_ 197 _ there without danger, it was a fortress of the King, supplied with everything necessary, where there could not fail to be a mast nor all the other things the ship needed. And that when September came it would be possible to go along the Malindi coast and arrive in Mozambique at the right time and with the monsoon wind for the ships to depart which wintered there. In this way nothing would be lost, and the safety of the ship and money would be gained. All the officers who had taken the oath were of this opinion, and the scrivener of the ship made an agreement from all this, which everyone signed. This done, we came in sight of the island of Socotora and made for the Strait. Since the pilot knew little of these parts, as he had never before made a journey there, we had hardships, new experiences and councils every day, until when we were in it the Strait, an almedia approached the ship of Moorish Arab fishermen from that coast. No one understood them except an Abyssinian of the Governor, who, having been a prisoner for only a short time, spoke our language so badly that another was necessary to understand him. And so by means of signs and gestures we found out from one of them where we were. And he offered to guide the ship to Muscat, which he did, and for this the Governor
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