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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1436-h.zip b/1436-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b1a51e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/1436-h.zip diff --git a/1436-h/1436-h.htm b/1436-h/1436-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2eaf8a9 --- /dev/null +++ b/1436-h/1436-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4363 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>A Voyage to Abyssinia</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + TD { vertical-align: top; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: gray;} + + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">A Voyage to Abyssinia, by Jerome Lobo</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Voyage to Abyssinia, by Jerome Lobo, Edited +by Henry Morley, Translated by Samuel Johnson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Voyage to Abyssinia + + +Author: Jerome Lobo + +Editor: Henry Morley + +Release Date: July 4, 2007 [eBook #1436] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>This etext was prepared from the 1887 Cassell and Company +edition by Les Bowler, St. Ives, Dorset.</p> +<h1>A VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA.</h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by</span><br /> +FATHER JEROME LOBO.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>Translated from the +French</i><br /> +by<br /> +SAMUEL JOHNSON.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CASSELL & COMPANY, <span +class="smcap">Limited</span>:<br /> +<span class="smcap"><i>london</i></span>, <span +class="smcap"><i>paris</i></span>, <span class="smcap"><i>new +york & melbourne</i></span>.<br /> +1887.</p> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<p>Jeronimo Lobo was born in Lisbon in the year 1593. He +entered the Order of the Jesuits at the age of sixteen. +After passing through the studies by which Jesuits were trained +for missionary work, which included special attention to the arts +of speaking and writing, Father Lobo was sent as a missionary to +India at the age of twenty-eight, in the year 1621. He +reached Goa, as his book tells, in 1622, and was in 1624, at the +age of thirty-one, told off as one of the missionaries to be +employed in the conversion of the Abyssinians. They were to +be converted, from a form of Christianity peculiar to themselves, +to orthodox Catholicism. The Abyssinian Emperor Segued was +protector of the enterprise, of which we have here the story +told.</p> +<p>Father Lobo was nine years in Abyssinia, from the age of +thirty-one to the age of forty, and this was the adventurous time +of his life. The death of the Emperor Segued put an end to +the protection that had given the devoted missionaries, in the +midst of dangers, a precarious hold upon their work. When +he and his comrades fell into the hands of the Turks at Massowah, +his vigour of body and mind, his readiness of resource, and his +fidelity, marked him out as the one to be sent to the +headquarters in India to secure the payment of a ransom for his +companions. He obtained the ransom, and desired also to +obtain from the Portuguese Viceroy in India armed force to +maintain the missionaries in the position they had so far +won. But the Civil power was deaf to his pleading. He +removed the appeal to Lisbon, and after narrowly escaping on the +way from a shipwreck, and after having been captured by pirates, +he reached Lisbon, and sought still to obtain means of overawing +the force hostile to the work of the Jesuits in Abyssinia. +The Princess Margaret gave friendly hearing, but sent him on to +persuade, if he could, the King of Spain; and failing at Madrid, +he went to Rome and tried the Pope. He was chosen to go to +the Pope, said the Patriarch Alfonso Mendez, because, of all the +brethren at Goa, the ‘Pater Hieronymus Lupus’ (Lobo +translated into Wolf) was the most ingenious and learned in all +sciences, with a mind most generous in its desire to conquer +difficulties, dexterous in management of business, and found most +able to make himself agreeable to those with whom there was +business to be done. The vigour with which he held by his +purpose of endeavouring in every possible way to bring the +Christianity of Abyssinia within the pale of the Catholic Church +is in accordance with the character that makes the centre of the +story of this book. Whimsical touches arise out of this +strength of character and readiness of resource, as when he tells +of the taste of the Abyssinians for raw cow’s flesh, with a +sauce high in royal Abyssinian favour, made of the cow’s +gall and contents of its entrails, of which, when he was pressed +to partake, he could only excuse himself and his brethren by +suggesting that it was too good for such humble +missionaries. Out of distinguished respect for it, they +refrained from putting it into their mouths.</p> +<p>Good Father Lobo gave up the desire of his heart, when it was +proved unattainable, and returned to India six years after the +breaking up of his work in Abyssinia, at the age of +forty-seven. He came to be head of the Provincials of the +Jesuit settlement at Goa, and after about ten more years of +active duty in the East returned in 1658 to Lisbon, when he died +in the religious house of St. Roque in 1678, at the age of +eighty-five. A comrade of Father Lobo’s, Baltazar +Tellez, said that Lobo had travelled thirty-eight thousand +leagues with no other object before him but the winning of more +souls to God. His years in Abyssinia stood out prominently +to his mind among all the years of his long life, and he wrote an +account of them in Portuguese, of which the manuscript is at +Lisbon in the monastery of St. Roque, where he closed his +life.</p> +<p>Of that manuscript, then and still unprinted (though use was +made of it by Baltazar Tellez in his History of +‘Ethiopia-Coimbra,’ 1660), the Abbe Legrand, Prior of +Neuville-les-Dames, and of Prevessin, published a translation +into French. The Abbe Legrand had been to Lisbon as +Secretary to the Abbe d’Estrees, Ambassador from France to +Portugal. The negotiations were so long continued that M. +Legrand was detained five years in Lisbon, and employed the time +in researches among documents illustrating the Portuguese +possessions in India and the East. He obtained many memoirs +of great interest, and published from one of them an account of +Ceylon; but of all the manuscripts he found none interested him +so much as that of Father Lobo. His translation was +augmented with illustrative dissertations, letters, and a memoir +on the circumstances of the death of M. du Roule. It filled +two volumes, or 636 pages of forty lines. This was +published in 1728. It was on the 31st of October, 1728, +that Samuel Johnson, aged nineteen, went to Pembroke College, +Oxford, and Legrand’s ‘Voyage Historique +d’Abissinie du R. P. Jerome Lobo, de la Compagnie de Jesus, +Traduit du Portugais, continue et augmente de plusieurs +Dissertations, Lettres et Memoires,’ was one of the new +books read by Johnson during his short period of college +life. In 1735, when Johnson’s age was twenty-six, and +the world seemed to have shut against him every door of hope, +Johnson stayed for six months at Birmingham with his old +schoolfellow Hector, who was aiming at medical practice, and who +lodged at the house of a bookseller. Johnson spoke with +interest of Father Lobo, whose book he had read at Pembroke +College. Mr. Warren, the bookseller, thought it would be +worth while to print a translation. Hector joined in urging +Johnson to undertake it, for a payment of five guineas. +Although nearly brought to a stop midway by hypochondriac +despondency, a little suggestion that the printers also were +stopped, and if they had not their work had not their pay, caused +Johnson to go on to the end. Legrand’s book was +reduced to a fifth of its size by the omission of all that +overlaid Father Lobo’s personal account of his adventures; +and Johnson began work as a writer with this translation, first +published at Birmingham in 1735.</p> +<p>H.M.</p> +<h2>THE PREFACE</h2> +<p>The following relation is so curious and entertaining, and the +dissertations that accompany it so judicious and instructive, +that the translator is confident his attempt stands in need of no +apology, whatever censures may fall on the performance.</p> +<p>The Portuguese traveller, contrary to the general vein of his +countrymen, has amused his reader with no romantic absurdities or +incredible fictions; whatever he relates, whether true or not, is +at least probable; and he who tells nothing exceeding the bounds +of probability has a right to demand that they should believe him +who cannot contradict him.</p> +<p>He appears by his modest and unaffected narration to have +described things as he saw them, to have copied nature from the +life, and to have consulted his senses, not his imagination; he +meets with no basilisks that destroy with their eyes, his +crocodiles devour their prey without tears, and his cataracts +fall from the rock without deafening the neighbouring +inhabitants.</p> +<p>The reader will here find no regions cursed with irremediable +barrenness, or blessed with spontaneous fecundity, no perpetual +gloom or unceasing sunshine; nor are the nations here described +either devoid of all sense of humanity, or consummate in all +private and social virtues; here are no Hottentots without +religion, polity, or articulate language, no Chinese perfectly +polite, and completely skilled in all sciences: he will discover, +what will always be discovered by a diligent and impartial +inquirer, that wherever human nature is to be found there is a +mixture of vice and virtue, a contest of passion and reason, and +that the Creator doth not appear partial in his distributions, +but has balanced in most countries their particular +inconveniences by particular favours.</p> +<p>In his account of the mission, where his veracity is most to +be suspected, he neither exaggerates overmuch the merits of the +Jesuits, if we consider the partial regard paid by the Portuguese +to their countrymen, by the Jesuits to their society, and by the +Papists to their church, nor aggravates the vices of the +Abyssins; but if the reader will not be satisfied with a Popish +account of a Popish mission, he may have recourse to the history +of the church of Abyssinia, written by Dr. Geddes, in which he +will find the actions and sufferings of the missionaries placed +in a different light, though the same in which Mr. Le Grand, with +all his zeal for the Roman church, appears to have seen them.</p> +<p>This learned dissertator, however valuable for his industry +and erudition, is yet more to be esteemed for having dared so +freely in the midst of France to declare his disapprobation of +the Patriarch Oviedo’s sanguinary zeal, who was continually +importuning the Portuguese to beat up their drums for +missionaries, who might preach the gospel with swords in their +hands, and propagate by desolation and slaughter the true worship +of the God of Peace.</p> +<p>It is not easy to forbear reflecting with how little reason +these men profess themselves the followers of Jesus, who left +this great characteristic to His disciples, that they should be +known by loving one another, by universal and unbounded charity +and benevolence.</p> +<p>Let us suppose an inhabitant of some remote and superior +region, yet unskilled in the ways of men, having read and +considered the precepts of the gospel, and the example of our +Saviour, to come down in search of the true church: if he would +not inquire after it among the cruel, the insolent, and the +oppressive; among those who are continually grasping at dominion +over souls as well as bodies; among those who are employed in +procuring to themselves impunity for the most enormous +villainies, and studying methods of destroying their +fellow-creatures, not for their crimes but their errors; if he +would not expect to meet benevolence, engaged in massacres, or to +find mercy in a court of inquisition, he would not look for the +true church in the Church of Rome.</p> +<p>Mr. Le Grand has given in one dissertation an example of great +moderation, in deviating from the temper of his religion, but in +the others has left proofs that learning and honesty are often +too weak to oppose prejudice. He has made no scruple of +preferring the testimony of Father du Bernat to the writings of +all the Portuguese Jesuits, to whom he allows great zeal, but +little learning, without giving any other reason than that his +favourite was a Frenchman. This is writing only to +Frenchmen and to Papists: a Protestant would be desirous to know +why he must imagine that Father du Bernat had a cooler head or +more knowledge; and why one man whose account is singular is not +more likely to be mistaken than many agreeing in the same +account.</p> +<p>If the Portuguese were biassed by any particular views, +another bias equally powerful may have deflected the Frenchman +from the truth, for they evidently write with contrary designs: +the Portuguese, to make their mission seem more necessary, +endeavoured to place in the strongest light the differences +between the Abyssinian and Roman Church; but the great Ludolfus, +laying hold on the advantage, reduced these later writers to +prove their conformity.</p> +<p>Upon the whole, the controversy seems of no great importance +to those who believe the Holy Scriptures sufficient to teach the +way of salvation, but of whatever moment it may be thought, there +are not proofs sufficient to decide it.</p> +<p>His discourses on indifferent subjects will divert as well as +instruct, and if either in these, or in the relation of Father +Lobo, any argument shall appear unconvincing, or description +obscure, they are defects incident to all mankind, which, +however, are not too rashly to be imputed to the authors, being +sometimes, perhaps, more justly chargeable on the translator.</p> +<p>In this translation, if it may be so called, great liberties +have been taken, which, whether justifiable or not, shall be +fairly confessed; and let the judicious part of mankind pardon or +condemn them.</p> +<p>In the first part the greatest freedom has been used in +reducing the narration into a narrow compass, so that it is by no +means a translation but an epitome, in which, whether everything +either useful or entertaining be comprised, the compiler is least +qualified to determine.</p> +<p>In the account of Abyssinia, and the continuation, the authors +have been followed with more exactness, and as few passages +appeared either insignificant or tedious, few have been either +shortened or omitted.</p> +<p>The dissertations are the only part in which an exact +translation has been attempted, and even in those abstracts are +sometimes given instead of literal quotations, particularly in +the first; and sometimes other parts have been contracted.</p> +<p>Several memorials and letters, which are printed at the end of +the dissertations to secure the credit of the foregoing +narrative, are entirely left out.</p> +<p>It is hoped that, after this confession, whoever shall compare +this attempt with the original, if he shall find no proofs of +fraud or partiality, will candidly overlook any failure of +judgment.</p> +<h2>PART I—THE VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>The author arrives after some difficulties at Goa. Is +chosen for the Mission of Æthiopia. The fate of those +Jesuits who went by Zeila. The author arrives at the coast +of Melinda.</p> +<p>I embarked in March, 1622, in the same fleet with the Count +Vidigueira, on whom the king had conferred the viceroyship of the +Indies, then vacant by the resignation of Alfonso Noronha, whose +unsuccessful voyage in the foregoing year had been the occasion +of the loss of Ormus, which being by the miscarriage of that +fleet deprived of the succours necessary for its defence, was +taken by the Persians and English. The beginning of this +voyage was very prosperous: we were neither annoyed with the +diseases of the climate nor distressed with bad weather, till we +doubled the Cape of Good Hope, which was about the end of +May. Here began our misfortunes; these coasts are +remarkable for the many shipwrecks the Portuguese have +suffered. The sea is for the most part rough, and the winds +tempestuous; we had here our rigging somewhat damaged by a storm +of lightning, which when we had repaired, we sailed forward to +Mosambique, where we were to stay some time. When we came +near that coast, and began to rejoice at the prospect of ease and +refreshment, we were on the sudden alarmed with the sight of a +squadron of ships, of what nation we could not at first +distinguish, but soon discovered that they were three English and +three Dutch, and were preparing to attack us. I shall not +trouble the reader with the particulars of this fight, in which, +though the English commander ran himself aground, we lost three +of our ships, and with great difficulty escaped with the rest +into the port of Mosambique.</p> +<p>This place was able to afford us little consolation in our +uneasy circumstances; the arrival of our company almost caused a +scarcity of provisions. The heat in the day is intolerable, +and the dews in the night so unwholesome that it is almost +certain death to go out with one’s head uncovered. +Nothing can be a stronger proof of the malignant quality of the +air than that the rust will immediately corrode both the iron and +brass if they are not carefully covered with straw. We +stayed, however, in this place from the latter end of July to the +beginning of September, when having provided ourselves with other +vessels, we set out for Cochin, and landed there after a very +hazardous and difficult passage, made so partly by the currents +and storms which separated us from each other, and partly by +continual apprehensions of the English and Dutch, who were +cruising for us in the Indian seas. Here the viceroy and +his company were received with so much ceremony, as was rather +troublesome than pleasing to us who were fatigued with the +labours of the passage; and having stayed here some time, that +the gentlemen who attended the viceroy to Goa might fit out their +vessels, we set sail, and after having been detained some time at +sea, by calms and contrary winds, and somewhat harassed by the +English and Dutch, who were now increased to eleven ships of war, +arrived at Goa, on Saturday, the 16th of December, and the +viceroy made his entry with great magnificence.</p> +<p>I lived here about a year, and completed my studies in +divinity; in which time some letters were received from the +fathers in Æthiopia, with an account that Sultan Segued, +Emperor of Abyssinia, was converted to the Church of Rome, that +many of his subjects had followed his example, and that there was +a great want of missionaries to improve these prosperous +beginnings. Everybody was very desirous of seconding the +zeal of our fathers, and of sending them the assistance they +requested; to which we were the more encouraged, because the +emperor’s letters informed our provincial that we might +easily enter his dominions by the way of Dancala, but unhappily, +the secretary wrote Zeila for Dancala, which cost two of our +fathers their lives.</p> +<p>We were, however, notwithstanding the assurances given us by +the emperor, sufficiently apprised of the danger which we were +exposed to in this expedition, whether we went by sea or +land. By sea, we foresaw the hazard we run of falling into +the hands of the Turks, amongst whom we should lose, if not our +lives, at least our liberty, and be for ever prevented from +reaching the court of Æthiopia. Upon this +consideration our superiors divided the eight Jesuits chosen for +this mission into two companies. Four they sent by sea and +four by land; I was of the latter number. The four first +were the more fortunate, who though they were detained some time +by the Turkish bassa, were dismissed at the request of the +emperor, who sent him a zebra, or wild ass, a creature of large +size and admirable beauty.</p> +<p>As for us, who were to go by Zeila, we had still greater +difficulties to struggle with: we were entirely strangers to the +ways we were to take, to the manners, and even to the names of +the nations through which we were to pass. Our chief desire +was to discover some new road by which we might avoid having +anything to do with the Turks. Among great numbers whom we +consulted on this occasion, we were informed by some that we +might go through Melinda. These men painted that hideous +wilderness in charming colours, told us that we should find a +country watered with navigable rivers, and inhabited by a people +that would either inform us of the way, or accompany us in +it. These reports charmed us, because they flattered our +desires; but our superiors finding nothing in all this talk that +could be depended on, were in suspense what directions to give +us, till my companion and I upon this reflection, that since all +the ways were equally new to us, we had nothing to do but to +resign ourselves to the Providence of God, asked and obtained the +permission of our superiors to attempt the road through +Melinda. So of we who went by land, two took the way of +Zeila, and my companion and I that of Melinda.</p> +<p>Those who were appointed for Zeila embarked in a vessel that +was going to Caxume, where they were well received by the king, +and accommodated with a ship to carry them to Zeila; they were +there treated by the Check with the same civility which they had +met with at Caxume. But the king being informed of their +arrival, ordered them to be conveyed to his court at Auxa, to +which place they were scarce come before they were thrown by the +king’s command into a dark and dismal dungeon, where there +is hardly any sort of cruelty that was not exercised upon +them. The Emperor of Abyssinia endeavoured by large offers +to obtain their liberty, but his kind offices had no other effect +than to heighten the rage of the king of Zeila. This +prince, besides his ill will to Sultan Segued, which was kept up +by some malcontents among the Abyssin nobility, who, provoked at +the conversion of their master, were plotting a revolt, +entertained an inveterate hatred against the Portuguese for the +death of his grandfather, who had been killed many years before, +which he swore the blood of the Jesuits should repay. So +after they had languished for some time in prison their heads +were struck off. A fate which had been likewise our own, +had not God reserved us for longer labours!</p> +<p>Having provided everything necessary for our journey, such as +Arabian habits, and red caps, calicoes, and other trifles to make +presents of to the inhabitants, and taking leave of our friends, +as men going to a speedy death, for we were not insensible of the +dangers we were likely to encounter, amongst horrid deserts, +impassable mountains, and barbarous nations, we left Goa on the +26th day of January in the year 1624, in a Portuguese galliot +that was ordered to set us ashore at Pate, where we landed +without any disaster in eleven days, together with a young +Abyssin, whom we made use of as our interpreter. While we +stayed here we were given to understand that those who had been +pleased at Goa to give us directions in relation to our journey +had done nothing but tell us lies. That the people were +savage, that they had indeed begun to treat with the Portuguese, +but it was only from fear, that otherwise they were a barbarous +nation, who finding themselves too much crowded in their own +country, had extended themselves to the sea-shore; that they +ravished the country and laid everything waste where they came, +that they were man-eaters, and were on that account dreadful in +all those parts. My companion and I being undeceived by +this terrible relation, thought it would be the highest +imprudence to expose ourselves both together to a death almost +certain and unprofitable, and agreed that I should go with our +Abyssin and a Portuguese to observe the country; that if I should +prove so happy as to escape being killed by the inhabitants, and +to discover a way, I should either return, or send back the +Abyssin or Portuguese. Having fixed upon this, I hired a +little bark to Jubo, a place about forty leagues distant from +Pate, on board which I put some provisions, together with my +sacerdotal vestments, and all that was necessary for saying mass: +in this vessel we reached the coast, which we found inhabited by +several nations: each nation is subject to its own king; these +petty monarchies are so numerous, that I counted at least ten in +less than four leagues.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p>The author lands: The difficulty of his journey. An +account of the Galles, and of the author’s reception at the +king’s tent; Their manner of swearing, and of letting +blood. The author returns to the Indies, and finds the +patriarch of Æthiopia.</p> +<p>On this coast we landed, with an intention of travelling on +foot to Jubo, a journey of much greater length and difficulty +than we imagined. We durst not go far from our bark, and +therefore were obliged to a toilsome march along the windings of +the shore, sometimes clambering up rocks, and sometimes wading +through the sands, so that we were every moment in the utmost +danger of falling from the one, or sinking in the other. +Our lodging was either in the rocks or on the sands, and even +that incommoded by continual apprehensions of being devoured by +lions and tigers. Amidst all these calamities our +provisions failed us; we had little hopes of a supply, for we +found neither villages, houses, nor any trace of a human +creature; and had miserably perished by thirst and hunger had we +not met with some fishermen’s boats, who exchanged their +fish for tobacco.</p> +<p>Through all these fatigues we at length came to Jubo, a +kingdom of considerable extent, situated almost under the line, +and tributary to the Portuguese, who carry on a trade here for +ivory and other commodities. This region so abounds with +elephants, that though the teeth of the male only are valuable, +they load several ships with ivory every year. All this +coast is much infested with ravenous beasts, monkeys, and +serpents, of which last here are some seven feet in length, and +thicker than an ordinary man; in the head of this serpent is +found a stone about the bigness of an egg, resembling bezoar, and +of great efficacy, as it is said, against all kinds of +poison. I stayed here some time to inform myself whether I +might, by pursuing this road, reach Abyssinia; and could get no +other intelligence but that two thousand Galles (the same people +who inhabited Melinda) had encamped about three leagues from +Jubo; that they had been induced to fix in that place by the +plenty of provisions they found there. These Galles lay +everything where they come in ruin, putting all to the sword +without distinction of age or sex; which barbarities, though +their numbers are not great, have spread the terror of them over +all the country. They choose a king, whom they call Lubo: +every eighth year. They carry their wives with them, and expose +their children without any tenderness in the woods, it being +prohibited, on pain of death, to take any care of those which are +born in the camp. This is their way of living when they are +in arms, but afterwards when they settle at home they breed up +their children. They feed upon raw cow’s flesh; when +they kill a cow, they keep the blood to rub their bodies with, +and wear the guts about their necks for ornaments, which they +afterwards give to their wives.</p> +<p>Several of these Galles came to see me, and as it seemed they +had never beheld a white man before, they gazed on me with +amazement; so strong was their curiosity that they even pulled +off my shoes and stockings, that they might be satisfied whether +all my body was of the same colour with my face. I could +remark, that after they had observed me some time, they +discovered some aversion from a white; however, seeing me pull +out my handkerchief, they asked me for it with a great deal of +eagerness; I cut it into several pieces that I might satisfy them +all, and distributed it amongst them; they bound them about their +heads, but gave me to understand that they should have liked them +better if they had been red: after this we were seldom without +their company, which gave occasion to an accident, which though +it seemed to threaten some danger at first, turned afterwards to +our advantage.