Grorset & mLap, 1986, VASCO DA GAMA’S LOGBOOK The End of an Epoch om the European point of view, da Gama pesformed thee great services, He sled directly from the West Coast of Afia tothe neigh- Dorhoed af the Cape of Good Hope, Dizzbelore him having followed the Tong westem seaboard by way of the Congo estuary he discovered the civilization ofthe Swabil (though he reanized i as would ater Portagaese explore, merely as Muslim or"Moorish”) and he reached India. From the Aftican point of view, however, his coming was 2n rncliened disaster, I brought to an end the long snd Rourishing epoe fof untramsneled trading intercourse with other lande of the Indien ‘Ocean. Tt signaled rin for many of the Swab cities, Yor da Gams Roteizo can stil be wel to Asian history, if only bosase it records ost gapicaly the reactions ofthe Portuguese to'an Aion cv tion whose sensitivity and splendor were as impressive as they were unexpected. Ie willbe notiot that Kis i ising rom the stony om ‘this ocason Kila escaped notice, for da Cuma’ ships —as noted by ‘the Kilwa Choniele quoted above (p. 339) — ere cared past i ot the tide, Mossll Bay: ‘The Hottentots (On Suturday [December 2, 2497] about two hundred negroes came, both young and old. "They brought with them about a dozen oxen and cows and four or five sheep. As soon as we saw them we went ashore. They forthwith begin to play on four (or five flotes, some producing high notes and others low ones, thus ‘making a prety harmony for negroes who are not expected to be rmusicians; and they danced in the style of negroes, The captain- major then ordered the trumpets to be sounded, and we, in the oun the tation in A Journal ofthe Bist Voyage of Vero ds Cama, cote ty 1G. Ravens, Habe Sey, 2833, ¥ 3, Prom: The African Past: Chronigles from Antiquity to ua BARLY EAST AFRICA Hoda Tines, of. baell favideon, New York, Vasco da Gamals Logbook 123 ‘oats, danced and the captain major di so likewise when he re joined us. This festivity ended, we landed whee we had landed before, and Bought a black ox for three bracelets, This ox we dined of on Sunday. We found hia very fat, and his meat as toothsone as the bet of Portugal. (a Sunday [December 3] many vistors came, and Inought with them dete women and litle boys, the women remaining on the top of alll near the sea, They had with them many oxen and cone, Having ealleted in two spots on the beach they played and danced at they had done on Satordsy Ie is the custom ofthis anole forthe young sae to remain in the bush with their weap tus, The (older) men came to converse with us. They cated a Short stick in the lund, attached fo which was a fox’ tai, with ‘which they fan the face. Whilst eonversing with them, by signs, we observed the young men exoching in the bush, holding their ‘weapons in their hands. ‘The eaptananajor then oxdered Martin ‘Afonso, who had formery been in Manicongo [Congo] to advance, and to buy an ox, for which purpose he was supplied with brace Tels, The natives having acepted the bracelet, took him By the han, and, pointing to the watering place asked him why we took sovay Shit wate, aa simultaneously drove their ete into the Tbash, When the captsinimajae observed this he ordered us to gather toetie, and called upon Martin Affonso to rescat, for Ihe nepected some treachery Having daw together, we proceeded [in our boat) tothe place were we had been at fist. The negroes followed ws. The captain- tuajr then ordered us to land, and with Taner, asap, and stecng cso and wearing out breastplate, for he wanted t0 show that we ad fhe means of doing thet an injry although we ha no dese to employ them. When they observed this thoy sam aay, The caplain-majs, aexiou that none shoud be killed by riscunce, ordered the boats to daw togetie; but to prove that wwe were able although unwilling to hurt then, he ordered two bombard t be fred from the poop ofthe Tong bet. They were by that ine l seated close tothe bush, not far from the Beach, but the fist discharge cused hem to reueat so precpttely that ia {heir ight they dropped the skin with which they were covered+ 224 BARLY EAST AFRICA and their weapons, When thoy were in the bush two of them turned hack fo pick up the articles which had been dropped. ‘Then ‘they continued their fight tothe top of «Lil, diving thie cattle before theni. Qnitimane: Bit Impact ‘When we had been two or three days at this place two gentle: ‘men [senhores] of the country came to see us, They wete very Itaughty, and valued nothing which we gave them. One of them wore a foucs, with a finge embroidered in silly and the other & cap of green satin, A young man in their company ~-e0 we under- ‘stood fiom theie signe —had come from a distant eountry, and Ihad already seen big ships like ams, These tokens signaes) gad ened our hearts, for it appected as if we were really approaching the boumé of onr desces. ‘These gentlemen had some huts built fon the iver bank, close to the ships, in which they stayed seven ays, sending daily to the ships, offering to barter cloths which ‘ore a mark of ed ochre, And when they were tired of being there, they left in their sriall craft [almadia] for the upper river Mozambique: A New World “The poople of this county are ofa rudéy complexion and well rade. They are Molimmmedans and thei langungeis the same a, that of the Moor, Their dress ate of fine linen or ction stalls vivo colored stipes and of ih and elaboste workin ship. They all was fouza with hordes of silk embroidered in gol. “They are metchants, and have tansatins with white Moos [i Indians), four of whese vessels were atthe tine in prt laden with gold silver, cloves, pepper, ginger, and silver tings as alo with SGoatitig Of peas jewels; and rubies, all of which ariles are ted by the people ofthis country. “We understood then to sy Dat al hee things, withthe excep- tion ofthe gold, were bought thither by these Moons that further ‘on, where we were going to, they abounded, and that preous one, pen and spees Were so plentiful that there was no need to purchare them at they could be collected in baskets. All this we Jesed throug a stor the eapain-msjor lad with hin, and who, 5 ‘Vasco da Camas Loghook 125 having formerly been a prisoner among the Moors, understood thei language. “These Mooss, moreover, told us that along the route which we ‘were about to follow we should meet with numerous shoals Wat there were many ets along the coast, and also an island, one halé the population of whic consisted of Moors and the other balf of Christiane, who were at war with each other. This island was said tobe very wealthy. ‘We were told, mozeoves, that Prester John resided not far from this plae; that he held many cities along the cous, and that the inabitants of those cities were great merchants and owned big ships. The residence of Prester John was said to be far in the inte- Fiot, and cond be reaches only on the back of camels. These Moors had also brought hither two Chistian captives from India, This information, and many other things which we heard, rendered us so happy that we exied with joy, and prayed God to grant us health, 0 that we might behold what weso much desired. Tn this place and iland of Moncobiquy [Mozambique] there resided a chief [senhor] who hed the ttle of Sultan, and was lke the viceroy, He often came aboard our ships attended by some of 1s people. ‘The captainmajor gave him many good things to eat and made him a present of hats, marlotas,comals and many other articles, He was, however, so proud that he reated all we gave him bith contempt, and asked for serie cloth, of which we hud none. ‘We gave him, however, of al the things we ad. ‘One day the eaplain-major invited him to a repast, when there was an abundance of Sgs and comfits, and begged him for two pilots to go with ws, le at once granted this request, subject to our ‘coming to terms with them. ‘The captain-majar gave each of them thirty mitgas in gold and two marlotas, on condition that from the day on which they received this payment one of them should always remain on boatd ifthe other desired to go on land, With, ‘hese terms they were well satisfied. ‘On Saturday, March 20 [3498], we set sail and anchored one Teague out at sta close to an island, where mass was said on Sun- ay, when those who wished to do so confessed and joined in the336 BARLY EAST AFRICA One of our pilots lived on the island, and wien we had an chored we armed two bosts to go in search of him. The captain~ Inajor went in one boat and Nicolau Coelho in the othe, They ‘were met by five or sx boats [bares] coming from the island, and tcoowded with people med with bows and loug arzaws and buck- Jers, who gave them to understand by signs that they were toe tum to the towa, When the exptain saw this he secured the pilot ‘whom he had taken with him, and ordered the bombards to fie Lnpon the boats, Paulo da Gama, who had remained with the ships, so as to be prepared to render succor in ease of need, no Sooner heard the reports of the bombands than he stated in the Berrio. The Moots, who were alady ing, ted stil faster, and ‘pned the land before the Berro was able to come up with them. ‘We then rturned to our anchorage. "The vesels of this conatry are of good size and decked. ‘There are no nals, and the planks are held together by cords as are also those oftheir boats [bara]. The sails are made of palm-matting. ‘Theie mariners have Genoese needles, by which they ster, quad sans, end navigating charts. "The palms of this county yield a fruit as large as a melon, of ‘which the Hemel is eaten, It has a nutty favor. There also grow jn abundance melons and cucumbers, whicly were brought to 0s fox barter. ‘On the day in which Nioolau Coellao entered the pot, the lord ofthe place came on board with a numerous suite, He was received wel, and Coetho presented him with a red hood, in retum for ‘whieh the Tord banded him a black rosary, which Re made use of when stying his pryes, to be held as a pledge. He then begged ‘Nicolau Coelho for the use of his boat, to take him ashore, This ‘was granted, And after he had landed he invited those who bad ccompanied him to his hour, where he gave them to eat. He then dismissed them, giving them ajar of bruised dates made into a preserve with cloves and cumin, asa present for Nicolau Coelho. Subsequently he sent many things to the captain-ansjor. AM this pened at the time when he took us for Turks or for Moors from some foreign Tand, for in case we came from Turkey he begged to be shown the bows of our country and our books of the Vasco da Game's Logbook 337 Law, But when they lent that we were Christians they arranged to seize and kill us by treachery. The pilot, whom we took with us, fabvouely reveled to wall they intended to dither Wee Matindis An Offer of Pilots ‘On Easter Sunday [April 25, 1498] the Moors whom we had taken in the boat told us that there were at this eity of Mal four vessels belonging to Christians fom India [Mey were, of course, Hindus and that if it pleased us to take them there, they ‘would provide vs, instead of them, Chistin pilots and all we stood in ned of, including water, wood and other things. "The captain major much desited to have pilots ftom the cout tny, and having discussed the matter with his Moorish prisoners, he cast anchor ofthe tow, ata distance of about halFa league fom the mainland. ‘The inhabitants of the town did not venture to come aboatd our ships, for they hind alveady leat that we had captured a vessel and made her occupants prscness . [Afterwards they went ashore and were formally recived by the Sultan of Melindi who] wore a robe of damesk trimmed with green ‘stn, and a sich touea. He was seated on two cushioned chaits of ‘bronze, beneath a round sunshade of crimson satin attached to a pole. An old man, who attended him as poge, carted a short sword ina siler sheath. There were many players on anafls, and two trumpets of ivory richly carved, and of the size of a man, which were blown front a hole in the side, and made sweet harmony with the ans « Journey to. India On the following Sunday, the 22nd of April the king's zavra Drought on boar one of his confidential servants, and as two days Thad passed without any vistors, the eaptaiwmajor had this man seized, and sent word to the king that he required the pilots whom hie had promised, The king, when he received this message, sent 2 Christian pilot, and the caplainmajor allowed the gentleman, -wliom he Bad otaned in his vese, to go away... « ‘We left Malindi on Tuesday, the 24th of the month fof Apri]a8 EARLY EAST AFRICA fora city called Calecu, with the pilot whom the king had given ‘On Friday, the 28th of May, after having seen no land for twentythewe days, we sighted lofly mountains, and loving allthis, time sailed before the wind we could not have made less than sichundred leagues .. [They anchored off Caleout and were spoken by boats of the port] On the following day [May 23] these same boats came ‘again alongside, when the exptainsmajo sent one of the convicts ‘to Calecut, and those with whom he went took him to two Moots from ‘Tunis, who could speak Castilian and Genoese. The first greeting that he received was in these words: “May the Devil take thee! What brought you hither?” They asked what he sought 0 far away from biome, and he told them that we came in search of ‘Christians and of spices. S3O3ORO DUARTE BARBOSA Swahili Civilization "The value of Duarte Batbos's memory ie in ther picture of the Eat Const befoe the full impact of Portuguese intervention bad been felt, They sammarize the knowlalge of + man who Ses saw Une coast jn 1500 oF 3502, and last saw #8 2547 oF 2518, {have moderazed ‘the orthography ofthe placenames, ‘Sofata ‘And the manner of thei trafic was this: they came in small ves: sek named zambueos from the kingdoms of Kilva, Mombasa, aud Malini, bringing many cotton cloths, some spotted and others white and bine algo some of silk, and reany small beads, gray, ed, From Tha Book of Dre Rar, tanta by Manel Longworth Dae, ea Sacety (25, Landon 9908) Duarte Barbose 129 and yellow, which things come to the said kingdoms from the ‘great kingdom of Cambay [in Notthwest India} in other greater ships, And these wares the said Moors who came from Malindi ‘and Mombasa (purchased from others who brag them hither ‘and) paid for in gold at such a price that those merchants de- ‘pated well pleased; which gold they gave by weight. ‘The Moors of Sofala kept these wares and sold them afterwards to the heathen of the Kingdom of Benametaps, who came thither laden with gold wihict they gave in exchange for the said cloths withoot weighing it. These Moos collect also great store of ivory which they find ard by Sofala, and this alo they sellin the [locian] Kingdom of Cambay at fve or six eruzados the quintal. ‘They also sell some amber, which is brought to them fom the Mucieas, and is exceeding good. These Moors are black, and some of them tawny; some of them spesk Arabic, but the more part use the language of the country, They clothe themselves from the waist down with cotton and silk cloths, and other cloths they ‘wear over their shoulders like capes, and turbans on their heeds, Some of them wear small caps dyed in gra i chequers and other ‘woolen clothes in many tints, also camlets and other sks, ‘Their fod is millet, ie, les and fish In this sver as faras the Seu ate many sea horses, which come out on the land to grize, wich horses always move inthe sea ike fishes; they have tusk like those of small elephants, being whiter and harder, and it never loses color. In the country near Sofala ate many wild elephants, ‘exceeding great (which the eonnteyfolk know not how to tame), ‘ounces, lions, deer and many other wild beasts, Ik isa land of plans ang hills with many streams of sweet water. In this same Sofais now of late they make great store of cotton sand weave i and from it trey make much white cloth, and as they know not how to dje it, or have not the needful dyes, they take the Cambay cloths, blue or otherwise colored, and travel them and make them wp agais, so that it becomes a new thing. With this tinead and their own white they make much colored cloth, snd from it they gain mach gold. Ths they did asa remedy after they had perceived that our people [Hae Portuguese] were taking, from them the trade ofthe zarabucos, and that they can enly ob-130 EARLY EAST AFRICA tain goods through the hands ofthe factors whom the King our ‘Lord has there in his factories and fort. ‘The Zamberi Mouths Journeying from Sofala forty eagues more or les towards Mo- ambique there is avery great river which they call Cwama, ‘which