These Barbarians Used Defensive Armour, And Even Employed The
Precaution Of Fortifying Their Camp Wherever They Happened To Halt.
While
Passing the castle of Tete upon the Zambeze in the interior of
Mocaranga, Jerome de Andrada who commanded the Portuguese
Garrison sent
out against them a party of musketeers, and in two encounters killed
above 5000 of them, while the multitude fled in the utmost dismay,
having never, before experienced the effects of fire arms. Passing
onwards from thence, the barbarous multitude came to the neighbourhood
of Mozambique, destroying every thing in their course like an inundation
of fire; and as the situation appeared inviting to one of their chiefs
named Mambea, who commanded about 6000 warriors, he built a fort and
some towns on the main, about two leagues from Mozambique. As the fort
of Cuama, where Nuno Vello Pereyra commanded, was much incommoded by the
neighbourhood of these barbarians, he sent out Antonio Pimentel against
them with 400 men, four only of whom were Portuguese, who falling
unexpectedly on the barbarians slew many of them and burnt the fort; but
retiring in disorder, the enemy fell upon Pimentel and his men, all of
whom they slew except three Portuguese and a small number of negroes.
All the slain were devoured by the victorious Kafrs, except their
heads, hands, and feet.
The country about Mozambique is full of orchards and fruit trees,
especially citrons, lemons, and oranges, and has all kinds of wild and
tame beasts like those in Europe, together with prodigious numbers of
elephants. The principal food of the people is maize. The woods mostly
consist of ebony, being a very lofty tree with leaves like those of our
apple trees, and fruit resembling medlars, but not eatable, the whole
stem and branches being thickly covered with thorns. The bark is as
susceptible of fire as tinder, and when one of these trees is cut down
it never springs up again. There is another sort of a yellowish colour,
which is reckoned valuable. The best manna is produced in this country.
Among the fish of this river is one equally voracious with the
crocodile, from which no man escapes that gets within their reach, but
they never injure women. One of these of a prodigious size was caught
having gold rings in its ears, which was supposed to have been done as
some species of witchcraft or incantation by the Kafrs to clear the
river from these dangerous animals. In confirmation of this opinion, we
read in an Arabian author named Matude, giving an account of
prodigies, that about the year 863 a brazen crocodile was found under
the ruins of an Egyptian temple, on which certain characters or
symbolical letters were impressed, and when this image was broken in
pieces the crocodiles of the Nile began again to devour men.
During the viceroyalty of Don Duarte de Menezes fresh troubles broke out
in the kingdom of Visiapour, in consequence of which the Moguls invaded
the country, and after laying it waste to a great extent possessed
themselves of many of its towns cities and districts.
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