NATIVES OF AFRICA IN THE i6t]I (KXTUKN-. I43 



Alarcjiies. So the rescue of tlie party seemed to be an easy 

 thing-. However, the travellers had any amount of difficulties 

 in reaching the kraal of Inhaca. There they heard that the 

 Mozambi(|ue ship had left the Uay ten days before. The chief who 

 behaved very well towards the unfortunate Portug-uese led them 

 at their request to the Island Setimuro, where they found m« re 

 than fifty huts built by the traders There they settled, but as 

 the ship had gone, most of the sailors crossed the Bay in two 

 boats which they found there, wishing to continue then- journey 

 to the North and to send larger vessels from Inhambane or 

 Sofala to save the thirty-six who had remained behind. The 

 iwo boats were separated from each other by a terrible hurri- 

 cane. The smaller one found the mouth of the Alanhit;;i 

 ( Xkomati) River, -'^ reached the capital of the chief of Alanhica. 

 and had the good fortune to find there Jeronymo de Leitao, the 

 master of the Mozambique sh']:), whcse pangaio had been wrecked 

 near the Rio do Ouro (Lim])opo). and who had taken a refuge 

 near the Manhiqa chief. jeronymo immediately sent a letter 

 to Sofala to ask for help, and the whole party crossed the Bay 

 and joined the others at ]\Ianhica. The second boat was wrecked 

 not far from the mouth of the Linipopo, but the men were saved 

 and well received by the chief Tnhapula. who gave them guides 

 to go to Inhambane. "They reached their destination, passing 

 through dififerent clans whose names Couto quotes carefully. 

 thus giving us a i^recious account of the tribes between Lourenco 

 Marques and Tnhanibane. Having found no help in this last 

 ])ort, they went on to Sofala. When they reached that ]:>lace. a 

 ])angaio had already sailed to rescue Paolo de Lima and his 

 ]>arty. But the old man died before that ship came. The report 

 of Couto ends here ; he does not say how many others left their 

 bones on the shores of Delagoa Bay and how many returned 

 to Mozambique. 



4. TJic Sail Alberto. 



This was the last of the four wrecks. It took place in i 593, 

 four years after that of the San Thome. The ship had 317 

 passengers on board, 163 Portuguese and 194 slaves. She went 

 ashore on the Natal coast, in the same region as the .SV;;; .Jocio 

 and the San Bento. But the story of the rescue of tiie part)- is 

 wonderful. It illustrates the old Greek proverb, " An army of 

 deer comiuanded by a lion is stronger than an army of lions com- 

 manded by a deer." The captain of the party, Nuna A^elho 

 Pereira, was a man full of courage, of wisdom, and of personal 



* The story as told by DioRo de Couto is almost impossible to under- 

 stand in its actual form, as the manuscript was evidently altered. Tn its 

 second half the word "' Inhaca " is regularly employed instead of " Man- 

 hiqa."' and " Manhiqa " instead of " Tnhaca."' .... As " Inli.'ica "' is 

 south and " Manhiqa " north of the Bay, this error makes the movements 

 of the party absolutely incomprehensible. Having discovered the mistake, 

 which was committed probably by the printers later on, I have been able to 

 restore the original text, and tlie whole story becomes quite clear. 