leads into the inner cowntay over against the kingdom of Benmmetapa more than a hundred and seventy leagues. In the ‘mouth of the sid river isa town whose king they call Mangelo By this iver comes much gold from Benametap to this Moorish town, ad from this river is formed another which goes to 2 tows: ‘alled Angoya, and itis ere that the Moors have many almacias [Boats] te eonvey cloth and much other merchandise from Angoya find othess to take abundance of gold and ivory thither. Angoya ‘Further on, Ieaving this Cuama, 2 hundred and forty leagues from it, siting the coast, i a very great town of Moors called “Angoye (whi as its own King). In it dvell many merchants ‘yh dealin gold, ivory, sk and cotton cloths and Cambay heads Jr those of Soala were wont to do.’The Moors af Sofala, Mossbasa, ‘Malina! and Kilwa convey these wares in very small craft eon wesled from our ships, and in this wise Uhey cary great store of rovender ill, rice and fish of dives Kinds. The natives thereot rig some black and some tawny, they go bare from the waist up, find below it are clad in sk and cotton cloths and they weit ‘ther cloths folded like cloaks on their shoulders; some wear tur Jane on thei heads, and other eaps made of squares of silk cloth ‘They speak the native language ofthe country, that ofthe heathen, Dut zome spenk Arabic, At ties these Moore obey the King ou Lord but at other times, being far from our fortresses, they be- come rebellions, Mozambique Islnd Going forward towards India, and leaving Angoya, there are ‘three islands very near to the mainland, among which is Moorish town callod Mozambique which has a very good haven, fosmedy Duarte Barbosa 131 the resort of the Moors who traded to Sofala and Cuarna to re. pir their ships —“as they found there good depth of water and {rood and provisions" Ainong the Moot of thi isle of Mora Digoe was a Xazife [shavif) who govered and judged them. ‘These Moors are of the same tongue and have the same customs as those of Angoya. Here the King our Lord has a fortess, so that the aforesaid ‘Moots ate under his tole and govemance, and our ships now take nat this port water, wood and provisions whic are found in that land, and there they mend the ships that need it, in going as well as in coming, and hence they send supplies to the Portuguese at Sofala, as well as many things which come from Portugal and from India also, as ities on the way thither. On the mainland appetain Sng to these islands are many very great elephants and other wile beasts, The land i inhabited by heathen who are like beasts, ping neked and smeared with red clay. Their private parts are {wrapped in strips of blue cotton cloth with no other clothing, ‘Their lips are bored with three holes, and in each hole three towties, and in these they place bones with litlé stones and other litle pendants. Kilwa Going along the coast from this town of Mozambique, there is ‘an island hard by the mainland which is called Kilwa, in whic is 42 Moorish town with many fair houses of stones and morta, with ‘many windows after ox fashion, very well arranged in streets, with many fat rots. "The doors are of wood, well carved, with excellent joivery. Around i are seams and orchards and frit gardens with many channels of sweet water. I¢has a Moorish king over i, Brom this place they toad with Sofal, wlrence they bring back gold, and from hire they spread all over Avebia Felix, which henceforth we may call by this-name (even though it be in Ethiopia) forall the cscoast is well peopled with villages and abodes of Moor ‘Before the King out Lord sent out his expedition to discover Tdi the Moots of Sofala, Cuama, Angoya and Mozambique were all subject to the king of Kilwa, who was the most mighty King Among them, Aza in this town was great plenty of gold, as noaga BARLY EAST AFRICA ships passed towards Sofala withont fist coming to this island, OF ‘the Moors there are some fat and some black, they are finely clad jn many rch garments of gold and silk and eotton, and the women, ‘a well; ko with much gold snd silver in chaine and bracelets, which they weae on theit legs and arms, and many jeweled ear: rings in their eas, These Moors speak Arabie and follow the creed ofthe Alcorn, and have grat faith in Mafumede. ‘This town was taken by force from ils king by the Portuguese, as, moved by arwogance, he refused to obey the King our Lord ‘There they took many prisoners and the king fled from the island, and His Highness ordeted that @ fort should be bnilt there, and keep it under his rule and governance, Afterwards he ordered that it should be pulled down, as its maintenance was of no value nor proit to him, and itwas desuoyed by Antonio deSaldanka. Mombass Further on, an advanee along the coast towards India, there is an ile hard by the mainland, on which isa town called Mombasa, eis a vory fair place, with lofty stone and mortar houses, well aligned in streets afte the fashion of Kilwa. The wood is well Sted ‘with excellent joiner’s work. It as it own King, himself » Moor. ‘The men ave in color either tawny, black or white and also thei ‘women go very bravely aired with many fine garments of silk and gold in abundance, ‘This is «place of great trafic, and has a ‘0d harbor, in which are always moored craft of many kinds and als great ships, both of those which come from Sofala and those ‘which go thithes, and others which come foom the great kingdom of Cambay and fiom Malindi others which sail to the Isles of ‘asuibar, and yet others of which I shall speak anon, ‘This Mombasa isa land very fll of food. Here are found many very fine sheep with round tai, cows and other cattle in great plenty, and many fowls, all of, which are exceeding fat. ‘There is ‘uch millet and rice, sweet and bitter oranges, emons, pome ‘granates, Indian gs, vegetables of divers kinds, and much sweet water, The men theteof are ofttimes at war but seldom at peace with those of the mainland, and they camry on trade with them, bringing thence great store of honey, wax and ivory. Duarte Barbosa 333 ‘The king of this city refused to obey the commands of the King our Lord, and though this arrogance he lost it, and our Portuguese took it ftom him by force. He fled away, and they slew many of his people and also took captive many, both men and women, in such sort that it was left mined and plundered and burnt. OF gold and silver great booty was taken here, bangles, bracelets, earings and gold beads, alo great store of copper with ‘other rich wates in great quantity, and the town was let in ruins. Mating Leaving Mombasa, and journeying along the const towards Indig, there isa fair town on the mainland iping along a strand, which is named Malindi, It pertains to the Mooss and has a ‘Moorish king over it; the which place has many fair stone and ‘mortar houses of many stories, with great plenty of windows and fat roofs, after our Fashion. The place is well Ind out in streets. ‘The folk are botl black and white; they go naked, covering only their private parts with cotton and silk cloths. Othets of them wear cloths folded Tike cloaks and waisthands, and turbans of many ich stuffs on their heads, ‘They are great burteres, and deal in cloth, gold, ivory, and divers other wares with the Moors and heathen of the great king: ‘om of Camnbay; and to their haven oome every year many ships ‘with cargoes of merchandise, from which they get great store of gold, ivory and wax, In this trafic the Cambay merchants make great profits, and thus, on one side and the other, they eara much ‘money. There i great plenty of food in this city ice, millet, and some Wheat which they bring from Cambay, ate divers sort of fruit, imsmuch 5 there is here abundance of fruit gardens and cichards. Here too are plenty of roundtailed sheep, cows and other cattle and great store of oranges, also of hens. ‘The king and people of this place ever were and are friends of the King of Portugal, and the Portuguese always find in them ‘reat comfort and friendship and perfect peace, and there the Ships, wheo they eliance to pase that way, obtain supplies ia plenty.434 BARLY EAST AFRICA Pombs, Mafia, Zanzibar Between fhis island of Saé Lourengo (Madagaseat] and the mainland, vot very far therefrom, ate three islands, one called ‘Mafia, another Pemba, another Zanzibar; which are