In the following excerpt from "The East Coast of Africa," the Portuguese government official Duarte Barbosa describes the African town of Mombasa around 1518 and the resulting effect of Portuguese influence on it.

Further on, an advance along the coast toward India, there is an isle hard by the mainland, on which there is a town called Mombasa . . . this Mombasa is a land very full of food. Here are found many very fine sheep with round tails, cows and other cattle in great plenty, and many fowls, all of which are exceedingly fat. There is much millet and rice, sweet and bitter oranges, lemons, pomegranates, Indian figs, vegetables of diverse kinds, and much sweet water. The men are often times at war . . . but at peace with those of the mainland, and they carry on trade with them, obtaining great amounts of honey, wax, and...