Having been apprized of the intended attack, the king of Mombaza had provided for his defence, by planting cannons on a fort or bulwark at the mouth of the river, and brought 600 expert archers into the city. Though opposed by a heavy cannonade from the bulwark, Nuno forced his way up the river and anchored in the evening close to the city, whence the archers shot continual flights of arrows into the ships, and were answered by the Portuguese cannon. Next morning early the troops were landed under Pedro Vaz, brother to Nuno, who carried all before him, and planted the Portuguese colours, after killing many of the Moors and driving the rest from the city, without losing a single Portuguese soldier. To secure and repeople the city, Nuno sent for a nephew of the king of Melinda, who came with 500 men, many of whom were of some rank; and these were followed by the prince of Montangue with 200 more. Many likewise of the former inhabitants came in and submitted, so that the island began to reassume an appearance of prosperity. The expelled king, sensible of the desperate situation of affairs, sent one of his principal men to propose an accommodation, offering to pay a ransom to preserve his city from destruction, and to become tributary. An agreement was accordingly entered into to this effect, and the king began to make the stipulated payments; but finding sickness to prevail among the Portuguese of whom two hundred soon died, and many more were incapacitated from service, he began to fall off from the completion of the agreement, and as the prince of Melinda durst not undertake to defend the place without a considerable force of Portuguese, Nuno destroyed the city by fire and returned to Melinda, carrying with him those he had formerly left sick at Zanzibar. Leaving Melinda, he left 80 of his men there sick, to be carried to India on their recovery by Tristan Homem: who afterwards defended Melinda with these men against the king of Mombaza, who endeavoured to revenge himself there for the injury he had sustained from the Portuguese.