RE:VERSE THEATRE

We have arrived at another new place, an island between Africa and India that the men call Zokatora, and we are the first Englishmen ever to come here. This makes me very proud: I suppose I am a part of history? The people here speak a language called Arabic, which our General, who is very clever, also speaks. They also speak some Portuguese, like the man in Sierra Leone, which is a sign that the Portuguese have already travelled into this part of the world before us. I am told that our aim on this voyage is to take trade away from them. The people here seem friendly, and they are bringing us water and selling us food, though they want to do all of this on the beach rather than have us come to their town or to come on our ship. They also carry lots of weapons. I suppose they are wary of us, as we are of them. It is hard to know who to trust when you meet people for the first time, I suppose, and I can see why they would not trust us. We also met some men like us – traders - but who come from further east, and they are very friendly: some of our men dine on their ship, and some of their own our ships. They are from a place called Gujarat, and I think they are helping our men to understand how to make the next stage in our journey.

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Ship's boy