When Morning Came, They Stood Towards The Land, When
They Came Before A Large And Goodly City, Surrounded With Walls, Having
Fair And Lofty Houses, And A Large Palace On A Height In The Middle Of
The City, Seeming To Be A Magnificent Building.
This city is called
Magadoxo, and stands on one side of the Gulf of India on the coast of
Ethiopia[71], an hundred and thirteen leagues from Melinda, the situation
of which I shall explain hereafter.
Knowing this to be a city of the
Moors, he would not stop at this place, but commanded many shots of
ordnance to be fired as he sailed past. Not being sure how far it was to
Melinda, and fearing to overshoot that port, he lay too every night; and
on Saturday the 5th of February, lying over against a village of the
Moors, named Pate[72], 103 leagues from Magadoxo, there came off eight
_terradas_, or boats of that country, filled with soldiers, and making
direct for our fleet, from whence we shot off so many pieces of ordnance,
that they soon fled back to the shore, and our people could not follow
for want of wind. Next Monday, being the 7th of February, the fleet
arrived at Melinda. The king immediately sent off his congratulations to
the general on his arrival, with a present of fresh provisions. De Gama
sent Fernan Martinez on shore to return the compliments of the king, to
whom he sent a present. On account of the great number of sick on board,
the fleet stopped here for ten days, during which time he caused a land-
mark to be erected on shore, with leave of the king, as a token of
friendship. Having provided provisions and water for the ships at this
place, he departed on the morning of Wednesday the 17th of February,
taking with him an ambassador from the king of Melinda, to negotiate a
treaty of perpetual peace and friendship with the king of Portugal.
Considering that there were not sufficient men remaining for navigating
all the ships, the general and the other captains agreed to burn one of
them, and the San Rafael was chosen to be sacrificed, because she was all
open, and had not been brought aground at Anchediva when the other two
were repaired. Accordingly, after taking out all her stores and
merchandize, which employed them during five days, she was burnt at
certain shoals, called the Shoals of St Raphael[73]. During these five
days, the fleet procured a considerable quantity of hens from a village
on the coast called _Tangata_. Leaving this place, the two remaining
ships came on the 20th February to the island of Zenziber, which is in
six degrees of S. latitude, at ten leagues distance from the continent.
This is a considerable island, having other two in its neighbourhood, one
called _Pemba_, and the other _Moyfa_. These islands are very fertile,
having abundance of provisions, and great quantities of oranges.
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