</p> +<p>As these people were continually teasing us, our Portuguese +one day threatened in jest to kill one of them. The black +ran in the utmost dread to seek his comrades, and we were in one +moment almost covered with Galles; we thought it the most proper +course to decline the first impulse of their fury, and retired +into our house. Our retreat inspired them with courage; +they redoubled their cries, and posted themselves on an eminence +near at hand that overlooked us; there they insulted us by +brandishing their lances and daggers. We were fortunately +not above a stone’s cast from the sea, and could therefore +have retreated to our bark had we found ourselves reduced to +extremities. This made us not very solicitous about their +menaces; but finding that they continued to hover about our +habitation, and being wearied with their clamours, we thought it +might be a good expedient to fright them away by firing four +muskets towards them, in such a manner that they might hear the +bullets hiss about two feet over their heads. This had the +effect we wished; the noise and fire of our arms struck them with +so much terror that they fell upon the ground, and durst not for +some time so much as lift up their heads. They forgot +immediately their natural temper, their ferocity and haughtiness +were softened into mildness and submission; they asked pardon for +their insolence, and we were ever after good friends.</p> +<p>After our reconciliation we visited each other frequently, and +had some conversation about the journey I had undertaken, and the +desire I had of finding a new passage into Æthiopia. +It was necessary on this account to consult their lubo or king: I +found him in a straw hut something larger than those of his +subjects, surrounded by his courtiers, who had each a stick in +his hand, which is longer or shorter according to the quality of +the person admitted into the king’s presence. The +ceremony made use of at the reception of a stranger is somewhat +unusual; as soon as he enters, all the courtiers strike him with +their cudgels till he goes back to the door; the amity then +subsisting between us did not secure me from this uncouth +reception, which they told me, upon my demanding the reason of +it, was to show those whom they treated with that they were the +bravest people in the world, and that all other nations ought to +bow down before them. I could not help reflecting on this +occasion how imprudently I had trusted my life in the hands of +men unacquainted with compassion or civility, but recollecting at +the same time that the intent of my journey was such as might +give me hopes of the divine protection, I banished all thoughts +but those of finding a way into Æthiopia. In this +strait it occurred to me that these people, however barbarous, +have some oath which they keep with an inviolable strictness; the +best precaution, therefore, that I could use would be to bind +them by this oath to be true to their engagements. The +manner of their swearing is this: they set a sheep in the midst +of them, and rub it over with butter, the heads of families who +are the chief in the nation lay their hands upon the head of the +sheep, and swear to observe their promise. This oath (which +they never violate) they explain thus: the sheep is the mother of +them who swear; the butter betokens the love between the mother +and the children, and an oath taken on a mother’s head is +sacred. Upon the security of this oath, I made them +acquainted with my intention, an intention, they told me, it was +impossible to put in execution. From the moment I left them +they said they could give me no assurance of either life or +liberty, that they were perfectly informed both of the roads and +inhabitants, that there were no fewer than nine nations between +us and Abyssinia, who were always embroiled amongst themselves, +or at war with the Abyssins, and enjoyed no security even in +their own territories. We were now convinced that our +enterprise was impracticable, and that to hazard ourselves amidst +so many insurmountable difficulties would be to tempt Providence; +despairing, therefore, that I should ever come this way to +Abyssinia, I resolved to return back with my intelligence to my +companion, whom I had left at Pate.</p> +<p>I cannot, however, leave this country without giving an +account of their manner of blood-letting, which I was led to the +knowledge of by a violent fever, which threatened to put an end +to my life and travels together. The distress I was in may +easily be imagined, being entirely destitute of everything +necessary. I had resolved to let myself blood, though I was +altogether a stranger to the manner of doing it, and had no +lancet, but my companions hearing of a surgeon of reputation in +the place, went and brought him. I saw, with the utmost +surprise, an old Moor enter my chamber, with a kind of small +dagger, all over rusty, and a mallet in his hand, and three cups +of horn about half a foot long. I started, and asked what +he wanted. He told me to bleed me; and when I had given him +leave, uncovering my side, applied one of his horn cups, which he +stopped with chewed paper, and by that means made it stick fast; +in the same manner he fixed on the other two, and fell to +sharpening his instrument, assuring me that he would give me no +pain. He then took off his cups, and gave in each place a +stroke with his poignard, which was followed by a stream of +blood. He applied his cups several times, and every time +struck his lancet into the same place; having drawn away a large +quantity of blood, he healed the orifices with three lumps of +tallow. I know not whether to attribute my cure to bleeding +or my fear, but I had from that time no return of my fever.</p> +<p>When I came to Pate, in hopes of meeting with my associate, I +found that he was gone to Mombaza, in hopes of receiving +information. He was sooner undeceived than I, and we met at +the place where we parted in a few days; and soon afterwards left +Pate to return to the Indies, and in nine-and-twenty days arrived +at the famous fortress of Diou. We were told at this place +that Alfonso Mendes, patriarch of Æthiopia, was arrived at +Goa from Lisbon. He wrote to us to desire that we would +wait for him at Diou, in order to embark there for the Red Sea; +but being informed by us that no opportunities of going thither +were to be expected at Diou, it was at length determined that we +should meet at Bazaim; it was no easy matter for me to find means +of going to Bazaim. However, after a very uneasy voyage, in +which we were often in danger of being dashed against the rocks, +or thrown upon the sands by the rapidity of the current, and +suffered the utmost distress for want of water, I landed at +Daman, a place about twenty leagues distant from Bazaim. +Here I hire a catre and four boys to carry me to Bazaim: these +catres are a kind of travelling couches, in which you may either +lie or sit, which the boys, whose business is the same with that +of chairmen in our country, support upon their shoulders by two +poles, and carry a passenger at the rate of eighteen or twenty +miles a day. Here we at length found the patriarch, with +three more priests, like us, designed for the mission of +Æthiopia. We went back to Daman, and from thence to +Diou, where we arrived in a short time.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p>The author embarks with the patriarch, narrowly escapes +shipwreck near the isle of Socotora; enters the Arabian Gulf, and +the Red Sea. Some account of the coast of the Red Sea.</p> +<p>The patriarch having met with many obstacles and +disappointments in his return to Abyssinia, grew impatient of +being so long absent from his church. Lopo Gomez +d’Abreu had made him an offer at Bazaim of fitting out +three ships at his own expense, provided a commission could be +procured him to cruise in the Red Sea. This proposal was +accepted by the patriarch, and a commission granted by the +viceroy. While we were at Diou, waiting for these vessels, +we received advice from Æthiopia that the emperor, +unwilling to expose the patriarch to any hazard, thought Dagher, +a port in the mouth of the Red Sea, belonging to a prince +dependent on the Abyssins, a place of the greatest security to +land at, having already written to that prince to give him safe +passage through his dominions. We met here with new delays; +the fleet that was to transport us did not appear, the patriarch +lost all patience, and his zeal so much affected the commander at +Diou, that he undertook to equip a vessel for us, and pushed the +work forward with the utmost diligence. At length, the +long-expected ships entered the port; we were overjoyed, we were +transported, and prepared to go on board. Many persons at +Diou, seeing the vessels so well fitted out, desired leave to go +this voyage along with us, imagining they had an excellent +opportunity of acquiring both wealth and honour. We +committed, however, one great error in setting out, for having +equipped our ships for privateering, and taken no merchandise on +board, we could not touch at any of the ports of the Red +Sea. The patriarch, impatient to be gone, took leave in the +most tender manner of the governor and his other friends, +recommended our voyage to the Blessed Virgin, and in the field, +before we went on shipboard, made a short exhortation, so moving +and pathetic, that it touched the hearts of all who heard +it. In the evening we went on board, and early the next +morning being the 3rd of April, 1625, we set sail.</p> +<p>After some days we discovered about noon the island Socotora, +where we proposed to touch. The sky was bright and the wind +fair, nor had we the least apprehension of the danger into which +we were falling, but with the utmost carelessness and jollity +held on our course. At night, when our sailors, especially +the Moors, were in a profound sleep (for the Mohammedans, +believing everything forewritten in the decrees of God, and not +alterable by any human means, resign themselves entirely to +Providence), our vessel ran aground upon a sand bank at the +entrance of the harbour. We got her off with the utmost +difficulty, and nothing but a miracle could have preserved +us. We ran along afterwards by the side of the island, but +were entertained with no other prospect than of a mountainous +country, and of rocks that jutted out over the sea, and seemed +ready to fall into it. In the afternoon, putting into the +most convenient ports of the island, we came to anchor; very much +to the amazement and terror of the inhabitants, who were not used +to see any Portuguese ships upon their coasts, and were therefore +under a great consternation at finding them even in their +ports. Some ran for security to the mountains, others took +up arms to oppose our landing, but were soon reconciled to us, +and brought us fowls, fish, and sheep, in exchange for India +calicoes, on which they set a great value. We left this +island early the next morning, and soon came in sight of Cape +Gardafui, so celebrated heretofore under the name of the Cape of +Spices, either because great quantities were then found there, or +from its neighbourhood to Arabia the Happy, even at this day +famous for its fragrant products. It is properly at this +cape (the most eastern part of Africa) that the Gulf of Arabia +begins, which at Babelmandel loses its name, and is called the +Red Sea. Here, though the weather was calm, we found the +sea so rough, that we were tossed as in a high wind for two +nights; whether this violent agitation of the water proceeded +from the narrowness of the strait, or from the fury of the late +storm, I know not; whatever was the cause, we suffered all the +hardships of a tempest. We continued our course towards the +Red Sea, meeting with nothing in our passage but a gelve, or kind +of boat, made of thin boards, sewed together, with no other sail +than a mat. We gave her chase, in hopes of being informed +by the crew whether there were any Arabian vessels at the mouth +of the strait; but the Moors, who all entertain dismal +apprehensions of the Franks, plied their oars and sail with the +utmost diligence, and as soon as they reached land, quitted their +boat, and scoured to the mountains. We saw them make +signals from thence, and imagining they would come to a parley, +sent out our boat with two sailors and an Abyssin, putting the +ships off from the shore, to set them free from any suspicion of +danger in coming down. All this was to no purpose, they +could not be drawn from the mountain, and our men had orders not +to go on shore, so they were obliged to return without +information. Soon after we discovered the isle of +Babelmandel, which gives name to the strait so called, and parts +the sea that surrounds it into two channels; that on the side of +Arabia is not above a quarter of a league in breadth, and through +this pass almost all the vessels that trade to or from the Red +Sea. The other, on the side of Æthiopia, though much +larger, is more dangerous, by reason of the shallows, which make +it necessary for a ship, though of no great burthen, to pass very +near the island, where the channel is deeper and less +embarrassed. This passage is never made use of but by those +who would avoid meeting with the Turks who are stationed on the +coast of Arabia; it was for this reason that we chose it. +We passed it in the night, and entered that sea, so renowned on +many accounts in history, both sacred and profane.</p> +<p>In our description of this famous sea, an account of which may +justly be expected in this place, it is most convenient to begin +with the coast of Arabia, on which part at twelve leagues from +the mouth stands the city of Moca, a place of considerable +trade. Forty leagues farther is the Isle of Camaram, whose +inhabitants are annoyed with little serpents, which they call +basilisks, which, though very poisonous and deadly, do not, as +the ancients have told us, kill with their eyes, or if they have +so fatal a power, it is not at least in this place. Sailing +ninety leagues farther, you see the noted port of Jodda, where +the pilgrims that go to Mecca and Medina unlade those rich +presents which the zeal of different princes is every day +accumulating at the tomb of Mahomet. The commerce of this +place, and the number of merchants that resort thither from all +parts of the world, are above description, and so richly laden +are the ships that come hither, that when the Indians would +express a thing of inestimable price, they say, “It is of +greater value than a ship of Jodda.” An hundred and +eighteen leagues from thence lies Toro, and near it the ruins of +an ancient monastery. This is the place, if the report of +the inhabitants deserves any credit, where the Israelites +miraculously passed through the Red Sea on dry land; and there is +some reason for imagining the tradition not ill grounded, for the +sea is here only three leagues in breadth. All the ground +about Toro is barren for want of water, which is only to be found +at a considerable distance, in one fountain, which flows out of +the neighbouring mountains, at the foot of which there are still +twelve palm-trees. Near Toro are several wells, which, as +the Arabs tell us, were dug by the order of Moses to quiet the +clamours of the thirsty Israelites. Suez lies in the bottom +of the Gulf, three leagues from Toro, once a place of note, now +reduced, under the Turks, to an inconsiderable village, where the +miserable inhabitants are forced to fetch water at three +leagues’ distance. The ancient Kings of Egypt +conveyed the waters of the Nile to this place by an artificial +canal, now so choked with sand, that there are scarce any marks +remaining of so noble and beneficial a work.</p> +<p>The first place to be met with in travelling along the coast +of Africa is Rondelo, situate over against Toro, and celebrated +for the same miraculous passage. Forty-five leagues from +thence is Cocir. Here ends that long chain of mountains +that reaches from this place even to the entrance of the Red +Sea. In this prodigious ridge, which extends three hundred +leagues, sometimes approaching near the sea, and sometimes +running far up into the land, there is only one opening, through +which all that merchandise is conveyed, which is embarked at +Rifa, and from thence distributed through all the east. +These mountains, as they are uncultivated, are in some parts +shaded with large forests, and in others dry and bare. As +they are exceedingly high, all the seasons may be here found +together; when the storms of winter beat on one side, on the +other is often a serene sky and a bright sunshine. The Nile +runs here so near the shore that it might without much difficulty +be turned through this opening of the mountains into the Red Sea, +a design which many of the Emperors have thought of putting in +execution, and thereby making a communication between the Red Sea +and the Mediterranean, but have been discouraged either by the +greatness of the expense or the fear of laying great part of +Egypt under water, for some of that country lies lower than +sea.</p> +<p>Distant from Rondelo a hundred and thirty leagues is the Isle +of Suaquem, where the Bassa of that country chooses his +residence, for the convenience of receiving the tribute with +greater exactness, there being a large trade carried on here with +the Abyssins. The Turks of Suaquem have gardens on the firm +land, not above a musket shot from the island, which supply them +with many excellent herbs and fruits, of which I doubt whether +there be not a greater quantity on this little spot than on the +whole coast of Africa besides, from Melinda to Suez. For if +we except the dates which grow between Suez and Suaquem, the +ground does not yield the least product; all the necessaries of +life, even water, is wanting. Nothing can support itself in +this region of barrenness but ostriches, which devour stones, or +anything they meet with; they lay a great number of eggs, part of +which they break to feed their young with. These fowls, of +which I have seen many, are very tame, and when they are pursued, +stretch out their wings, and run with amazing swiftness. As +they have cloven feet, they sometimes strike up the stones when +they run, which gave occasion to the notion that they threw +stones at the hunters, a relation equally to be credited with +those of their eating fire and digesting iron. Those +feathers which are so much valued grow under their wings: the +shell of their eggs powdered is an excellent remedy for sore +eyes.</p> +<p>The burning wind spoken of in the sacred writings, I take to +be that which the natives term arur, and the Arabs uri, which +blowing in the spring, brings with it so excessive a heat, that +the whole country seems a burning oven; so that there is no +travelling here in this dreadful season, nor is this the only +danger to which the unhappy passenger is exposed in these +uncomfortable regions. There blows in the months of June, +July, and August, another wind, which raises mountains of sand +and carries them through the air; all that can be done in this +case is when a cloud of sand rises, to mark where it is likely to +fall, and to retire as far off as possible; but it is very usual +for men to be taken unexpectedly, and smothered in the +dust. One day I found the body of a Christian, whom I knew, +upon the sand; he had doubtless been choked by these winds. +I recommended his soul to the divine mercy and buried him. +He seemed to have been some time dead, yet the body had no ill +smell. These winds are most destructive in Arabia the +Desert.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3> +<p>The author’s conjecture on the name of the Red +Sea. An account of the cocoa-tree. He lands at +Baylur.</p> +<p>To return to the description of the coast: sixty leagues from +Suaquem is an island called Mazna, only considerable for its +ports, which make the Turks reside upon it, though they are +forced to keep three barks continually employed in fetching +water, which is not to be found nearer than at a distance of +twelve miles. Forty leagues from hence is Dalacha, an +island where many pearls are found, but of small value. The +next place is Baylur, forty leagues from Dalacha, and twelve from +Babelmandel.</p> +<p>There are few things upon which a greater variety of +conjectures has been offered than upon the reasons that induced +the ancients to distinguish this gulf, which separates Asia from +Africa, by the name of the Red Sea, an appellation that has +almost universally obtained in all languages. Some affirm +that the torrents, which fall after great rains from the +mountains, wash down such a quantity of red sand as gives a +tincture to the water: others tell us that the sunbeams being +reverberated from the red rocks, give the sea on which they +strike the appearance of that colour. Neither of these +accounts are satisfactory; the coasts are so scorched by the heat +that they are rather black than red; nor is the colour of this +sea much altered by the winds or rains. The notion +generally received is, that the coral found in such quantities at +the bottom of the sea might communicate this colour to the water: +an account merely chimerical. Coral is not to be found in +all parts of this gulf, and red coral in very few. Nor does +this water in fact differ from that of other seas. The +patriarch and I have frequently amused ourselves with making +observations, and could never discover any redness, but in the +shallows, where a kind of weed grew which they call gouesmon, +which redness disappeared as soon as we plucked up the +plant. It is observable that St. Jerome, confining himself +to the Hebrew, calls this sea Jamsuf. Jam in that language +signifies sea, and suf is the name of a plant in Æthiopia, +from which the Abyssins extract a beautiful crimson; whether this +be the same with the gouesmon, I know not, but am of opinion that +the herb gives to this sea both the colour and the name.</p> +<p>The vessels most used in the Red Sea, though ships of all +sizes may be met with there, are gelves, of which some mention +hath been made already; these are the more convenient, because +they will not split if thrown upon banks or against rocks. +These gelves have given occasion to the report that out of the +cocoa-tree alone a ship may be built, fitted out with masts, +sails, and cordage, and victualled with bread, water, wine, +sugar, vinegar, and oil. All this indeed cannot be done out +of one tree, but may out of several of the same kind. They +saw the trunk into planks, and sew them together with thread +which they spin out of the bark, and which they twist for the +cables; the leaves stitched together make the sails. This +boat thus equipped may be furnished with all necessaries from the +same tree. There is not a month in which the cocoa does not +produce a bunch of nuts, from twenty to fifty. At first +sprouts out a kind of seed or capsula, of a shape not unlike the +scabbard of a scimitar, which they cut, and place a vessel under, +to receive the liquor that drops from it; this drink is called +soro, and is clear, pleasant, and nourishing. If it be +boiled, it grows hard, and makes a kind of sugar much valued in +the Indies: distil this liquor and you have a strong water, of +which is made excellent vinegar. All these different +products are afforded before the nut is formed, and while it is +green it contains a delicious cooling water; with these nuts they +store their gelves, and it is the only provision of water which +is made in this country. The second bark which contains the +water is so tender that they eat it. When this fruit +arrives to perfect maturity, they either pound the kernel into +meal, and make cakes of or draw an oil from it of a fine scent +and taste, and of great use in medicine; so that what is reported +of the different products of this wonderful tree is neither false +nor incredible.</p> +<p>It is time we should come now to the relation of our +voyage. Having happily passed the straits at the entrance +of the Red Sea, we pursued our course, keeping as near the shore +as we could, without any farther apprehensions of the +Turks. We were, however, under some concern that we were +entirely ignorant in what part of the coast to find Baylur, a +port where we proposed landing, and so little known, that our +pilots, who had made many voyages in this sea, could give us no +account of it. We were in hopes of information from the +fishermen, but found that as soon as we came near they fled from +us in the greatest consternation; no signals of peace or +friendship could prevail on them to stay; they either durst not +trust or did not understand us. We plied along the coast in +this uncertainty two days, till on the first of March having +doubled a point of land, which came out a great way into the sea, +we found ourselves in the middle of a fair large bay, which many +reasons induced us to think was Baylur; that we might be farther +assured we sent our Abyssin on shore, who returning next morning +confirmed our opinion. It would not be easy to determine +whether our arrival gave us greater joy, or the inhabitants +greater apprehensions, for we could discern a continual tumult in +the land, and took notice that the crews of some barks that lay +in the harbour were unlading with all possible diligence, to +prevent the cargo from falling into our hands, very much indeed +to the dissatisfaction of many of our soldiers, who having +engaged in this expedition, with no other view than of filling +their pockets, were, before the return of our Abyssin, for +treating them like enemies, and taking them as a lawful +prize. We were willing to be assured of a good reception in +this port; the patriarch therefore sent me to treat with +them. I dressed myself like a merchant, and in that habit +received the four captains of gelves which the Chec sent to +compliment me, and ordered to stay as hostages, whom I sent back, +that I might gain upon their affections by the confidence I +placed in their sincerity; this had so good an effect, that the +Chec, who was transported with the account the officers gave of +the civilities they had been treated with, came in an hour to +visit me, bringing with him a Portuguese, whom I had sent ashore +as a security for his return. He informed me that the King +his master was encamped not far off, and that a Chec who was then +in the company was just arrived from thence, and had seen the +Emperor of Æthiopia’s letters in our favour; I was +then convinced that we might land without scruple, and to give +the patriarch notice of it ordered a volley of our muskets to be +fired, which was answered by the cannon of the two ships that lay +at a distance, for fear of giving the Moors any cause of +suspicion by their approach. The Chec and his attendants, +though I had given them notice that we were going to let off our +guns in honour of the King their master, could not forbear +trembling at the fire and noise. They left us soon after, +and next morning we landed our baggage, consisting chiefly of the +patriarch’s library, some ornaments for the church, some +images, and some pieces of calico, which were of the same use as +money. Most of the soldiers and sailors were desirous of +going with us, some from real principles of piety, and a desire +of sharing the labours and merits of the mission, others upon +motives very different, the hopes of raising a fortune. To +have taken all who offered themselves would have been an injury +to the owners of the ships, by rendering them unable to continue +their voyage; we therefore accepted only of a few.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER V</h3> +<p>An account of Dancali. The conduct of Chec Furt. +The author wounded. They arrive at the court of the King of +Dancali. A description of his pavilion, and the reception +they met with.</p> +<p>Our goods were no sooner landed than we were surrounded with a +crowd of officers, all gaping for presents; we were forced to +gratify their avarice by opening our bales, and distributing +among them some pieces of calico. What we gave to the Chec +might be worth about a pistole, and the rest in proportion.</p> +<p>The kingdom of Dancali, to which this belongs, is barren, and +thinly peopled; the king is tributary to the Emperor of +Abyssinia, and very faithful to his sovereign. The emperor +had not only written to him, but had sent a Moor and Portuguese +as his ambassadors, to secure us a kind reception; these in their +way to this prince had come through the countries of +Chumo-Salamay and Senaa, the utmost confines of Abyssinia, and +had carried thither the emperor’s orders concerning our +passage.</p> +<p>On Ascension Day we left Baylur, having procured some camels +and asses to carry our baggage. The first day’s march +was not above a league, and the others not much longer. Our +guides performed their office very ill, being influenced, as we +imagined, by the Chec Furt, an officer, whom, though unwilling, +we were forced to take with us. This man, who might have +brought us to the king in three days, led us out of the way +through horrid deserts destitute of water, or where what we found +was so foul, nauseous, and offensive, that it excited a loathing +and aversion which nothing but extreme necessity could have +overcome.</p> +<p>Having travelled some days, we were met by the King’s +brother, to whom, by the advice of Chec Furt, whose intent in +following us was to squeeze all he could from us; we presented +some pieces of Chinese workmanship, such as cases of boxes, a +standish, and some earthenware, together with several pieces of +painted calico, which were so much more agreeable, that he +desired some other pieces instead of our Chinese curiosities; we +willingly made the exchange. Yet some time afterwards he +asked again for those Chinese goods which he had returned us, nor +was it in our power to refuse them. I was here in danger of +losing my life by a compliment which the Portuguese paid the +prince of a discharge of twelve muskets; one being unskilfully +charged too high, flew out of the soldier’s hand, and +falling against my leg, wounded it very much; we had no surgeon +with us, so that all I could do was to bind it hard with some +cloth. I was obliged by this accident to make use of the +Chec Furt’s horse, which was the greatest service we +received from him in all our journey.</p> +<p>When we came within two leagues and a half of the King’s +court, he sent some messengers with his compliments, and five +mules for the chief of our company. Our road lay through a +wood, where we found the ground covered over with young locusts, +a plague intolerably afflictive in a country so barren of +itself. We arrived at length at the bank of a small river, +near which the King usually keeps his residence, and found his +palace at the foot of a little mountain. It consisted of +about six tents and twenty cabins, erected amongst some thorns +and wild trees, which afforded a shelter from the heat of the +weather. He received us the first time in a cabin about a +musket shot distant from the rest, furnished out with a throne in +the middle built of clay and stones, and covered with tapestry +and two velvet cushions. Over against him stood his horse +with his saddle and other furniture hanging by him, for in this +country, the master and his horse make use of the same apartment, +nor doth the King in this respect affect more grandeur than his +subjects. When we entered, we seated ourselves on the +ground with our legs crossed, in imitation of the rest, whom we +found in the same posture. After we had waited some time, +the King came in, attended by his domestics and his +officers. He held a small lance in his hand, and was +dressed in a silk robe, with a turban on his head, to which were +fastened some rings of very neat workmanship, which fell down +upon his forehead. All kept silence for some time, and the +King told us by his interpreter that we were welcome to his +dominions, that he had been informed we were to come by the +Emperor his father, and that he condoled the hardships we had +undergone at sea. He desired us not to be under any concern +at finding ourselves in a country so distant from our own, for +those dominions were ours, and he and the Emperor his father +would give us all the proofs we could desire of the sincerest +affection. We returned him thanks for this promise of his +favour, and after a short conversation went away. +Immediately we were teazed by those who brought us the mules, and +demanded to be paid the hire of them; and had advice given us at +the same time that we should get a present ready for the +King. The Chec Furt, who was extremely ready to undertake +any commission of this kind, would needs direct us in the affair, +and told us that our gifts ought to be of greater value, because +we had neglected making any such offer at our first audience, +contrary to the custom of that country. By these pretences +he obliged us to make a present to the value of about twenty +pounds, with which he seemed to be pleased, and told us we had +nothing to do but prepare to make our entry.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3> +<p>The King refuses their present. The author’s +boldness. The present is afterwards accepted. The +people are forbidden to sell them provisions. The author +remonstrates against the usage. The King redresses it.</p> +<p>But such was either the hatred or avarice of this man, that +instead of doing us the good offices he pretended, he advised the +King to refuse our present, that he might draw from us something +more valuable. When I attended the King in order to deliver +the presents, after I had excused the smallness of them, as +being, though unworthy his acceptance, the largest that our +profession of poverty, and distance from our country, allowed us +to make, he examined them one by one with a dissatisfied look, +and told me that however he might be pleased with our good +attentions, he thought our present such as could not be offered +to a king without affronting him; and made me a sign with his +hand to withdraw, and take back what I had brought. I +obeyed, telling him that perhaps he might send for it again +without having so much. The Chec Furt, who had been the +occasion of all this, coming to us afterwards, blamed us +exceedingly for having offered so little, and being told by us +that the present was picked out by himself, that we had nothing +better to give, and that what we had left would scarce defray the +expenses of our journey, he pressed us at least to add something, +but could prevail no farther than to persuade us to repeat our +former offer, which the King was now pleased to accept, though +with no kinder countenance than before.</p> +<p>Here we spent our time and our provisions, without being able +to procure any more. The country indeed affords goats and +honey, but nobody would sell us any, the King, as I was secretly +informed, having strictly prohibited it, with a view of forcing +all we had from us. The patriarch sent me to expostulate +the matter with the King, which I did in very warm terms, telling +him that we were assured by the Emperor of a reception in this +country far different from what we met with, which assurances he +had confirmed by his promise and the civilities we were +entertained with at our first arrival; but that instead of +friends who would compassionate our miseries, and supply our +necessities, we found ourselves in the midst of mortal enemies +that wanted to destroy us.</p> +<p>The King, who affected to appear ignorant of the whole affair, +demanded an account of the injuries I complained of, and told me +that if any of his subjects should dare to attempt our lives, it +should cost him his own. We were not, replied I, in danger +of being stabbed or poisoned, but are doomed to a more lingering +and painful death by that prohibition which obliges your subjects +to deny us the necessaries of life; if it be Your +Highness’s pleasure that we die here, we entreat that we +may at least be despatched quickly, and not condemned to longer +torments. The King, startled at this discourse, denied that +he had given any such orders, and was very importunate to know +the author of our intelligence, but finding me determined not to +discover him, he sent me away with a promise that for the future +we should be furnished with everything we wanted, and indeed that +same day we bought three goats for about a crown, and some honey, +and found ourselves better treated than before.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VII</h3> +<p>They obtain leave, with some difficulty, to depart from +Dancali. The difficulties of their march. A broil +with the Moors. They arrive at the plain of salt.</p> +<p>This usage, with some differences we had with a Moor, made us +very desirous of leaving this country, but we were still put off +with one pretence or other whenever we asked leave to +depart. Tired with these delays, I applied myself to his +favourite minister, with a promise of a large present if he could +obtain us an audience of leave; he came to us at night to agree +upon the reward, and soon accomplished all we desired, both +getting us a permission to go out of the kingdom, and procuring +us camels to carry our baggage, and that of the Abyssinian +ambassadors who were ordered to accompany us.</p> +<p>We set out from the kingdom of Dancali on the 15th of June, +having taken our leave of the King, who after many excuses for +everything that had happened, dismissed us with a present of a +cow, and some provisions, desiring us to tell the Emperor of +Æthiopia his father that we had met with kind treatment in +his territories, a request which we did not at that time think it +convenient to deny.</p> +<p>Whatever we had suffered hitherto, was nothing to the +difficulties we were now entering upon, and which God had decreed +us to undergo for the sake of Jesus Christ. Our way now lay +through a region scarce passable, and full of serpents, which +were continually creeping between our legs; we might have avoided +them in the day, but being obliged, that we might avoid the +excessive heats, to take long marches in the night, we were every +moment treading upon them. Nothing but a signal +interposition of Providence could have preserved us from being +bitten by them, or perishing either by weariness or thirst, for +sometimes we were a long time without water, and had nothing to +support our strength in this fatigue but a little honey, and a +small piece of cows’ flesh dried in the sun. Thus we +travelled on for many days, scarce allowing ourselves any rest, +till we came to a channel or hollow worn in the mountains by the +winter torrents; here we found some coolness, and good water, a +blessing we enjoyed for three days; down this channel all the +winter runs a great river which is dried up in the heats, or to +speak more properly, hides itself under ground. We walked +along its side, sometimes seven or eight leagues without seeing +any water, and then we found it rising out of the ground, at +which places we never failed to drink as much as we could, and +fill our bottles.</p> +<p>In our march, there fell out an unlucky accident, which, +however, did not prove of the bad consequence it might have +done. The master of our camels was an old Mohammedan, who +had conceived an opinion that it was an act of merit to do us all +the mischief he could; and in pursuance of his notion, made it +his chief employment to steal everything he could lay hold on; +his piety even transported him so far, that one morning he stole +and hid the cords of our tents. The patriarch who saw him +at the work charged him with it, and upon his denial, showed him +the end of the cord hanging from under the saddle of one of his +camels. Upon this we went to seize them, but were opposed +by him and the rest of the drivers, who set themselves in a +posture of opposition with their daggers. Our soldiers had +recourse to their muskets, and four of them putting the mouths of +their pieces to the heads of some of the most obstinate and +turbulent, struck them with such a terror, that all the clamour +was stilled in an instant; none received any hurt but the Moor +who had been the occasion of the tumult. He was knocked +down by one of our soldiers, who had cut his throat but that the +fathers prevented it: he then restored the cords, and was more +tractable ever after. In all my dealings with the Moors, I +have always discovered in them an ill-natured cowardice, which +makes them insupportably insolent if you show them the least +respect, and easily reduced to reasonable terms when you treat +them with a high hand.</p> +<p>After a march of some days we came to an opening between the +mountains, the only passage out of Dancali into Abyssinia. +Heaven seems to have made this place on purpose for the repose of +weary travellers, who here exchange the tortures of parching +thirst, burning sands, and a sultry climate, for the pleasures of +shady trees, the refreshment of a clear stream, and the luxury of +a cooling breeze. We arrived at this happy place about +noon, and the next day at evening left those fanning winds, and +woods flourishing with unfading verdure, for the dismal +barrenness of the vast uninhabitable plains, from which Abyssinia +is supplied with salt. These plains are surrounded with +high mountains, continually covered with thick clouds which the +sun draws from the lakes that are here, from which the water runs +down into the plain, and is there congealed into salt. +Nothing can be more curious than to see the channels and +aqueducts that nature has formed in this hard rock, so exact and +of such admirable contrivance, that they seem to be the work of +men. To this place caravans of Abyssinia are continually +resorting, to carry salt into all parts of the empire, which they +set a great value upon, and which in their country is of the same +use as money. The superstitious Abyssins imagine that the +cavities of the mountains are inhabited by evil spirits which +appear in different shapes, calling those that pass by their +names as in a familiar acquaintance, who, if they go to them, are +never seen afterwards. This relation was confirmed by the +Moorish officer who came with us, who, as he said, had lost a +servant in that manner: the man certainly fell into the hands of +the Galles, who lurk in those dark retreats, cut the throats of +the merchants, and carry off their effects.</p> +<p>The heat making it impossible to travel through this plain in +the day-time, we set out in the evening, and in the night lost +our way. It is very dangerous to go through this place, for +there are no marks of the right road, but some heaps of salt, +which we could not see. Our camel drivers getting together +to consult on this occasion, we suspected they had some ill +design in hand, and got ready our weapons; they perceived our +apprehensions, and set us at ease by letting us know the reason +of their consultation. Travelling hard all night, we found +ourselves next morning past the plain; but the road we were in +was not more commodious, the points of the rocks pierced our +feet; to increase our perplexities we were alarmed with the +approach of an armed troop, which our fear immediately suggested +to be the Galles, who chiefly beset these passes of the +mountains; we put ourselves on the defensive, and expected them, +whom, upon a more exact examination, we found to be only a +caravan of merchants come as usual to fetch salt.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3> +<p>They lose their way, are in continual apprehensions of the +Galles. They come to Duan, and settle in Abyssinia.</p> +<p>About nine the next morning we came to the end of this +toilsome and rugged path, where the way divided into two, yet +both led to a well, the only one that was found in our +journey. A Moor with three others took the shortest, +without directing us to follow him; so we marched forwards we +knew not whither, through woods and over rocks, without sleep or +any other refreshment: at noon the next day we discovered that we +were near the field of salt. Our affliction and distress is +not to be expressed; we were all fainting with heat and +weariness, and two of the patriarch’s servants were upon +the point of dying for want of water. None of us had any +but a Moor, who could not be prevailed upon to part with it at +less than the weight in gold; we got some from him at last, and +endeavoured to revive the two servants, while part of us went to +look for a guide that might put us in the right way. The +Moors who had arrived at the well, rightly guessing that we were +lost, sent one of their company to look for us, whom we heard +shouting in the woods, but durst make no answer for fear of the +Galles. At length he found us, and conducted us to the +rest; we instantly forgot our past calamities, and had no other +care than to recover the patriarch’s attendants. We +did not give them a full draught at first, but poured in the +water by drops, to moisten their mouths and throats, which were +extremely swelled: by this caution they were soon well. We +then fell to eating and drinking, and though we had nothing but +our ordinary repast of honey and dried flesh, thought we never +had regaled more pleasantly in our lives.</p> +<p>We durst not stay long in this place for fear of the Galles, +who lay their ambushes more particularly near this well, by which +all caravans must necessarily pass. Our apprehensions were +very much increased by our suspicion of the camel-drivers, who, +as we imagined, had advertised the Galles of our arrival. +The fatigue we had already suffered did not prevent our +continuing our march all night: at last we entered a plain, where +our drivers told us we might expect to be attacked by the Galles; +nor was it long before our own eyes convinced us that we were in +great danger, for we saw as we went along the dead bodies of a +caravan who had been lately massacred, a sight which froze our +blood, and filled us with pity and with horror. The same +fate was not far from overtaking us, for a troop of Galles, who +were detached in search of us, missed us but an hour or +two. We spent the next night in the mountains, but when we +should have set out in the morning, were obliged to a fierce +dispute with the old Moor, who had not yet lost his inclination +to destroy us; he would have had us taken a road which was full +of those people we were so much afraid of: at length finding he +could not prevail with us, that we charged the goods upon him as +belonging to the Emperor, to whom he should be answerable for the +loss of them, he consented, in a sullen way, to go with us.</p> +<p>The desire of getting out of the reach of the Galles made us +press forward with great expedition, and, indeed, fear having +entirely engrossed our minds, we were perhaps less sensible of +all our labours and difficulties; so violent an apprehension of +one danger made us look on many others with unconcern; our pains +at last found some intermission at the foot of the mountains of +Duan, the frontier of Abyssinia, which separates it from the +country of the Moors, through which we had travelled.</p> +<p>Here we imagined we might repose securely, a felicity we had +long been strangers to. Here we began to rejoice at the +conclusion of our labours; the place was cool and pleasant, the +water was excellent, and the birds melodious. Some of our +company went into the wood to divert themselves with hearing the +birds and frightening the monkeys, creatures so cunning that they +would not stir if a man came unarmed, but would run immediately +when they saw a gun. At this place our camel drivers left +us, to go to the feast of St. Michael, which the Æthiopians +celebrate the 16th of June. We persuaded them, however, to +leave us their camels and four of their company to take care of +them.</p> +<p>We had not waited many days before some messengers came to us +with an account that Father Baradas, with the Emperor’s +nephew, and many other persons of distinction, waited for us at +some distance; we loaded our camels, and following the course of +the river, came in seven hours to the place we were directed to +halt at. Father Manuel Baradas and all the company, who had +waited for us a considerable time on the top of the mountain, +came down when they saw our tents, and congratulated our +arrival. It is not easy to express the benevolence and +tenderness with which they embraced us, and the concern they +showed at seeing us worn away with hunger, labour, and weariness, +our clothes tattered, and our feet bloody.</p> +<p>We left this place of interview the next day, and on the 21st +of June arrived at Fremone, the residence of the missionaries, +where we were welcomed by great numbers of Catholics, both +Portuguese and Abyssins, who spared no endeavours to make us +forget all we had suffered in so hazardous a journey, undertaken +with no other intention than to conduct them in the way of +salvation.</p> +<h2>PART II—A DESCRIPTION OF ABYSSINIA</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>The history of Abyssinia. An account of the Queen of +Sheba, and of Queen Candace. The conversion of the +Abyssins.</p> +<p>The original of the Abyssins, like that of all other nations, +is obscure and uncertain. The tradition generally received +derives them from Cham, the son of Noah, and they pretend, +however improbably, that from his time till now the legal +succession of their kings hath never been interrupted, and that +the supreme power hath always continued in the same family. +An authentic genealogy traced up so high could not but be +extremely curious; and with good reason might the Emperors of +Abyssinia boast themselves the most illustrious and ancient +family in the world. But there are no real grounds for +imagining that Providence has vouchsafed them so distinguishing a +protection, and from the wars with which this empire hath been +shaken in these latter ages we may justly believe that, like all +others, it has suffered its revolutions, and that the history of +the Abyssins is corrupted with fables. This empire is known +by the name of the kingdom of Prester-John. For the +Portuguese having heard such wonderful relations of an ancient +and famous Christian state called by that name, in the Indies, +imagined it could be none but this of Æthiopia. Many +things concurred to make them of this opinion: there was no +Christian kingdom or state in the Indies of which all was true +which they heard of this land of Prester-John: and there was none +in the other parts of the world who was a Christian separated +from the Catholic Church but what was known, except this kingdom +of Æthiopia. It has therefore passed for the kingdom +of Prester-John since the time that it was discovered by the +Portuguese in the reign of King John the Second.</p> +<p>The country is properly called Abyssinia, and the people term +themselves Abyssins. Their histories count a hundred and +sixty-two reigns, from Cham to Faciladas or Basilides; among +which some women are remarkably celebrated. One of the most +renowned is the Queen of Sheba, mentioned in Scripture, whom the +natives call Nicaula or Macheda, and in their translation of the +gospel, Nagista Azeb, which in their language is Queen of the +South. They still show the ruins of a city which appears to +have been once of note, as the place where she kept her court, +and a village which, from its being the place of her birth, they +call the land of Saba. The Kings of Æthiopia draw +their boasted pedigree from Minilech, the son of this Queen and +Solomon. The other Queen for whom they retain a great +veneration is Candace, whom they call Judith, and indeed if what +they relate of her could be proved, there never was, amongst the +most illustrious and beneficent sovereigns, any to whom their +country was more indebted, for it is said that she being +converted by Inda her eunuch, whom St. Philip baptised, prevailed +with her subjects to quit the worship of idols, and profess the +faith of Jesus Christ. This opinion appears to me without +any better foundation than another of the conversion of the +Abyssins to the Jewish rites by the Queen of Sheba, at her return +from the court of Solomon. They, however, who patronise +these traditions give us very specious accounts of the zeal and +piety of the Abyssins at their first conversion. Many, they +say, abandoned all the pleasures and vanities of life for +solitude and religious austerities; others devoted themselves to +God in an ecclesiastical life; they who could not do these set +apart their revenues for building churches, endowing chapels, and +founding monasteries, and spent their wealth in costly ornaments +for the churches and vessels for the altars. It is true +that this people has a natural disposition to goodness; they are +very liberal of their alms, they much frequent their churches, +and are very studious to adorn them; they practise fasting and +other mortifications, and notwithstanding their separation from +the Roman Church, and the corruptions which have crept into their +faith, yet retain in a great measure the devout fervour of the +primitive Christians. There never were greater hopes of +uniting this people to the Church of Rome, which their adherence +to the Eutichian heresy has made very difficult, than in the time +of Sultan Segued, who called us into his dominions in the year +1625, from whence we were expelled in 1634. As I have lived +a long time in this country, and borne a share in all that has +passed, I will present the reader with a short account of what I +have observed, and of the revolution which forced us to abandon +Æthiopia, and destroyed all our hopes of reuniting this +kingdom with the Roman Church.</p> +<p>The empire of Abyssinia hath been one of the largest which +history gives us an account of: it extended formerly from the Red +Sea to the kingdom of Congo, and from Egypt to the Indian +Sea. It is not long since it contained forty provinces; but +is now not much bigger than all Spain, and consists but of five +kingdoms and six provinces, of which part is entirely subject to +the Emperor, and part only pays him some tribute, or +acknowledgment of dependence, either voluntarily or by +compulsion. Some of these are of very large extent: the +kingdoms of Tigre, Bagameder, and Goiama are as big as Portugal, +or bigger; Amhara and Damote are something less. The +provinces are inhabited by Moors, Pagans, Jews, and Christians: +the last is the reigning and established religion. This +diversity of people and religion is the reason that the kingdom +in different parts is under different forms of government, and +that their laws and customs are extremely various.</p> +<p>The inhabitants of the kingdom of Amhara are the most +civilised and polite; and next to them the natives of Tigre, or +the true Abyssins. The rest, except the Damotes, the +Gasates, and the Agaus, which approach somewhat nearer to +civility, are entirely rude and barbarous. Among these +nations the Galles, who first alarmed the world in 1542, have +remarkably distinguished themselves by the ravages they have +committed, and the terror they have raised in this part of +Africa. They neither sow their lands nor improve them by +any kind of culture; but, living upon milk and flesh, encamp like +the Arabs without any settled habitation. They practise no +rites of worship, though they believe that in the regions above +there dwells a Being that governs the world: whether by this +Being they mean the sun or the sky is not known; or, indeed, +whether they have not some conception of the God that created +them. This deity they call in their language Oul. In +other matters they are yet more ignorant, and have some customs +so contrary even to the laws of nature, as might almost afford +reason to doubt whether they are endued with reason. The +Christianity professed by the Abyssins is so corrupted with +superstitions, errors, and heresies, and so mingled with +ceremonies borrowed from the Jews, that little besides the name +of Christianity is to be found here; and the thorns may be said +to have choked the grain. This proceeds in a great measure +from the diversity of religions which are tolerated there, either +by negligence or from motives of policy; and the same cause hath +produced such various revolutions, revolts, and civil wars within +these later ages. For those different sects do not easily +admit of an union with each other, or a quiet subjection to the +same monarch. The Abyssins cannot properly be said to have +either cities or houses; they live either in tents, or in +cottages made of straw and clay; for they very rarely build with +stone. Their villages or towns consist of these huts; yet +even of such villages they have but few, because the grandees, +the viceroys, and the Emperor himself are always in the camp, +that they may be prepared, upon the most sudden summons, to go +where the exigence of affairs demands their presence. And +this precaution is no more than necessary for a prince every year +engaged either in foreign wars or intestine commotions. +These towns have each a governor, whom they call gadare, over +whom is the educ, or lieutenant, and both accountable to an +officer called the afamacon, or mouth of the King; because he +receives the revenues, which he pays into the hands of the +relatinafala, or grand master of the household: sometimes the +Emperor creates a ratz, or viceroy, general over all the empire, +who is superior to all his other officers.