 Other shipwrecked sailors were able to assimilate, possibly aided by being light-skinned like the ruling Zafiraminia who claimed to be descended from Arabs.On 4 August 1508, Diogo Lopes de Sequeira arrived on a Portuguese trade mission, recovering two shipwreck survivors who served as a Malagasy translators for contact and resupply.Trading colonies were attempted by the Portuguese and the French, but initial efforts were short-lived and abandoned.