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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A06339	A report of the kingdome of Congo, a region of Africa And of the countries that border rounde about the same. 1. Wherein is also shewed, that the two zones torrida & frigida, are not onely habitable, but inhabited, and very temperate, contrary to the opinion of the old philosophers. 2. That the blacke colour which is in the skinnes of the Ethiopians and Negroes &c. proceedeth not from the sunne. 3. And that the Riuer Nilus springeth not out of the mountains of the Moone, as hath been heretofore beleeued: together with the true cause of the rising and increasing thereof. 4. Besides the description of diuers plants, fishes and beastes, that are found in those countries. Drawen out of the writinges and discourses of Odoardo Lopez a Portingall, by Philippo Pigafetta. Translated out of Italian by Abraham Hartwell.; Relatione del reame di Congo. English	Lopes, Duarte.; Pigafetta, Filippo, 1533-1604.; Hartwell, Abraham, b. 1553.; Rogers, William, b. ca. 1545, engraver. aut	1597 (1597)	STC 16805; ESTC S108820	127,173	219

life of an Heremite in that wildernesse and so to doe penaunce for their sinnes Moreouer in the same place there is so great aboundaunce of fish as if the sea were very neere vnto them so that you shall not need but onely to cast your hooks into the water and you shall presently drawe them out againe loaden with fish I once demanded the questiō what reason there was why the Portingals did neuer make any accompt nor had any care to fortifie this Island considering it was so fit and necessary for saylers and founded there as it were by the prouidence of God for the reliefe of the Portingals which passe that way as Granata doth largely discourse vpon the Creede first written by him in Spanishe and since translated by my selfe into Italian But aunswere was made vnto mee that there was no need so to doo for that the Islande serueth to no purpose for the voyage into the Indies because there is another way for that passage and it is also a very harde matter to finde it out but in returning from thence it lyeth full in the way and is very easily descried So that it woulde not quite the cost to bestow money time in maintayning souldiers therein without any profite seeing none other vessels come thither but onely the Portugals And when I replyed that the English had nowe twice entred into those seas once vnder the conduct of Drake and secondly this year 1588. vnder another Pirate being also an English man and more valiant then hee called Candish who is returned home ful of great richesse It was aunswered that yet for all that it coulde not possibly bee brought to passe to fortifie the same within a sea being so farre off and seeing that all the prouision which should build there must of necessity bee brought out of Europe To be short besides all these naturall good giftes aboue rehearsed the climate is temperate the ayre pure cleane and holesome and the winds which blow there are very pleasaunt So that sicke persons and such as were halfe deade with the diseases of the sea arryuing at this Island haue beene presently healed and recouered their former strength through the benignity of this Country From the Islande of S. Helena they made sayle with the same weather and so within the space of xvij dayes came to the hauen of Loanda which is in the prouince of Congo the windes being somewhat more calme then they were afore This is a very sure and a great hauen so called of an Islande of the same name whereof wee shall speake hereafter I told you before there were two courses of sayling from the Islands of Capo verde to Loanda the one of thē is now declared which beeing neuer vsed afterwardes was at the first attempted and performed by the same ship wherein Signor Odoardo went being then guided by Francesco Martinez the kings Pilot a man very greatly experienced in those seas and the first that euer conducted vessell by that way the other is atchieued by passing along the coast of the firme lande From the Island of San Iacomo they come to Capo dos Palmas and from thence direct themselues to the Islande of San Thomas which lyeth vnder the Equinoctial so called because it was discouered vpon that day wherein the feast of that Apostle is vsed to bee celebrated It is distant from the firme lande CLxxx myles right against the riuer called Gaban which is so termed because it is in shape very like to that kinde of vesture that it is called a Gaban or a cloake The hauen thereof is fore-closed with an Island that raiseth it selfe in the chanell of the riuer whereunto the Portingalles do sayle with small barkes from S. Thomas Islande carrying thether such thinges as vsually they carry to the coast of Guinea and from thence carrying backe with them Iuory waxe hony Oyle of Palme and blacke-More slaues Neere to the