</p> +<p>Æthiopia produces very near the same kinds of provisions +as Portugal; though, by the extreme laziness of the inhabitants, +in a much less quantity: however, there are some roots, herbs, +and fruits which grow there much better than in other +places. What the ancients imagined of the torrid zone being +uninhabitable is so far from being true, that this climate is +very temperate: the heats, indeed, are excessive in Congo and +Monomotapa, but in Abyssinia they enjoy a perpetual spring, more +delicious and charming than that in our country. The blacks +here are not ugly like those of the kingdoms I have spoken of, +but have better features, and are not without wit and delicacy; +their apprehension is quick, and their judgment sound. The +heat of the sun, however it may contribute to their colour, is +not the only reason of it; there is some peculiarity in the +temper and constitution of their bodies, since the same men, +transported into cooler climates, produce children very near as +black as themselves.</p> +<p>They have here two harvests in the year, which is a sufficient +recompense for the small produce of each; one harvest they have +in the winter, which lasts through the months of July, August, +and September, the other in the spring; their trees are always +green, and it is the fault of the inhabitants that they produce +so little fruit, the soil being well adapted to all sorts, +especially those that come from the Indies. They have in +the greatest plenty raisins, peaches, sour pomegranates, and +sugarcanes, and some figs. Most of these are ripe about +Lent, which the Abyssins keep with great strictness.</p> +<p>After the vegetable products of this country, it seems not +improper to mention the animals which are found in it, of which +here are as great numbers, of as many different species, as in +any country in the world: it is infested with lions of many +kinds, among which are many of that which is called the lion +royal. I cannot help giving the reader on this occasion a +relation of a fact which I was an eye-witness of. A lion +having taken his haunt near the place where I lived, killed all +the oxen and cows, and did a great deal of other mischief, of +which I heard new complaints every day. A servant of mine +having taken a resolution to free the country from this +destroyer, went out one day with two lances, and after he had +been some time in quest of him, found him with his mouth all +smeared with the blood of a cow he had just devoured; the man +rushed upon him, and thrust his lance into his throat with such +violence that it came out between his shoulders; the beast, with +one dreadful roar, fell down into a pit, and lay struggling, till +my servant despatched him. I measured the body of this +lion, and found him twelve feet between the head and the +tail.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p>The animals of Abyssinia; the elephant, unicorn, their horses +and cows; with a particular account of the moroc.</p> +<p>There are so great numbers of elephants in Abyssinia that in +one evening we met three hundred of them in three troops: as they +filled up the whole way, we were in great perplexity a long time +what measures to take; at length, having implored the protection +of that Providence that superintends the whole creation, we went +forwards through the midst of them without any injury. Once +we met four young elephants, and an old one that played with +them, lifting them up with her trunk; they grew enraged on a +sudden, and ran upon us: we had no way of securing ourselves but +by flight, which, however, would have been fruitless, had not our +pursuers been stopped by a deep ditch. The elephants of +Æthiopia are of so stupendous a size, that when I was +mounted on a large mule I could not reach with my hand within two +spans of the top of their backs. In Abyssinia is likewise +found the rhinoceros, a mortal enemy to the elephant. In +the province of Agaus has been seen the unicorn, that beast so +much talked of, and so little known: the prodigious swiftness +with which this creature runs from one wood into another has +given me no opportunity of examining it particularly, yet I have +had so near a sight of it as to be able to give some description +of it. The shape is the same with that of a beautiful +horse, exact and nicely proportioned, of a bay colour, with a +black tail, which in some provinces is long, in others very +short: some have long manes hanging to the ground. They are +so timorous that they never feed but surrounded with other beasts +that defend them. Deer and other defenceless animals often +herd about the elephant, which, contenting himself with roots and +leaves, preserves those beasts that place themselves, as it were, +under his protection, from the rage and fierceness of others that +would devour them.</p> +<p>The horses of Abyssinia are excellent; their mules, oxen, and +cows are without number, and in these principally consists the +wealth of this country. They have a very particular custom, +which obliges every man that hath a thousand cows to save every +year one day’s milk of all his herd, and make a bath with +it for his relations, entertaining them afterwards with a +splendid feast. This they do so many days each year, as +they have thousands of cattle, so that to express how rich any +man is, they tell you he bathes so many times. The tribute +paid out of their herds to the King, which is not the most +inconsiderable of his revenues, is one cow in ten every three +years. The beeves are of several kinds; one sort they have +without horns, which are of no other use than to carry burthens, +and serve instead of mules. Another twice as big as ours +which they breed to kill, fattening them with the milk of three +or four cows. Their horns are so large, the inhabitants use +them for pitchers, and each will hold about five gallons. +One of these oxen, fat and ready to be killed, may be bought at +most for two crowns. I have purchased five sheep, or five +goats with nine kids, for a piece of calico worth about a +crown.</p> +<p>The Abyssins have many sort of fowls both wild and tame; some +of the former we are yet unacquainted with: there is one of +wonderful beauty, which I have seen in no other place except +Peru: it has instead of a comb, a short horn upon its head, which +is thick and round, and open at the top. The feitan favez, +or devil’s horse, looks at a distance like a man dressed in +feathers; it walks with abundance of majesty, till it finds +itself pursued, and then takes wing, and flies away. But +amongst all their birds there is none more remarkable than the +moroc, or honey-bird, which is furnished by nature with a +peculiar instinct or faculty of discovering honey. They +have here multitudes of bees of various kinds; some are tame, +like ours, and form their combs in hives. Of the wild ones, +some place their honey in hollow trees, others hide it in holes +in the ground, which they cover so carefully, that though they +are commonly in the highway, they are seldom found, unless by the +moroc’s help, which, when he has discovered any honey, +repairs immediately to the road side, and when he sees a +traveller, sings, and claps his wings, making many motions to +invite him to follow him, and when he perceives him coming, flies +before him from tree to tree, till he comes to the place where +the bees have stored their treasure, and then begins to sing +melodiously. The Abyssin takes the honey, without failing +to leave part of it for the bird, to reward him for his +information. This kind of honey I have often tasted, and do +not find that it differs from the other sorts in anything but +colour; it is somewhat blacker. The great quantity of honey +that is gathered, and a prodigious number of cows that is kept +here, have often made me call Abyssinia a land of honey and +butter.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p>The manner of eating in Abyssinia, their dress, their +hospitality, and traffic.</p> +<p>The great lords, and even the Emperor himself, maintain their +tables with no great expense. The vessels they make use of +are black earthenware, which, the older it is, they set a greater +value on. Their way of dressing their meat, an European, +till he hath been long accustomed to it, can hardly be persuaded +to like; everything they eat smells strong and swims with +butter. They make no use of either linen or plates. +The persons of rank never touch what they eat, but have their +meat cut by their pages, and put into their mouths. When +they feast a friend they kill an ox, and set immediately a +quarter of him raw upon the table (for their most elegant treat +is raw beef newly killed) with pepper and salt; the gall of the +ox serves them for oil and vinegar; some, to heighten the +delicacy of the entertainment, add a kind of sauce, which they +call manta, made of what they take out of the guts of the ox; +this they set on the fire, with butter, salt, pepper, and +onion. Raw beef, thus relished, is their nicest dish, and +is eaten by them with the same appetite and pleasure as we eat +the best partridges. They have often done me the favour of +helping me to some of this sauce, and I had no way to decline +eating it besides telling them it was too good for a +missionary.</p> +<p>The common drink of the Abyssins is beer and mead, which they +drink to excess when they visit one another; nor can there be a +greater offence against good manners than to let the guests go +away sober: their liquor is always presented by a servant, who +drinks first himself, and then gives the cup to the company, in +the order of their quality.</p> +<p>The meaner sort of people here dress themselves very plain; +they only wear drawers, and a thick garment of cotton, that +covers the rest of their bodies: the people of quality, +especially those that frequent the court, run into the contrary +extreme, and ruin themselves with costly habits. They wear +all sorts of silks, and particularly the fine velvets of +Turkey.</p> +<p>They love bright and glaring colours, and dress themselves +much in the Turkish manner, except that their clothes are wider, +and their drawers cover their legs. Their robes are always +full of gold and silver embroidery. They are most exact +about their hair, which is long and twisted, and their care of it +is such that they go bare-headed whilst they are young for fear +of spoiling it, but afterwards wear red caps, and sometimes +turbans after the Turkish fashion.</p> +<p>The ladies’ dress is yet more magnificent and expensive; +their robes are as large as those of the religious, of the order +of St. Bernard. They have various ways of dressing their +heads, and spare no expense in ear-rings, necklaces, or anything +that may contribute to set them off to advantage. They are +not much reserved or confined, and have so much liberty in +visiting one another that their husbands often suffer by it; but +for this evil there is no remedy, especially when a man marries a +princess, or one of the royal family. Besides their +clothes, the Abyssins have no movables or furniture of much +value, or doth their manner of living admit of them.</p> +<p>One custom of this country deserves to be remarked: when a +stranger comes to a village, or to the camp, the people are +obliged to entertain him and his company according to his +rank. As soon as he enters a house (for they have no inns +in this nation), the master informs his neighbours that he hath a +guest; immediately they bring in bread and all kinds of +provisions; and there is great care taken to provide enough, +because, if the guest complains, the town is obliged to pay +double the value of what they ought to have furnished. This +practice is so well established that a stranger goes into a house +of one he never saw with the same familiarity and assurance of +welcome as into that of an intimate friend or near relation; a +custom very convenient, but which gives encouragement to great +numbers of vagabonds throughout the kingdom.</p> +<p>There is no money in Abyssinia, except in the eastern +provinces, where they have iron coin: but in the chief provinces +all commerce is managed by exchange. Their chief trade +consists in provisions, cows, sheep, goats, fowls, pepper, and +gold, which is weighed out to the purchaser, and principally in +salt, which is properly the money of this country.</p> +<p>When the Abyssins are engaged in a law-suit, the two parties +make choice of a judge, and plead their own cause before him; and +if they cannot agree in their choice, the governor of the place +appoints them one, from whom there lies an appeal to the viceroy +and to the Emperor himself. All causes are determined on +the spot; no writings are produced. The judge sits down on +the ground in the midst of the high road, where all that please +may be present: the two persons concerned stand before him, with +their friends about them, who serve as their attorneys. The +plaintiff speaks first, the defendant answers him; each is +permitted to rejoin three or four times, then silence is +commanded, and the judge takes the opinions of those that are +about him. If the evidence be deemed sufficient, he +pronounces sentence, which in some cases is decisive and without +appeal. He then takes the criminal into custody till he +hath made satisfaction; but if it be a crime punishable with +death he is delivered over to the prosecutor, who may put him to +death at his own discretion.</p> +<p>They have here a particular way of punishing adultery; a woman +convicted of that crime is condemned to forfeit all her fortune, +is turned out of her husband’s house, in a mean dress, and +is forbid ever to enter it again; she has only a needle given her +to get her living with. Sometimes her head is shaved, +except one lock of hair, which is left her, and even that depends +on the will of her husband, who has it likewise in his choice +whether he will receive her again or not; if he resolves never to +admit her they are both at liberty to marry whom they will. +There is another custom amongst them yet more extraordinary, +which is, that the wife is punished whenever the husband proves +false to the marriage contract; this punishment indeed extends no +farther than a pecuniary mulct, and what seems more equitable, +the husband is obliged to pay a sum of money to his wife. +When the husband prosecutes his wife’s gallant, if he can +produce any proofs of a criminal conversation, he recovers for +damages forty cows, forty horses, and forty suits of clothes, and +the same number of other things. If the gallant be unable +to pay him, he is committed to prison, and continues there during +the husband’s pleasure, who, if he sets him at liberty +before the whole fine be paid, obliges him to take an oath that +he is going to procure the rest, that he may be able to make full +satisfaction. Then the criminal orders meat and drink to be +brought out, they eat and drink together, he asks a formal +pardon, which is not granted at first; however, the husband +forgives first one part of the debt, and then another, till at +length the whole is remitted.</p> +<p>A husband that doth not like his wife may easily find means to +make the marriage void, and, what is worse, may dismiss the +second wife with less difficulty than he took her, and return to +the first; so that marriages in this country are only for a term +of years, and last no longer than both parties are pleased with +each other, which is one instance how far distant these people +are from the purity of the primitive believers, which they +pretend to have preserved with so great strictness. The +marriages are in short no more than bargains, made with this +proviso, that when any discontent shall arise on either side, +they may separate, and marry whom they please, each taking back +what they brought with them.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3> +<p>An account of the religion of the Abyssins.</p> +<p>Yet though there is a great difference between our manners, +customs, civil government, and those of the Abyssins, there is +yet a much greater in points of faith; for so many errors have +been introduced and ingrafted into their religion, by their +ignorance, their separation from the Catholic Church, and their +intercourse with Jews, Pagans, and Mohammedans, that their +present religion is nothing but a kind of confused miscellany of +Jewish and Mohammedan superstitions, with which they have +corrupted those remnants of Christianity which they still +retain.</p> +<p>They have, however, preserved the belief of our principal +mysteries; they celebrate with a great deal of piety the passion +of our Lord; they reverence the cross; they pay a great devotion +to the Blessed Virgin, the angels, and the saints; they observe +the festivals, and pay a strict regard to the Sunday. Every +month they commemorate the assumption of the Virgin Mary, and are +of opinion that no Christians beside themselves have a true sense +of the greatness of the mother of God, or pay her the honours +that are due to her. There are some tribes amongst them +(for they are distinguished like the Jews by their tribes), among +whom the crime of swearing by the name of the Virgin is punished +with forfeiture of goods and even with loss of life; they are +equally scrupulous of swearing by St. George. Every week +they keep a feast to the honour of the apostles and angels; they +come to mass with great devotion, and love to hear the word of +God. They receive the sacrament often, but do not always +prepare themselves by confession. Their charity to the poor +may be said to exceed the proper bounds that prudence ought to +set it, for it contributes to encourage great numbers of beggars, +which are a great annoyance to the whole kingdom, and as I have +often said, afford more exercise to a Christian’s patience +than his charity; for their insolence is such, that they will +refuse what is offered them if it be not so much as they think +proper to ask.</p> +<p>Though the Abyssins have not many images, they have great +numbers of pictures, and perhaps pay them somewhat too high a +degree of worship. The severity of their fasts is equal to +that of the primitive church. In Lent they never eat till +after sunset; their fasts are the more severe because milk and +butter are forbidden them, and no reason or necessity whatsoever +can procure them a permission to eat meat, and their country +affording no fish, they live only on roots and pulse. On +fast-days they never drink but at their meat, and the priests +never communicate till evening, for fear of profaning them. +They do not think themselves obliged to fast till they have +children either married or fit to be married, which yet doth not +secure them very long from these mortifications, because their +youths marry at the age of ten years, and their girls +younger.</p> +<p>There is no nation where excommunication carries greater +terrors than among the Abyssins, which puts it in the power of +the priests to abuse this religious temper of the people, as well +as the authority they receive from it, by excommunicating them, +as they often do, for the least trifle in which their interest is +concerned.</p> +<p>No country in the world is so full of churches, monasteries, +and ecclesiastics as Abyssinia; it is not possible to sing in one +church or monastery without being heard by another, and perhaps +by several. They sing the psalms of David, of which, as +well as the other parts of the Holy Scriptures, they have a very +exact translation in their own language; in which, though +accounted canonical, the books of the Maccabees are +omitted. The instruments of music made use of in their +rites of worship are little drums, which they hang about their +necks, and beat with both their hands; these are carried even by +their chief men, and by the gravest of their ecclesiastics. +They have sticks likewise, with which they strike the ground, +accompanying the blow with a motion of their whole bodies. +They begin their concert by stamping their feet on the ground, +and playing gently on their instruments; but when they have +heated themselves by degrees, they leave off drumming, and fall +to leaping, dancing, and clapping their hands, at the same time +straining their voices to the utmost pitch, till at length they +have no regard either to the tune or the pauses, and seem rather +a riotous than a religious assembly. For this manner of +worship they cite the psalm of David, “O clap your hands +all ye nations.” Thus they misapply the sacred +writings to defend practices yet more corrupt than those I have +been speaking of.</p> +<p>They are possessed with a strange notion that they are the +only true Christians in the world; as for us, they shunned us as +heretics, and were under the greatest surprise at hearing us +mention the Virgin Mary with the respect which is due to her, and +told us that we could not be entirely barbarians since we were +acquainted with the mother of God. It plainly appears that +prepossessions so strong, which receive more strength from the +ignorance of the people, have very little tendency to dispose +them to a reunion with the Catholic Church.</p> +<p>They have some opinions peculiar to themselves about +purgatory, the creation of souls, and some of our +mysteries. They repeat baptism every year, they retain the +practice of circumcision, they observe the Sabbath, they abstain +from all those sorts of flesh which are forbidden by the +law. Brothers espouse the wives of their brothers, and to +conclude, they observe a great number of Jewish ceremonies.</p> +<p>Though they know the words which Jesus Christ appointed to be +used in the administration of baptism, they have without scruple +substituted others in their place, which makes the validity of +their baptism, and the reality of their Christianity, very +doubtful. They have a few names of saints, the same with +those in the Roman martyrology, but they often insert others, as +Zama la Cota, the Life of Truth; Ongulari, the Evangelist; Asca +Georgi, the Mouth of Saint George.</p> +<p>To bring back this people into the enclosure of the Catholic +Church, from which they have been separated so many ages, was the +sole view and intention with which we undertook so long and +toilsome a journey, crossed so many seas, and passed so many +deserts, with the utmost hazard of our lives; I am certain that +we travelled more than seven thousand leagues before we arrived +at our residence at Fremona.</p> +<p>We came to this place, anciently called Maigoga, on the 21st +of June, as I have said before, and were obliged to continue +there till November, because the winter begins here in May, and +its greatest rigour is from the middle of June to the middle of +September. The rains that are almost continually falling in +this season make it impossible to go far from home, for the +rivers overflow their banks, and therefore, in a place like this, +where there are neither bridges nor boats, are, if they are not +fordable, utterly impassable. Some, indeed, have crossed +them by means of a cord fastened on both sides of the water, +others tie two beams together, and placing themselves upon them, +guide them as well as they can, but this experiment is so +dangerous that it hath cost many of these bold adventurers their +lives. This is not all the danger, for there is yet more to +be apprehended from the unwholesomeness of the air, and the +vapours which arise from the scorched earth at the fall of the +first showers, than from the torrents and rivers. Even they +who shelter themselves in houses find great difficulty to avoid +the diseases that proceed from the noxious qualities of these +vapours. From the beginning of June to that of September it +rains more or less every day. The morning is generally fair +and bright, but about two hours after noon the sky is clouded, +and immediately succeeds a violent storm, with thunder and +lightning flashing in the most dreadful manner. While this +lasts, which is commonly three or four hours, none go out of +doors. The ploughman upon the first appearance of it +unyokes his oxen, and betakes himself with them into +covert. Travellers provide for their security in the +neighbouring villages, or set up their tents, everybody flies to +some shelter, as well to avoid the unwholesomeness as the +violence of the rain. The thunder is astonishing, and the +lightning often destroys great numbers, a thing I can speak of +from my own experience, for it once flashed so near me, that I +felt an uneasiness on that side for a long time after; at the +same time it killed three young children, and having run round my +room went out, and killed a man and woman three hundred paces +off. When the storm is over the sun shines out as before, +and one would not imagine it had rained, but that the ground +appears deluged. Thus passes the Abyssinian winter, a +dreadful season, in which the whole kingdom languishes with +numberless diseases, an affliction which, however grievous, is +yet equalled by the clouds of grasshoppers, which fly in such +numbers from the desert, that the sun is hid and the sky +darkened; whenever this plague appears, nothing is seen through +the whole region but the most ghastly consternation, or heard but +the most piercing lamentations, for wherever they fall, that +unhappy place is laid waste and ruined; they leave not one blade +of grass, nor any hopes of a harvest.</p> +<p>God, who often makes calamities subservient to His will, +permitted this very affliction to be the cause of the conversion +of many of the natives, who might have otherwise died in their +errors; for part of the country being ruined by the grasshoppers +that year in which we arrived at Abyssinia, many, who were forced +to leave their habitations, and seek the necessaries of life in +other places, came to that part of the land where some of our +missionaries were preaching, and laid hold on that mercy which +God seemed to have appointed for others.</p> +<p>As we could not go to court before November, we resolved, that +we might not be idle, to preach and instruct the people in the +country; in pursuance of this resolution I was sent to a +mountain, two days’ journey distant from Maigoga. The +lord or governor of the place was a Catholic, and had desired +missionaries, but his wife had conceived an implacable aversion +both from us and the Roman Church, and almost all the inhabitants +of that mountain were infected with the same prejudices as +she. They had been persuaded that the hosts which we +consecrated and gave to the communicants were mixed with juices +strained from the flesh of a camel, a dog, a hare, and a swine; +all creatures which the Abyssins look upon with abhorrence, +believing them unclean, and forbidden to them, as they were to +the Jews. We had no way of undeceiving them, and they fled +from us whenever we approached. We carried with us our +tent, our chalices, and ornaments, and all that was necessary for +saying mass. The lord of the village, who, like other +persons of quality throughout Æthiopia, lived on the top of +a mountain, received us with very great civility. All that +depended upon him had built their huts round about him; so that +this place compared with the other towns of Abyssinia seems +considerable; as soon as we arrived he sent us his compliments, +with a present of a cow, which, among them, is a token of high +respect. We had no way of returning this favour but by +killing the cow, and sending a quarter smoking, with the gall, +which amongst them is esteemed the most delicate part. I +imagined for some time that the gall of animals was less bitter +in this country than elsewhere, but upon tasting it, I found it +more; and yet have frequently seen our servants drink large +glasses of if with the same pleasure that we drink the most +delicious wines.</p> +<p>We chose to begin our mission with the lady of the village, +and hoped that her prejudice and obstinacy, however great, would +in time yield to the advice and example of her husband, and that +her conversion would have a great influence on the whole village, +but having lost several days without being able to prevail upon +her to hear us on any one point, we left the place, and went to +another mountain, higher and better peopled. When we came +to the village on the top of it, where the lord lived, we were +surprised with the cries and lamentations of men that seemed to +suffer or apprehend some dreadful calamity; and were told, upon +inquiring the cause, that the inhabitants had been persuaded that +we were the devil’s missionaries, who came to seduce them +from the true religion, that foreseeing some of their neighbours +would be ruined by the temptation, they were lamenting the +misfortune which was coming upon them. When we began to +apply ourselves to the work of the mission we could not by any +means persuade any but the lord and the priest to receive us into +their houses; the rest were rough and untractable to that degree +that, after having converted six, we despaired of making any +farther progress, and thought it best to remove to other towns +where we might be better received.</p> +<p>We found, however, a more unpleasing treatment at the next +place, and had certainly ended our lives there had we not been +protected by the governor and the priest, who, though not +reconciled to the Roman Church, yet showed us the utmost +civility; the governor informed us of a design against our lives, +and advised us not to go out after sunset, and gave us guards to +protect us from the insults of the populace.</p> +<p>We made no long stay in a place where they stopped their ears +against the voice of God, but returned to the foot of that +mountain which we had left some days before; we were surrounded, +as soon as we began to preach, with a multitude of auditors, who +came either in expectation of being instructed, or from a desire +of gratifying their curiosity, and God bestowed such a blessing +upon our apostolical labours that the whole village was converted +in a short time. We then removed to another at the middle +of the mountain, situated in a kind of natural parterre, or +garden; the soil was fruitful, and the trees that shaded it from +the scorching heat of the sun gave it an agreeable and refreshing +coolness. We had here the convenience of improving the +ardour and piety of our new converts, and, at the same time, of +leading more into the way of the true religion: and indeed our +success exceeded the utmost of our hopes; we had in a short time +great numbers whom we thought capable of being admitted to the +sacraments of baptism and the mass.</p> +<p>We erected our tent, and placed our altar under some great +trees, for the benefit of the shade; and every day before +sun-rising my companion and I began to catechise and instruct +these new Catholics, and used our utmost endeavours to make them +abjure their errors. When we were weary with speaking, we +placed in ranks those who were sufficiently instructed, and +passing through them with great vessels of water, baptised them +according to the form prescribed by the Church. As their +number was very great, we cried aloud, those of this rank are +named Peter, those of that rank Anthony. And did the same +amongst the women, whom we separated from the men. We then +confessed them, and admitted them to the communion. After +mass we applied ourselves again to catechise, to instruct, and +receive the renunciation of their errors, scarce allowing +ourselves time to make a scanty meal, which we never did more +than once a day.</p> +<p>After some time had been spent here, we removed to another +town not far distant, and continued the same practice. Here +I was accosted one day by an inhabitant of that place, where he +had found the people so prejudiced against us, who desired to be +admitted to confession. I could not forbear asking him some +questions about those lamentations, which we heard upon our +entering into that place. He confessed with the utmost +frankness and ingenuity that the priests and religious have given +dreadful accounts both of us and of the religion we preached; +that the unhappy people were taught by them that the curse of God +attended us wheresoever we went; that we were always followed by +the grasshoppers, that pest of Abyssinia, which carried famine +and destruction over all the country; that he, seeing no +grasshoppers following us when we passed by their village, began +to doubt of the reality of what the priests had so confidently +asserted, and was now convinced that the representation they made +of us was calumny and imposture. This discourse gave us +double pleasure, both as it proved that God had confuted the +accusations of our enemies, and defended us against their malice +without any efforts of our own, and that the people who had +shunned us with the strongest detestation were yet lovers of +truth, and came to us on their own accord. Nothing could be +more grossly absurd than the reproaches which the Abyssinian +ecclesiastics aspersed us and our religion with. They had +taken advantage of the calamity that happened the year of our +arrival: and the Abyssins, with all their wit, did not consider +that they had often been distressed by the grasshoppers before +there came any Jesuits into the country, and indeed before there +were any in the world.</p> +<p>Whilst I was in these mountains, I went on Sundays and +saints’ days sometimes to one church and sometimes to +another. One day I went out with a resolution not to go to +a certain church, where I imagined there was no occasion for me, +but before I had gone far, I found myself pressed by a secret +impulse to return back to that same church. I obeyed the +influence, and discovered it to proceed from the mercy of God to +three young children who were destitute of all succour, and at +the point of death. I found two very quickly in this +miserable state; the mother had retired to some distance that she +might not see them die, and when she saw me stop, came and told +me that they had been obliged by want to leave the town they +lived in, and were at length reduced to this dismal condition, +that she had been baptised, but that the children had not. +After I had baptised and relieved them, I continued my walk, +reflecting with wonder on the mercy of God, and about evening +discovered another infant, whose mother, evidently a Catholic, +cried out to me to save her child, or at least that if I could +not preserve this uncertain and perishable life, I should give it +another certain and permanent. I sent my servant to fetch +water with the utmost expedition, for there was none near, and +happily baptised the child before it expired.</p> +<p>Soon after this I returned to Fremona, and had great hopes of +accompanying the patriarch to the court; but, when we were almost +setting out, received the command of the superior of the mission +to stay at Fremona, with a charge of the house there, and of all +the Catholics that were dispersed over the kingdom of Tigre, an +employment very ill-proportioned to my abilities. The house +at Fremona has always been much regarded even by those emperors +who persecuted us; Sultan Segued annexed nine large manors to it +for ever, which did not make us much more wealthy, because of the +expensive hospitality which the great conflux of strangers +obliged us to. The lands in Abyssinia yield but small +revenues, unless the owners themselves set the value upon them, +which we could not do.</p> +<p>The manner of letting farms in Abyssinia differs much from +that of other countries: the farmer, when the harvest is almost +ripe, invites the chumo or steward, who is appointed to make an +estimate of the value of each year’s product, to his house, +entertains him in the most agreeable manner he can; makes him a +present, and then takes him to see his corn. If the chumo +is pleased with the treat and present, he will give him a +declaration or writing to witness that his ground, which afforded +five or six sacks of corn, did you yield so many bushels, and +even of this it is the custom to abate something; so that our +revenue did not increase in proportion to our lands; and we found +ourselves often obliged to buy corn, which, indeed, is not dear, +for in fruitful years forty or fifty measures, weighing each +about twenty-two pounds, may be purchased for a crown.</p> +<p>Besides the particular charge I had of the house of Fremona, I +was appointed the patriarch’s grand-vicar through the whole +kingdom of Tigre. I thought that to discharge this office +as I ought, it was incumbent on me to provide necessaries as well +for the bodies as the souls of the converted Catholics. +This labour was much increased by the famine which the +grasshoppers had brought that year upon the country. Our +house was perpetually surrounded by some of those unhappy people, +whom want had compelled to abandon their habitations, and whose +pale cheeks and meagre bodies were undeniable proofs of their +misery and distress. All the relief I could possibly afford +them could not prevent the death of such numbers that their +bodies filled the highways; and to increase our affliction, the +wolves having devoured the carcases, and finding no other food, +fell upon the living; their natural fierceness being so increased +by hunger, that they dragged the children out of the very +houses. I saw myself a troop of wolves tear a child of six +years old in pieces before I or any one else could come to its +assistance.</p> +<p>While I was entirely taken up with the duties of my ministry, +the viceroy of Tigre received the commands of the Emperor to +search for the bones of Don Christopher de Gama. On this +occasion it may not be thought impertinent to give some account +of the life and death of this brave and holy Portuguese, who, +after having been successful in many battles, fell at last into +the hands of the Moors, and completed that illustrious life by a +glorious martyrdom.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER V</h3> +<p>The adventures of the Portuguese, and the actions of Don +Christopher de Gama in Æthiopia.</p> +<p>About the beginning of the sixteenth century arose a Moor near +the Cape of Gardafui, who, by the assistance of the forces sent +him from Moca by the Arabs and Turks, conquered almost all +Abyssinia, and founded the kingdom of Adel. He was called +Mahomet Gragne, or the Lame. When he had ravaged +Æthiopia fourteen years, and was master of the greatest +part of it, the Emperor David sent to implore succour of the King +of Portugal, with a promise that when those dominions were +recovered which had been taken from him, he would entirely submit +himself to the Pope, and resign the third part of his territories +to the Portuguese. After many delays, occasioned by the +great distance between Portugal and Abyssinia, and some +unsuccessful attempts, King John the Third, having made Don +Stephen de Gama, son of the celebrated Don Vasco de Gama, viceroy +of the Indies, gave him orders to enter the Red Sea in pursuit of +the Turkish galleys, and to fall upon them wherever he found +them, even in the Port of Suez. The viceroy, in obedience +to the king’s commands, equipped a powerful fleet, went on +board himself, and cruised about the coast without being able to +discover the Turkish vessels. Enraged to find that with +this great preparation he should be able to effect nothing, he +landed at Mazna four hundred Portuguese, under the command of Don +Christopher de Gama, his brother. He was soon joined by +some Abyssins, who had not yet forgot their allegiance to their +sovereign; and in his march up the country was met by the Empress +Helena, who received him as her deliverer. At first nothing +was able to stand before the valour of the Portuguese, the Moors +were driven from one mountain to another, and were dislodged even +from those places, which it seemed almost impossible to approach, +even unmolested by the opposition of an enemy.</p> +<p>These successes seemed to promise a more happy event than that +which followed them. It was now winter, a season in which, +as the reader hath been already informed, it is almost impossible +to travel in Æthiopia. The Portuguese unadvisedly +engaged themselves in an enterprise, to march through the whole +country, in order to join the Emperor, who was then in the most +remote part of his dominions. Mahomet, who was in +possession of the mountains, being informed by his spies that the +Portuguese were but four hundred, encamped in the plain of +Ballut, and sent a message to the general that he knew the +Abyssins had imposed on the King of Portugal, which, being +acquainted with their treachery, he was not surprised at, and +that in compassion of the commander’s youth, he would give +him and his men, if they would return, free passage, and furnish +them with necessaries; that he might consult upon the matter, and +depend upon his word, reminding him, however, that it was not +safe to refuse his offer.</p> +<p>The general presented the ambassador with a rich robe, and +returned this gallant answer: “That he and his +fellow-soldiers were come with an intention to drive Mahomet out +of these countries, which he had wrongfully usurped; that his +present design was, instead of returning back the way he came, as +Mahomet advised, to open himself a passage through the country of +his enemies; that Mahomet should rather think of determining +whether he would fight or yield up his ill-gotten territories, +than of prescribing measures to him; that he put his whole +confidence in the omnipotence of God and the justice of his +cause, and that to show how just a sense he had of +Mahomet’s kindness, he took the liberty of presenting him +with a looking-glass and a pair of pincers.”</p> +<p>This answer, and the present, so provoked Mahomet, who was at +dinner when he received it, that he rose from table immediately +to march against the Portuguese, imagining he should meet with no +resistance; and indeed, any man, however brave, would have been +of the same opinion; for his forces consisted of fifteen thousand +foot, beside a numerous body of cavalry, and the Portuguese +commander had but three hundred and fifty men, having lost eight +in attacking some passes, and left forty at Mazma, to maintain an +open intercourse with the viceroy of the Indies. This +little troop of our countrymen were upon the declivity of a hill +near a wood; above them stood the Abyssins, who resolved to +remain quiet spectators of the battle, and to declare themselves +on that side which should be favoured with victory.</p> +<p>Mahomet began the attack with only ten horsemen, against whom +as many Portuguese were detached, who fired with so much +exactness, that nine of the Moors fell, and the tenth with great +difficulty made his escape. This omen of good fortune gave +the soldiers great encouragement; the action grew hot, and they +came at length to a general battle; but the Moors, dismayed by +the advantages our men had obtained at first, were half defeated +before the fight. The great fire of our muskets and +artillery broke them immediately. Mahomet preserved his own +life not without difficulty, but did not lose his capacity with +the battle: he had still a great number of troops remaining, +which he rallied, and entrenched himself at Membret, a place +naturally strong, with an intention to pass the winter there, and +wait for succours.</p> +<p>The Portuguese, who were more desirous of glory than wealth, +did not encumber themselves with plunder, but with the utmost +expedition pursued their enemies, in hopes of cutting them +entirely off. This expectation was too sanguine: they found +them encamped in a place naturally almost inaccessible, and so +well fortified, that it would be no less than extreme rashness to +attack them. They therefore entrenched themselves on a hill +over against the enemy’s camp, and though victorious, were +under great disadvantages. They saw new troops arrive every +day at the enemy’s camp, and their small number grew less +continually; their friends at Mazna could not join them; they +knew not how to procure provisions, and could put no confidence +in the Abyssins; yet recollecting the great things achieved by +their countrymen, and depending on the Divine protection, they +made no doubt of surmounting all difficulties.</p> +<p>Mahomet on his part was not idle; he solicited the assistance +of the Mahometan princes, pressed them with all the motives of +religion, and obtained a reinforcement of two thousand musketeers +from the Arabs, and a train of artillery from the Turks. +Animated with these succours, he marched out of his trenches to +enter those of the Portuguese, who received him with the utmost +bravery, destroyed prodigious numbers of his men, and made many +sallies with great vigour, but losing every day some of their +small troops, and most of their officers being killed, it was +easy to surround and force them.</p> +<p>Their general had already one arm broken, and his knee +shattered with a musket-shot, which made him unable to repair to +all those places where his presence was necessary to animate his +soldiers. Valour was at length forced to submit to +superiority of numbers; the enemy entered the camp and put all to +the sword. The general with ten more escaped the slaughter, +and by means of their horses retreated to a wood, where they were +soon discovered by a detachment sent in search of them, and +brought to Mahomet, who was overjoyed to see his most formidable +enemy in his power, and ordered him to take care of his uncle and +nephew, who were wounded, telling him he should answer for their +lives; and, upon their death, taxed him with hastening it. +The brave Portuguese made no excuses, but told him he came +thither to destroy Mahometans, and not to save them. +Mahomet, enraged at this language, ordered a stone to be put on +his head, and exposed this great man to the insults and +reproaches of the whole army. After this they inflicted +various kinds of tortures on him, which he endured with +incredible resolution, and without uttering the least complaint, +praising the mercy of God who had ordained him to suffer in such +a cause.</p> +<p>Mahomet, at last satisfied with cruelty, made an offer of +sending him to the viceroy of the Indies, if he would turn +Mussulman. The hero took fire at this proposal, and +answered with the highest indignation that nothing should make +him forsake his heavenly Master to follow an impostor, and +continued in the severest terms to vilify their false prophet, +till Mahomet struck off his head.</p> +<p>Nor did the resentment of Mahomet end here; he divided his +body into quarters, and sent them to different places. The +Catholics gathered the remains of this glorious martyr, and +interred them. Every Moor that passed by threw a stone upon +his grave, and raised in time such a heap, as I found it +difficult to remove when I went in search of those precious +relics.</p> +<p>What I have here related of the death of Don Christopher de +Gama I was told by an old man, who was an eye-witness of it: and +there is a tradition in the country that in the place where his +head fell, a fountain sprung up of wonderful virtue, which cured +many diseases otherwise past remedy.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3> +<p>Mahomet continues the war, and is killed. The stratagem +of Peter Leon.</p> +<p>Mahomet, that he might make the best use of his victory, +ranged over a great part of Abyssinia in search of the Emperor +Claudius, who was then in the kingdom of Dambia. All places +submitted to the Mahometan, whose insolence increased every day +with his power; and nothing after the defeat of the Portuguese +was supposed able to put a stop to the progress of his arms.</p> +<p>The soldiers of Portugal, having lost their chief, resorted to +the Emperor, who, though young, promised great things, and told +them that since their own general was dead, they would accept of +none but himself. He received them with great kindness, and +hearing of Don Christopher de Gama’s misfortune, could not +forbear honouring with some tears the memory of a man who had +come so far to his succour, and lost his life in his cause.</p> +<p>The Portuguese, resolved at any rate to revenge the fate of +their general, desired the Emperor to assign them the post +opposite to Mahomet, which was willingly granted them. That +King, flushed with his victories, and imagining to fight was +undoubtedly to conquer, sought all occasions of giving the +Abyssins battle. The Portuguese, who desired nothing more +than to re-establish their reputation by revenging the affront +put upon them by the late defeat, advised the Emperor to lay hold +on the first opportunity of fighting. Both parties joined +battle with equal fury. The Portuguese directed all their +force against that part where Mahomet was posted. Peter +Leon, who had been servant to the general, singled the King out +among the crowd, and shot him into the head with his +musket. Mahomet, finding himself wounded, would have +retired out of the battle, and was followed by Peter Leon, till +he fell down dead; the Portuguese, alighting from his horse, cut +off one of his ears. The Moors being now without a leader, +continued the fight but a little time, and at length fled +different ways in the utmost disorder; the Abyssinians pursued +them, and made a prodigious slaughter. One of them, seeing +the King’s body on the ground, cut off his head and +presented it to the Emperor. The sight of it filled the +whole camp with acclamations; every one applauded the valour and +good fortune of the Abyssin, and no reward was thought great +enough for so important a service. Peter Leon, having stood +by some time, asked whether the King had but one ear? if he had +two, says he, it seems likely that the man who killed him cut off +one and keeps it as a proof of his exploit. The Abyssin +stood confused, and the Portuguese produced the ear out of his +pocket. Every one commended the stratagem; and the Emperor +commanded the Abyssin to restore all the presents he had +received, and delivered them with many more to Peter Leon.</p> +<p>I imagined the reader would not be displeased to be informed +who this man was, whose precious remains were searched for by a +viceroy of Tigre, at the command of the Emperor himself. +The commission was directed to me, nor did I ever receive one +that was more welcome on many accounts. I had contracted an +intimate friendship with the Count de Vidigueira, viceroy of the +Indies, and had been desired by him, when I took my leave of him, +upon going to Melinda, to inform myself where his relation was +buried, and to send him some of his relics.</p> +<p>The viceroy, son-in-law to the Emperor, with whom I was joined +in the commission, gave me many distinguishing proofs of his +affection to me, and of his zeal for the Catholic religion. +It was a journey of fifteen days through part of the country +possessed by the Galles, which made it necessary to take troops +with us for our security; yet, notwithstanding this precaution, +the hazard of the expedition appeared so great, that our friends +bid us farewell with tears, and looked upon us as destined to +unavoidable destruction. The viceroy had given orders to +some troops to join us on the road, so that our little army grew +stronger as we advanced. There is no making long marches in +this country; an army here is a great city well peopled and under +exact government: they take their wives and children with them, +and the camp hath its streets, its market places, its churches, +courts of justice, judges, and civil officers.</p> +<p>Before they set forward, they advertise the governors of +provinces through which they are to pass, that they may take care +to furnish what is necessary for the subsistence of the +troops. These governors give notice to the adjacent places +that the army is to march that way on such a day, and that they +are assessed such a quantity of bread, beer, and cows. The +peasants are very exact in supplying their quota, being obliged +to pay double the value in case of failure; and very often when +they have produced their full share, they are told that they have +been deficient, and condemned to buy their peace with a large +fine.</p> +<p>When the providore has received these contributions, he +divides them according to the number of persons, and the want +they are in: the proportion they observe in this distribution is +twenty pots of beer, ten of mead, and one cow to a hundred +loaves. The chief officers and persons of note carry their +own provisions with them, which I did too, though I afterwards +found the precaution unnecessary, for I had often two or three +cows more than I wanted, which I bestowed on those whose +allowance fell short.</p> +<p>The Abyssins are not only obliged to maintain the troops in +their march, but to repair the roads, to clear them, especially +in the forests, of brambles and thorns, and by all means possible +to facilitate the passage of the army. They are, by long +custom, extremely ready at encamping. As soon as they come +to a place they think convenient to halt at, the officer that +commands the vanguard marks out with his pike the place for the +King’s or viceroy’s tent: every one knows his rank, +and how much ground he shall take up; so the camp is formed in an +instant.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VII</h3> +<p>They discover the relics. Their apprehension of the +Galles. The author converts a criminal, and procures his +pardon.</p> +<p>We took with us an old Moor, so enfeebled with age that they +were forced to carry him: he had seen, as I have said, the +sufferings and death of Don Christopher de Gama; and a Christian, +who had often heard all those passages related to his father, and +knew the place where the uncle and nephew of Mahomet were buried, +and where they interred one quarter of the Portuguese +martyr. We often examined these two men, and always apart; +they agreed in every circumstance of their relations, and +confirmed us in our belief of them by leading us to the place +where we took up the uncle and nephew of Mahomet, as they had +described. With no small labour we removed the heap of +stones which the Moors, according to their custom, had thrown +upon the body, and discovered the treasure we came in search +of. Not many paces off was the fountain where they had +thrown his head, with a dead dog, to raise a greater aversion in +the Moors. I gathered the teeth and the lower jaw. No +words can express the ecstasies I was transported with at seeing +the relics of so great a man, and reflecting that it had pleased +God to make me the instrument of their preservation, so that one +day, if our holy father the Pope shall be so pleased, they may +receive the veneration of the faithful. All burst into +tears at the sight. We indulged a melancholy pleasure in +reflecting what that great man had achieved for the deliverance +of Abyssinia, from the yoke and tyranny of the Moors; the voyages +he had undertaken; the battles he had fought; the victories he +had won; and the cruel and tragical death he had suffered. +Our first moments were so entirely taken up with these +reflections that we were incapable of considering the danger we +were in of being immediately surrounded by the Galles; but as +soon as we awoke to that thought, we contrived to retreat as fast +as we could. Our expedition, however, was not so great but +we saw them on the top of a mountain ready to pour down upon +us. The viceroy attended us closely with his little army, +but had been probably not much more secure than we, his force +consisting only of foot, and the Galles entirely of horse, a +service at which they are very expert. Our apprehensions at +last proved to be needless, for the troops we saw were of a +nation at that time in alliance with the Abyssins.</p> +<p>Not caring, after this alarm, to stay longer here, we set out +on our march back, and in our return passed through a village +where two men, who had murdered a domestic of the viceroy, lay +under an arrest. As they had been taken in the fact, the +law of the country allowed that they might have been executed the +same hour, but the viceroy having ordered that their death should +be deferred till his return, delivered them to the relations of +the dead, to be disposed of as they should think proper. +They made great rejoicings all the night, on account of having it +in their power to revenge their relation; and the unhappy +criminals had the mortification of standing by to behold this +jollity, and the preparations made for their execution.</p> +<p>The Abyssins have three different ways of putting a criminal +to death: one way is to bury him to the neck, to lay a heap of +brambles upon his head, and to cover the whole with a great +stone; another is to beat him to death with cudgels; a third, and +the most usual, is to stab him with their lances. The +nearest relation gives the first thrust, and is followed by all +the rest according to their degrees of kindred; and they to whom +it does not happen to strike while the offender is alive, dip the +points of their lances in his blood to show that they partake in +the revenge. It frequently happens that the relations of +the criminal are for taking the like vengeance for his death, and +sometimes pursue this resolution so far that all those who had +any share in the prosecution lose their lives.