_ 50 _ The Christians who are in this city are like resident merchants, who are subjugated and they are not allowed to do anything except what the Moorish King commands. It was God's will that when we approached this city, all the sick men that we had with us promptly recovered, through His mercy, because this country has a very healthy climate. We were still there on Wednesday and Thursday, after realising the malice and treachery that those dogs had tried to commit against us. We left in the morning with a light breeze and anchored close inshore about eight leagues from Mombasa. At dawn we saw two ships to our leeward some three leagues out to sea, and we decided to approach and capture them because we needed pilots to guide us to where we wanted to go. As evening drew in, we made for one of the boats and seized it, while the other took refuge ashore. In the one we took we found seventeen men and some gold, silver and a great quantity of maize and food, as well as a Moorish woman, the wife of an old but honest Moor, who was aboard. As we closed in, they all threw themselves into the sea, and we proceeded to pick them up in our small boats. At sunset on that same day we dropped anchor off
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