Islande of S. Thomas towardes the the North lyeth another Islande called the Isle of the Prince distant from the firme lande an hundred and fiue miles being of the same condition and trafficke that the Isle of S. Thomas is although in circuite somewhat lesse This Islande of S. Thomas is in fashion almost rounde and in breadth contayneth Lx. miles and in compasse Clxxx. Very rich it is and of great trafficke discouered at the first and conquered by the Portingalles at such time as they began the conquest of the Indies It hath diuers hauens but the principal and chiefest of all whereinto the vesselles arriuing there doe withdraw themselues is in the place where the Cittie standeth The Islande breedeth an infinite deale of Sugar almost all kinds of victuals In the Citty there are some Churches and a Bishoppe with many Clerks and one Chaplen or Prieste There is also a Castell with a garrison and Artillary in it which beat vpon the hauen being a very great and a safe Port where many shippes may ride But a very straunge and admirable thing it is that when the Portugals did first come thether there was no sugar there planted but they brought it thether from other Countreys as they did Ginger also which tooke roote grew there in most aboundant manner The soyle in deed is moyst and as it were appropriated to foster the Sugar Cane which without any other watering multiplyeth of it selfe and fructifieth infinitely the reason whereof is because the dewe falleth there like rayne and moisteneth the earth There are in this Island aboue Lxx. houses or presses for making of Sugar and euery presse hath many cottages about it as though it were a village there may bee about some three hundred persons that are appointed for that kinde of worke They do euery yeare loade about fortie great shippes with sugar True it is indeed that not long ago the wormes as it were a plague to that land haue deuoured the rootes of the Canes and destroyed the fruites of their sugar in such sort as now of the forty shippes they do not load aboue fiue or sixe vessels with that marchandise And therevpon it commeth that sugar is growen so deare in those Countreyes The Island of S. Thomas holdeth trafficke with the people that dwell in the firme lande which do vsually resort to the mouthes or entries of their Riuers The first whereof to begin withal is named the riuer of Fernando di Poo that is to say of Fernando Pouldre who did first discouer the same and lieth in fiue degrees towardes our Pole Right against the mouth of it ryseth an Island of the same name lying thirty and sixe miles distant from it The seconde Riuer is called Bora that is to say Filth The thirde La riuiera del Campo The fourth di San Benedetto and the fifth that of Angra which in the mouth of it hath an Islande called di Corisco that is to say Thonder All these doe

hath no hauen And here it is to be noted that all this Country which we haue here described was wont to be subiect to the king of Congo but a while ago the Gouernour of that countrey is become the absolute Lorde thereof and professeth himselfe to bee a friende to the king of Congo but not his vassall and yet sometimes he sendeth the King some present in manner of a tribute Beyond the Riuer Coanza is the hauē of Loanda being in ten degrees made as it is said by a certaine Island called Loanda which signifieth in that lauguage Bald or Shauen because it is a Countrey without any hilles and very low for indeed it scarce rayseth it selfe aboue the sea This Island was framed of the sand and durt of the sea and of the riuer Coanza whose waues meeting together and the filthy matter sinking downe there to the bottome in a continuance of time it grew to be an Island It may be about 20. miles long and one mile broade at the most and in some places but onely a bowshoote But it is a maruellous thing that in such a sandy ground if you shall digge to the depth of two or three hande-breadthes you shall finde sweete water the best in all those Countreyes Wherein also there is a very strange effect that when the Ocean ebbeth this water becommeth somewhat salte but when it floweth to the top it is most sweete A thing that falleth out also in the Islande of Cadis in Spayne by the report and testimony of Strabo This Islande is the Mine of all the money which the King of Congo spendeth and all the people thereaboutes For vppon the shores you shall haue certayne women that vse to diue and ducke into the sea two yardes deepe and more and fill their baskets with sand and afterwardes diuide the grauell from certayne smal Shel-fishes that are among it which are called Lumache when these Lumache are seuered by themselues then doe they picke out the Males from the Females which they may easily do because the Female is more fine then the Male and greatly esteemed for her colour which is very neat bright and pleasant to the sight These Lumache doo breede