of Diu, and to prevent a second attack by burning the fleet they had prepared for that purpose.

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