</p> +<p>I being informed that these two men were to die, wrote to the +viceroy for his permission to exhort them, before they entered +into eternity, to unite themselves to the Church. My +request being granted, I applied myself to the men, and found one +of them so obstinate that he would not even afford me a hearing, +and died in his error. The other I found more flexible, and +wrought upon him so far that he came to my tent to be +instructed. After my care of his eternal welfare had met +with such success, I could not forbear attempting something for +his temporal, and by my endeavours matters were so accommodated +that the relations were willing to grant his life on condition he +paid a certain number of cows, or the value. Their first +demand was of a thousand; he offered them five; they at last were +satisfied with twelve, provided they were paid upon the +spot. The Abyssins are extremely charitable, and the women, +on such occasions, will give even their necklaces and pendants, +so that, with what I gave myself, I collected in the camp enough +to pay the fine, and all parties were content.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3> +<p>The viceroy is offended by his wife. He complains to the +Emperor, but without redress. He meditates a revolt, raises +an army, and makes an attempt to seize upon the author.</p> +<p>We continued our march, and the viceroy having been advertised +that some troops had appeared in a hostile manner on the +frontiers, went against them. I parted from him, and +arrived at Fremona, where the Portuguese expected me with great +impatience. I reposited the bones of Don Christopher de +Gama in a decent place, and sent them the May following to the +viceroy of the Indies, together with his arms, which had been +presented me by a gentleman of Abyssinia, and a picture of the +Virgin Mary, which that gallant Portuguese always carried about +him.</p> +<p>The viceroy, during all the time he was engaged in this +expedition, heard very provoking accounts of the bad conduct of +his wife, and complained of it to the Emperor, entreating him +either to punish his daughter himself, or to permit him to +deliver her over to justice, that, if she was falsely accused, +she might have an opportunity of putting her own honour and her +husband’s out of dispute. The Emperor took little +notice of his son-in-law’s remonstrances; and, the truth +is, the viceroy was somewhat more nice in that matter than the +people of rank in this country generally are. There are +laws, it is true, against adultery, but they seem to have been +only for the meaner people, and the women of quality, especially +the ouzoros, or ladies of the blood royal, are so much above +them, that their husbands have not even the liberty of +complaining; and certainly to support injuries of this kind +without complaining requires a degree of patience which few men +can boast of. The viceroy’s virtue was not proof +against this temptation. He fell into a deep melancholy, +and resolved to be revenged on his father-in-law. He knew +the present temper of the people, that those of the greatest +interest and power were by no means pleased with the changes of +religion, and only waited for a fair opportunity to revolt; and +that these discontents were everywhere heightened by the monks +and clergy. Encouraged by these reflections, he was always +talking of the just reasons he had to complain of the Emperor, +and gave them sufficient room to understand that if they would +appear in his party, he would declare himself for the ancient +religion, and put himself at the head of those who should take +arms in the defence of it. The chief and almost the only +thing that hindered him from raising a formidable rebellion, was +the mutual distrust they entertained of one another, each fearing +that as soon as the Emperor should publish an act of grace, or +general amnesty, the greatest part would lay down their arms and +embrace it; and this suspicion was imagined more reasonable of +the viceroy than of any other. Notwithstanding this +difficulty, the priests, who interested themselves much in this +revolt, ran with the utmost earnestness from church to church, +levelling their sermons against the Emperor and the Catholic +religion; and that they might have the better success in putting +a stop to all ecclesiastical innovations, they came to a +resolution of putting all the missionaries to the sword; and that +the viceroy might have no room to hope for a pardon, they obliged +him to give the first wound to him that should fall into his +hands.</p> +<p>As I was the nearest, and by consequence the most exposed, an +order was immediately issued out for apprehending me, it being +thought a good expedient to seize me, and force me to build a +citadel, into which they might retreat if they should happen to +meet with a defeat. The viceroy wrote to me to desire that +I would come to him, he having, as he said, an affair of the +highest importance to communicate.</p> +<p>The frequent assemblies which the viceroy held had already +been much talked of; and I had received advice that he was ready +for a revolt, and that my death was to be the first signal of an +open war. Knowing that the viceroy had made many complaints +of the treatment he received from his father-in-law, I made no +doubt that he had some ill design in hand; and yet could scarce +persuade myself that after all the tokens of friendship I had +received from him he would enter into any measures for destroying +me. While I was yet in suspense, I despatched a faithful +servant to the viceroy with my excuse for disobeying him; and +gave the messenger strict orders to observe all that passed, and +bring me an exact account.</p> +<p>This affair was of too great moment not to engage my utmost +endeavours to arrive at the most certain knowledge of it, and to +advertise the court of the danger. I wrote, therefore, to +one of our fathers, who was then near the Emperor, the best +intelligence I could obtain of all that had passed, of the +reports that were spread through all this part of the empire, and +of the disposition which I discovered in the people to a general +defection; telling him, however, that I could not yet believe +that the viceroy, who had honoured me with his friendship, and of +whom I never had any thought but how to oblige him, could now +have so far changed his sentiments as to take away my life.</p> +<p>The letters which I received by my servant, and the assurances +he gave that I need fear nothing, for that I was never mentioned +by the viceroy without great marks of esteem, so far confirmed me +in my error, that I went from Fremona with a resolution to see +him. I did not reflect that a man who could fail in his +duty to his King, his father-in-law, and his benefactor, might, +without scruple, do the same to a stranger, though distinguished +as his friend; and thus sanguine and unsuspecting continued my +journey, still receiving intimation from all parts to take care +of myself. At length, when I was within a few days’ +journey of the viceroy, I received a billet in more plain and +express terms than anything I had been told yet, charging me with +extreme imprudence in putting myself into the hands of those men +who had undoubtedly sworn to cut me off.</p> +<p>I began, upon this, to distrust the sincerity of the +viceroy’s professions, and resolved, upon the receipt of +another letter from the viceroy, to return directly. In +this letter, having excused himself for not waiting for my +arrival, he desired me in terms very strong and pressing to come +forward, and stay for him at his own house, assuring me that he +had given such orders for my entertainment as should prevent my +being tired with living there. I imagined at first that he +had left some servants to provide for my reception, but being +advertised at the same time that there was no longer any doubt of +the certainty of his revolt, that the Galles were engaged to come +to his assistance, and that he was gone to sign a treaty with +them, I was no longer in suspense what measures to take, but +returned to Fremona.</p> +<p>Here I found a letter from the Emperor, which prohibited me to +go out, and the orders which he had sent through all these parts, +directing them to arrest me wherever I was found, and to hinder +me from proceeding on my journey. These orders came too +late to contribute to my preservation, and this prince’s +goodness had been in vain, if God, whose protection I have often +had experience of in my travels, had not been my conductor in +this emergency.</p> +<p>The viceroy, hearing that I was returned to my residence, did +not discover any concern or chagrin as at a disappointment, for +such was his privacy and dissimulation that the most penetrating +could never form any conjecture that could be depended on, about +his designs, till everything was ready for the execution of +them. My servant, a man of wit, was surprised as well as +everybody else; and I can ascribe to nothing but a miracle my +escape from so many snares as he laid to entrap me.</p> +<p>There happened during this perplexity of my affairs an +accident of small consequence in itself, which yet I think +deserves to be mentioned, as it shows the credulity and ignorance +of the Abyssins. I received a visit from a religious, who +passed, though he was blind, for the most learned person in all +that country. He had the whole Scriptures in his memory, +but seemed to have been at more pains to retain them than +understand them; as he talked much he often took occasion to +quote them, and did it almost always improperly. Having +invited him to sup and pass the night with me, I set before him +some excellent mead, which he liked so well as to drink somewhat +beyond the bounds of exact temperance. Next day, to make +some return for his entertainment, he took upon him to divert me +with some of those stories which the monks amuse simple people +with, and told me of a devil that haunted a fountain, and used to +make it his employment to plague the monks that came thither to +fetch water, and continued his malice till he was converted by +the founder of their order, who found him no very stubborn +proselyte till they came to the point of circumcision; the devil +was unhappily prepossessed with a strong aversion from being +circumcised, which, however, by much persuasion, he at last +agreed to, and afterwards taking a religious habit, died ten +years after with great signs of sanctity. He added another +history of a famous Abyssinian monk, who killed a devil two +hundred feet high, and only four feet thick, that ravaged all the +country; the peasants had a great desire to throw the dead +carcase from the top of a rock, but could not with all their +force remove it from the place, but the monk drew it after him +with all imaginable ease and pushed it down. This story was +followed by another, of a young devil that became a religious of +the famous monastery of Aba Gatima. The good father would +have favoured me with more relations of the same kind, if I had +been in the humour to have heard them, but, interrupting him, I +told him that all these relations confirmed what we had found by +experience, that the monks of Abyssinia were no improper company +for the devil.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER IX</h3> +<p>The viceroy is defeated and hanged. The author narrowly +escapes being poisoned.</p> +<p>I did not stay long at Fremona, but left that town and the +province of Tigre, and soon found that I was very happy in that +resolution, for scarce had I left the place before the viceroy +came in person to put me to death, who, not finding me, as he +expected, resolved to turn all his vengeance against the father +Gaspard Paes, a venerable man, who was grown grey in the missions +of Æthiopia, and five other missionaries newly arrived from +the Indies; his design was to kill them all at one time without +suffering any to escape; he therefore sent for them all, but one +happily being sick, another stayed to attend him; to this they +owed their lives, for the viceroy, finding but four of them, sent +them back, telling them he would see them all together. The +fathers, having been already told of his revolt, and of the +pretences he made use of to give it credit, made no question of +his intent to massacre them, and contrived their escape so that +they got safely out of his power.</p> +<p>The viceroy, disappointed in his scheme, vented all his rage +upon Father James, whom the patriarch had given him as his +confessor; the good man was carried, bound hand and foot, into +the middle of the camp; the viceroy gave the first stab in the +throat, and all the rest struck him with their lances, and dipped +their weapons in his blood, promising each other that they would +never accept of any act of oblivion or terms of peace by which +the Catholic religion was not abolished throughout the empire, +and all those who professed it either banished or put to +death. They then ordered all the beads, images, crosses, +and relics which the Catholics made use of to be thrown into the +fire.</p> +<p>The anger of God was now ready to fall upon his head for these +daring and complicated crimes; the Emperor had already +confiscated all his goods, and given the government of the +kingdom of Tigre to Keba Christos, a good Catholic, who was sent +with a numerous army to take possession of it. As both +armies were in search of each other, it was not long before they +came to a battle. The revolted viceroy Tecla Georgis placed +all his confidence in the Galles, his auxiliaries. Keba +Christos, who had marched with incredible expedition to hinder +the enemy from making any intrenchments, would willingly have +refreshed his men a few days before the battle, but finding the +foe vigilant, thought it not proper to stay till he was attacked, +and therefore resolved to make the first onset; then presenting +himself before his army without arms and with his head uncovered, +assured them that such was his confidence in God’s +protection of those that engaged in so just a cause, that though +he were in that condition and alone, he would attack his +enemies.</p> +<p>The battle began immediately, and of all the troops of Tecla +Georgis only the Galles made any resistance, the rest abandoned +him without striking a blow. The unhappy commander, seeing +all his squadrons broken, and three hundred of the Galles, with +twelve ecclesiastics, killed on the spot, hid himself in a cave, +where he was found three days afterwards, with his favourite and +a monk. When they took him, they cut off the heads of his +two companions in the field, and carried him to the Emperor; the +procedure against him was not long, and he was condemned to be +burnt alive. Then imagining that, if he embraced the +Catholic faith, the intercession of the missionaries, with the +entreaties of his wife and children, might procure him a pardon, +he desired a Jesuit to hear his confession, and abjured his +errors. The Emperor was inflexible both to the entreaties +of his daughter and the tears of his grand-children, and all that +could be obtained of him was that the sentence should be +mollified, and changed into a condemnation to be hanged. +Tecla Georgis renounced his abjuration, and at his death +persisted in his errors. Adero, his sister, who had borne +the greatest share in his revolt, was hanged on the same tree +fifteen days after.</p> +<p>I arrived not long after at the Emperor’s court, and had +the honour of kissing his hands; but stayed not long in a place +where no missionary ought to linger, unless obliged by the most +pressing necessity: but being ordered by my superiors into the +kingdom of Damote, I set out on my journey, and on the road was +in great danger of losing my life by my curiosity of tasting a +herb, which I found near a brook, and which, though I had often +heard of it, I did not know. It bears a great resemblance +to our radishes; the leaf and colour were beautiful, and the +taste not unpleasant. It came into my mind when I began to +chew it that perhaps it might be that venomous herb against which +no antidote had yet been found, but persuading myself afterwards +that my fears were merely chimerical, I continued to chew it, +till a man accidentally meeting me, and seeing me with a handful +of it, cried out to me that I was poisoned; I had happily not +swallowed any of it, and throwing out what I had in my mouth, I +returned God thanks for this instance of his protection.</p> +<p>I crossed the Nile the first time in my journey to the kingdom +of Damote; my passage brought into my mind all that I had read +either in ancient or modern writers of this celebrated river; I +recollected the great expenses at which some Emperors had +endeavoured to gratify their curiosity of knowing the sources of +this mighty stream, which nothing but their little acquaintance +with the Abyssins made so difficult to be found. I passed +the river within two days’ journey of its head, near a wide +plain, which is entirely laid under water when it begins to +overflow the banks. Its channel is even here so wide, that +a ball-shot from a musket can scarce reach the farther +bank. Here is neither boat nor bridge, and the river is so +full of hippopotami, or river-horses, and crocodiles, that it is +impossible to swim over without danger of being devoured. +The only way of passing it is upon floats, which they guide as +well as they can with long poles. Nor is even this way +without danger, for these destructive animals overturn the +floats, and tear the passengers in pieces. The river horse, +which lives only on grass and branches of trees, is satisfied +with killing the men, but the crocodile being more voracious, +feeds upon the carcases.</p> +<p>But since I am arrived at the banks of this renowned river, +which I have passed and repassed so many times; and since all +that I have read of the nature of its waters, and the causes of +its overflowing, is full of fables, the reader may not be +displeased to find here an account of what I saw myself, or was +told by the inhabitants.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER X</h3> +<p>A description of the Nile.</p> +<p>The Nile, which the natives call Abavi, that is, the Father of +Waters, rises first in Sacala, a province of the kingdom of +Goiama, which is one of the most fruitful and agreeable of all +the Abyssinian dominions. This province is inhabited by a +nation of the Agaus, who call, but only call, themselves +Christians, for by daily intermarriages they have allied +themselves to the Pagan Agaus, and adopted all their customs and +ceremonies. These two nations are very numerous, fierce, +and unconquerable, inhabiting a country full of mountains, which +are covered with woods, and hollowed by nature into vast caverns, +many of which are capable of containing several numerous +families, and hundreds of cows. To these recesses the Agaus +betake themselves when they are driven out of the plain, where it +is almost impossible to find them, and certain ruin to pursue +them. This people increases extremely, every man being +allowed so many wives as he hath hundreds of cows, and it is +seldom that the hundreds are required to be complete.</p> +<p>In the eastern part of this kingdom, on the declivity of a +mountain, whose descent is so easy that it seems a beautiful +plain, is that source of the Nile which has been sought after at +so much expense of labour, and about which such variety of +conjectures hath been formed without success. This spring, +or rather these two springs, are two holes, each about two feet +diameter, a stone’s cast distant from each other; the one +is but about five feet and a half in depth—at least we +could not get our plummet farther, perhaps because it was stopped +by roots, for the whole place is full of trees; of the other, +which is somewhat less, with a line of ten feet we could find no +bottom, and were assured by the inhabitants that none ever had +been found. It is believed here that these springs are the +vents of a great subterraneous lake, and they have this +circumstance to favour their opinion, that the ground is always +moist and so soft that the water boils up under foot as one walks +upon it. This is more visible after rains, for then the +ground yields and sinks so much, that I believe it is chiefly +supported by the roots of trees that are interwoven one with +another; such is the ground round about these fountains. At +a little distance to the south is a village named Guix, through +which the way lies to the top of the mountain, from whence the +traveller discovers a vast extent of land, which appears like a +deep valley, though the mountain rises so imperceptibly that +those who go up or down it are scarce sensible of any +declivity.</p> +<p>On the top of this mountain is a little hill which the +idolatrous Agaus have in great veneration; their priest calls +them together at this place once a year, and having sacrificed a +cow, throws the head into one of the springs of the Nile; after +which ceremony, every one sacrifices a cow or more, according to +their different degrees of wealth or devotion. The bones of +these cows have already formed two mountains of considerable +height, which afford a sufficient proof that these nations have +always paid their adorations to this famous river. They eat +these sacrifices with great devotion, as flesh consecrated to +their deity. Then the priest anoints himself with the +grease and tallow of the cows, and sits down on a heap of straw, +on the top and in the middle of a pile which is prepared; they +set fire to it, and the whole heap is consumed without any injury +to the priest, who while the fire continues harangues the +standers by, and confirms them in their present ignorance and +superstition. When the pile is burnt, and the discourse at +an end, every one makes a large present to the priest, which is +the grand design of this religious mockery.</p> +<p>To return to the course of the Nile: its waters, after the +first rise, run to the eastward for about a musket-shot, then +turning to the north, continue hidden in the grass and weeds for +about a quarter of a league, and discover themselves for the +first time among some rocks—a sight not to be enjoyed +without some pleasure by those who have read the fabulous +accounts of this stream delivered by the ancients, and the vain +conjectures and reasonings which have been formed upon its +original, the nature of its water, its cataracts, and its +inundations, all which we are now entirely acquainted with and +eye-witnesses of.</p> +<p>Many interpreters of the Holy Scriptures pretend that Gihon, +mentioned in Genesis, is no other than the Nile, which +encompasseth all Æthiopia; but as the Gihon had its source +from the terrestrial paradise, and we know that the Nile rises in +the country of the Agaus, it will be found, I believe, no small +difficulty to conceive how the same river could arise from two +sources so distant from each other, or how a river from so low a +source should spring up and appear in a place perhaps the highest +in the world: for if we consider that Arabia and Palestine are in +their situation almost level with Egypt; that Egypt is as low, if +compared with the kingdom of Dambia, as the deepest valley in +regard of the highest mountain; that the province of Sacala is +yet more elevated than Dambia; that the waters of the Nile must +either pass under the Red Sea, or take a great compass about, we +shall find it hard to conceive such an attractive power in the +earth as may be able to make the waters rise through the +obstruction of so much sand from places so low to the most lofty +region of Æthiopia.</p> +<p>But leaving these difficulties, let us go on to describe the +course of the Nile. It rolls away from its source with so +inconsiderable a current, that it appears unlikely to escape +being dried up by the hot season, but soon receiving an increase +from the Gemma, the Keltu, the Bransu, and other less rivers, it +is of such a breadth in the plain of Boad, which is not above +three days’ journey from its source, that a ball shot from +a musket will scarce fly from one bank to the other. Here +it begins to run northwards, deflecting, however, a little +towards the east, for the space of nine or ten leagues, and then +enters the so much talked of Lake of Dambia, called by the +natives Bahar Sena, the Resemblance of the Sea, or Bahar Dambia, +the Sea of Dambia. It crosses this lake only at one end +with so violent a rapidity, that the waters of the Nile may be +distinguished through all the passage, which is six +leagues. Here begins the greatness of the Nile. +Fifteen miles farther, in the land of Alata, it rushes +precipitately from the top of a high rock, and forms one of the +most beautiful water-falls in the world: I passed under it +without being wet; and resting myself there, for the sake of the +coolness, was charmed with a thousand delightful rainbows, which +the sunbeams painted on the water in all their shining and lively +colours. The fall of this mighty stream from so great a +height makes a noise that may be heard to a considerable +distance; but I could not observe that the neighbouring +inhabitants were at all deaf. I conversed with several, and +was as easily heard by them as I heard them. The mist that +rises from this fall of water may be seen much farther than the +noise can be heard. After this cataract the Nile again +collects its scattered stream among the rocks, which seem to be +disjoined in this place only to afford it a passage. They +are so near each other that, in my time, a bridge of beams, on +which the whole Imperial army passed, was laid over them. +Sultan Segued hath since built here a bridge of one arch in the +same place, for which purpose he procured masons from +India. This bridge, which is the first the Abyssins have +seen on the Nile, very much facilitates a communication between +the provinces, and encourages commerce among the inhabitants of +his empire.</p> +<p>Here the river alters its course, and passes through many +various kingdoms; on the east it leaves Begmeder, or the Land of +Sheep, so called from great numbers that are bred there, beg, in +that language, signifying sheep, and meder, a country. It +then waters the kingdoms of Amhara, Olaca, Choaa, and Damot, +which lie on the left side, and the kingdom of Goiama, which it +bounds on the right, forming by its windings a kind of +peninsula. Then entering Bezamo, a province of the kingdom +of Damot, and Gamarchausa, part of Goiama, it returns within a +short day’s journey of its spring; though to pursue it +through all its mazes, and accompany it round the kingdom of +Goiama, is a journey of twenty-nine days. So far, and a few +days’ journey farther, this river confines itself to +Abyssinia, and then passes into the bordering countries of Fazulo +and Ombarca.</p> +<p>These vast regions we have little knowledge of: they are +inhabited by nations entirely different from the Abyssins; their +hair is like that of the other blacks, short and curled. In +the year 1615, Rassela Christos, lieutenant-general to Sultan +Segued, entered those kingdoms with his army in a hostile manner; +but being able to get no intelligence of the condition of the +people, and astonished at their unbounded extent, he returned, +without daring to attempt anything.</p> +<p>As the empire of the Abyssins terminates at these deserts, and +as I have followed the course of the Nile no farther, I here +leave it to range over barbarous kingdoms, and convey wealth and +plenty into Egypt, which owes to the annual inundations of this +river its envied fertility. I know not anything of the rest +of its passage, but that it receives great increases from many +other rivers; that it has several cataracts like the first +already described, and that few fish are to be found in it, which +scarcity, doubtless, is to be attributed to the river-horses and +crocodiles, which destroy the weaker inhabitants of these waters, +and something may be allowed to the cataracts, it being difficult +for fish to fall so far without being killed.</p> +<p>Although some who have travelled in Asia and Africa have given +the world their descriptions of crocodiles and hippopotamus, or +river-horse, yet as the Nile has at least as great numbers of +each as any river in the world, I cannot but think my account of +it would be imperfect without some particular mention of these +animals.</p> +<p>The crocodile is very ugly, having no proportion between his +length and thickness; he hath short feet, a wide mouth, with two +rows of sharp teeth, standing wide from each other, a brown skin +so fortified with scales, even to his nose, that a musket-ball +cannot penetrate it. His sight is extremely quick, and at a +great distance. In the water he is daring and fierce, and +will seize on any that are so unfortunate as to be found by him +bathing, who, if they escape with life, are almost sure to leave +some limb in his mouth. Neither I, nor any with whom I have +conversed about the crocodile, have ever seen him weep, and +therefore I take the liberty of ranking all that hath been told +us of his tears amongst the fables which are only proper to amuse +children.