in all the shores of the kingdome of Congo but the best of all are those of Loanda because they looke very fine and of a very bright colour some gray or ashecoloured and some of other colours not so precious And here you must note that gold and siluer and mettell is not of any estimation nor in vse of money in these countreyes but onely these Lumache so that neither with golde nor siluer in masse or in coine you shal buy any thing there but with these Lumache you shall buy both golde and siluer or any thing els In this Islande there are 7. or 8. Townes called in that Country language Libata the principal whereof is Spirito sancto and therein dwelleth the Gouernour which is sent from Congo to minister iustice and to gather the treasure of the moneyes of these Lumache Here are also Goates and Sheepe and Boares in great numbers which being tame at the first do afterwardes become wilde and liue in the woods Here groweth also a tree called Enzanda which is a great one and alwaies greene and endued with a singular qualitie For from the bowes of it that sproute vpwardes there hang downe certaine threedes as it were which creeping into the earth do take roots out from these roots do rise other trees so they multiply And within the outmost barke thereof there groweth a certaine kind of pil like fine linnen which being beaten and cleansed they spreade out in length and in breadth and therewith they cloath their men and women that are of the basest sort In this Islande they haue certaine vessels made of the bodies of Palme-trees ioyned together and framed after the manner of our boates with a prowe and a sterne wherin they passe from place to place both with oares and sayles In these boates they vse to fish about the riuers which are indeede exceeding full of fish and sometime also they will go ouer to the firme lande In that part of this Islande which is towardes the maine land in certaine lowe places there grow certaine trees which when the water of the Ocean ebbeth discouer themselues and at the feet thereof you shal find certaine other Shel-fishes cleauing as fast to the trees as may bee hauing within them a great fish as bigge as a mans hande and very good meate The people of the countrey know them very well and call them Ambiziamatare that is to say the Fishe of the Rocke The shels of these fishes they vse to burne and thereof make very good lime to builde withall And being like the corke or barke of the tree which is called Manghi they dresse their Oxe hydes withall to make their shooe soles the stronger To be briefe this Island bringeth forth neither corne nor wine but there is great store of victuaile brought thether from all parts thereaboutes to fetch away these Lumache For as in all other places all things may be had for money of mettell so all things here are had for Lumache Whereby may bee noted that not onely here in this kingdome of Congo but also in her neighbour Ethiopia and in Africa and in the kingdomes of China certaine others of the Indies they vse moneyes of other matter then of mettall that is to say neyther golde nor siluer nor copper nor any other mixture tempered of these For in Aethiopia their money is Pepper and in the kingdome of Tombutto which is about the Riuer Nigir otherwise called Senega their money is Cockles or Shelfishe and among the Azanaghi their moneyes are Porcellette and in the kingdome of Bengala likewise they vse Porcellette and mettall together In China they haue certaine Shelfishes called also Porcellette which they vse for their money in other places Paper stamped with the kings seale and the barks of the tree called Gelsomora Whereby it appeareth that the money which is payed for euerie thing is not mettall all the worlde ouer as it is in Europe and in many and sundry other countries of the earth This Islande in the straitest part of it is very neere to the firme lande and the people do oftentimes swimme ouer the channell there In this straite there arise out of the Ocean certaine Islettes which shewe themselues forth from the water when it ebbeth and are couered againe when it floweth And in those Islettes you shall see great trees and most excellent Shelfishes cleauing fast to the bodies of them such as I tolde you of before Neere to this Islande towardes the outwarde coast to the sea there swim an innumerable sorte of Whales that looke blacke and fighting one with another doe kill themselues which afterwardes being by the waues cast vp vpon the shore as bigge as a midling

marchants shippe the Negroes goe forth with their boates to fetch them and to take the oyle out of them which being mingled with pitch they vse to trimme their vessels withall Vpon the ridges or backes of these creatures there growe many Shelfishes made like Snailes Cockles and Whelkes whereof Signor Odoardo affirmed that hee had seene great store He was also of opinion that Amber commeth not from these fishes For ouer all the coast of Congo where there is an infinite number of them you shal not finde either Ambregriz or any other Amber blacke or white in any place And yet if it should come from these creatures there must haue beene of necessity great store of it founde vpon these Shores The principall hauen of this Island hath his entrance towardes the North and on that side it is halfe a mile broade and of a very great depth Vpon the firme land directly ouer against the Island is a towne called villa di San Paulo altogether inhabited with Portingalles and their wiues which they brought with them out of Spaine and yet it is not fortified All this channell is very full of fish especially of Sardinaes and of Anchioues whereof there is so great store that in the winter time they will of themselues leape vp to land Other kindes of most excellent fishes there are as Soles and Sturgeons and Barbelles and all manner of dainty fish and great Crabbes in straunge aboundance and all very wholesome so that the greatest parte of the people that dwel about the banks there do liue vpon them Into this channell runneth the Riuer called Bengo which is a very great one nauigable vpwardes xxv miles This Riuer with that other of Coanza whereof I tolde you before doe make the Isle of Loanda because when their waters do meete together they leaue their sande and filth behind them and so increase the Island There runneth also into it another great Riuer called Dande which wil receiue vessels of an hundred tunne then another Riuer called Lemba which neither hath Hauen neyther do any Shippes enter into it Very neere vnto this there is also another Riuer called Ozone which issueth out of the same Lake whence Nilus likewise springeth and it hath a hauen Next to Ozone there is another called Loze without any hauen and then another great one with a hauen called Ambriz which runneth within foure leagues neere to the Royall Citty of Congo Last of all is the Riuer Lelunda which signifieth a Trowtfish and watereth the rootes of that great hil wheron the pallace of Congo standeth called by the Portingalles the Oteiro This Riuer Lelunda springeth out of the same Lake from whence Coanza issueth and taketh into it by the way another Riuer that commeth from the great Lake and when it doth not raine then you may passe ouer Lelunda on foote because it hath so little store of water in it Next vnto this is the Zaire a huge Riuer and a large and in deed the greatest in all the kingdome of Congo The original of this Riuer commeth out of three Lakes one is the great Lake from whence Nilus springeth the second is the little Lake aboue mentioned and the third is the second great Lake which Nilus engendreth And certainely when you will consider the aboundance of water that is in this Riuer you will say that there was no nede to haue any fewer or lesser springes to make so huge a streame as this carrieth For in the very mouth of it which is the onely entraunce into it the Riuer is 28. myles broad and when it is in the height of his increase he runneth fresh water 40. or 50. miles into the sea and sometimes 80. so that the passengers doe refresh themselues withal by the troublesomnes of the water they know the place where they are It is nauigable vpwardes with great barkes about 25. miles vntill you come to a certaine straite betweene the rockes where it falleth with such a horrible noise that it may be hearde almost 8. miles And this place is called by the Portingalles Cachiuera that is to say a Fall or a Cataracte like to the Cataractes of Nilus Betweene the mouth of this Riuer and the fall thereof there are diuers great Islands well inhabited with townes and Lordes obedient to the king of Congo which sometimes for the great enmitie that is among them doo warre one against another in certaine boates hollowed out of a stocke of a tree which is of an vnmesurable bignes these boats they call Lungo The greatest boates that they haue are made of a certaine tree called Licondo which is so great that sixe men cannot compasse it with their armes and is in length of proportion aunswerable to the thicknesse so that one of them will carrie about 200. persons They rowe these boates with their oares which are not tyed to any loopes but they holde them at libertie in their handes and moue the water therewith at pleasure Euery man hath his oare and his bowe and when they fight together they lay downe their oare and take their bowe Neyther do they vse any other Rudders to turne and gouerne their boates but onely their oares The first of these Islandes which is but a little one is called the Isle of Horses because there are bredde and brought vp in it great store of those creatures that the Greekes call Hippopotami that is to say Water-horses In a certaine village within this Islande doe the Portingals dwel hauing withdrawen themselues thether for their better