This is the first western drawing of Mogadishu; from the: Livre des merveilles du monde, France (Paris), end of XVe century (Manuscript 2810 national library) . The 192 pages contain 84 miniatures in a large format which can be ascribed to two different authors
Fol. 88r: The island of Madagascar. Four travelers ascending a hill. The illustrations depict three cities in the background and the marvelous fauna of the island: elephants and an eagle; a griffin (Rouck) taking off, holding a sheep in its beak. The picture represents the envoys of the great Khan to Mogadishu.

From mss 5219 from the French National Library there are two pictures from Marco Polo; one of the Ruc taking an elephant (f152v) and one of Zanguebar with the sheep who all have black heads (f154r).

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Marco Polo (1295) De mirabilibus mundi

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Marco Polo (1254 –1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer, and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo (also known as Book of the Marvels of the World and Il Milione, c. 1300). He never visited East Africa but wrote down hearsay stories (when passing through Persia).

This text is mostly put together out of :
-Selected Documents, Freeman-Grenville.
-Zanzibar its history and its people. Ingrams
-www.shsu.edu
Chapter XXXIII: Concerning the Island of Madagascar.(1)

Madagascar is an island towards the south, about a thousand miles from Socotra. The people are all Saracens, adorning Mahommet. They have four Sheikhs, i.e., four elders (11), who are said to govern the whole island. And you must know that it is most noble and beautiful island, and one of the greatest in the world, for it is about four thousand miles in compass. The people live by trade and handicrafts.

In this island and in another beyond it called Zanzibar, about which we shall tell you afterwards, there are more elephants than in any country in the world. The amount of traffic in elephants' teeth in these two islands is something astonishing.

In this island they eat no flesh but that of camels, and of these they kill an incredible number daily. They say it is the best and wholesomest of all flesh, and so they eat of it all the year round.

They have in this island many trees of red sanders, of excellent quality, in fact, all their forests consist of it. They have also a quantity of ambergris, for whales are abundant in that sea, and they catch numbers of them, and so are Oil-heads, which are a huge kind of fish, which also produce ambergris like the whale. There are numbers of leopards, bears, and lions in the country, and other wild beasts in abundance. Many traders, and many ships go thither with cloths of gold and silk and many other kinds of goods, and drive a profitable trade.

You must know that this island lies so far south that ships cannot go further south or visit other islands in that direction, except this one, and that other of which we have to tell you, called Zanzibar. This is because the sea current runs so strong towards the south that the ships which should attempt it never would get back again. Indeed, the ships from Maabar (south east coast of India) which visit the island of Madagascar, and that other of Zanzibar, arrive thither with marvelous speed, for great as the distance is they accomplish it in twenty days, while the return voyage takes them more than three months. This, I say, is because of the strong current running south, which continues with such singular force and in the same direction at all seasons.

'Tis said that in those other islands to the south, which the ships are unable to visit because this strong current prevents their return, is found the bird Griffin (2), which appears there at certain seasons (8). The description given of it is however entirely different from what our stories and pictures make it. For persons who have been there and had seen it told Messer Marco Polo that it was for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size, so big in fact that its wings covered an extent of thirty paces (3), and its quills were twelve paces (3) long, and thick in proportion. And it is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons and carry him high into the air, and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces, having so killed him the bird griffin (2) swoops down on him and eats him at leisure. The people of those isles call the bird Roc (4), and it has no other name.(5) So I know not if this be the real Griffin, or if there be another manner of bird as great. But this I can tell you for certain, that they are not half lion and half bird as our stories do relate, but enormous as they be they are fashioned just like an eagle.

The great Khan (6) set to those parts to inquire about these curious matters, and the story was told by those who went thither. He also sent to procure the release of an envoy of his who had been dispatched thither and had been detained, so both those envoys had many wonderful things to tell the great Khan about those strange islands, and about the birds I have mentioned. They brought, as I heard, to the great Khan (6) a feather of the said roc (4), which was stated to measure ninety spans (7), while the quill part was two palms in circumference (9), a marvelous object. The great Khan (6) was delighted with it, and gave great presents to those who brought it. They also brought two boars' tusks, which weighted more then fourteen pounds apiece, and you may gather how big the boar must have been that had teeth like that. They related indeed that there were some of those boars as big as a great buffalo (10). There are also numbers of giraffes and wild asses, and in fact a marvelous number of wild beasts of strange aspect.