inhabited by ‘Moos. They have great store of food, for in them are found rice, alle, Hleshneat in gieat quantity, oranges, Times and cittons, ‘of which the woods are fell, and every other kind of fruit. ‘There is great plenty of sugar cane, but they know aot how to rake the sgar, These islands have Moorish kings. Some of them deal in their stack of fed and fruit with the mainland in very small, weak, M-foond and undecked boats having but one mast. "The plans ate bound and sewn together with a cond they call cio, and their sails are paluvleaf mas. “They area fecble folk and have but few weapons. The kings of these isles live in great Tuxury; they are clad in very fine sik and cotton garments, which they purchase at Mombasa from the Cambay merchants The women ofthese Mons go bravely decked, they wear many jewels of fine Sofela gold, silver too in plenty, ‘eartngs, necklaces, bangles and bracelets, and they go clad in food sik garments, They have many mosques, and honor greatly the Alcoran of Mafamed, Pate and Lama "And as soon as they pass Malindi, going towards India, they ‘begin to eros the gulf, forthe coast doubles back towards the Red Sea. ‘Going forward slong this coast is a town of Moots named Pate and then another named Lama, ‘These carry on trade with the inland country, and are well walled with stone and mortar, inas- such as they are often at war with the heathen of the mainland. Brava ‘Yet further slong the cons, beyond these places, i a great town (of Moors, of very fine stone'and mortar howses, called Brava. Tt Thas no king but is ruled by elders and ancients ofthe land, who are the petsons held in the highest esteem, and who have the Hans Mayr 335 chief dealings in merchandise of dives Kinds. And this plae was destroyed by the Portuguese, who slew many of its people and cried many into captivity, aad took grat spol of gold and silver and goods, Thenceforth many of them fled away towards the in Jand country, forsaking the town; yet after it had been destroyed ‘the Portogoese again settled and peopled it, so that now it is as rosperous.as it was before. Mogadishs Procesdng coastwise towards the Red Sea there is a very great ‘Moorish town called Mogadishu; it has a king over it the place thas much trade in divers kinds, by reason whereof many ships come hither from the great kingdom of Cambay, bringing great plenty of ths of many sorts, and dives other wares, aso spices And in the same way they come from Aden, And they carry away auch gol, ivory, wax and many other things, whereby they make exceeding great profits in tir dealings. 1m this county is found flesh-meat in great plenty, wheat, barley, horses and fruit of divers kinds, so that i is a place of great wealth "They speak Arabic. ‘The men are forthe most part brown and black, but a few are fee. They have but few weapons, yet they te herbs on their arrows to defend themselves agaiust their HANS MAYR The Sack of Two Cities uly Portuguese intentions on the Hast Coast may be fy sum- snatiza as being Sst, to plunder the Indian Ocean trade; secondly, to pat the seabord towns in tbat; thd, to accumulate personal From, the Fortaguee tert in K, Aseion, Southent Alo, 1481530, rojo Tie esta thom a tamiaton ofthe fal acnmt ie ea Gat nh Eat Arion Cat, Soc Dost (Landon: 9963), 15.136 BARLY EAST AFRICA loot. Ia one way or another all ree designs were briefly tealzed. The following eyewitness notet on <’Alneids’s behavior at Kiva and ‘Mombasa in ag0s ave thought to ive Deca writlen by Cesman ‘lled Hans Maye who traveled in Uhe Sam Rafa, Almeid's lags. ‘Another and longer account of d'Almeida’s expedition was published by de Renee, Da Ais, st Decade, translated in G. M. Thea, Records of South eater Aes, 1900, vl 6 Kile In Kilwa there are many strong houses several stories high, They ate built of stone and mortar and plastered with various designs ‘As soon as the town had been taken withost opposition, the ‘Viear General and soie of the Franciscan fathers cane ashore catrying two exosses in procession and singing the Te Deum. They went to the palaee, and there the cross was put down and the Grand-Captain prayed. Then everyone started to plunder the town ofall its merchandise and provisions. [Two days later e'Aimeida red the town, destroying, as the account in de Batts explains, "She greater part ofthis ety of abornnation.") Mombose ‘The Grand-Captain ordered that the town should be sacked nd that each man should carey off to his ship whatever he found: 0 that at the end there would be a division of the spoil, each ima to receive a twentieth of what he found. The same rule was nuade for gol, silver, and pearls, Then everyone stattad to plunder the town and to serach the houses, forcing. open the doors with aes and iron bas, There was a lage quanlity of cotton cloth for Sofsla in the town, for the whole coast ges its cotton eloth from hire, So the Grand Captain got 2 good share of the tide of So fala for himself. A large quantity of tch ilk and gold embroidered clothes was seized, and carpets also; one ofthese, which was with fot equal for beauty, was sent to the King of Portugal together ‘with many other valuables, Diogo de Aleangovt 157 OOOO DIOGO DE ALCANGOVA Kilwa Tariffs ‘The duties, Sis, which the king of Mombasa receives from the merchants wha go to Sofala are the following: any merchant wl ‘canes to Mombasa and brings a thousand pieces of cloth pays to the king duties of entcance for each thousand pieees of cloth one imitgal of gol and then they divide the thousand pices of cloth into two braves, and the king takes one half; and the other balf femsing with the merchant; and, whether le carries them beyond [Monabasa] or sells then in the eity, he hae to take this half to te kings and the king ends his to be soldat Sofala or at Kilwa ‘And the duties which the king of Kiva has ace: that any mer chant who wishes to enter the city pays for cach five hundred pieces of cloth he brings, no matter what the quality, one snitgat ‘of gold as entrance duty and, after paying this mitqal for the five Thandved pices of cath, the king takes tworthirds ofall the aner: chandise, and the merchant onedticd; and the third whieh tains to the merchant must not be taken from the ety, and 1 whole merchandise remaining in that third i sgain valued, pays for each thousand mitgels thity mitqals for the king of Kilwa, And from that place the merchant departs for Sofala; and, ‘on emiving tere, he must pay for every seven pieces of clath one pices for the said King of Kilwa, And when any one returns from Sofala, he is obliged to stop at Kilwa; and Ive must pay to 1 king for each thotsind mitqals of gold he exeries wit him filty rnlgals of gold, and at Momnbasa going through costs nothing. ‘And, iF he passes Kilwa, and does not enter it e must however go om Dogo de Ales ater othe King of Postal of Now 20,1506, in te wanton Gs Thea Reardeof Santee Afi, 2698, ir put eleny of cons to Kile bore the Portage clang ae sub438 BARLY EAST AFRICA to Mombasa, and if he docs not carty with hint a clearance to show that he lis paid at Kilwa, thete they take these fifty mi¢gals ‘oat of every thousand mitgals, and send them to the king of Kilwa. ‘And the duty on ivory which they aso pay tothe king of Kilwa that for each bahar he pays twenty mityale of gold in Sofa ‘and when they come to Kilwa, he pas futher for each seven tusks fone, and in each bahar are twenty farczula, and in each forazuta there are twenty theee pounds, And since, Sir this king of Sofala, ‘whom Pedio d’Auays Killed, reigned, no one has ever paid duties to the king of Kiva out of those cllected at Sota. An Inland Epic303030 BES its own standpoint, thanks largely to acheulogy and the collection of oral trdition, the old Buropean reconls often deepen in value. ‘They stand exposed, true enough, as terbly partial (though the older records generally come through bette, n this respect, than the newer), but much that they have to say aoquires a broader ‘meaning, This is notably the ease with the Portoguese records of Monomatapa, the inland empire of Central Afrion (essentially, of Souther Rhodesia and Mozambique) with which the pioneers ‘of Portugal made contact atthe beginning ofthe sixteenth century, and from which, as they rightly believed, much of the gold of the interior was drayn, A later word invested Monomotapa—of the ‘Monomotapa, for the name, like that of Chana, was initially the fille ofa king and not a kingdom — with a rgmacole of mystevies, ‘Zimbabwe decane the land of Ophit, Phoenicians and Ancient “Egyptians wese named as those who had bait the walls and forts ofthis inland country. Archeology has now exorcized these ghosts froma remote or alin past. ‘Great Zimbabwe, lke al other stone structures of the Rhodesian plateau (of Zimbabwe and Zambia, 2¢ their African nationalists call Southern and Northem Rhodesia), was the work of Afticans. 1s last alterations, but for those of Nature, were made Tess than three centuries ago, They represented, in stone, the climax ofa long, process of Iron Age growth which began in ths region some two housand years ago (pp. 1647). Readers who wish for a de- {aided description of this process may tua to J. D, Clark, The Prehistory of Southern Africa, 1959, especially chapter eleven,aga AN INLAND EPIC “Mines, Metalvorkers, and Builders in Stone”; and to my Lost Cities of Africa, 1959, Valuable aticles inelnde R. Summers, “The Souther Rhodesian Ikon Age,” Journal of African History, 3, 12961; B. Fagan, “PreEvropesn [ron Working in Central Attica, with special reference to Northern Rhodesia,” Journal of Afriown History, 2, 1961, and, in the same issue, D. P. Abraham's rena able “Mararauca: An Exercise in the Combined Use of Postaguese Records and Oral Tradition,” the fst coherent zecount ever to be published of polities in cental-sonthern Africa during the fifteenth century, "The last great phase of preRuropean social change and growth fon the cential plateau may be said to have owed its stnnls to tho extemal but interwoven factors. The fist was a new wave of migration from the north, dicetly from what is now Nostem hodesia and the Katanga, though ultimately from somewhat fucthee afield, These migrants, like others before them, were ‘gradually absorbed by the existing peoples of the plateau; so were their habits and ideas, yet these, in being assimilated by existing caltures, nonetheless changed the way men lived. This was the process of movement andassimilation that has given an underlying unity of culture to very many of the peoples of eastern and central southern Aftica. In is paper mentioned above, Mz. Abra- Tham pats it inthis way "At the stat of the fifteenth centusy a group of paulinesl Bantu clans, collectively known as the Vakaranga,* occupied in strength the south and southwest of what is now Southern Rho- desia, The population was mainly composed of sinallseale peas- ant cultivators and eatle breeders who lived in modest stockade villages of thatlied mud huts and granases, ad who practiced an ancestor-clt intsoduced by their forebears from the region of the Great Lakes — pethape during the couse of the eleventh, and twelfth centri.” "These Karanga clans took their Tead fom a dominant clan called the Rezwi (Varozwi or Barozwi in the plural), and were ‘cemented in theie common loyalty by religious beliefs that were powerful and supposed a divine king, Later on, as Abrobem seys, * Vey ike Ba, being the pal pos of Karngs ‘Aw Inland Epic 143 the power and prestige of this theocentric Ronwi state was to be symbolized by the lage stone stuctuze known as Great Zimbabwe. ‘Tall soapstone bind‘iguees found among these mins may have represented the spiits of departed rules. TNow the second stimulus came info play. ‘This was foreign trade. The Swahili cities of the coast, notably Kilwa by way of Sofals, hed been exporting metal, expecially gold and (if we are to haelieve the relevent note in Idisi—see p. 112) 2 great deal of ion, ever since the tenth or eleventh century. Much of this {old came from the central plateaa, as ils many thousands of pre ‘European workings prove beyond question, just as the iron would Ihave gone ftom workings neater the coast, and copper undoubtedly ‘went from fhe workings in, preEuropean Katanga, Ivoty was nother staple from the interior; s0, perhaps, was tin. "This steady demand for valuable goods combined with the gowth of central authority, though im ways that cannot yet be traced precisely, to ‘build the Karanga clans into a unified and conquering power ese we may detect the same proces as Ind been at work in ancient Ghana, There too tie tansSaharan demand for gold had ‘combined with the growth of central authority — itself the product (of Iron Age development —to promote another notable trading ‘empire, also theocentie i ts staactare, How rich gold aig these old “mines” —open shafts going down to as much a8 a biaadred feet — send out to India and other easter counties? “There is scatcely 2 modem gold mine in Southem Rhodesia,” comments Roger Suramers, “which is not on the site ofan ‘ancient working so iti lear that the ‘minen’ had a good knowledge of prospecting, Tt has been deduced that orig: inally the zane from the seeface dawa to about twenty feet was exceptionally rich in golt, and ie seems very probable that im rmense quantities of gold’ were exported,” The Portuguese, by comparison, got very litle, for they were trusted neither by the in Tand people nor by the coastal traders, and they were never able to make the system “work.” Yet even the Portuguese gathered uo ‘mean quantity, Reporting on trade through Sofsla during 1512 1515; 4 Portuguese royel agent wrote of an annoal average export ‘of 12,500 mitgale of gold (peshaps 100 Ibs.), as well a of a much244 AN INLAND EPIC larger quantity of ivory and copper, some amber, sed pearls, coral, andl six slaves. The last entry is interesting as confimation of ‘the view that slaving from these eastern ports was of lite ot no importance until ater times. United under their Rozwi “kings and barons.” the Karanga ‘embarked upon imperil conquests, ‘This evidently reached a decisive phase in about 1440, oF neatly half a century before the Portugacie raided wp round the Cape of Good Hope, Within ten years, according to tradition, the ruling Rozwi king had fastened his stzerinty over the great part of Southem Rhodesia, He now sontrolled most of the gold mines of the platean and all the Imding routes to and from the coast, He could use his power to ‘impose commercial duties on all incoming goods — textiles 2nd Deads, poredain, brasware and other items from oversea —as well a5 on the exports of his empire. This Rozwi king, Mutots, ied before he could complete the loge of his policy by securing contol of the coast as wel, but his son and successor Matope, as ‘Mr, Abraham shows in the passage that follows bere, valiantly carried on the work. Yet the seeds of decay were already present: characteristics for this feudal structure, the “barons” began to ‘nourish ambitions of their own, They contested their supreme lords power, aid sought to seize it For themselves. % oO D. P. ABRAHAM. Conquest and Challenge Matota died [e, ap. 2450] before he could realize his fall smbitons, and it fell his som and successor Matope to fll sg a thm te tr Feteepan ty et ere HOS habia cease aa Causey ahora Hates Sarde = D.P, Abratam 145 the complete specifications of the blueprint drawn up by his father, Over a period of thity yeas Matope moved singlemindedly from area to area with his armies, until Gnally he succeeded in ‘conqueting unopposed right to the shores of the Indian Ocean, sonth of the Zamberi Estuary — leaving undisturbed, however, the Amb entrepbts* at Sena, Kilimani and Sofala. ‘The southern provinces of Mbize and Guniuswa he entrusted to two Rozwi ‘vasals, Torws and Changs. The newly won eastems and south easier provinces —Chidima, Utanga, Barve, Shitingoma, Man yika, Uteve and Madanda—he placed im the hands of sons and tuusted relatives. The northern provinces, adjoining the Zarubert valley, he retained under the immediate oontral of his brothers and himself, and hus replaced the Katanga homeland in the south asthe center of political suthority. Change Steeets “Ths cme into eng the goden ~ vt short ied — phase of he vat fed domain eented by Matope and his ater Mitta “Moanamutaga, afer whom the Arab ealled this Bantu empire Wilts hivanamstapah, ad the Porngoce, following he Abs, Inpeoo.Mananaps. Oreexended ins of come tiation, pti ingen he lag ee an aac hetlnic ot cllval hamogenlly Yo the como proves sate to eset some of commmty of ntti ie centol power, were destin’ npily