securitie They haue their vesselles to transporte them ouer the water to the firme lande vpon the south banke of the Riuer which lande is called the hauen of Pinda where many shippes doe ryde that arriue therein In this Riuer there are liuing diuerse kinds of creatures and namely mighty great Crocodiles which the Countrey people there call Caiman and Water-horses aboue named And another kind of creature that hath as it were two hands and a taile like a Target which is called Ambize Angulo that is to say a Hogge-fishe because it it as fat as a Porke The flesh of it is very good and thereof they make Larde and so keepe it neyther hath it the sauour or taste of a fish although it bee a fishe It neuer goeth out from the fresh water but feedeth vpon the grasse that groweth on the banks hath a mouth like the mozell of an Oxe There are of these fishes that weigh 500. poundes a peece The fishermen vse to take them in their little boates by marking the places where they feed and then with their hookes and forkes striking and wounding them they drawe them dead forth of the water and when they haue cut them in peeces they carry them to the king For who soeuer doth not so encurreth the penaltie of death and so doe they likewise that

is the distance of an hundred miles contayning the largenesse and breadth of this famous Cape which being deuided into two points as it were into two hornes it maketh a Gulfe where sometimes the Portingall shippes doe take fresh water in the Riuer that they call the Sweet Riuer The inhabitantes of this coast which dwell betweene these two points are of colour blacke although the Pole Antarctike in that place be in the eleuation of thirtie and fiue degrees which is a very strange thing yea the rude people that liue among the most colde mountains of the Moone are blacke also This I write of purpose to aduise and moue the Philosophers and such as search the effectes of nature that they would fall into their deepe contemplation and speculation therevpon teach vs whether this blacke colour be occasioned by the Sunne or by any other secrete and vnknowne cause Which question I for this time doe meane to leaue vndecided Now forasmuch as this Promontory of Good-Hope is the greatest Cape of all and stretcheth out into the Sea farther then any other in the whole vniuersall worlde and is very daungerous to passe as all Promontories are and for that also the sea is there most terrible and from the lande there blow most horrible winds which cause that Ocean to be exceedingly tempestuous and stormie so that many Portingall shippes of admirable burthens haue beene cast away therein and lastly because the auncient Historiographers did neuer knowe it no not so much as by hearesay and it is not long ago since the King of Portingalles Fleetes did first discouer the same It shal not be impertinent but rather a matter of great conuenience in this place to decipher the measure thereof to make so manifest a declaration of it as may serue also to vnderstande how great the nauigation is from Portingall into India by compassing the Coast of the Cape of Good-Hope onely almost the space of sixe thousande miles as a little hereafter it shall be shewed vnto you For from the Riuer of Ferdinando Poo where the said Cape beginneth to iut-out into the sea as farre as to the Poynt which we call the Point of Needles there is contayned vpon the shoare more then two thousande and 200. myles from the North to the South and on the contrary side from the said Point to the Cape of Guarda-Fuy right ouer against the Islande of Socotora they reckon more then three thousande and three hundred miles by the coast from the South to the North. So that from Lisbone compassing about the shoares of Africa and all the Cape of Good-Hope vnto the kingdome of Goa there are moe then fifteene thousand miles And from thence afterwardes to Malaca and to China and so forwardes there remayneth so long a iourney that neuer yet in any time hetherto hath there beene so great and so daungerous a nauigation vndertaken and performed as this of the Portingalles neyther with great vesselles nor with small It is called the Cape of Good-Hope because all such as saile that way aswell in going forth as in returning home doo especially principally ayme at this marke that they may passe and get beyonde this Promontorie which when they haue doone they account themselues to bee out of all daunger and as it were to haue performed their iourney And vpon this their generall desire they gaue it the name of the Cape of Good-Hope Nowe to returne to our purpose and to talke further of the Coast of Africa beyonde the Cape or Poynt of the Needelles there are many competent harboroughes and hauens the principall whereof is Seno Formoso The faire Bay and Seno del Lago The Bay of the Lake For there the sea maketh a certaine Gulfe wherein are sundry Islandes and Portes and somewhat