THE EASTERN COAST. 
859 
they were more successful, the king being induced 
by liberal presents to receive them well, and to 
grant them a pilot, under whose guidance they 
reached safely the coast of Malabar. 
In giving a general description of the coast of 
Zanguebar, De Barros observes, that the whole ex- 
tent from Cape Guardafui to Mosambique forms an 
immense bay, extending about fifteen hundred and 
sixty leagues ; not so deeply indented as it is de- 
scribed by Ptolemy, but rather resembling the rib 
of a quadruped. That from Mosambique to the 
Cape of Corrientes is a hundred and seventy leagues, 
and describes a curve which may be compared to an 
elbow ; while the line of three hundred and forty 
leagues, from thence to the Cape of Good Hope, 
is likened to the loin. The whole of this coast is 
low, marshy, covered with a thick underwood, like 
thorns, which scarcely allows a passage beneath. 
The air is still more corrupted, and the situation 
consequently more unhealthy, than on the oppo- 
site shore of Guinea. The coast was entirely 
in possession of the Arabs, who had settlements 
at Magadoxo, Melinda, Quiloa, Zanzibar, Mo- 
sambique, Sofala, and various other points. The 
capital of all these doninions, and the centre of 
commerce, was Quiloa, a large city situated on an 
island close to the main-land. It was built chiefly 
of stone and lime, with terraces, and gardens agree- 
\ ably planted with trees, though the streets were 
very narrow. 
