Taken from Philip Snow, The Star Raft.

Chapter 72: Again underway, the fleet reached Bengal, where Cheng Ho (3) after some initial misunderstanding is received solemnly. The next goal is Mogadishu, which reins the small states Brawa and Giumbo (6). Wang Ching-hung (4) advises Cheng Ho, for the sake of prudence to send spies to the three states Brava (5), Giumbo (6) and Mogadishu. Liu T'ien-chueh, Wu Cheng and Chou Yuan-tai explore these areas, of which mainly Mogadishu is hostile. The kings of Brava (5) and Zhubu (6)(Giumbo or el Jubb) are ready to supply letters and tokens of submission but Mugadishu's ruler pleads sickness and stalls.. The king of Mogadishu seems to have said: The Ming empire and our country are thousands of miles apart. And today without reason it has send soldiers against us. Obviously they want to take us over. In Mogadishu, after a report Liu Tien-chueh it is clear that he the king is not honest. When Liu Tien-chuehs suggests, simply to attack; besieging Mogadishu with breastworks, catapults and 40,000 men, also bombards (hsiang-yang chi), Cheng Ho (3) rejects this: Your proposal is reasonable, but since the soldiers have entered into the Western Sea, we have already subdued several states - in some instances, it was easy, in others the attack was difficult - but it also happened that they voluntarily and with sincere sentiment subjugated. We have so far not a single man pleased with force. And because we now come here, we could because (our principles vary) and can we subject the people to violence? Cheng Ho in the end invites the commander in chief of Mogadishu to a duel. The Chinese are fast put on shore. Mogadishu sends an archer to spy out the Chinese camp. The Chinese divines his purpose, but decides that the best course is to let him see as much as possible of China's superior armaments and military skills. Awed by a dazzling display of martial arts, the archer is send back to advise his king that a formal submission won't cost him much, and will avoid any trouble that might otherwise arise, causing him a dilemma which it would be too late to regret. And this forces Yun-mu-chen, the supreme commander of Mogadishu’s troops, to accept a duel.

Above; the pictures found in this nr 72 chapter.

Chapter 73: In this confrontation with the opponents they sharpen their weapons, as it goes in war-art, but in vain, because Yun-mu-chen tries not, as hoped, to move the king to surrender his country, he rather went to report the magician Tara on what happened. This one comes as Tiger trainer camouflaged to the Chinese ships as spy. But Chang Shih-T'ien sees through the game and gives him a speech by which he disturbs Tara’s dressage demonstration.

Above; the pictures found in this nr 73 chapter.

Chapter 74: Once dressed, this time as a mendicant, Tara, now wants to spy on Chin Pi-Feng, who, in turn feigns ignorance and gives him a silver medallion. This item has an unpleasant characteristic: He jumps the respective owners at the slightest offense to the neck and establishes itself like a pillory under his neck by magnifying its own weight. So comes Tara back in his own country and anything but ready to make concessions. But he is brought under the burden of the magic money piece several times, whenever he shows resistance against the Chinese. But through mediation of Yun-mu-chen send by Chin-Pi Feng, as always stirred by compassion, the coin is brought back.

Above; the pictures found in this nr 74 chapter.

Chapter 75: Now free, the thankless Tara is not for a peaceful solution to the conflict, but he asks his own teacher, Fei-pa Shih-chan, for help. This one has two magical cymbals, which he hurls into the air as flying weapons, who in the first battle against Cheng Ho's (3) Force behead ten Chinese sailors. Only Chin Pi-feng can give live back to those affected. The following fights – in which both Chang Shih-T'ien as well as Tang Ying participate - end in a stalemate.

Above; the pictures found in this nr 75 chapter.

Above; the pictures found in this nr 76 chapter.

Chapter 77: Now has Wang Ching- hung a vision that eventually leads to the final victory of Cheng Ho (3): The Chinese puts up an army of straw soldiers that they smear with animal blood. When Fei-pa, which holds the dummies for real, with his cymbals attacks, they fall, by the blood, so to speak, "neutralized", ineffective on the ground. His arms are taken - the cymbals are quickly collected by Cheng Ho’s men – and Fei -pa is brought in captivity. Even Tara is taken, and the King, whose situation is now hopeless, subjugates himself. And to Wang Ye in the Chinese camp is brought the message: All together, the barbarian kings of Mogadishu, Juba, and Brawa have arrived outside the tent to offer up letters and displays of submission and to tender ritual gifts presented in tribute.

The three kings required neither vanquishing in battle nor subjection to quaking with fear in order to come forth; they willingly paid homage ritualistically (to Wang Ye) by performing the kowtow and after a while they settled upon (communication through) some utterances and facial expressions. 

Chin Pi-feng forgives them, however, he transforms the magical cymbals in a bronze pillar, which henceforth marks the waters of Mogadishu, and gives Tara the title King of the pillar. So ends the episode Mogadishu.

Above; the pictures found in this nr 77 chapter.

Chapter 78: Next the fleet visits La'sa. In Lasa Wang Ching-hung (4), contrary to its usual cautious and diplomacy or trick-based approach, asks for a frontal attack to move the local government through intimidation to surrender.
At the arrival of the men of Zheng He, Lasa which is enclosed with a strong wall, closes itself. Opposite each gate, the Chinese prepare assault-towers with the help of ladders and three bombards are placed on those improvised towers. Then after several trials, start firing against the city walls. The effect of those 12 explosions was that the stones were blown in all directions. The earth trembles, the castle of the king shakes and the citizens panic till they lose courage and believe that the sky is falling. The king bewildered that his head is actually still on his shoulders hurries to let the sailors of Zheng He enter..Through a trick Wang Ming also succeeds to subjugate King Ali the ruler of Dhufar (1). Cheng Ho (3), Wang Ching-hung (4) and the four eunuchs Ma, Hou, Wang Hung and the rest visit the local mosque, where they each write a poem. 

