90 They had arrived in a eet of three ships led by Vasco Da Gama, who had with him as his interpreter, Fernao Martins.(1) Vasco Da Gama had managed to sail round Africa through the Cape of Good Hope. A few days later, the Portuguese eet passed by the island of Kilwa, but did not stop there. The Portuguese were heading for Mombasa, where they anchored. It did not take the people of Mombasa too long to realize that those were a group of sailors lacking in morality and honour. Therefore, they tried to untie the ropes of the anchored ships in the hope they could pull the ships to land. But the Portuguese gured out (1) Fernao Martins piloted the second eet under the command of Vasco Da Gama. He spoke Arabic as he had learnt the language when he was imprisoned by the Arabs of Marrakesh.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy