Towards
Vespers, The General Came Up With And Captured One Of These Pinnaces, But
The Other Escaped To The Land.
In the captured pinnace there were
seventeen Moors, among whom was an old man who seemed master over the
rest, and had his young wife along with him.
In this boat there was great
store of silver and gold, and some victuals. On the same evening the
fleet came to anchor off Melinda, which is eighteen leagues from Mombaza,
and is in lat. 3 deg. S. This place has no good harbour, being only an almost
open roadstead, having a kind of natural pier or reef of rocks on which
the sea beats with much violence, owing to which the ships have to ride
at a considerable distance from the shore. The city stands in a broad
open plain, along the shore, surrounded with many palms, and other sorts
of trees, which are green the whole year. It has also many gardens and
orchards, abounding with all kinds of herbs and fruits, and many
fountains of good water. Their oranges are particularly excellent, very
large and sweet. They have also abundance of millet and rice, plenty both
of cattle and sheep, and great store of fine poultry, which are very
cheap. Melinda is a large city, with fair streets, and many good houses
of stone and lime, containing several storeys, with windows, and having
terraced roofs made of lime and earth. The native inhabitants are black,
of well proportioned bodies, having curled hair; but many strangers
resort thither and dwell in the city, who are Moors from Arabia, who
conduct themselves in a commendable manner, especially the gentlemen or
better sort.
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