_ 163 _ same constant latitude 15 south, two hundred and fifty leagues from Sofala. The site is an elbow of land like a cape surrounded by sea so that it is an island, low and swampy, which makes it very unhealthy. It is furnished with provisions from the mainland. The inhabitants are Moors who came there from outside and built a town from which they trade with Sofala and the other rivers of that coast; and they also traded with the Moors of India and the Red Sea strait. On this island the Portuguese made a fortress in order to keep it on account of its great importance, both for the trade and because it is a port-of-call for all our ships which sail from these western parts towards India. They all seek harbour here and take on water and provisions, and when the winds cannot help them to go outward or inward, they winter here. This fortress and island of Mozambique is under the jurisdiction of the captain of Sofala, who at present resides almost all the time in the fortress of Mozambique and appoints a captain of his own to Sofala, where the factor and Alcaide môr serves on his behalf; when he is in Sofala the factor and Alcaide mor of Mozambique acts as captain. The captaincy of the fortresses of Sofala and Mozambique is the best and most profitable of all those
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