</p> +<p>The hippopotamus, or river-horse, grazes upon the land and +browses on the shrubs, yet is no less dangerous than the +crocodile. He is the size of an ox, of a brown colour +without any hair, his tail is short, his neck long, and his head +of an enormous bigness; his eyes are small, his mouth wide, with +teeth half a foot long; he hath two tusks like those of a wild +boar, but larger; his legs are short, and his feet part into four +toes. It is easy to observe from this description that he +hath no resemblance of a horse, and indeed nothing could give +occasion to the name but some likeness in his ears, and his +neighing and snorting like a horse when he is provoked or raises +his head out of water. His hide is so hard that a musket +fired close to him can only make a slight impression, and the +best tempered lances pushed forcibly against him are either +blunted or shivered, unless the assailant has the skill to make +his thrust at certain parts which are more tender. There is +great danger in meeting him, and the best way is, upon such an +accident, to step aside and let him pass by. The flesh of +this animal doth not differ from that of a cow, except that it is +blacker and harder to digest.</p> +<p>The ignorance which we have hitherto been in of the original +of the Nile hath given many authors an opportunity of presenting +us very gravely with their various systems and conjectures about +the nature of its waters, and the reason of its overflows.</p> +<p>It is easy to observe how many empty hypotheses and idle +reasonings the phenomena of this river have put mankind to the +expense of. Yet there are people so bigoted to antiquity, +as not to pay any regard to the relation of travellers who have +been upon the spot, and by the evidence of their eyes can confute +all that the ancients have written. It was difficult, it +was even impossible, to arrive at the source of the Nile by +tracing its channel from the mouth; and all who ever attempted +it, having been stopped by the cataracts, and imagining none that +followed them could pass farther, have taken the liberty of +entertaining us with their own fictions.</p> +<p>It is to be remembered likewise that neither the Greeks nor +Romans, from whom we have received all our information, ever +carried their arms into this part of the world, or ever heard of +multitudes of nations that dwell upon the banks of this vast +river; that the countries where the Nile rises, and those through +which it runs, have no inhabitants but what are savage and +uncivilised; that before they could arrive at its head, they must +surmount the insuperable obstacles of impassable forests, +inaccessible cliffs, and deserts crowded with beasts of prey, +fierce by nature, and raging for want of sustenance. Yet if +they who endeavoured with so much ardour to discover the spring +of this river had landed at Mazna on the coast of the Red Sea, +and marched a little more to the south than the south-west, they +might perhaps have gratified their curiosity at less expense, and +in about twenty days might have enjoyed the desired sight of the +sources of the Nile.</p> +<p>But this discovery was reserved for the invincible bravery of +our noble countrymen, who, not discouraged by the dangers of a +navigation in seas never explored before, have subdued kingdoms +and empires where the Greek and Roman greatness, where the names +of Cæsar and Alexander, were never heard of; who have +demolished the airy fabrics of renowned hypotheses, and detected +those fables which the ancients rather chose to invent of the +sources of the Nile than to confess their ignorance. I +cannot help suspending my narration to reflect a little on the +ridiculous speculations of those swelling philosophers, whose +arrogance would prescribe laws to nature, and subject those +astonishing effects, which we behold daily, to their idle +reasonings and chimerical rules. Presumptuous imagination! +that has given being to such numbers of books, and patrons to so +many various opinions about the overflows of the Nile. Some +of these theorists have been pleased to declare it as their +favourite notion that this inundation is caused by high winds +which stop the current, and so force the water to rise above its +banks, and spread over all Egypt. Others pretend a +subterraneous communication between the ocean and the Nile, and +that the sea being violently agitated swells the river. +Many have imagined themselves blessed with the discovery when +they have told us that this mighty flood proceeds from the +melting of snow on the mountains of Æthiopia, without +reflecting that this opinion is contrary to the received notion +of all the ancients, who believed that the heat was so excessive +between the tropics that no inhabitant could live there. So +much snow and so great heat are never met with in the same +region; and indeed I never saw snow in Abyssinia, except on Mount +Semen in the kingdom of Tigre, very remote from the Nile, and on +Namera, which is indeed not far distant, but where there never +falls snow sufficient to wet the foot of the mountain when it is +melted.</p> +<p>To the immense labours and fatigues of the Portuguese mankind +is indebted for the knowledge of the real cause of these +inundations so great and so regular. Their observations +inform us that Abyssinia, where the Nile rises and waters vast +tracts of land, is full of mountains, and in its natural +situation much higher than Egypt; that all the winter, from June +to September, no day is without rain; that the Nile receives in +its course all the rivers, brooks, and torrents which fall from +those mountains; these necessarily swell it above the banks, and +fill the plains of Egypt with the inundation. This comes +regularly about the month of July, or three weeks after the +beginning of a rainy season in Æthiopia. The +different degrees of this flood are such certain indications of +the fruitfulness or sterility of the ensuing year, that it is +publicly proclaimed in Cairo how much the water hath gained each +night. This is all I have to inform the reader of +concerning the Nile, which the Egyptians adored as the deity, in +whose choice it was to bless them with abundance, or deprive them +of the necessaries of life.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER XI</h3> +<p>The author discovers a passage over the Nile. Is sent +into the province of Ligonus, which he gives a description +of. His success in his mission. The stratagem of the +monks to encourage the soldiers. The author narrowly +escapes being burned.</p> +<p>When I was to cross this river at Boad, I durst not venture +myself on the floats I have already spoken of, but went up higher +in hopes of finding a more commodious passage. I had with +me three or four men that were reduced to the same difficulty +with myself. In one part seeing people on the other side, +and remarking that the water was shallow, and that the rocks and +trees which grew very thick there contributed to facilitate the +attempt, I leaped from one rock to another, till I reached the +opposite bank, to the great amazement of the natives themselves, +who never had tried that way; my four companions followed me with +the same success: and it hath been called since the passage of +Father Jerome.</p> +<p>That province of the kingdom of Damot, which I was assigned to +by my superior, is called Ligonus, and is perhaps one of the most +beautiful and agreeable places in the world; the air is healthful +and temperate, and all the mountains, which are not very high, +shaded with cedars. They sow and reap here in every season, +the ground is always producing, and the fruits ripen throughout +the year; so great, so charming is the variety, that the whole +region seems a garden laid out and cultivated only to +please. I doubt whether even the imagination of a painter +has yet conceived a landscape as beautiful as I have seen. +The forests have nothing uncouth or savage, and seem only planted +for shade and coolness. Among a prodigious number of trees +which fill them, there is one kind which I have seen in no other +place, and to which we have none that bears any +resemblance. This tree, which the natives call ensete, is +wonderfully useful; its leaves, which are so large as to cover a +man, make hangings for rooms, and serve the inhabitants instead +of linen for their tables and carpets. They grind the +branches and the thick parts of the leaves, and when they are +mingled with milk, find them a delicious food. The trunk +and the roots are even more nourishing than the leaves or +branches, and the meaner people, when they go a journey, make no +provision of any other victuals. The word ensete signifies +the tree against hunger, or the poor’s tree, though the +most wealthy often eat of it. If it be cut down within half +a foot of the ground and several incisions made in the stump, +each will put out a new sprout, which, if transplanted, will take +root and grow to a tree. The Abyssins report that this tree +when it is cut down groans like a man, and, on this account, call +cutting down an ensete killing it. On the top grows a bunch +of five or six figs, of a taste not very agreeable, which they +set in the ground to produce more trees.</p> +<p>I stayed two months in the province of Ligonus, and during +that time procured a church to be built of hewn stone, roofed and +wainscoted with cedar, which is the most considerable in the +whole country. My continual employment was the duties of +the mission, which I was always practising in some part of the +province, not indeed with any extraordinary success at first, for +I found the people inflexibly obstinate in their opinions, even +to so great a degree, that when I first published the +Emperor’s edict requiring all his subjects to renounce +their errors, and unite themselves to the Roman Church, there +were some monks who, to the number of sixty, chose rather to die +by throwing themselves headlong from a precipice than obey their +sovereign’s commands: and in a battle fought between these +people that adhered to the religion of their ancestors, and the +troops of Sultan Segued, six hundred religious, placing +themselves at the head of their men, marched towards the Catholic +army with the stones of the altars upon their heads, assuring +their credulous followers that the Emperor’s troops would +immediately at the sight of those stones fall into disorder and +turn their backs; but, as they were some of the first that fell, +their death had a great influence upon the people to undeceive +them, and make them return to the truth. Many were +converted after the battle, and when they had embraced the +Catholic faith, adhered to that with the same constancy and +firmness with which they had before persisted in their +errors.</p> +<p>The Emperor had sent a viceroy into this province, whose firm +attachment to the Roman Church, as well as great abilities in +military affairs, made him a person very capable of executing the +orders of the Emperor, and of suppressing any insurrection that +might be raised, to prevent those alterations in religion which +they were designed to promote: a farther view in the choice of so +warlike a deputy was that a stop might be put to the inroads of +the Galles, who had killed one viceroy, and in a little time +after killed this.</p> +<p>It was our custom to meet together every year about Christmas, +not only that we might comfort and entertain each other, but +likewise that we might relate the progress and success of our +missions, and concert all measures that might farther the +conversion of the inhabitants. This year our place of +meeting was the Emperor’s camp, where the patriarch and +superior of the missions were. I left the place of my +abode, and took in my way four fathers, that resided at the +distance of two days’ journey, so that the company, without +reckoning our attendants, was five. There happened nothing +remarkable to us till the last night of our journey, when taking +up our lodging at a place belonging to the Empress, a declared +enemy to all Catholics, and in particular to the missionaries, we +met with a kind reception in appearance, and were lodged in a +large stone house covered with wood and straw, which had stood +uninhabited so long, that great numbers of red ants had taken +possession of it; these, as soon as we were laid down, attacked +us on all sides, and tormented us so incessantly that we were +obliged to call up our domestics. Having burnt a prodigious +number of these troublesome animals, we tried to compose +ourselves again, but had scarce closed our eyes before we were +awakened by the fire that had seized our lodging. Our +servants, who were fortunately not all gone to bed, perceived the +fire as soon as it began, and informed me, who lay nearest the +door. I immediately alarmed all the rest, and nothing was +thought of but how to save ourselves and the little goods we had, +when, to our great astonishment, we found one of the doors +barricaded in such a manner that we could not open it. +Nothing now could have prevented our perishing in the flames had +not those who kindled them omitted to fasten that door near which +I was lodged. We were no longer in doubt that the +inhabitants of the town had laid a train, and set fire to a +neighbouring house, in order to consume us; their measures were +so well laid, that the house was in ashes in an instant, and +three of our beds were burnt which the violence of the flame +would not allow us to carry away. We spent the rest of the +night in the most dismal apprehensions, and found next morning +that we had justly charged the inhabitants with the design of +destroying us, for the place was entirely abandoned, and those +that were conscious of the crime had fled from the +punishment. We continued our journey, and came to Gorgora, +where we found the fathers met, and the Emperor with them.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER XII</h3> +<p>The author is sent into Tigre. Is in danger of being +poisoned by the breath of a serpent. Is stung by a +serpent. Is almost killed by eating anchoy. The +people conspire against the missionaries, and distress them.</p> +<p>My superiors intended to send me into the farthest parts of +the empire, but the Emperor over-ruled that design, and remanded +me to Tigre, where I had resided before. I passed in my +journey by Ganete Ilhos, a palace newly built, and made agreeable +by beautiful gardens, and had the honour of paying my respects to +the Emperor, who had retired thither, and receiving from him a +large present for the finishing of a hospital, which had been +begun in the kingdom of Tigre. After having returned him +thanks, I continued my way, and in crossing a desert two +days’ journey over, was in great danger of my life, for, as +I lay on the ground, I perceived myself seized with a pain which +forced me to rise, and saw about four yards from me one of those +serpents that dart their poison at a distance; although I rose +before he came very near me, I yet felt the effects of his +poisonous breath, and, if I had lain a little longer, had +certainly died; I had recourse to bezoar, a sovereign remedy +against these poisons, which I always carried about me. +These serpents are not long, but have a body short and thick, and +their bellies speckled with brown, black, and yellow; they have a +wide mouth, with which they draw in a great quantity of air, and, +having retained it some time, eject it with such force that they +kill at four yards’ distance. I only escaped by being +somewhat farther from him. This danger, however, was not +much to be regarded in comparison of another which my negligence +brought me into. As I was picking up a skin that lay upon +the ground, I was stung by a serpent that left his sting in my +finger; I at least picked an extraneous substance about the +bigness of a hair out of the wound, which I imagined was the +sting. This slight wound I took little notice of, till my +arm grew inflamed all over; in a short time the poison infected +my blood, and I felt the most terrible convulsions, which were +interpreted as certain signs that my death was near and +inevitable. I received now no benefit from bezoar, the horn +of the unicorn, or any of the usual antidotes, but found myself +obliged to make use of an extraordinary remedy, which I submitted +to with extreme reluctance. This submission and obedience +brought the blessing of Heaven upon me; nevertheless, I continued +indisposed a long time, and had many symptoms which made me fear +that all the danger was not yet over. I then took cloves of +garlic, though with a great aversion, both from the taste and +smell. I was in this condition a whole month, always in +pain, and taking medicines the most nauseous in the world. +At length youth and a happy constitution surmounted the +malignity, and I recovered my former health.</p> +<p>I continued two years at my residence in Tigre, entirely taken +up with the duties of the mission—preaching, confessing, +baptising—and enjoyed a longer quiet and repose than I had +ever done since I left Portugal. During this time one of +our fathers, being always sick and of a constitution which the +air of Abyssinia was very hurtful to, obtained a permission from +our superiors to return to the Indies; I was willing to accompany +him through part of his way, and went with him over a desert, at +no great distance from my residence, where I found many trees +loaded with a kind of fruit, called by the natives anchoy, about +the bigness of an apricot, and very yellow, which is much eaten +without any ill effect. I therefore made no scruple of +gathering and eating it, without knowing that the inhabitants +always peeled it, the rind being a violent purgative; so that, +eating the fruit and skin together, I fell into such a disorder +as almost brought me to my end. The ordinary dose is six of +these rinds, and I had devoured twenty.</p> +<p>I removed from thence to Debaroa, fifty-four miles nearer the +sea, and crossed in my way the desert of the province of +Saraoe. The country is fruitful, pleasant, and populous; +there are greater numbers of Moors in these parts than in any +other province of Abyssinia, and the Abyssins of this country are +not much better than the Moors.</p> +<p>I was at Debaroa when the prosecution was first set on foot +against the Catholics. Sultan Segued, who had been so great +a favourer of us, was grown old, and his spirit and authority +decreased with his strength. His son, who was arrived at +manhood, being weary of waiting so long for the crown he was to +inherit, took occasion to blame his father’s conduct, and +found some reason for censuring all his actions; he even +proceeded so far as to give orders sometimes contrary to the +Emperor’s. He had embraced the Catholic religion, +rather through complaisance than conviction or inclination; and +many of the Abyssins who had done the same, waited only for an +opportunity of making public profession of the ancient erroneous +opinions, and of re-uniting themselves to the Church of +Alexandria. So artfully can this people dissemble their +sentiments that we had not been able hitherto to distinguish our +real from our pretended favourers; but as soon as this Prince +began to give evident tokens of his hatred, even in the lifetime +of the Emperor, we saw all the courtiers and governors who had +treated us with such a show of friendship declare against us, and +persecute us as disturbers of the public tranquillity, who had +come into Æthiopia with no other intention than to abolish +the ancient laws and customs of the country, to sow divisions +between father and son, and preach up a revolution.</p> +<p>After having borne all sorts of affronts and ill-treatments, +we retired to our house at Fremona, in the midst of our +countrymen, who had been settling round about us a long time, +imagining we should be more secure there, and that, at least +during the life of the Emperor, they would not come to +extremities, or proceed to open force. I laid some stress +upon the kindness which the viceroy of Tigre had shown to us, and +in particular to me; but was soon convinced that those hopes had +no real foundation, for he was one of the most violent of our +persecutors. He seized upon all our lands, and, advancing +with his troops to Fremona, blocked up the town. The army +had not been stationed there long before they committed all sorts +of disorders; so that one day a Portuguese, provoked beyond his +temper at the insolence of some of them, went out with his four +sons, and, wounding several of them, forced the rest back to +their camp.</p> +<p>We thought we had good reason to apprehend an attack; their +troops were increasing, our town was surrounded, and on the point +of being forced. Our Portuguese therefore thought that, +without staying till the last extremities, they might lawfully +repel one violence by another, and sallying out to the number of +fifty, wounded about three score of the Abyssins, and had put +them to the sword but that they feared it might bring too great +an odium upon our cause. The Portuguese were some of them +wounded, but happily none died on either side.</p> +<p>Though the times were by no means favourable to us, every one +blamed the conduct of the viceroy; and those who did not commend +our action made the necessity we were reduced to of self-defence +an excuse for it. The viceroy’s principal design was +to get my person into his possession, imagining that if I was +once in his power, all the Portuguese would pay him a blind +obedience. Having been unsuccessful in his attempt by open +force, he made use of the arts of negotiation, but with an event +not more to his satisfaction. This viceroy being recalled, +a son-in-law of the Emperor’s succeeded, who treated us +even worse than his predecessor had done.</p> +<p>When he entered upon his command, he loaded us with +kindnesses, giving us so many assurances of his protection that, +while the Emperor lived, we thought him one of our friends; but +no sooner was our protector dead than this man pulled off his +mask, and, quitting all shame, let us see that neither the fear +of God nor any other consideration was capable of restraining him +when we were to be distressed. The persecution then +becoming general, there was no longer any place of security for +us in Abyssinia, where we were looked upon by all as the authors +of all the civil commotions, and many councils were held to +determine in what manner they should dispose of us. Several +were of opinion that the best way would be to kill us all at +once, and affirmed that no other means were left of +re-establishing order and tranquillity in the kingdom.</p> +<p>Others, more prudent, were not for putting us to death with so +little consideration, but advised that we should be banished to +one of the isles of the Lake of Dambia, an affliction more severe +than death itself. These alleged in vindication of their +opinions that it was reasonable to expect, if they put us to +death, that the viceroy of the Indies would come with fire and +sword to demand satisfaction. This argument made so great +an impression upon some of them that they thought no better +measures could be taken than to send us back again to the +Indies. This proposal, however, was not without its +difficulties, for they suspected that when we should arrive at +the Portuguese territories, we would levy an army, return back to +Abyssinia, and under pretence of establishing the Catholic +religion revenge all the injuries we had suffered. While +they were thus deliberating upon our fate, we were imploring the +succour of the Almighty with fervent and humble supplications, +entreating him in the midst of our sighs and tears that he would +not suffer his own cause to miscarry, and that, however it might +please him to dispose of our lives—which, we prayed, he +would assist us to lay down with patience and resignation worthy +of the faith for which we were persecuted—he would not +permit our enemies to triumph over the truth.</p> +<p>Thus we passed our days and nights in prayers, in affliction, +and tears, continually crowded with widows and orphans that +subsisted upon our charity and came to us for bread when we had +not any for ourselves.</p> +<p>While we were in this distress we received an account that the +viceroy of the Indies had fitted out a powerful fleet against the +King of Mombaza, who, having thrown off the authority of the +Portuguese, had killed the governor of the fortress, and had +since committed many acts of cruelty. The same fleet, as we +were informed, after the King of Mombaza was reduced, was to burn +and ruin Zeila, in revenge of the death of two Portuguese Jesuits +who were killed by the King in the year 1604. As Zeila was +not far from the frontiers of Abyssinia, they imagined that they +already saw the Portuguese invading their country.</p> +<p>The viceroy of Tigre had inquired of me a few days before how +many men one India ship carried, and being told that the +complement of some was a thousand men, he compared that answer +with the report then spread over all the country, that there were +eighteen Portuguese vessels on the coast of Adel, and concluded +that they were manned by an army of eighteen thousand men; then +considering what had been achieved by four hundred, under the +command of Don Christopher de Gama, he thought Abyssinia already +ravaged, or subjected to the King of Portugal. Many +declared themselves of his opinion, and the court took its +measures with respect to us from these uncertain and ungrounded +rumours. Some were so infatuated with their apprehensions +that they undertook to describe the camp of the Portuguese, and +affirmed that they had heard the report of their cannons.</p> +<p>All this contributed to exasperate the inhabitants, and +reduced us often to the point of being massacred. At length +they came to a resolution of giving us up to the Turks, assuring +them that we were masters of a vast treasure, in hope that after +they had inflicted all kinds of tortures on us, to make us +confess where we had hid our gold, or what we had done with it, +they would at length kill us in rage for the +disappointment. Nor was this their only view, for they +believed that the Turks would, by killing us, kindle such an +irreconcilable hatred between themselves and our nation as would +make it necessary for them to keep us out of the Red Sea, of +which they are entirely masters: so that their determination was +as politic as cruel. Some pretend that the Turks were +engaged to put us to death as soon as we were in their power.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3> +<p>The author relieves the patriarch and missionaries, and +supports them. He escapes several snares laid for him by +the viceroy of Tigre. They put themselves under the +protection of the Prince of Bar.</p> +<p>Having concluded this negotiation, they drove us out of our +houses, and robbed us of everything that was worth carrying away; +and, not content with that, informed some banditti that were then +in those parts of the road we were to travel through, so that the +patriarch and some missionaries were attacked in a desert by +these rovers, with their captain at their head, who pillaged his +library, his ornaments, and what little baggage the missionaries +had left, and might have gone away without resistance or +interruption had they satisfied themselves with only robbing; but +when they began to fall upon the missionaries and their +companions, our countrymen, finding that their lives could only +be preserved by their courage, charged their enemies with such +vigour that they killed their chief and forced the rest to a +precipitate flight. But these rovers, being acquainted with +the country, harassed the little caravan till it was past the +borders.