The
People On Board Were Of Good Stature And Somewhat Black, Clothed In
Dresses Of Cotton, Striped With Sundry Colours;
Some girdled to their
knees, while others carried their apparel on their shoulders like cloaks.
Their heads were covered with
Kerchiefs, somewhat wrought with silk and
gold thread, and they were armed with swords and daggers like Moors. In
their boats, also, they had certain musical instruments named _sagbuts_.
They came immediately on board with as much confidence as if they were
long acquainted, and entered into familiar conversation in the language
of Algarve, and would not be known as Moors[27].
The general ordered these people to be well entertained, and they eat and
drank willingly of whatever was set before them; after which, by means of
Fernan Alvarez, who could speak their language, he learned that the
island to which they belonged was called Monsambicke, or Mozambique, on
which was a town full of merchants, who traded with the Moors of India,
who bring them silver, linen cloth, pepper, ginger, silver rings, many
pearls, and rubies; and that, from a country behind, they procure gold.
They offered likewise to conduct our people into the harbour, where they
would learn the truth of these things more fully. On consulting with the
other captains, the general determined upon going into this harbour, to
examine more accurately into these reports, and to procure pilots to
carry them on their voyage, as they had no one in the fleet who knew the
way. Nicholas Coello was therefore ordered to make the first essay, and
to take the soundings of the bar, his ship being the smallest. But in
entering, he touched on the point of the island where he broke his helm,
and was in great danger of being lost; but by good providence he got off
with no farther injury. He now found the bar was quite safe, and got into
the harbour, where he anchored two cross-bow shots from the town, which
is in fifteen degrees towards the south[28]. The harbour is very good,
the town is plentifully supplied with such provisions as the country
produces, the houses being constructed of straw, and the inhabitants
Moors, who trade to Sofala in large vessels that have neither decks nor
nails, their planks being sewed together with _cayro_ or twine, made from
the fibres of the cocoa nut rind, and their sails of mats made of the
leaves of a species of palm. Some of these vessels use compasses of Genoa,
and regulate their voyages by means of quadrants and sea charts. With
these Moors the Moors of India trade, as likewise do those from the Red
Sea, because of the gold which is to be had here. On seeing our people,
the Moors of Mozambique thought the Portuguese had been Turks, whom they
knew of from the Moors who dwell on the Red Sea; and those who were first
at our ships carried intelligence to the xeque, or sheik, which is the
title of the governor of this island for the king of Quiloa, in whose
territories it is situated.
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