It is proper to mention however,
that Cape St Andrew is on the west coast of Madagascar, in lat. 17 deg. 12'
S. - E.]
[Footnote 4: There may be numerous villages, or collections of huts, in
Madagascar, and some of these may possibly be extensive and populous;
but there certainly never was in that island any place that merited the
name of a city. - E.]
[Footnote 5: More probably Ambergris thrown on their shores. - E.]
The first place visited by de Costa on this voyage of discovery was a
large bay near _Masilage_[6] in lat. 16 deg. S. in which there is an island
half a league in circumference containing a town of 8000 inhabitants,
most of them weavers of an excellent kind of stuff made of the
palm-tree. At this place the Moors used to purchase boys who were
carried to Arabia and sold for infamous uses. The king of this place,
named _Samamo_, received the Portuguese in a friendly manner, and
granted leave to preach the gospel among his subjects. Coasting about 40
leagues south from this place, they came to the mouth of a large river
named _Balue_ or _Baeli_ in about 17 deg. S. and having doubled Cape St
Andrew, they saw the river and kingdom of _Casame_, between the
latitudes of 17 deg.
