 The Portuguese would subsequently attempt to occupy the city , but never managed to take it . In his journal of an expedition to the region in <unk> @-@ <unk> , the explorer João de <unk> , who accompanied Vasco da Gama on the voyage , wrote that <unk> ( Mogadishu ) was controlled by Moors . A big town surrounded by four towers , it had houses several <unk> high and large palaces in its center . De <unk> and his men bombarded the city before continuing southwards along the seaboard . The <unk> Somali , however , were later successful in defeating the Ajuran State and bringing about the end of Muzaffar rule . 
