14-2 NATIVES OF AFRICA IN Tllji i6tH CENTURY. 



cleared the way. Another time, one of the enemy having been 

 killed with the asseg-ai, the whole party discussed if they would 

 not eat him to relieve the pangs of hunger. 



According to what was whispered it was not the first time that the mis- 

 fortunes of this journey had pushed some to taste human flesh. But the 

 captain did not consent to it, saving that,' should the news scatter, that we 

 eat natives, these would flee before us to the end of the world and would 

 persecute us with much more hatred. 



They were at their worst, when ha])pily a messenger came 

 from the chief cf Inhaca; he had heard of them and ofit'ered 

 them hospitality, saying that he was- the brother of tlie White 

 men who frequently came to the Bay, and to whom he sold much 

 ivory in exchange for beads ( contas ) . This was a great relief. 

 The Inhaca subjects consented to sell produce for money which 

 the Natives further South had always refused. Those who 

 reached the Bay were fifty-six Portuguese and six slaves. They 

 had travelled for "2 days and covered 300 leagues. 



W'liat a miserable life they led in Inhaca's' country for five 

 months, decimated by hunger and leopards, covered with vermin.. 

 oliliged to cut wood, to carry water for the Natives in order to 

 receive some food and save their lives. The report of Peres- 

 trello describes it in most touching terms. At last, in November, 

 1554, Perestrello, who was settled in the island of Inhaca, one 

 day saw a sail on the sea, a ship ; he fell on his ' knees, blessing 

 God for His mercy; this was salvation. But of all the party, 

 only twenty Portuguese and three slaves succeeded in reaching 

 ^lozambique. The story of Perestrello is full of charm and of 

 interesting remarks. As he remained five months at the Bay, 

 he was able to see much of the Natives, and his report contains 

 many precious details about the subject which interests us. 



3. The San Thome. 



Thirty-five years later, in 1589, another ship was lost in the 

 neighl)oin-hoo(l of Delagoa Ba}'. This was the San Thi^mc. 

 whose ca])tain was Dom Paolo de Lima. On March 22nd. she 

 was wrecked on the shore of the Terra dos Fumos, the country 

 of the smokes, so named by the Portuguese narrators because, 

 when passing near it? they always noticed much smoke, a proof 

 that it was thickly populated.* Ninety-six persons were saved. 

 In tliis ship travelled also Diogo de Couto, the author of the 

 Decades, one of the principal historians of that time. lie wrote 

 the record of the vear i6ti. This is also the work of a witness 

 and not of an ordinary individual, but of a practised writer, of a 

 man who took an interest in the land and its inhabitants, ^id 

 possessed a real gift of observation. 



The country of Fumos is on 2'/l° south latitude; it is the 

 present Amatongaland. only 50 leagues distant from Lourengo 



* One mtist not confound the Terra dos Fumos with the country of 

 Fumo or Vumo or Rumo on the North of the Bay. Fjimos. in the first 

 case, is the Portuguese word for smoke, in the second the name of a native 

 chief, or, rather, clan, as will be seen later on. 



