_ 44 _ these islands were the mainland. Because of that, he was flogged. The ships of this country sail between the mainland and the islands where it is four fathoms deep, but we kept out to sea. These islands are numerous and very close together, so we were unable to distinguish one from another. They are also populated. On Monday we caught sight of other islands five leagues out to sea. On Wednesday, 4 April, we left and sailed to the northwest. Before mid-day we caught sight of an extensive landmass and two adjacent islands. This land was surrounded by many shoals and as soon as we came near enough the pilots recognised it and said that the island of the Christians [Kilwa] lay three leagues astern. We then toiled the whole day trying to reach it, but because the westerly wind was strong, we were unable to do so. The captains then decided that we should make for a city called Mombasa, which was four days sailing from us. This was one of the places that we had come to find, because the pilots who brought us to it told us it was Christian. We arrived when it was already late, carried along by a strong wind. At nightfall we saw a very large island [Mafia] lying to the north of us on which, according to the pilots account, there were two towns, one Christian
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