to dinegete the new enpie nt is eamponent parts, Alory pir to Maton det, Si Chan in ae sg he wit tin the Sout prone to uasfonn his poston inperceptiy, withthe ecaperton of bis cllege Tega to tat of inde pandent lo On the death of Matop, Chang bxgan openly 0 Eout the aotonty of his son and aces Nahas an i spied by the te Ami fattesingiy aemted him by his, Ab Aves, adopted the date Changunite to emphasize hs sspeatit ley sao the Mwrsnamitapa,prrnwntey, ‘Ths policy et Yo headon clison etn inthe death of Nye > Thats, Sal entaps,146 AN INLAND EPIC Ihnma in battle ©, 1490 and the usurpation by Changa seat of empire fora period of four yeas. Kakayo Komunyaka, son of Nyshome, suoceoded in staging rilitay comeback and kiled the usurpe, thus regaining formal ‘eantrol of the Empire; however Changamite's son and suceesior was able to retain contol of the southerm provinces Mbire and Gunivswa, which became de facto independent of the Empire, Furthermore, by a strenuous diplomatic campaign the new Chang. snire vas partially able to detach the eastern and southeastern provinces from loyalty to the Mwaramutapa, who was left with cffetive domain over what would now be the northern half of Southem Rhodesia and a stip of tetory varying from one Ir {ied to two hundred miles in depth, eunning east and then south east down to the Indian Ocean for @ distance of about six hun- ‘ied mils, This was the politialsitustion which the Portuguese verified after theit inital establishment at Sofala in 2505, a situa tion in which they became progressively involved in pursuit of theit policy to supplant the Arab trade monopoly* ofthe interioe, “That ie to say, the monopaly of tnde with the iter posed by the em ewe, stay te sag, Hana by ay of ey of the entitse DIOGO DE ALCANGOVA “Kings and Barons” Establishing themselves slong the southeast coast duting the open- ing years of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese became at once ‘ace of powers in the inland county upon which they must depend {er any hope of gold, They had muck trouble in understanding the tuue situation there, partly because the Swahili merchants whose etes they had seized and subjected were anything but anxious to enlighten them, and portly because they were as Jet incapable of gong to ste for From Alango' eter of 2506 in G. M. Taal, Record of Sout amnion Ait 600, 01 8 Diogo de Aleangova 147 themselves, Aleangovas eter tothe kog in Lisbon reflects their eo fosion about the dynsstie strife which was then going on between the ‘Monomotapa and his rebellious vasa, notably Changa in the far southwest. Changs having won thee wars, in 513 the Sofila fetor duly reprts “peace at lst” Bubosa told in 1538 what was Inown or believed about the i terior, De Bartos, witing somewhat later and basing himself onthe royal archives in Lisbon, added a good deal more, But from the middle ofthe ateenth eatin the factors and captains along the const began to recive information from their wa upeountry agent; by the end of the century, wlien we have the invaluable reports of doe Santos, these agents were well establsied along the banks of the Middle ‘ambeci am as far as Mase, a tiading ost they were able to man tain near the cout of the Monomotapa hissef. 1573 the naling ‘Monomotapa had in fact caded to the Portuguese a Trg river line ae (between Sena and Tete), and much of this area now became seit by Portoguese plants ‘who constantly Forwarded their own interests by politcal end military intervention tn the county's aba By this tie the power of the Monomotapa was limited to the north: ‘cstely districts of Southern Rhodesia and perhaps the aocthwesttly ‘tinge of Mozambique, while the RozwiKaranga expite held sway fhrovghoat the southerly regions wader the heirs of Changs, and the kings of Quitere (Chiteve)coatigued to rele the upland cegion on the Pent frontier of Southem Rhodesia and Portuguese East Africa, ‘This was the petiod of gretest prossedty for the RozwiKaranga state and empire. Never seriously bothered By the Portuguese, much less subjected by them as were the Monomiotapa, the Ruzwi divine ings embellished Great Zimbabwe, their capita, but ite walls stil higher, aud reigned through two cents, until they in tirm suffered allimate dizster at the Lands of Af invader fem the south, "There appeas to have been great secusty inthe land, for none of the Inge stone structures asocated with the Katsnga (with the posible ‘exception ofthe “eeopols” at Great Zimbabwe) shows much sgn of setins fortification. The situation was diferent on the easter border- Tans, whee fortified Gwelings appeared in the seventeenth or eight- centh ceniusies, and was pesibly diferent in the Nertheon Trane vail, where the people ofthe “Mapungbwe Culture” (linked to that ‘of Zintbabwe) lived in many htop settlements. ‘This long epic of ne Africa, 2 ttle that & surely well deserved, roves on into the eighicenth and nineteenth centuries, Here I havea8 AN INLAND EPIC stopped with the iluminating repost of Mence! Barreto in 1667. Haw ing fatty intervened in the aflaits of the Monomotapa, the Portu- {guess proved far too weak to impose a new system of lw and ordar in that far country, they merely opened the gate to a new chaes. They froae if erate attempls to find gold and silver, but succeeded ‘only iv undermining the dominant socal systems which they found. Tn this they were helped, no doubt, by the point of growth which these inland states had now xzched. Cruck fissures repeatedly appeared in the severe of cent ale, This favoring proces wat of couse a com toa feature of all lordand was fount of govemment. Without Portuguese intervention the Monomotapas might have worked out their conflicts to the same stablity a: the Rozwi kings cchieved. As we shall eg, they never really had the ehanee of doing so. ‘The Kingdom, Si {gold that comes to Sofala i called Vealanga, and the kingdom is very lage, in which there are many large towns, besides many other villages, and Sofala itself isin this Kingdom if not the whole land along the sea, The kings of the interior pay lite or no regard to it ifthe Moots are in possession [of Sofall; and going along the coast and towaeds the interior four leagues, because they (the Moos] ado not attempt to go farther inland, as the Kafis rob and kill Ahem, for they do not believe in anything. And, Sir, a man might 0 from Sofala to a city which is called Zamubany (Zimbabwe?) Sich is lange, in which the king always resides, in ten or twelve days, if you travel as in Portugal; but becouse they do not fravel ‘except frori morning unt midéay, and eat and sleep until the next moming when they go on again, they cannot go to this city in les than twenty oF twenty-four days and in the whole kingdom ‘of Vealange gold is extracted; and in this way: they dig out the ‘earth and snake a kind of tunnel, through which they go under ‘the ground a Tong stone's how, and keep on taking out from the veins with the ground mixed with the gold, and, when cofected, they put it in « pot, and cook it much in fie; and after cooking they take it out, and put it to cool, and, when cold, the cart remtsins, and the gold all fre gold... and no man can take it Diogo de Ateangova 149 {the gold] out without leave from the King, under penalty of eat, "And this king who now reigns, Sit, in Vealanga, is the son of Mokombs, late king of the said kingdom, and he bas the name ‘Kewsarimgo Menomotapam, which is like saying King s0 and so, Decanse the ttle of the king is Menomotapam, and the kingdom Vealanga, Your Highness is alteady aware that for twelve or thisteen years there has been war in the kingdom from which the gold came to Sofala .. Aleangova deter the strggle for power between the reigning ‘Monomatapa sid his chief vassal ofthe south, Changamie (ef D. Pe Avatars above, pp. 144246), in whigh the Monomotapa attempts to slay Changi, bot the Inter preva +d when the ameer [Changamire] saw that the king [wished to Kill him, he made up his mind to Kil [the King) the city where he was, which i called Zimbauhy [Zimbabwe] ‘and he took with him many people; and when he arrived near the city, the grandees who were with the king knew that he was com ing, they went to receive him, and, when they sae him coming i. that way se, with many followers}, they would not remain in the ety and went out of it [ie, deserted the Monomotapa}; and the amoee went to the houses of the king, which were of stone and clay very lage and of ane story, and be entered where the Iking was with hig slaves and some other men; and while speaking to the king the ameer cut his head off and as he killed him, he ‘made himself king; and all obeyed hin; and he reigned peace- fully four years; and fhe king Mokomba [ie the Monomotapa] left twenty-two children; andthe ameer killed them all, except one, the eldest, who was sill young, whose name was Kwekarynugo, ‘who i now the king; and this one fled to another kingdom of his tance; and when he was twenty years old, le took possesion of the kingdom with many poople of his father, who came to join ‘bin; and he marched agpist the ameer who had killed his father, ina field close to the town.150 AN INLAND EPIC ‘And when the ane sw that he wat coming pon bis, be sent nny people opt wt ir nth on of ing led trany people of the around when the smear sw Chat they Elledsoany peopl, he cme ot to fg with hy and he sm tthe gh thames nthe el nh ats ee thee ays and hal in wich many pple were led om bathe, ho the anos dad thy Mono) Ind the Hingdbn to himsl, crept hat froin of heater wool totic hing andthe er lt tte who named Tolono now wth son of Ue ser naps wat wth the Kings And ia ths way, i he wor wat gated, and fs Bt toy, And forthe teson, Site gle dos nt cme Sol sed to PEDRO VAZ SOARES Peace at Last += At present {1513} the whole country ia peace as far as ‘Monomotap, who is the chief Bing aud lod of al this county, sand to whony al he other kings and lox are subject and bed “ent, and where there is the greatest quantity of gold in these yas according fo what allay, who, ater e had fished some Aas in which he was engaged, set (0 make peace though all Ure county whic i obedient to bin, inorder that all the tages right go and come to cay on tlic wherever they wished in security» om the aati fll to King lanl of Pots witon 55 ly hs etna Stay Peso Vse Soe, n GM. Thea Records of Sot tun Ar 900, 0 Duarte Barboss 151 DUARTE BARBOSA Monomotapa [What the Postuguese slong the Mozambique coast had learned by 3527 was that:] Beyond this country [Sofatn, ete] towards the interior ies the great kingdom of Bewnnetapa [Mononotsps] pertaining to the Heathen whom the Moors fie, the Swahili] name Cafes they are black men and go raked sove tht they cover their private parts with cotton cloth from the waist down, Sone are cla in skin of wild beasts, and some, the mast noble, ‘wear eapes ofthese skins with tails wich tail on the ground, 25 8 token of state and dignity, They leap as they go, and sway th bodies so as to make these til Ay from one side to the other ‘They cany swords thnust into wooden seabbards bound with much gold and other metals, worn om the left sey as with us, in cloth glides which they make for this purpose with four or Bve nots with hanging tassels to denote men of rank. They also carry assagais in their hands, and others cany bows and arrows of idle size; the rows not so long as these of the English, and not so short as those ofthe Turks. ‘The inon arrowheads ate long ‘nd finely pointed ‘They are warlike men, aid some too are great leaders. Flom The Book af Duarte Bass, tauslted by M, L. Dame, Hatayt Snot (2, Londons 8938), 40h 5as AN INLAND EPIC S3O3030 Joko De DARRos Mines and Fortresses (Summarizing what Lisbon tod heard or undesstood by 1550, {is annalist reports that:] OF the mics of this land from whieh gold is taken the nearest to Sofala ate those which they call ‘Manica, which ave in a plain surrounded by mountains having a Circumference of about thirty leagues. The place where gold isto ‘be found is generally known from the cart being dry and poor in herbage. ‘The whole of this district is called Matica, and the people who dig there are called Botongas ‘There ae other mines in a disteict called "Toroa, which by an- ‘other name is known as the kingdom of Butus, which is ruled by 4 prince called Buntom, a vassal of Benametapa, which Tend ad joins that aforesid consisting of vast plains, etd these mines ate the most ancient known ia the country, and they ate all in the pla, in the midst of which there is square forttess, of masonry Within and without, built of stones of marvelous siz, and there appears to be no mortar joining them. The wall is ‘more then twentyfive spans in width, and the height is not so great cow sidering the width, Above the door of this edifice is au insription, ‘which some Mootish merchants, learned men, who went thither, could not read, neither could they tell what the character might be. This edifice is almost surtounded by hills, ypon which are ‘others reseinbling it inthe fashioning of the stone and the absence ‘of mortar, and one of them isa tower mote than twelve fathoms igh. ‘The natives of the county call al these edifices Syimbeoe, which «ity De Bano io G.M The, Reso of Suthenter te, 1950, vo pb ‘No viene of» equ stucture a medion Rhode, oor of oi tips tins, ever come tig * Joa dos Santor 353, according to theit language signifies cout, for every place where Benametapa may be i so called; and they say that being royal property all the king's other dwellings have this name. Tt is guarded by a nobleman, who bas charge of i ater the manner of A chief alenide, and they call this officer Symbacayo, as we should say keeper of the Symmbnoe; and there are always some of Bena- :metapa's wives therein, of whhom this Symbacayo takes care. When, and by whom, these edifices were raid, as the people of te land are ignorant of the at of writing, there is no record, but they say they are the work ofthe devi, for in comparison with theie power and kaowledge it does not seen possible to them that they should Ye the work of man, 303030 JOAO DOS SANTOS South-central Africa in 1590-1600 Joo dos Sontes, who wrote the enlest detailed reports of Central Asia, was a Dominican pest who arrived on the Katt Coat in #386. ‘From then until ugg he served at Soft, Tn the latter yeat he traveled up the Zambezi to the tading posts of Sena and Tete, tuning & yar latec to Mozambique Island. He left Attica in as after serving ia the Kerimba Idands and agin at Sofa, remained eleven year in Portugel, returned to the Coast aod went up the Zambesi 4 scund time. His Ethiopia Orintal was published at Evora in 1609 and soon aftervardstrandlated into Rng, When he refes to “Moos,” he is Speaking ofthe Musi inhabitants of the cowstalseltlements, most of whom were Swahil, Much of what he las to say is ofthe highest secicogial interest sn ge as ete pean ti i nas tt Bee eka ak ae conea5 AN INLAND EPIC Sofas "The Fostrese of Sofala stands in 20.30 Southeme degres,stt- ate on the Coast of Easterne Ethiopia, nese the Sea, and just by @ River a league in the mouth, litle more or less, which riseth Ihgher above one hundred leagues, avsing in the Countrey called ‘Mocaranges, and passing by the CitieZimbaoe where the Quiteve resides, who is King of those pat, and ofall the River of Sofa. Up tht River the Portugal tae fo Mania, «land of much go, seated within the land above sate leagues. Withia the Fort of Sofala is 1 Church, to which belong si hund:ed Communicaats. ‘The Inhabitants usually axe Merchants, some to Maniea for gold, which they Deiter for Stlfes and Beades, both to the Capfayne and themselves; others to the River of Sabi, an the Tes ds Boct ex, and other neere Rivers, for Ivore, Gergelimspice, Pulse, Am Der, and many Slaves. “Theres another habitation of Moores two Caliver shot from the Castle, poore and miserable, which live by serving the Portugas, ‘The women performe there the oes of Tillage and Husbandry, as alo doc the Moores. They pay ther Tithes to the Dominicans ‘Church "The Fortese was built An. 1505 by Pero da Naya, with consent of the Moorish King Zfe, a man blinde of both his eyes, (in both senses, extersall and internal, cligious and polite) who too Tate repenting, thought to supplant it with trechere, ‘which they returned upon himslfe and slow him. In old times they had many sich petty Moozish Kings on the Coast, few of swhigh now remaine by reaton of the Portigall Captaynes suecced- ng in ther places, and in their amitie aud commerce with the ‘Quiteve King of those Counties Kingdom of the Quiteve “The King ofthese parts [inland Mozambique and frontic with S, Rhodesia) of eld hate, a Gentile, whieh worships nothing, nor ath any knowledge of God yes, rates lee cases himselfe os God of his Countries, and so s holden and reverenced of his Vas- tals, Hee is called Quitee, a tile roall and wo proper name, which they exchange for this 0 sone as they Become Kings. The Todo dos Santos. 