beyonde there runneth into the sea the Riuer of S. Christopher and at the mouth thereof there lye three prettie Islettes A little further forwardes the Coast runneth all along by a Countrey which the Portingalles call Terra do Natal the Land of the Natiuitie because it was first discouered at Christmasse and so reacheth to the Cape called Della Pescheria Betweene which Cape and the Riuer Magnice within the Land is the Kingdome of Buttua whose Territories are from the rootes or bottome of the mountaines of the Moone vntill you come to the riuer Magnice towards the North where the countrey of Monomotapa standeth and westwardes from the Riuer Brauagul towardes the sea all along the bankes of the Riuer Magnice In this kingdome there are many mynes of Golde and a people that is of the same qualities and conditions that the people of Monomotapa is as hereafter shall bee shewed vnto you And so going along the shores of the Ocean you come to the Riuer Magnice which lyeth in the very entraunce of the Kingdome of Sofala and the Empire of Monomotapa Chap. 9. Of the Kingdome of Sofala THis Kingdome beginneth at the Riuer Magnice which springeth out of the first Lake of Nilus and conueyeth it selfe into the sea in the middest of the Bay betweene the point Pescheria and the Cape called Capo delle Correnti situate in twentie and three degrees a halfe of the Pole Antarctik vnder the Tropike of Capricorne With this Riuer neere vnto the sea there ioyne three other notable riuers the principall whereof is by the Portingalles called Saynt Christophers because vpon the day of that Saintes feast it was first discouered but by the inhabitantes it is named Nagoa The second tooke the name of one Lorenzo Margues that first found it These two Riuers do spring originally from the mountains of the Moone so greatly renowned among the auncient writers but by the people of the country they are called Toroa out of which Mountains they did thinke that famous Nilus tooke also his beginning but they were vtterly deceyued For as we haue already tolde you the first Lake ariseth not out of those Mountaines but lyeth a great way distant from it and betweene it and them is there a very great and a huge low plaine Besides that the streames that flow from the said mountaines do runne towardes the East and bestow their waters vpon other great Riuers so that it is not possible for them to passe into the foresaide Lake much lesse into Nilus considering especially that the Riuer Magnice springeth out of that first Lake and by a farre different course from the course of Nilus runneth towards the East and so ioyneth it selfe with the two Riuers aforesaide The thirde is called Arroe and ariseth on another side out of the Mountaines of the Gold-Mines of Monomotapa and in some places of this Riuer there are founde some small peeces of Golde among the sand These three Riuers enter into the great Magnice neere vnto the sea and all fower together doo make there a great water in a very large channell and so dischargeth it selfe into

the Ocean From the mouth of this riuer all along the sea coast stretcheth the kingdome of Sofala vnto the Riuer Cuama which is so called of a certaine castel or fortresse that carryeth the same name and is possessed by Mahometans and Pagans but the Portingalles call it The mouthes of Cuama because at the entry into the sea this riuer diuideth it self into seauen mouthes where there are fiue speciall Islandes besides diuerse others that lie vp the riuer all very full and wel peopled with Pagans This Cuama commeth out of the same Lake and from the same springs from whence Nilus floweth And thus the Kingdome of Sofala is comprised within the saide two Riuers Magnice and Cuama vpon the sea coast It is but a smal Kingdome and hath but few howses or townes in it The chiefe and principall head whereof is an Islande that lyeth in the riuer called Sofala which giueth the name to all the whole Countrey It is inhabited by Mahometans and the King himselfe is of the same secte and yeeldeth obedience to the Crowne of Portingall because he will not be subiecte to the Empire of Monomotapa And therevpon the Portingalles there doo keepe a Forte in the mouth of the riuer Cuama and doo trade in those Countryes for Golde and Iuory and Amber which is founde vppon that Coast and good store of slaues and in steede thereof they leaue behinde them Cotton-Cloth and Silkes that are brought from Cambaia and is the common apparell of those people The Mahometans that at this present do inhabite those Countries are not naturally borne there but before the Portingals came into those quarters they trafficked thether in small barkes from the Coast of Arabia Foelix And when the Portingalles had conquered that Realme the Mahometans stayed there still and nowe they are become neyther vtter Pagans nor holding of the secte of Mahomet From the shoars and Coast that lyeth betweene