East Africa

Malyn Newitt, Malyn Newitt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351942225
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

The Portuguese appear to have been the first European visitors to encounter East Africa, with the arrival of a lone traveller, Pero da Covilham, in c.1491. Covilham left no account of his experiences, so Vasco da Gama had little idea of what to expect when he led his first voyage to the region in 1497. The account of this expedition paints a vivid portrait of the first contacts between Portugal and the coastal peoples of East Africa. This account, together with a wealth of carefully selected documents comprise this volume of writings which detail Portugal's relationship with East Africa from the late fifteenth century through to the seventeenth century. As these documents demonstrate, the best Portuguese writers had a deep interest in the African peoples and carefully observed the way their societies worked. The Portuguese in East Africa lived alongside their African subjects and the independent chiefs and to a large extent adopted their life style, technology, business practices, and even their beliefs and customs. This collection of contemporary writings from the period brings to life this extraordinary relationship.

Chapter 1
Contacts of the Early Portuguese Navigators with the Peoples of the East African Coast

(a) Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama¹

Attributed to Álvaro Velho.

Translation based on E. G. Ravenstein (trans. and ed.) First Voyage of Vasco da Gama (London: Hakluyt Society, 1898), pp. xx–xx..

No account of the Portuguese in eastern Africa can omit this famous record of their first contacts with the African populations. The author, who is still widely assumed to have been Álvaro Velho, was interested in recording the impressions of the people the Portuguese met and in describing the first encounters in what was to all intents and purposes a new world.² To understand what he saw, Velho had the experiences of the Portuguese in western Africa and in Morocco to guide him. Consciously or unconsciously, he measured what he saw against what he already knew. The extracts given show something of the variety of the early Portuguese experiences – the simple exchanges with the Africans of southern Mozambique with no threat or suspicion to mar the first encounters and the latent hostility that boiled over into violence once ‘Moors’ (that is Muslims) were encountered. The richness of this text lies not only in its revelations of the Portuguese mentality but in the wealth of valuable information it contains about the commercial and political life of the coastal cities on the eve of the Portuguese conquest – for example, the role of the rulers of the coastal port-cities in organizing commerce, and in supplying food and pilots to visiting vessels.

On Thursday, 11 January [1498] we saw a small river and anchored near the coast. On the following day we went close inshore in our boats, and saw many negroes, both men and women. They were tall people, and a chief [senhor] was among them. The captain-major ordered Martim Afonso who had been a long time in Manicongo,³ and another man to land. They were received hospitably. The captain-major in consequence sent the chief a jacket, a pair of red pantaloons, a Moorish cap and a bracelet. The chief said that he would willingly give us anything there was in his land of which we stood in need: at least this is how Martim Afonso understood him. That night, Martim Afonso and his companion accompanied the chief to sleep at his village, whilst we returned to our ships. On the road the chief donned the garments which had been presented to him and to those who came forth to meet him he said, with much apparent satisfaction, ‘Look what has been given to me!’ The people upon this clapped hands as a sign of courtesy and this they did three or four times until they arrived at the village. Having walked through the whole of the place thus dressed up, the chief retired to his house and ordered the two men who went with him to be lodged in a compound, where they were given porridge of millet, which abounds in that country, and a fowl, just like those of Portugal. All through that night, numbers of men and women came to have a look at them. In the morning the chief visited them and told them that they might go. He gave them fowls as a present for the captain-major, telling them that he would show the things that had been given him to a great chief, who appears to be the king of that country. When our men reached the landing place where our boats awaited them, they were attended by quite two hundred men who had come to see them.

This country seemed to us to be densely peopled. There are many chiefs, and the number of women seems to be greater than that of the men, for among those who came [to see us] there were forty women to every twenty men. The houses are built of straw. The arms of the people include long bows and arrows and spears with iron blades. Copper seems to be plentiful for the people wore [ornaments] of it on their legs and arms and in their twisted hair. Tin, likewise, is found in the country, for it is to be seen on the hilts of their daggers, the sheaths of which are made of ivory. Linen cloth is highly prized by the people, who gave us large quantities of copper in exchange for shirts whenever we were willing to give them these. They have large calabashes in which they carry sea-water inland, where they pour it into pits to obtain the salt [i.e. by evaporation].

We stayed five days at this place taking in water, which our visitors conveyed to our boats. We did not take as much water as we desired because the wind favoured a prosecution of our voyage.

We were at anchor here, near the coast, exposed to the swell of the sea. We called the country Terra da Boa Gente and the river Rio do Cobre.

On Monday [22 January] while sailing along, we saw a low coast thickly wooded with tall trees. Continuing our course we perceived the broad mouth of a river. As it was necessary to find out where we were, we cast anchor. On Thursday [25 January], at night, we entered. The Berrio was already there, having entered the night before – that is eight days before the end of January [i.e. 24 January].

The country is low and marshy and covered with tall trees yielding an abundance of fruit of different kinds, which the inhabitants of this land eat.

These people are all black and well-made. They go naked, merely wearing a small piece of cotton cloth around their loins, and the chiefs of this land dress in these cloths. And the young women, who in this land are good-looking, pierce their lips in three places, and wear in them bits of twisted tin. These people took much delight in us. They brought us in their almadias⁴ what they had, whilst we went into their villages to procure water.

When we had been two or three days at this place two gentlemen [senhores] of the country came to see us. They were very haughty and valued nothing which we gave them. One of them wore a touca on his head, with a fringe embroidered in silk, and the other a cap of green satin. A young man also came with them – so we understood from their signs – who had come from a distant country, and had already seen big ships like ours. These tokens [sinais] gladdened our hearts, for it appeared as if we were really approaching our desired objective. These gentlemen had some huts built on the river bank, close to the ships, in which they stayed seven days, sending daily to the ships, offering to barter cloths, which bore a mark of red ochre. And when they were tired of being there, they went back up river in their almadias.

As to ourselves, we spent thirty-two days in the river taking in water, careening the ships and repairing the mast of the São Rafael. Many of our men fell ill here, their feet and hands swelling, and their gums growing over their teeth, so that they could not eat.⁵

We erected here a pillar [padrão] which we called the pillar of São Rafael, because it had been brought in the ship bearing that name. The river we called Rio dos Bons Sinais.⁶

On Friday morning [2 March] Nicolau Coelho, when attempting to enter the bay [of Mozambique], mistook the channel and came upon a bank. When putting about towards the other ships which followed in his wake, Coelho perceived some sailing-boats approaching from a village on this island in order to rescue the captain-major and his brother. As for ourselves, we continued in the direction of our proposed anchorage. And the further we advanced the more they followed us, making signs for us to stop. When we had cast anchor in the roadstead of the island from which these boats had come, seven or eight boats and almadias approached, the people in them playing upon some anafis⁷ that they carried. They invited us to proceed further into the bay, offering to take us into port if we desired it. Those among them who boarded our ships ate and drank what we did and went their way when they were satisfied.

The captains decided that they would enter this bay in order that they might find out what sort of people they had to deal with, that Nicolau Coelho should go in his vessel to take soundings at the bar and that, if it was practicable, they would enter. As Coelho prepared to enter, he struck the point of the island and broke his helm, but he immediately disengaged himself and regained deep water. I was with him at the time. When we were again in deep water, we struck our sails and cast anchor at a distance of two bow-shots from the village.

The people of this country are of a ruddy complexion and well made. They are of the sect of Mohammed, and their language is the same as that of the Moors. Their clothes are of fine linen and cotton, with variously coloured stripes, and of rich and elaborate workmanship. They all wear toucas on their heads with borders of silk embroidered in gold. They are merchants and have transactions with white Moors, four of whose vessels were at the time in port bringing gold, silver, cloves, pepper, ginger and silver rings, as also quantities of pearls, jewels and rubies, all of which articles are used by the people of this country. We understood them to say that all these things, with the exception of the gold, were brought thither by these Moors and that the stones, jewels and spices were so plentiful that there was no need to purchase them, as they could be collected in baskets. All this we learned through a sailor the captain-major had with him who, having formerly been a prisoner among the Moors, understood the people we found there.

These Moors, moreover, told us that along the route which we were about to follow we should meet with numerous shoals; that there were many cities along the coast and also an island one half of the population of which consisted of Moors and the other half of Christians, who were at war with each other. The island was said to be very wealthy.⁸

We were told moreover that Prester John resided not far from this place, that he held many cities along the coast, and that the inhabitants of those cities were great merchants and owned big ships. The residence of Prester John was said to be far in the interior and could be reached only on the backs of camels. These Moors had also brought hither two Christian captives from India. This information and many other things which we heard rendered us so happy that we cried with joy and prayed God to grant us health, so that we might behold what we so much desired.

In this place and island of Moncobiquy⁹ there resided a chief [senhor] who they call sultan, which is like viceroy. He often came aboard our ships attended by some of his people. The captain-major gave him many good things to eat and made him a present of hats, marlotas,¹⁰ corals and many other articles. He was, however, so proud that he treated all we gave him with contempt and asked for scarlet cloth, of which we had none. We gave him, however, of all the things we had.

One day the captain-major invited him to a repast, when there was an abundance of figs and comfits, and begged him for two pilots to go with us. He at once granted this request, subject to our coming to terms with them. The captain-major gave each of them thirty mithkals¹¹ in gold and two marlotas, on condition that from the day on which they received this payment one of them should always remain on board if the other desired to go on land. With these terms they were well satisfied.

On Saturday 10 March, we set sail and anchored one league out at sea close to an island, where Mass was said on Sunday, when those who wished to do so confessed and joined in the communion.

One of our pilots lived on the island, and when we had anchored we armed two boats to go in search of him. The captain-major went in one boat and Nicolau Coelho in the other. They were met by five or six boats coming from the island, crowded with people armed with bows and long arrows and bucklers, who gave them to understand by signs that they were to return to the town. When the captain saw this, he secured the pilot whom he had taken with him and ordered the bombards to fire upon the people in the boats. Paulo da Gama, who had remained with the ships so as to be prepared to render succour in case of need, no sooner heard the reports of the bombards than he started in the Berrio. The Moors, who were already flying, fled still faster and gained the land before the Berrio was able to come up with them. We then returned to our anchorage ...

(b) Cabral's Fleet on the Coast of East Africa

Translation based on ‘The Anonymous Narrative’ in W. B. Greenlee (trans. and ed.), The Voyage of Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil and India (London: Hakluyt Society, 1938).

This account of Cabral’s famous voyage in 1500–1, during which he made the accidental discovery of Brazil, was written in Portuguese by a man who accompanied the fleet, but it survives only in Italian versions, the first of which was published in Vicenza in 1507. This narrative shows the impact that Vasco da Gama had made in eastern Africa. News of his attacks on the Muslims in Mozambique and Mombasa had spread along the coast and the Muslim shipowners assumed that Cabral would adopt a similar warlike policy. In this way Vasco da Gama’s fatal first voyage set a pattern of behaviour and defined roles which the subsequent fleets found themselves fated to act out. Even the relatives of the friendly sultan of Melinde feared the Portuguese and risked their lives to escape from their clutches. This hostile reaction confirmed the belief of the Portuguese that the Muslims were their implacable enemies. It took the best part of two decades for the Portuguese operating on the East African coast to establish a working relationship with any of the Muslim merchant communities.

In the year 1500 ... Dom Manuel ... sent his armada of ships, large and small, to parts of India. In this armada there were twelve large and small ships. The captain-general of this armada was Pedro Álvares Cabral, a fidalgo. These ships departed, both well equipped and in good order, with everything that they might need for a year and a half. Of these twelv...