As the ships were rather short of water, the general and the other captains determined upon entering the harbour of Mozambique, to take in what they needed; but ordered strict watch to be kept, lest the Moors should set the ships on fire. They entered therefore again into the harbour on Thursday; and when night came, they went in their boats in search of water, which the Moorish pilot assured them was to be found on the firm land, and offered to guide them to the place. Leaving Paulo de la Gama in charge of the ships, and taking Nicholas Coello and the pilot along with him in the boats, the general went on shore about midnight to the place where the pilot said that water was to be had. But it could not be found; whether that the pilot misled them in hope of escaping, or finding he could not escape, did so out of malice. Having spent the whole night fruitlessly in search of water, and day beginning to dawn, the general returned to the ships for more force, lest the Moors might set upon him and his small company at a disadvantage. Having furnished his boats with a larger force of armed men, he returned to the shore, still accompanied by Coello and the Moorish pilot, who, seeing no means of escaping, now pointed out the watering-place close by the shore. At this place they observed about twenty Moors armed with darts, who shewed as if they meant to prevent them from taking water. The general therefore gave orders to fire three guns, to force them from the shore, that our men might be able to land unopposed. Amazed and frightened by the noise and the effect of the shot, the Moors ran away and hid themselves in the bushes; and our people landed quietly, and took in fresh water, returning to the ships a little before sunset. On arriving, the general found his brother much disquieted, because a Negro, belonging to John Cambrayes, the pilot of Paulo de la Gama, had run away to the Moors, though himself a Christian.407

Upon Saturday the 24th of March, being the eve of the annunciation of our Lady, a Moor appeared early in the morning on the shore, abreast of the ships, calling out in a loud and shrill voice, "that if our men wanted any more water they might now come for it, when they would find such as were ready to force their return." Irritated at this bravado, and remembering the injury done him in withholding the promised pilot, and the loss of the Negro, the general resolved to batter the town with his ordnance in revenge, and the other captains readily agreed to the measure. Wherefore they armed all their boats, and came up before the town, where the Moors had constructed a barricade of boards for their defence on the shore, so thick that our men could not see the Moors behind. Upon the shore, between that defence and the sea, an hundred Moors were drawn up, armed with targets, darts, bows, arrows, and slings, who began to sling stones at the boats as soon as they came within reach. They were immediately answered with shot from our ordnance, on which they retired from the shore behind their barricade, which was soon beaten down, when they ran into the town, leaving two of their men slain. The general and his men now returned to the ships to dinner, and the Moors were seen running from that town to another; and so much were they afraid of the Portuguese, that they abandoned the island, going by water to another place on the opposite side. After dinner, our people went with their captains on shore, to endeavour to take some of the Moors, with the hope of procuring restitution of the Negro belonging to Cambrayes, who had run away from the ships, and they were likewise desirous of recovering two Indians, who were said by the Moorish pilot to be detained as captives in Mozambique.

On this occasion, Paulo de la Gama seized four Moors who were in a boat; but a great many Moors in other boats escaped, by hastening on shore and leaving their boats behind, in which our men found much cotton cloth, and several books of their Mahometan law, which the general ordered to be preserved. The general and the other captains ranged in their boats along side of the town, but did not venture on shore, not having sufficient force, nor could they get any speech of the Moors. Next day they went on shore at the watering-place, where they took what was needed without any opposition from the Moors. Being now hopeless of recovering the Negro, or of procuring the Indian captives, it was determined to depart; but the general resolved to be revenged on the town and people for their enmity. For which reason, he went against it next day with ordnance, and destroyed it in such sort that the Moors had to abandon it, and flee into another island within the country.408 This being done, the fleet weighed anchor on Tuesday the 27th of March, and departed from Mozambique, whence they proceeded to two little rocks, which they called St George, and where they came to anchor in waiting for a wind, which was now contrary. Soon afterwards the wind came fair and they departed, but the wind was so light, and the currents so strong, that they were forced in a retrograde course.

The general was much pleased to find that one of the Moors taken by his brother at Mozambique was a pilot, and was acquainted with the navigation to Calicut. Proceeding on their voyage, they came, on Sunday the first of April, to certain islands very near the coast, to the first of which they gave the name of Ilha da Aзoutado, because the Moorish pilot of Mozambique was here severely whipt by order of the general, for having falsely said that these islands were part of the continent, and likewise for not shewing the way to the watering-place at Mozambique, as before related. Being cruelly whipt, the Moor confessed that he had brought them to this place expressly that they might perish on the rocks and shoals of these islands, which were so numerous and so close together, that they could hardly be distinguished from each other. On this the general stood out to sea, and on Friday the 4th of April,409 standing to the north– west, he came in sight, before noon, of a great land, with two islands near the coast, around which were many shoals. On nearing the shore, the Moorish pilots recognized it, and said that the Christian island of Quiloa was three leagues astern; on which the general was much grieved, believing certainly that the natives of Quiloa had been Christians, as represented by the pilots, and that they had purposely taken a wrong course that the ships might not come there. The pilots, to conceal their treachery, alleged that the winds and currents had carried the ships farther than they reckoned. But in truth, they were more disappointed in this than even the general, as they had reckoned upon being here revenged upon the Portuguese, by having them all slain. In this God preserved our people from the intended danger most miraculously, for if they had gone to Quiloa they had all surely perished; as the general was so fully persuaded of the natives being Christians, as reported by the pilot, that he would doubtless have landed immediately on his arrival, and have thereby run headlong to a place where he and all his people would have been slain. Both parties being thus sorry for having missed Quiloa, the general because he hoped to have found Christians, and the Moorish pilots because of their intended treachery, it was determined to put back with the intention of seeking for it; but still the wind and currents opposed their purpose, and they tried a whole day in vain. This doubtless proceeded from the providence of God, and his merciful goodness to our men, who were thus preserved by miracle from the malicious and devilish intentions of the two Moorish pilots of Mozambique.