20 just off the mainland. There are some Mouros villages on these islands which trade with the gentiles [1] on the mainland and have agreements with them. There is plenty of ambergris of good quality in these Hucicas, which the Mouros collect and sell to others. There are also plenty of pearls and small seed-pearls, which are found in oysters in the sea, however they do not know how to collect them orfish, those they get are from roasting the oysters and the seed-pearl comes out ruined and burnt. There is not much doubt that there are good ones there if they knew how to collect them and fish as they do in other places, which I shall mention later. Sofala Going some twenty or thirty leagues further, beyond the Great Hucicas towards India, there is a river which is not very big, and upstream there is a Mouros village called Sofala, next to which Our Lord and King has a fortress. These Mouros settled here a long time ago because of the busy trade in gold they had with the gentiles on the mainland. The Mouros in this village speak Arabic and the king that rules them obeys Our Lord and King. The way they traded was for small boats called zambucos [2] to come here from the kingdoms of Kilwa, Mombasa and Malindi, bringing many coloured cotton cloths; other white and blue ones and some silks, and many small greyish; red and yellow beads, which are brought to the said kingdoms in other larger vessels from the Great Kingdom of Cambay. The said Mouros that used to come from Malindi and Mombasa were paid for these goods in gold, at a price they were very happy with; such gold was given by weight. The Mouros from Sofala kept these goods and then sold them to the gentiles from the Kingdom of Benamatapa, who used to go there with cargoes of gold, which was exchanged for the said cloths without being weighed, in such 1. Translator's note: Throughout the text, the author uses the term “gentios” to refer to those who are neither Christian; Jewish, or Moslem, in particular when describing India. 2. Translator's note: zambuco - A smallflat-bottomed boat with no deck.
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