IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND	4 7
	they were far less ready to weary their legs with trudging over mountain ridges or scrambling through the dense thickets of the rugged land west of Sofala. The Arab traders were more ready to venture inland, but there is no evidence to show that any of them went farther than a few hundred miles, at most, from the seacoast. It was an exceedingly difficult country to penetrate, and the savage natives were jealous of any approach, if they did not stubbornly bar the way and murder intruders.
	The horrid death of the first Portuguese viceroy was a warn­ing that struck deep into the hearts of the earlier adventurers. Francisco d'Almeida, returning with his fleet from India in 1510, touched the African coast near the first landing of Diaz. To resent some little clash with the nearest native tribe he led a troop of soldiers inland to surprise their village, but was way­laid in the bush and his troop was put to flight by a hail of darts and stones. D' Almeida put his ensign in the hand of a trusty follower, but in the next moment he was stabbed in the throat by an assagai and his head was crushed by the swing