A VOYAGE
TO
ABYSSINIA, &c.
CHAPTER I.
Departure from England.—Arrival at Madeira.—Passage thence to the Cape of Good Hope.—Brief Account of the Society in that Settlement.—Improvements introduced into the Colony by the English—Mr. Cowan's Mission into the Interior.—Accident which occurred to detain the Ship.—Convoy granted.—Departure.—Remarks in the Mosambique Channel.—Excursion in search of Sofala.—Arrival at the Island of Mosambique.—Reception there by the Portuguese Governor.—Its Harbour, Forts, means of defence, &c.—Enquiries after Mr. Cowan's party.—Visit to Mesuril on the Continent.—Excursions from that Place.—Description of the Monjou.—Remarks relative to the Exportation of Slaves.—Fidelity of the native Troops.—Ferocity of the Makooa; their Incursions into the Peninsula of Cabaçeiro.—Dress,—Manners,—Habits, &c.—Some Account of the Tribes adjacent to Mosambique in Friendship with the Portuguese.—Description of Mesuril and its Environs.—Manners of the Planters.—Peninsula of Cabaçeiro.—Variety of Sea Productions on the Coast.—Return to Mosambique.
ON Friday the 20th of January 1809, having taken charge of some presents prepared for the occasion, and a letter from his Majesty the King of Great Britain, addressed to the Emperor of Abyssinia, I embarked at Portsmouth, on board the Marian, a merchant vessel, commanded by Captain Thomas Weatherhead, and on the 23d we set sail on our destination, in company with an East India fleet, under convoy of his Majesty's ship Clorinde. We had scarcely got out of the harbour, before we encountered a sudden gale from the north-west, which, in the course of the ensuing day, came round to the south-west, and compelled us to lie-to. Under these circumstances we continued beating against tremendous gales, and a heavy sea for four days, until the 27th, when,
