THE FALL OF FORT JESUS
Continued|
            For the next few months, things quieted down, and a lull followed during which little fighting took place. The Arabs it seems were not determined to take the fort head on and wanted to starve the defenders instead. Perhaps it was a fear of the casualties they themselves would suffer; it may also have been a fear of the defenses of fort Jesus. The captain, Joao Rodrigues Leao fell ill and died on November 16th 1696 and the leadership went to a civilian named Antonio Mogo de Mello. Gradually, the investing armies tightened the noose by stopping all re-supply missions and increasing their own numbers. De Mello tried persuading Muslims inside the fort the leave without too much success. The Arabs also began bombarding the fort for the first time in December and under this cover and the dark one night, the Arabs established dug-in positions on the beach on both sides of the fort’s outwork. (Portuguese Period in East Africa p. 221) Since the Captin was not sure that Goa was aware of the siege, he asked for a and got a volunteer to take word to Goa. After a harrowing trip, this man named Vas Cavaco reached Goa only to learn that the news had preceded him.
            On December 24th, four Portuguese vessels under Luis de Mello Sampaiyo sailed into sight of Fort Jesus from Goa but delayed attempting a landing for two days apparently unsure as to the fate of the fort. This was the first relief effort by the Portuguese. The initial landing was bungled and 17 men lost their lives. Eventually supplies were offloaded despite fierce fire from the besieging Arabs and personal conflict between Sampaiyo and de Mello. With the supplies off loaded, the next bone of contention was over how best to use the fleet. The defenders in the fort wanted Sampaiyo to attack the Arab vessels anchored in the old harbor and their positions on land. He however flatly refused and also refused to hang around Mombasa any longer as the defenders wanted. He (Sampaiyo) sailed off after leaving two vessels under a reluctant Henrique de Figuereido de Alarcao with instructions to remain near the fort for as long as possible and then take off all non-combatants to Zanzibar. As soon as Sampaiyo left, de Alarcao in turn sailed for Zanzibar giving the tired excuse of unfavorable weather. Not too long after, the Arabs received further reinforcements which they immediately put into use.

            But the fort's strong and high walls aided much in its defense and these were beaten back. What was more discouraging to the defenders was the loss of all their remaining sea craft which made communication to the outside world impossible to continue. Supplies again ran low and this problem was worsened from the continued presence of non-combatants who had not been taken away as expected in January. By June only the captain and four others were still living among the Portuguese. Eventually all the Portuguese died with the last one departing on August 28th 1697 (The Portuguese period in East Africa p 226). With his death and the non presence of all adult Portuguese, the effective commander was a certain prince of Faza called Daudi bin Sheihk at that time still a teenager. It is ironic that after all the atrocities visited upon the native populations of the East Coast of Africa by the Portuguese; their most important possession was now being defended by Muslims commanded by a fellow Muslim. The Prince would valiantly defend the fort and in the process distinguish himself in the coming events and in the eyes of Lisbon earn much credit for himself and his children. (The Portuguese Period in East Africa pg 227).
            At Mozambique, Sampaiyo reluctantly put together a relief fleet which sailed off on March 20th 1697.  Inexplicably, this fleet dropped anchor at Zanzibar despite the urgent please for assistance from Mombasa. At this juncture there were three ships passing time at Zanzibar, da Costa's, de Alarcao's and the ship from Daman. Rather than pursue ways of relieving Mombasa with the additional resources, de Alarcao sailed for Goa in June complaining about a lost anchor and a leak on his ship. Meanwhile, Sampaiyo himself after additional persuasion sailed towards Mombasa August 22nd 1697. Near the fort, the same sequence of events from the first relief were repeated resulting in some supplies getting offloaded and a high price being paid in lives lost. There were some promising raids against Arab positions but Sampaiyo discouraged any more of them. He himself soon died and leadership was shared between Prince Daud of Faza and Pereira de Brito.