Chapter XXXIV: Concerning The Island Of Zanzibar.                         
Zanzibar is a large and splendid island some 2,000 miles in circumference. The people are all idolaters. They have a king and a language of their own and pay tribute to none. They are not very tall, but so broad and thick, that in this respect they appear like giants. And they are likewise immensely strong. Bearing as large a burden as four other men, which is really no wonder, for they eat as much as five. They are quiet black and go entirely naked except that they cover their private parts. Their hair is so curly that it can scarcely be straightened out with the aid of water. They have big mouths and their noses are so flattened and their lips and eyes so big that they are horrible to look at. Anyone who saw them in another country would say that they are devils.

There are many elephants, and a great traffic is carried on in their teeth. They also have a special kind of lions and also lynxes and leopards. In short they have all kinds of animals different from others in the world. Including their sheep entirely white, with a black head, and all the sheep are like that. There are also many giraffe, which are very beautiful creatures to look at. Let me describe how they look like. You must know that the giraffe is short in the body and slopes down towards the rear, because its rear legs are short. But the front legs and neck are so long that the head is fully three paces (3) above the ground. It has a small head and does no harm to anyone. And its color being red and white, in circles, it is very beautiful. But there is one thing which I had forgotten about the elephant, that it caresses the female in the same manner as the human species. When the male whishes to cover the female, he makes a hollow in the ground and lays her in a supine position and mounts her in human fashion as her genital organs are situated very near to the belly.
The women of this island are very ugly to look at. With large mouth, eyes, and nose, and their breasts four times the ordinary size. All this makes them ugly.

The people live on rice, flesh, milk, and dates, and though they have no vines, make a very good liquor of rice, sugar, and spices. There is a great trade here, because many merchant ships call at the island with a great variety of goods, that they all sell before taking in return cargo, chiefly of elephant tusks who are plentiful. There is also plenty of ambergris.

The men are very brave in combat, and have little fear of death. They have no horses, but fight upon camels and elephants, placing on them castles well covered, with sixteen or twenty men mounted on them bearing lances, swords, and staves, and making a very powerful force in battle. They have no arms except leather shields, lances and swords, with which they fight well. When leading the elephant to the combat, they give him to drink of their wine or liquor, which renders him more fierce and effective.

(1) Important Note on Marco Polo: Marco Polo places "Madeigascar" at 1000 miles south of Scotra (Socotra), that means in today's Somalia, although Madagascar is much more south. Moreover, Marco Polo describes this country riche in elephants, leopards, camels, giraffes and other animals typically from the African continent, absent in Madagascar. It seems that in reality Marco Polo describes the region of Mogadiscio, by accident transformed in Madeigascar by the early copyists and that Zanghibar means "the land of the Zendjs", the name for the East African coast given by the Arab geographers.

However he did know about the island; When talking about Madagascar he adds: 'Tis said that in those other islands to the south, which the ships are unable to visit because this strong current prevents their return, is found the bird Griffin’ ……

Did the confusion between Mogadishu and Madagascar arise from Marco Polo or from his informants? While this confusion may have come from the fact that the “people of the sea” who had settled in northwestern Madagascar spoke a Swahili dialect, it is primarily due to a linguistic connection established between the names of Mogadishu and of Madagascar. “Madagascar” is probably linked to the name “Matacassi” noted by the Portuguese in Anosy during the seventeenth century, where it refers to the Zafiraminia kingdom. The final -car derives from Arabic bar meaning land. (Madagascar: The Development of Trading Ports and the Interior by Philippe Beaujard 2019)

(2) bird Griffin: also spelled griffon or gryphon, composite mythological creature with a lion's body (winged or wingless) and a bird's head, usually that of an eagle.

(3) Paces: is a unit of length consisting either of one normal walking step (approximately 0.75 meters)