155 Quiteve hath move than one hundred women all within doors, amongst which one or two are as his Queenes, the rest as Con ccubines: uany of them are his owme Aunts, Cousing, Sisters and Daughters, whic he no less useth, saying, that his sonnes by them ae true heires of the Kingdom without mixture of other bloud ‘When the Quiteve dyeth, his Queenes must die with him to doe hit service in the other world, who accordingly at the jostant of hs death take a poyson (which they call Lucasse) and die there- with, ‘The successor succeedeth as well to the women as to the slate, None else but the King may upon paine of death marry his Sister of Daughter, This Successor is commonly one of the eldest Sonnes ofthe deceased King, and of his great Wornen or Quoenes;, and if the eldest be not sulcient, then the next, or if uone of them be fit, his Brother of whole Dloud. ‘The King commonly hls lee Tiveth maketh the choise, and traines up him to affaires ‘of State, to whom he destines the succession. While J Tived these the King lad above thirtie Sonnes, and yet shewed more re spect to his Brother a wise man, then to any of then, all honoring ‘bin a apparent hei. ‘The same day the King dies, le carried to a Vil where all the ‘Kingg are interred, and early the next momning, hee whom the de- ‘ceased had named his Successor, goeth to the Kings house where the Kings Women abide in expectation, and by their consent hee ‘enters the house, nd seats himselfe with the prineipall of them in ‘a publike Hall, where the King was wont to sit to heare Causes, ina place drawne with curtens or covered with a clot, that none may see the King nor the Women with him. And thence he sends his Offices, which goe thorow the Citie and proclayme Festivals to the New King, who is now quictly possessed of the Kings House, with the Wonten of the King decessed, and that all should goe and sckowlege hm for their King: which ie done by all the great Men then ia Court, and the Nobles ofthe Citi, who goe to the Palace row solemnely guarded, and enter into the Hal by licence of the Officers, where te new King abides with his Women; entring some, and some, creeping on the ground till they come to the mid- dle of the Hell, and thence speake to the New King, giving him due obeysance, without seeing him or his Women. ‘The King136 AN INLAND EPIC ‘makes answere from within, and accepts their service: and after that drawes the Curtens, and shewes himselfe to them; whereat all, of them clap theix hands, and then tue behind the Cuntes, and goe forth creeping on the ground as they eame in and when they ave gone, others enter and doe in like sot, In this cexemonie the gteatest part of the day is spent with feasting, musiek and dancing thorow the ciie, The next day, the King sends hit Of ets thorow the Kinglome to declare this his snecession, and that, all should come to the Coust to se him breake the Bowe. Some- times there are many Competitor, and then Hee steceeds whom the Women adinit into the Kings Honse: for none may enter by Law without their Teave, nor ean bee King without peaceable en: tance; forceable enti forfeiting his Right and Title. By bribes, Uhescfore and other wayes, Uney seeke 10 make the Women on there, [Neere the Kingdome of Quitove is another of Lawes and Cur tomes like thereto, where the Sedanda raignes: both which were sometimes but one Kingdome. Whiles I was in Sofala, the Sedan being incurably sick of aleprosie, declared his Suocessor, and poy soned himselfe: which also is the custome there, if ny King have any deformitie in his person. The named Suocessor sought admit- tanee of the Womea, but they mich distasting hit, had secretly sent by night for another Prince whom they better liked, as move valiant end better beloved; whom they admitted, and assembled ‘themselves with him inthe pubike Hell, and cansed Proclamation to bee made to the peopl of his succession. The other, whom they Inad rejected, fe for feare of his lif, and being might assembled 2 great power, aud by force ented the Kings Ffouse. But this was strange to all, who therefore forsooke lim, and stuck to him whom the Women had chosen; whereupon the ather fled, and no more lifted up his head, Befowe the New King begins to goveme, he sends for all the chiefs n the Kingdome, to come to the Coutt and see him breake the Kings Bowe, which is all one wih taking powession of the Kingdome. In those Courts isa custome then also to Kil some of, those Lords or great Men, saying, that they are necesarie for the service of the devessed King: whereupon they Bil those of whom Jodo dos Sento 157 they stand in feare or doubt, or whom they hate, in stead of whom they make and erect new Lords. This custome eauseth such as feare themselves to flee the Land. Anciently the Kings were wont to dtinke poyson in any grievous disasters, 28 in a contagious disease, or natural impotencie, lameness, the lose of their foreteet, ot ther defonitie; sing, that Kings ought to have no defect; Which fit happened, it was honour for him to di, and goe to bet ter himelfe in that better lif, in which he should be wholly per- fect, But the Quiteve which rigned whiles I was there, would not follow his predecessors herein; but having lost one of his fore: teeth, sent to procaine thorow his whole Kingdame that one of his teoth were fallen out, and that i (that they might not be ig: hnozant wien they saw lim want it) his predecessors were such fools, for such causes to kil themselves, he would not doe s, but waite his natural eat, holding his life necessary to conserve his ‘state agunst his enemies, which example hee wonld commend {tw postetite, IE the Cafars have a suit, and seeke to speake with the King, they crepe to the place where hee is, having prostated themselves at the entrance, and Tooke not on him all the while they speake, ‘but lying on one side clap their hands all the time (a rite of ‘obsequionsnesse in those parts) and then having finished, they ‘reepe out of the doores as they eame in, For no Cafse may enter ‘on foot to speake to the King, nor eye him in speaking, except the familias and pastieular friends of the King, ‘The Portugals center on their fel, but unshod, and being neere the King, pros. trate themselves lying on one side almost sitting, and without Iook- ing om him speake to him, at every fourth word capping their hhands according to the custome. Both Cafres and Postugals are entertained by him with wine of Mays, ot their wheate, called Pombe, which they must drinke, although againttstomacke, not to contemne the Kings bountie; whence the Portugals have Tad some trouble, and are ford to stay in Towne without leave to returuc liome, with great expenge of tine and charges = ‘They nse three kinds of Onthes in Judgement most tenible, in accusations wanting just evidence, ‘The first is called, Lucas, Which i a vessel fll of poison, which they give the suspected,a8 AN INLAND EPIC ‘with words importing his destruction, and present death if he be ‘guilty his escape, if imocent: the terour whereof makes the eon Selous confess the crime: but the innocent drinke i confidently without harm, and thereby are acquitted of the crime; and the plaintiffe is condemned to him whom he falsly lid accused bis fe, eildren, and goods being forfeited, one moitie to the King, and the other tothe defendant. The second Oath they cll, Xoqua, whieh is made by iron heated red ot in the fre, cavsing the ac- ‘esed to liek it being so hot with his tongue, saying, thatthe fire ‘shall not hart him if hee bee innocent; otherwise it shall burn his tongue and his mouth, This is more common, end is used by the CCaftesand the Moores in those pats yea, (which wows i) some ‘Chuistans give the same Oath to their slaves suspected of stealth; which one in Sofala caused, on suspicion of a sttien garment, & Slave to doe thiee tines without hurt. The thied Oath they cal, Calano, which is a vessll of water made bitter with certain hherbs, which they put into it, whereof they give the accused to