_ 166 _ Sofala a vessel is sent every year at the King’s expense from the island of Goa to Mozambique, which takes supplies and munitions and cloth from Cambay, and beads and other merchandise which are sent on the King’s behalf in payment of the salaries of the captain and officers, and the remainder is taken from Mozambique to the factory of Sofala and the Cuama and other rivers of that coast, where they are exchanged for gold and ivory for the King’s treasury. The captaincy of the ship which normally goes from Goa to Mozambique used to be very important and was given to long-serving noblemen. When they used to make two of these voyages it was considered a very good post, but for some years these have been reduced and men appointed of less high quality, though with long service. At present each voyage, outward and inward, is worth about four or five thousand cruzados. The clerk to this voyage is appointed from poor soldiers and brings in five hundred cruzados. The Malindi coast On the coast of the kingdom of Malindi, which lies between Cape Delgado and Cape Guardafui, there is a captain appointed by the King with a fleet of vessels which he equips at his own cost to defend the coast; and it also attacks Moorish ships coming from Mecca and the Red Sea.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy