From Zanguebar All The Way To Cape Guardafu And The Mouth Of The
Red Sea, The Coast Is Called Ajam Or Ajen, Signifying In Arabic The
Country Of The Barbarians; The Maritime Parts Being Occupied By The
Arabs, And The Inland Country By Heathen Negroes.
Most of this coast is
very low, covered by impenetrable woods, and subject to inundations, so
that it is excessively hot and unwholesome.
The Negroes of this country
are black with crisp curled hair, and are wonderfully addicted to
superstition, being all idolaters; insomuch that upon the most frivolous
motives they will give over the most important enterprises: Thus the
king of Quiloa failed to meet Don Francisco de Almeyda, because a black
cat crossed his way when going out. The cattle, fruit, and grain are
answerable to the wildness of the country. The Moors or Arabs, who
inhabit this coast and the adjacent islands, seldom cultivate the
ground, and mostly subsist on wild beasts and several loathsome things.
Such as live more towards the interior, and have intercourse with the
barbarous Kafrs, use milk as a part of their diet.
As this country has been endowed by nature with much gold, an eager
desire to procure that precious metal has induced, first the Arabs, and
afterwards the Europeans, to possess themselves of various parts along
the coast. The first of the Arabs who came here were called Emozadi,
which signifies subjects of Zayde, who built two inconsiderable towers,
merely sufficient to defend them against the barbarous Kafrs.
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