the two foresaide riuers of Magnice and Cuama within the land spreadeth the Empire of Monomotapa where there is verye great store of Mines of Golde which is carryed from thence into all the regions thereaboutes and into Sofala and into the other partes of Africa And some there be that wil say that Salomons Golde which he had for the Temple of Ierusalem was brought by sea out of these Countreyes A thing in truth not very vnlikely For in the Countries of Monomotapa there doe remain to this day many ancient buildings of great worke and singular Architecture of Stone of Lime and of Timber the like whereof are not to be seene in all the Prouinces adioyning The Empire of Monomotapa is very great and for people infinite They are Gentiles and Pagans of colour blacke very couragious in warre of a middle stature and swift of foote There are many Kinges that are vassalles and subiectes to Monomotapa who doe oftentimes rebell and make warre against him Their weapons are bowes and arrowes and light dartes This Emperour maintayneth many Armies in seuerall Prouinces deuided into Legions according to the vse and custome of the Romanes For being so great a Lord as he is he must of necessitie be in continuall warre for the maintenance of his estate And among all the rest of his souldiers the most valorous in name are his Legions of women whom he esteemeth very highly and accounteth them as the very sinewes and strength of his military forces These women do burne their leaft pappes with fire because they should bee no hinderaunce vnto them in their shooting after the vse and manner of the auncient Amazones that are so greatly celebrated by the Historiographers of former prophane memories For their weapons they practise bowes and arrowes They are very quicke and swift liuely and couragious very cunning in shooting but especially and aboue all venturous and constant in fight In their battelles they vse a warlike kind of craft and subtiltie For they haue a custome to make a shew that they would flie and runne away as though they were vanquished and discomfited but they wil diuers times turne themselues backe and vexe their enemies mightely with the shot of their arrowes And when they see their aduersaries so greedie of the victory that they beginne to dispearse and scatter themselues then will they suddenly turne againe vpon them and with great courage and fiercenes make a cruell slaughter of them So that partely with their swiftnes and partely with their deceitful wiles and other cunning shifts of warre they are greatly feared in all those partes They doo inioy by the Kinges good fauour certayne Countries where they dwell alone by themselues and sometimes they choose certaine men at their owne pleasure with whom they doo keepe company for generations sake So that if they doo bring forth Male-children they sende them home to their fathers housen but if they be female they reserue them to themselues and breed them in the exercise of warfare The Empire of this Monomotapa lyeth as it were in an Islande which is made by the Sea-coast by the Riuer Magnice by a peece of the Lake from whence Magnice floweth and by the Riuer Cuama It bordereth towardes the South vpon the Lordes of the Cape of Good-Hope before mentioned and Northwarde vpon the Empire of Moenemugi as by and by shall be shewed vnto you But now returning to our former purpose that is to say to runne forwardes vpon the sea-coast after you haue passed ouer some parte of the Riuer Cuama there is a certaine little Kingdom vpon the sea called Angoscia which taketh the name of certaine Islandes there so called and lie directly against it It is inhabited with the like people both Mahometans and Gentiles as the Kingdome of Sofala is Marchaunts they are and in small vesselles doo trafficke along that coast with the same wares and commodities wherewith the people of Sofala doo trade A little beyonde suddenly starteth vp in sight the Kingdome of Mozambique situate in fourteene degrees and a halfe towardes the South and taketh his name of three Islands that lie in the mouth of the Riuer Meghincate where there is a great hauen and a safe and able to receiue all manner of shippes The Realme is but small and yet aboundeth in all kind of victuailes It is the common landing place for all vesselles that sayle from Portingall and from India into that Countrey In one of these Isles which is the chiefe and principall called Mozambique and giueth name to all the rest as also to the whole kingdome and the hauen aforesaide wherein there is erected a Fortresse guarded with a garrison of Portingalles wherevpon all the other Fortresses that are on that Coast doo depende and from whence they fetch all their prouision all the Armadas and Fleetes that sayle from Portingall to the Indies if they cannot finish and performe their voyage will go and winter I say in this Island of Mozambique and those that