At Mozambique He Rejoined
Albuquerque, Whom He Sent On Before Him To Melinda; And Meeting Two
Other Ships Of His Squadron At Quiloa, He Proceeded To Melinda.
To
oblige the king of Melinda, the Portuguese attacked the city of Oja, the
king of which place, aided by the king of Mombaza, made war on the king
of Melinda.
In this country, which is inhabited by Arabs, there are some
ancient and wonderful structures. Each city, and almost every village
has a separate king, whom they call xeque or sheikh; but the principal
among these are the sheikhs of Quiloa, Zanzibar, and Mombaza, while the
sheikh of Melinda pretends to be the most ancient, deducing his pedigree
from the sheikhs of Quitau, which, though in ruins, shows evident marks
of ancient grandeur, having been superior to all its neighbours. These
are Luziva, Parimunda, Lamon, Jaca, Oja, and others. This country is
watered by the river Gulimanja, up which George Alfonso sailed for the
space of five days, finding the banks every where covered with
impervious woods, and the river inhabited by a prodigious number of sea
horses or hippopotami.
[Footnote 90: This wintering, being in the southern hemisphere, probably
refers to June and July 1507. - E.]
Having now only six ships out of thirteen with which he left Portugal,
one being lost, some separated by storms, and others sent away, Tristan
de Cunna appeared before the city of Oja, on an open shore seventeen
leagues from Melinda, and defended by a wall towards the land, to
protect it against the Kafrs.
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