Taken from: http://www.ziliaoku.jxwmw.cn/system/2009/ 

Chapter 86

Aden: (list of tribute to be loaded)

 … cat eyes (9) stones two pairs… ten red glasses (lamp) , 10 green-golden eye stones, malachite beats ten (all round, diameter bigger then an inch), pearls hundred (all big), hawk's-bill turtle, agate, che-quju hundred, colored glass hundred, amber 50, chains hundred (in the figures, birds, flowers, a very compact system), unicorn (10) four (first two legs full height nine feet, latter two full height six feet, six ten feet, after it raises its head, human not can ride it, nearby the ears stand two bone horns), lions four (resemble tiger, black and yellow without spots, the big mouth is extravagant, sound roar like thunder,…) Fast camels 20, black donkey (travels a 1000 miles fights the tiger with his hoofs to death), hua-fu-lu five pairs, leopard three pairs, white deer ten (pure white like snow), silver pheasant ten, white dove ten, Camel-chickens 20 (12)(such as fu-lu), sheep hundred (big tail) a hua-fu-lu pair (its skin does not become dusty, as a blanked its price is high), …red sandalwood hundred, the rose water hundred bottles, red bai-yange hundred buckets…, yang-cimi hundred barrels…

Tianfang (Mecca) ……. and I will pay tribute to the emperor of heaven. Calculated: One map of Tianfang, four paintings of four scenes of Tianfang and Guotu ………. one end of a luminous wall ………. a pair of Shangqing beads (bright and white, can illuminate a room, and look like immortals, jade girls, and cloud cranes) ….. four wood beads (blue, made of foam in the mouth of wood birds), gems, pearls, coral, amber, five hundred diamonds (like amethyst, One hundred refinements can be used to cut jade), ten pairs of glass cups, one hundred boxes of Jiangzhen incense (burning it can attract cranes), Om Baer incense, one pair of unicorns, four pairs of lions, one pair flying on the grass, fifty camel chickens (=ostriches), One hundred camels, one hundred antelopes, ten dragon sheep ………… fifty famous horses (about eight feet high, each of which is a heavenly horse), one thousand gold manga (fan money, each weighing one coin, and gold has twelve percent), one thousand pears ( weighs five or six catties) and one thousand peaches (weighs ten catties).

After the tribute ceremony, gold and silver, rice and wheat, cattle and sheep, chickens and ducks, and various fruits, as well as various kinds of satin, sandalwood, musk, and porcelain were presented as military pay. The marshal said: "I am ashamed to accept it." The king said: "I am ashamed." ………

Above; the pictures found in this nr 78 chapter.

Above; the pictures found in this nr 86 chapter.

Above; the pictures found in this nr 99 chapter.

Taken from: Robert Finlay: Portuguese and Chinese Maritime Imperialism:

(after returning)
The emperor asks about the seal, Zheng He replies: I never found it. I never heard anything about it. The emperor praises Zheng He for his labours and complains that the exotic animals brought back on the treasure ships cost to much to feed.

Note about Lasa

(From: Alexander Jost 2008)

Because treated after Mogadishu, perhaps in Africa.

Also there are no Muslims because they eat pork and the king gets the help of Shamans. The land

is described just as Fei Xin describes it: dry and poor; the animals have to live of dried fish and

rice is imported.

(1) Dhofar, Dhufar: province in Oman.

(2) Tangka: the silver tangah (tanka) of India.

(3) Cheng Ho; Zheng He: see my webpage on Note on Cheng Ho.

(4) Wang Ching-hung: Wang Jinghong 王景弘; died c. 1434 was a Ming dynasty Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who was deputy to Zheng He on his treasure voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Africa, from 1405 to 1433. He led an eighth voyage to Sumatra but is said to have died in a shipwreck on the way. He was buried at Semarang in Java aged 78.

(5) Brava: Harbour on the coast of South Somalia.

(6) Giumbo; Zhu-bu: Giumbo: Djoubb (El Jub): a dug, non-masoned waterhole (according to Marcel Devic p70); the name still exists in the name of the river Jubba. Must have been close to present day Kismayo. Is mostly mentioned by Chinese authors: Yakut (1220); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Fei-Hsin (1436) has Giumbo; Xuanzong Shih-lu (1438) has Zhu-bu; Zhang, Tingyu: Ming Shi (1739); Luo Maodeng (1597). Some authors say the channel mentioned by al Masudi (916) is the Jubba: “…Zinj were the only ones who had crossed a tributary of the Nile (the Jubb) which flowed into a bay or canal, which in turn opened into the Indian Ocean…”.

(7) god Kuan Yu: Guan Yu d. 220), was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China, after his death, he was deified as a god.

(8) his companion Chou Ts'ang: squire (=a young boy, training to become a knight) of Kuan Yu.

(9) cat eyes: Cymophane

(10) unicorn: giraffe

(11) hua-fu-lu: zebra

(12) Camel-chickens: Ostrich

(13) yellow city gatekeeper: Old Beijing comprised two distinct cities called the Chinese city and the Tartar city in which there are two other cities; the Yellow City (Hoang-Tching), and Tsen-Kin-Tching (the Red or Forbidden City).