He Said That He Was A Native Of The Country Near Mecca,
Whence He Had Piloted A Ship To Mozambique,
And would gladly go with him,
that he might return to his own country; and farther, he counselled the
general
Not to remain in expectation of any answer from the _zeque_, who
he was sure would make no peace with him, on account of his hatred to the
Christians. The general was rejoiced at the coming of this Moor,
expecting to acquire information from him concerning the straits of the
Red Sea, and of the towns on the coast between Mozambique and Melinda, by
which he had to sail, and therefore gave orders to receive this Moor and
his son on board.
As the ships were rather short of water, the general and the other
captains determined upon entering the harbour of Mozambique, to take in
what they needed; but ordered strict watch to be kept, lest the Moors
should set the ships on fire. They entered therefore again into the
harbour on Thursday; and when night came, they went in their boats in
search of water, which the Moorish pilot assured them was to be found on
the firm land, and offered to guide them to the place. Leaving Paulo de
la Gama in charge of the ships, and taking Nicholas Coello and the pilot
along with him in the boats, the general went on shore about midnight to
the place where the pilot said that water was to be had. But it could not
be found; whether that the pilot misled them in hope of escaping, or
finding he could not escape, did so out of malice. Having spent the whole
night fruitlessly in search of water, and day beginning to dawn, the
general returned to the ships for more force, lest the Moors might set
upon him and his small company at a disadvantage. Having furnished his
boats with a larger force of armed men, he returned to the shore, still
accompanied by Coello and the Moorish pilot, who, seeing no means of
escaping, now pointed out the watering-place close by the shore. At this
place they observed about twenty Moors armed with darts, who shewed as if
they meant to prevent them from taking water. The general therefore gave
orders to fire three guns, to force them from the shore, that our men
might be able to land unopposed. Amazed and frightened by the noise and
the effect of the shot, the Moors ran away and hid themselves in the
bushes; and our people landed quietly, and took in fresh water, returning
to the ships a little before sunset. On arriving, the general found his
brother much disquieted, because a Negro, belonging to John Cambrayes,
the pilot of Paulo de la Gama, had run away to the Moors, though himself
a Christian.[34]
Upon Saturday the 24th of March, being the eve of the annunciation of our
Lady, a Moor appeared early in the morning on the shore, abreast of the
ships, calling out in a loud and shrill voice, "that if our men wanted
any more water they might now come for it, when they would find such as
were ready to force their return." Irritated at this bravado, and
remembering the injury done him in withholding the promised pilot, and
the loss of the Negro, the general resolved to batter the town with his
ordnance in revenge, and the other captains readily agreed to the measure.
Wherefore they armed all their boats, and came up before the town, where
the Moors had constructed a barricade of boards for their defence on the
shore, so thick that our men could not see the Moors behind. Upon the
shore, between that defence and the sea, an hundred Moors were drawn up,
armed with targets, darts, bows, arrows, and slings, who began to sling
stones at the boats as soon as they came within reach. They were
immediately answered with shot from our ordnance, on which they retired
from the shore behind their barricade, which was soon beaten down, when
they ran into the town, leaving two of their men slain. The general and
his men now returned to the ships to dinner, and the Moors were seen
running from that town to another; and so much were they afraid of the
Portuguese, that they abandoned the island, going by water to another
place on the opposite side. After dinner, our people went with their
captains on shore, to endeavour to take some of the Moors, with the hope
of procuring restitution of the Negro belonging to Cambrayes, who had run
away from the ships, and they were likewise desirous of recovering two
Indians, who were said by the Moorish pilot to be detained as captives in
Mozambique.
On this occasion, Paulo de la Gama seized four Moors who were in a boat;
but a great many Moors in other boats escaped, by hastening on shore and
leaving their boats behind, in which our men found much cotton cloth, and
several books of their Mahometan law, which the general ordered to be
preserved. The general and the other captains ranged in their boats along
side of the town, but did not venture on shore, not having sufficient
force, nor could they get any speech of the Moors. Next day they went on
shore at the watering-place, where they took what was needed without any
opposition from the Moors. Being now hopeless of recovering the Negro, or
of procuring the Indian captives, it was determined to depart; but the
general resolved to be revenged on the town and people for their enmity.
For which reason, he went against it next day with ordnance, and
destroyed it in such sort that the Moors had to abandon it, and flee into
another island within the country.[35] This being done, the fleet weighed
anchor on Tuesday the 27th of March, and departed from Mozambique, whence
they proceeded to two little rocks, which they called St George, and
where they came to anchor in waiting for a wind, which was now contrary.
Soon afterwards the wind came fair and they departed, but the wind was so
light, and the currents so strong, that they were forced in a retrograde
course.
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