Mozambique

The island of Mozambique was the Portuguese waystation where ships heading for Goa or other places on the Indian coast usually called. This port of call was perhaps even more important to the Portuguese than the Cape was to the VOC, as Goa could only be reached for a few months a year, at the end of the winter monsoon. Many Portuguese ships had to 'winter' in Mozambique to await that moment, or sometimes didn't make it to Goa in time and were mercilessly blown back to Mozambique. In the spring of 1662, the VOC sent a fleet from the Netherlands to conquer Mozambique, but due to the turning of the monsoon and cyclones, the fleet was unable to reach the island and ultimately abandoned its mission.