He was thus a great-grandson, in the paternal line, of another Dom Álvaro de Ataíde, Lord of Castanheira (second-born son of the 1st Count of Atouguia), a participant in the conspiracy of the Duke of Viseu against King John II of Portugal.

His appointment to the position of captain general of Mozambique was made in the context of the threat of an upcoming Dutch attack, which had already been foreseen and which greatly worried the court of the Iberian Union.

From a letter that Durão addressed to the son of D. Estêvão de Ataíde, published in the first pages of the book, it appears that the manuscript was sent to the governor himself in March 1611, although the final publication only came out 22 years later.

However, when - soon after the lifting of the Dutch siege - he was appointed in July 1609 (by the viceroy of Portuguese India, Rui Lourenço de Távora) to the position and title of Conqueror of the Mines of Monomotapa, events would start to unfold in many ways unfavorable to him.

[4] He revealed some lack of political and diplomatic tact, when he refused to continue sending the tribute to the Kingdom of Mutapa, which Portuguese captains traditionally paid, in order to trade in these lands.