island half a league in circumference containing a town of 8000 inhabitants, most of them weavers of an excellent kind of stuff made of the palm-tree. At this place the Moors used to purchase boys who were carried to Arabia and sold for infamous uses. The king of this place, named Samamo, received the Portuguese in a friendly manner, and granted leave to preach the gospel among his subjects. Coasting about 40 leagues south from this place, they came to the mouth of a large river named Balue or Baeli in about 17° S. and having doubled Cape St Andrew, they saw the river and kingdom of Casame, between the latitudes of 17° and 18° S. where they found little water and had much trouble[7]. Here also amity was established with the king, whose name was Sampilla, a discreet old man; but hitherto they could get no intelligence of the Portuguese whom they were sent in search of. On Whitsunday, which happened that year about the middle of May, mass was said on shore and two crosses erected, at which the king appeared so much pleased that he engaged to restore them if they happened to fall or decay. During the holidays they discovered an island in lat. 18° S. to which they gave the name of Espirito Santo[8], and half a degree farther they were in some danger from a sand bank 9 leagues long. On Trinity Sunday, still in danger from sand banks, they anchored at the seven islands of Cuerpo de Dios or Corpus Christi[9] in 19° S. near the kingdom and river of Sadia to which they came on the 19th of June, finding scarcely enough of water to float the caravel. This kingdom is extensive, and its principal city on the banks of the river has about 10,000 inhabitants. The people are black, simple, and good-natured, having no trade, but have plenty of flesh, maize, tar, tortoises, sandal, ebony, and sweet woods. The name of the king was Capilate, who was an old man much respected and very honest. He received the Portuguese kindly, and even sent his son to guide them along the coast. All along this coast from Massalage to Sadia the natives speak the same language with the Kafrs on the opposite coast of Africa; while in all the rest of the island the native language called Buqua is spoken.

[Footnote 6: On this bay is a town called New Massah to distinguish it from Old Massah on the bay of Massali, somewhat more than half a degree farther north. Masialege or Meselage is a town at the bottom of the bay of Juan Mane de Cuna, about half a degree farther south.--E.]

[Footnote 7: They were here on the bank of Pracel, which seems alluded to in the text from the shallowness of the water; though the district named Casame in the text is not to be found in modern maps--E.]

[Footnote 8: Probably the island of the bay of St Andrew in 17° 30' is here meant; at any rate it must be carefully distinguished from Spiritu Santo, St Esprit, or Holy Ghost Island, one of the Comoros in lat. 15° S.--E.]

[Footnote 9: Perhaps those now called barren isles on the west coast, between lat. 18° 40' and 19° 12' S. The river Sadia of the text may be that now called Santiano in lat. 19° S.--E.]

Continuing towards the south they came to the country of the Buques, a poor and barbarous people feeding on the spawn of fish, who are much oppressed by the kings of the inland tribes. Passing the river Mane[10], that of Saume[11] in 20° 15'; Manoputa in 20° 30', where they first heard of the Portuguese; Isango in 21°; Terrir in 21° 30'; the seven islands of Elizabeth in 22°; they came on the 11th of July into the port of St Felix[12] in 22°, where they heard again of the Portuguese of whom they were in search, from Dissamuta the king of that part of the country. On offering a silver chain at this place for some provisions, the natives gave it to an old woman to examine if it was genuine, and she informed the Portuguese that at the distance of three days journey there was an island inhabited a long while before by a white people dressed like the Portuguese and wearing crosses hanging from their necks, who lived by rapine and easily took whatever they wanted, as they were armed with spears and guns, with which information the Portuguese were much gratified. Continuing their voyage past the bay of St Bonaventura and the mouth of the river Massimanga, they entered the bay of Santa Clara, where Diamassuto came to them and entered into a treaty of friendship, worshipping the cross on his knees. They were here told that white people frequented a neighbouring port, and concluded that they were Hollanders. Going onwards they found banks of sand not laid down in any chart, and entered a port in lat. 24° S. The king of this place was named Diacomena, and they here learnt that there were Portuguese on the opposite coast who had been cast away, and now herded cattle for their subsistence. They said likewise that the Hollanders had been three times at their port, and had left them four musketeers with whose assistance they had made war upon their enemies. On some trees there were several inscriptions, among which were the following. Christophorus Neoportus Anglus Cap. and on another Dominus Robertus Scherleius Comes, Legatus Regis Persarum.

[Footnote 10: It is singular that the large circular bay of Mansitare in lat. 19° 30' S. is not named, although probably meant by the river Mane in the text.--E.]

[Footnote 11: Now called Ranoumanthe, discharging its waters into the bay of St Vincents.--E.]

[Footnote 12: Now Port St James.--E.]

In the latitude of 25° S. they entered a port which they named St Augustine[13] in a kingdom called Vavalinta, of which a Buque named Diamacrinale was king, who no sooner saw the Portuguese than he asked if these were some of the men from the other coast. This confirmed the stories they had formerly heard respecting the Portuguese, and they were here informed that the place at which they dwelt was only six days sail from that place. In September they got sight of Cape Romain or St Mary the most southern point of Madagascar, where they spent 40 days in stormy weather, and on St Lukes day, 18th October, they entered the port of that name in the kingdom of Enseroe. The natives said that there were white people who wore crosses, only at the distance of half a days journey, who had a large town, and Randumana the king came on board the caravel, and sent one of his subjects with a Portuguese to shew him where these white people dwelt, but the black ran away when only half way.

[Footnote 13: In lat. 23° 30' or directly under the tropic of Capricorn, is a bay now called St Augustine. If that in the text, the latitude 1s erroneous a degree and a half.--E.]

Among others of the natives who came to this place to trade with the Portuguese, was a king named Bruto Chembanga with above 500 fighting men. His sons were almost white, with long hair, wearing gowns and breeches of cotton of several colours with silver buttons and bracelets and several ornaments of gold, set with pearls and coral. The territory of this king was named Matacassi, bordering on Enseroe to the west. He said that the Portuguese were all dead, who not far from that place had built a town of stone houses, where they worshipped the cross, on the foot or pedestal of which were unknown characters. He drew representations of all these things on the sand, and demanded a high reward for his intelligence. Some of his people wore crosses, and informed the Portuguese that there were two ships belonging to the Hollanders in port St Lucia or Mangascafe. In a small island at this place there was found a square stone fort[14], and at