The places described by Duarte Barbosa suggest that he had accompanied his uncle on this trip to Kochi and Cannanore.
Following the 1752 capture of Male' by the Ali Raja of Cannanore and his Malabari navy, Sultan Muhammad Imaduddin III of the Maldives was held captive on Kavaratti island in the Laccadives.
On August 30, 1675 the Holy See appointed him the Vicar Apostolic for the kingdoms of Cochin, Tamor, Madurai, Mysore, Cranganore, Cannanore and the Coast of Canara.
However, before his departure, Vasco da Gama ordered his uncles to keep the patrol near the Malabar Coast of India, to protect the Portuguese-allied cities of Cochin and Cannanore from any vengeful attacks by the Zamorin of Calicut.