</p> +<p>Our fathers then imagined they had nothing more to fear, but +too soon were convinced of their error, for they found the whole +country turned against them, and met everywhere new enemies to +contend with and new dangers to surmount. Being not far +distant from Fremona, where I resided, they sent to me for +succour. I was better informed of the distress they were in +than themselves, having been told that a numerous body of +Abyssins had posted themselves in a narrow pass with an intent to +surround and destroy them; therefore, without long deliberation, +I assembled my friends, both Portuguese and Abyssins, to the +number of fourscore, and went to their rescue, carrying with me +provisions and refreshments, of which I knew they were in great +need. These glorious confessors I met as they were just +entering the pass designed for the place of their destruction, +and doubly preserved them from famine and the sword. A +grateful sense of their deliverance made them receive me as a +guardian angel. We went together to Fremona, and being in +all a patriarch, a bishop, eighteen Jesuits, and four hundred +Portuguese whom I supplied with necessaries, though the revenues +of our house were lost, and though the country was disaffected to +us, in the worst season of the year. We were obliged for +the relief of the poor and our own subsistence to sell our +ornaments and chalices, which we first broke in pieces, that the +people might not have the pleasure of ridiculing our mysteries by +profaning the vessels made use of in the celebration of them, for +they now would gladly treat with the highest indignities what +they had a year before looked upon with veneration.</p> +<p>Amidst all these perplexities the viceroy did not fail to +visit us, and make us great offers of service in expectation of a +large present. We were in a situation in which it was very +difficult to act properly; we knew too well the ill intentions of +the viceroy, but durst not complain, or give him any reason to +imagine that we knew them. We longed to retreat out of his +power, or at least to send one of our company to the Indies with +an account of persecution we suffered, and could without his +leave neither do one nor the other.</p> +<p>When it was determined that one should be sent to the Indies, +I was at first singled out for the journey, and it was intended +that I should represent at Goa, at Rome, and at Madrid the +distresses and necessities of the mission of Æthiopia; but +the fathers reflecting afterwards that I best understood the +Abyssinian language, and was most acquainted with the customs of +the country, altered their opinions, and, continuing me in +Æthiopia either to perish with them or preserve them, +deputed four other Jesuits, who in a short time set out on their +way to the Indies.</p> +<p>About this time I was sent for to the viceroy’s camp to +confess a criminal, who, though falsely, was believed a Catholic, +to whom, after a proper exhortation, I was going to pronounce the +form of absolution, when those that waited to execute him told +him aloud that if he expected to save his life by professing +himself a Catholic, he would find himself deceived, and that he +had nothing to do but prepare himself for death. The +unhappy criminal had no sooner heard this than, rising up, he +declared his resolution to die in the religion of his country, +and being delivered up to his prosecutors was immediately +dispatched with their lances.</p> +<p>The chief reason of calling me was not that I might hear this +confession: the viceroy had another design of seizing my person, +expecting that either the Jesuits or Portuguese would buy my +liberty with a large ransom, or that he might exchange me for his +father, who was kept prisoner by a revolted prince. That +prince would have been no loser by the exchange, for so much was +I hated by the Abyssinian monks that they would have thought no +expense too great to have gotten me into their hands, that they +might have glutted their revenge by putting me to the most +painful death they could have invented. Happily I found +means to retire out of this dangerous place, and was followed by +the viceroy almost to Fremona, who, being disappointed, desired +me either to visit him at his camp, or appoint a place where we +might confer. I made many excuses, but at length agreed to +meet him at a place near Fremona, bringing each of us only three +companions. I did not doubt but he would bring more, and so +he did, but found that I was upon my guard, and that my company +increased in proportion to his. My friends were resolute +Portuguese, who were determined to give him no quarter if he made +any attempt upon my liberty. Finding himself once more +countermined, he returned ashamed to his camp, where a month +after, being accused of a confederacy in the revolt of that +prince who kept his father prisoner, he was arrested, and carried +in chains to the Emperor.</p> +<p>The time now approaching in which we were to be delivered to +the Turks, we had none but God to apply to for relief: all the +measures we could think of were equally dangerous. +Resolving, nevertheless, to seek some retreat where we might hide +ourselves either all together or separately, we determined at +last to put ourselves under the protection of the Prince John +Akay, who had defended himself a long time in the province of Bar +against the power of Abyssinia.</p> +<p>After I had concluded a treaty with this prince, the patriarch +and all the fathers put themselves into his hands, and being +received with all imaginable kindness and civility, were +conducted with a guard to Adicota, a rock excessively steep, +about nine miles from his place of residence. The event was +not agreeable to the happy beginning of our negotiation, for we +soon began to find that our habitation was not likely to be very +pleasant. We were surrounded with Mahometans, or Christians +who were inveterate enemies to the Catholic faith, and were +obliged to act with the utmost caution. Notwithstanding +these inconveniences we were pleased with the present +tranquillity we enjoyed, and lived contentedly on lentils and a +little corn that we had; and I, after we had sold all our goods, +resolved to turn physician, and was soon able to support myself +by my practice.</p> +<p>I was once consulted by a man troubled with asthma, who +presented me with two alquieres—that is, about twenty-eight +pounds weight—of corn and a sheep. The advice I gave +him, after having turned over my books, was to drink goats’ +urine every morning; I know not whether he found any benefit by +following my prescription, for I never saw him after.</p> +<p>Being under a necessity of obeying our acoba, or protector, we +changed our place of abode as often as he desired it, though not +without great inconveniences, from the excessive heat of the +weather and the faintness which our strict observation of the +fasts and austerities of Lent, as it is kept in this country, had +brought upon us. At length, wearied with removing so often, +and finding that the last place assigned for our abode was always +the worst, we agreed that I should go to our sovereign and +complain.</p> +<p>I found him entirely taken up with the imagination of a +prodigious treasure, affirmed by the monks to be hidden under a +mountain. He was told that his predecessors had been +hindered from discovering it by the demon that guarded it, but +that the demon was now at a great distance from his charge, and +was grown blind and lame; that having lost his son, and being +without any children except a daughter that was ugly and +unhealthy, he was under great affliction, and entirely neglected +the care of his treasure; that if he should come, they could call +one of their ancient brothers to their assistance, who, being a +man of a most holy life, would be able to prevent his making any +resistance. To all these stories the prince listened with +unthinking credulity. The monks, encouraged by this, fell +to the business, and brought a man above a hundred years old, +whom, because he could not support himself on horseback, they had +tied on the beast, and covered him with black wool. He was +followed by a black cow (designed for a sacrifice to the demon of +the place), and by some monks that carried mead, beer, and +parched corn, to complete the offering.</p> +<p>No sooner were they arrived at the foot of the mountain than +every one began to work: bags were brought from all parts to +convey away the millions which each imagined would be his +share. The Xumo, who superintended the work, would not +allow any one to come near the labourers, but stood by, attended +by the old monk, who almost sang himself to death. At +length, having removed a vast quantity of earth and stones, they +discovered some holes made by rats or moles, at sight of which a +shout of joy ran through the whole troop: the cow was brought and +sacrificed immediately, and some pieces of flesh were thrown into +these holes. Animated now with assurance of success, they +lose no time: every one redoubles his endeavours, and the heat, +though intolerable, was less powerful than the hopes they had +conceived. At length some, not so patient as the rest, were +weary, and desisted. The work now grew more difficult; they +found nothing but rock, yet continued to toil on, till the +prince, having lost all temper, began to inquire with some +passion when he should have a sight of this treasure, and after +having been some time amused with many promises by the monks, was +told that he had not faith enough to be favoured with the +discovery.</p> +<p>All this I saw myself, and could not forbear endeavouring to +convince our protector how much he was imposed upon: he was not +long before he was satisfied that he had been too credulous, for +all those that had so industriously searched after this imaginary +wealth, within five hours left the work in despair, and I +continued almost alone with the prince.</p> +<p>Imagining no time more proper to make the proposal I was sent +with than while his passion was still hot against the monks, I +presented him with two ounces of gold and two plates of silver, +with some other things of small value, and was so successful that +he gratified me in all my requests, and gave us leave to return +to Adicora, where we were so fortunate to find our huts yet +uninjured and entire.</p> +<p>About this time the fathers who had stayed behind at Fremona +arrived with the new viceroy, and an officer fierce in the +defence of his own religion, who had particular orders to deliver +all the Jesuits up to the Turks, except me, whom the Emperor was +resolved to have in his own hands, alive or dead. We had +received some notice of this resolution from our friends at +court, and were likewise informed that the Emperor, their master, +had been persuaded that my design was to procure assistance from +the Indies, and that I should certainly return at the head of an +army. The patriarch’s advice upon this emergency was +that I should retire into the woods, and by some other road join +the nine Jesuits who were gone towards Mazna. I could think +of no better expedient, and therefore went away in the night +between the 23rd and 24th of April with my comrade, an old man, +very infirm and very timorous. We crossed woods never +crossed, I believe, by any before: the darkness of the night and +the thickness of the shade spread a kind of horror round us; our +gloomy journey was still more incommoded by the brambles and +thorns, which tore our hands; amidst all these difficulties I +applied myself to the Almighty, praying him to preserve us from +those dangers which we endeavoured to avoid, and to deliver us +from those to which our flight exposed us. Thus we +travelled all night, till eight next morning, without taking +either rest or food; then, imagining ourselves secure, we made us +some cakes of barley-meal and water, which we thought a +feast.</p> +<p>We had a dispute with our guides, who though they had +bargained to conduct us for an ounce of gold, yet when they saw +us so entangled in the intricacies of the wood that we could not +possibly get out without their direction, demanded seven ounces +of gold, a mule, and a little tent which we had; after a long +dispute we were forced to come to their terms. We continued +to travel all night, and to hide ourselves in the woods all day: +and here it was that we met the three hundred elephants I spoke +of before. We made long marches, travelling without any +halt from four in the afternoon to eight in the morning.</p> +<p>Arriving at a valley where travellers seldom escape being +plundered, we were obliged to double our pace, and were so happy +as to pass it without meeting with any misfortune, except that we +heard a bird sing on our left hand—a certain presage among +these people of some great calamity at hand. As there is no +reasoning them out of superstition, I knew no way of encouraging +them to go forward but what I had already made use of on the same +occasion, assuring them that I heard one at the same time on the +right. They were happily so credulous as to take my word, +and we went on till we came to a well, where we stayed awhile to +refresh ourselves. Setting out again in the evening, we +passed so near a village where these robbers had retreated that +the dogs barked after us. Next morning we joined the +fathers, who waited for us. After we had rested ourselves +some time in that mountain, we resolved to separate and go two +and two, to seek for a more convenient place where we might hide +ourselves. We had not gone far before we were surrounded by +a troop of robbers, with whom, by the interest of some of the +natives who had joined themselves to our caravan, we came to a +composition, giving them part of our goods to permit us to carry +away the rest; and after this troublesome adventure arrived at a +place something more commodious than that which we had quitted, +where we met with bread, but of so pernicious a quality that, +after having ate it, we were intoxicated to so great a degree +that one of my friends, seeing me so disordered, congratulated my +good fortune of having met with such good wine, and was surprised +when I gave him an account of the whole affair. He then +offered me some curdled milk, very sour, with barley-meal, which +we boiled, and thought it the best entertainment we had met with +a long time.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER XIV</h3> +<p>They are betrayed into the hands of the Turks; are detained +awhile at Mazna; are threatened by the Bassa of Suaquem. +They agree for their ransom, and are part of them dismissed.</p> +<p>Some time after, we received news that we should prepare +ourselves to serve the Turks—a message which filled us with +surprise, it having never been known that one of these lords had +ever abandoned any whom he had taken under his protection; and it +is, on the contrary, one of the highest points of honour amongst +them to risk their fortunes and their lives in the defence of +their dependants who have implored their protection. But +neither law nor justice was of any advantage to us, and the +customs of the country were doomed to be broken when they would +have contributed to our security.</p> +<p>We were obliged to march in the extremity of the hot season, +and had certainly perished by the fatigue had we not entered the +woods, which shaded us from the scorching sun. The day +before our arrival at the place where we were to be delivered to +the Turks, we met with five elephants, that pursued us, and if +they could have come to us would have prevented the miseries we +afterwards endured, but God had decreed otherwise.</p> +<p>On the morrow we came to the banks of a river, where we found +fourscore Turks that waited for us, armed with muskets. +They let us rest awhile, and then put us into the hands of our +new masters, who, setting us upon camels, conducted us to +Mazna. Their commander, seeming to be touched with our +misfortunes, treated us with much gentleness and humanity; he +offered us coffee, which we drank, but with little relish. +We came next day to Mazna, in so wretched a condition that we +were not surprised at being hooted by the boys, but thought +ourselves well used that they threw no stones at us.</p> +<p>As soon as we were brought hither, all we had was taken from +us, and we were carried to the governor, who is placed there by +the Bassa of Suaquem. Having been told by the Abyssins that +we had carried all the gold out of Æthiopia, they searched +us with great exactness, but found nothing except two chalices, +and some relics of so little value that we redeemed them for six +sequins. As I had given them my chalice upon their first +demand, they did not search me, but gave us to understand that +they expected to find something of greater value, which either we +must have hidden or the Abyssins must have imposed on them. +They left us the rest of the day at a gentleman’s house, +who was our friend, from whence the next day they fetched us to +transport us to the island, where they put us into a kind of +prison, with a view of terrifying us into a confession of the +place where we had hid our gold, in which, however, they found +themselves deceived.</p> +<p>But I had here another affair upon my hands which was near +costing me dear. My servant had been taken from me and left +at Mazna, to be sold to the Arabs. Being advertised by him +of the danger he was in, I laid claim to him, without knowing the +difficulties which this way of proceeding would bring upon +me. The governor sent me word that my servant should be +restored to me upon payment of sixty piastres; and being answered +by me that I had not a penny for myself, and therefore could not +pay sixty piastres to redeem my servant, he informed me by a +renegade Jew, who negotiated the whole affair, that either I must +produce the money or receive a hundred blows of the +battoon. Knowing that those orders are without appeal, and +always punctually executed, I prepared myself to receive the +correction I was threatened with, but unexpectedly found the +people so charitable as to lend me the money. By several +other threats of the same kind they drew from us about six +hundred crowns.</p> +<p>On the 24th of June we embarked in two galleys for Suaquem, +where the bassa resided. His brother, who was his deputy at +Mazna, made us promise before we went that we would not mention +the money he had squeezed from us. The season was not very +proper for sailing, and our provisions were but short. In a +little time we began to feel the want of better stores, and +thought ourselves happy in meeting with a gelve, which, though +small, was a much better sailer than our vessel, in which I was +sent to Suaquem to procure camels and provisions. I was not +much at my ease, alone among six Mahometans, and could not help +apprehending that some zealous pilgrim of Mecca might lay hold on +this opportunity, in the heat of his devotion, of sacrificing me +to his prophet.</p> +<p>These apprehensions were without ground. I contracted an +acquaintance, which was soon improved into a friendship, with +these people; they offered me part of their provisions, and I +gave them some of mine. As we were in a place abounding +with oysters—some of which were large and good to eat, +others more smooth and shining, in which pearls are +found—they gave me some of those they gathered; but whether +it happened by trifling our time away in oyster-catching, or +whether the wind was not favourable, we came to Suaquem later +than the vessel I had left, in which were seven of my +companions.</p> +<p>As they had first landed, they had suffered the first +transports of the bassa’s passion, who was a violent, +tyrannical man, and would have killed his own brother for the +least advantage—a temper which made him fly into the utmost +rage at seeing us poor, tattered, and almost naked; he treated us +with the most opprobrious language, and threatened to cut off our +heads. We comforted ourselves in this condition, hoping +that all our sufferings would end in shedding our blood for the +name of Jesus Christ. We knew that the bassa had often made +a public declaration before our arrival that he should die +contented if he could have the pleasure of killing us all with +his own hand. This violent resolution was not lasting; his +zeal gave way to his avarice, and he could not think of losing so +large a sum as he knew he might expect for our ransom: he +therefore sent us word that it was in our choice either to die, +or to pay him thirty thousand crowns, and demanded to know our +determination.</p> +<p>We knew that his ardent thirst of our blood was now cold, that +time and calm reflection and the advice of his friends had all +conspired to bring him to a milder temper, and therefore +willingly began to treat with him. I told the messenger, +being deputed by the rest to manage the affair, that he could not +but observe the wretched condition we were in, that we had +neither money nor revenues, that what little we had was already +taken from us, and that therefore all we could promise was to set +a collection on foot, not much doubting but that our brethren +would afford us such assistance as might enable us to make him a +handsome present according to custom.</p> +<p>This answer was not at all agreeable to the bassa, who +returned an answer that he would be satisfied with twenty +thousand crowns, provided we paid them on the spot, or gave him +good securities for the payment. To this we could only +repeat what we had said before: he then proposed to abate five +thousand of his last demand, assuring us that unless we came to +some agreement, there was no torment so cruel but we should +suffer it, and talked of nothing but impaling and flaying us +alive; the terror of these threatenings was much increased by his +domestics, who told us of many of his cruelties. This is +certain, that some time before, he had used some poor pagan +merchants in that manner, and had caused the executioner to begin +to flay them, when some Brahmin, touched with compassion, +generously contributed the sum demanded for their ransom. +We had no reason to hope for so much kindness, and, having +nothing of our own, could promise no certain sum.</p> +<p>At length some of his favourites whom he most confided in, +knowing his cruelty and our inability to pay what he demanded, +and apprehending that, if he should put us to the death he +threatened, they should soon see the fleets of Portugal in the +Red Sea, laying their towns in ashes to revenge it, endeavoured +to soften his passion and preserve our lives, offering to advance +the sum we should agree for, without any other security than our +words. By this assistance, after many interviews with the +bassa’s agents, we agreed to pay four thousand three +hundred crowns, which were accepted on condition that they should +be paid down, and we should go on board within two hours: but, +changing his resolution on a sudden, he sent us word by his +treasurer that two of the most considerable among us should stay +behind for security, while the rest went to procure the money +they promised. They kept the patriarch and two more +fathers, one of which was above fourscore years old, in whose +place I chose to remain prisoner, and represented to the bassa +that, being worn out with age, he perhaps might die in his hands, +which would lose the part of the ransom which was due on his +account; that therefore it would be better to choose a younger in +his place, offering to stay myself with him, that the good old +man might be set at liberty.</p> +<p>The bassa agreed to another Jesuit, and it pleased Heaven that +the lot fell upon Father Francis Marquez. I imagined that I +might with the same ease get the patriarch out of his hand, but +no sooner had I begun to speak but the anger flashed in his eyes, +and his look was sufficient to make me stop and despair of +success. We parted immediately, leaving the patriarch and +two fathers in prison, whom we embraced with tears, and went to +take up our lodging on board the vessel.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER XV</h3> +<p>Their treatment on board the vessel. Their reception at +Diou. The author applies to the viceroy for assistance, but +without success; he is sent to solicit in Europe.</p> +<p>Our condition here was not much better than that of the +illustrious captives whom we left behind. We were in an +Arabian ship, with a crew of pilgrims of Mecca, with whom it was +a point of religion to insult us. We were lodged upon the +deck, exposed to all the injuries of the weather, nor was there +the meanest workman or sailor who did not either kick or strike +us. When we went first on board, I perceived a humour in my +finger, which I neglected at first, till it spread over my hand +and swelled up my arm, afflicting me with the most horrid +torture. There was neither surgeon nor medicines to be had, +nor could I procure anything to ease my pain but a little oil, +with which I anointed my arm, and in time found some +relief. The weather was very bad, and the wind almost +always against us, and, to increase our perplexity, the whole +crew, though Moors, were in the greatest apprehension of meeting +any of those vessels which the Turks maintain in the strait of +Babelmandel; the ground of their fear was that the captain had +neglected the last year to touch at Moca, though he had +promised. Thus we were in danger of falling into a +captivity perhaps more severe than that we had just escaped +from. While we were wholly engaged with these +apprehensions, we discovered a Turkish ship and galley were come +upon us. It was almost calm—at least, there was not +wind enough to give us any prospect of escaping—so that +when the galley came up to us, we thought ourselves lost without +remedy, and had probably fallen into their hands had not a breeze +sprung up just in the instant of danger, which carried us down +the channel between the mainland and the isle of +Babelmandel. I have already said that this passage is +difficult and dangerous, which, nevertheless, we passed in the +night, without knowing what course we held, and were transported +at finding ourselves next morning out of the Red Sea and half a +league from Babelmandel. The currents are here so violent +that they carried us against our will to Cape Guardafui, where we +sent our boats ashore for fresh water, which we began to be in +great want of. The captain refused to give us any when we +desired some, and treated us with great insolence, till, coming +near the land, I spoke to him in a tone more lofty and resolute +than I had ever done, and gave him to understand that when he +touched at Diou he might have occasion for our interest. +This had some effect upon him, and procured us a greater degree +of civility than we had met with before.</p> +<p>At length after forty days’ sailing we landed at Diou, +where we were met by the whole city, it being reported that the +patriarch was one of our number; for there was not a gentleman +who was not impatient to have the pleasure of beholding that good +man, now made famous by his labours and sufferings. It is +not in my power to represent the different passions they were +affected with at seeing us pale, meagre, without clothes—in +a word, almost naked and almost dead with fatigue and +ill-usage. They could not behold us in that miserable +condition without reflecting on the hardships we had undergone, +and our brethren then underwent, in Suaquem and Abyssinia. +Amidst their thanks to God for our deliverance, they could not +help lamenting the condition of the patriarch and the other +missionaries who were in chains, or, at least, in the hands of +professed enemies to our holy religion. All this did not +hinder them from testifying in the most obliging manner their joy +for our deliverance, and paying such honours as surprised the +Moors, and made them repent in a moment of the ill-treatment they +had shown us on board. One who had discovered somewhat more +humanity than the rest thought himself sufficiently honoured when +I took him by the hand and presented him to the chief officer of +the custom house, who promised to do all the favours that were in +his power.</p> +<p>When we passed by in sight of the fort, they gave us three +salutes with their cannon, an honour only paid to generals. +The chief men of the city, who waited for us on the shore, +accompanied us through a crowd of people, whom curiosity had +drawn from all parts of our college. Though our place of +residence at Diou is one of the most beautiful in all the Indies, +we stayed there only a few days, and as soon as we had recovered +our fatigues went on board the ships that were appointed to +convoy the northern fleet. I was in the +admiral’s. We arrived at Goa in some vessels bound +for Camberia: here we lost a good old Abyssin convert, a man much +valued in his order, and who was actually prior of his convent +when he left Abyssinia, choosing rather to forsake all for +religion than to leave the way of salvation, which God had so +mercifully favoured him with the knowledge of.</p> +<p>We continued our voyage, and almost without stopping sailed by +Surate and Damam, where the rector of the college came to see us, +but so sea-sick that the interview was without any satisfaction +on either side. Then landing at Bazaim we were received by +our fathers with their accustomed charity, and nothing was +thought of but how to put the unpleasing remembrance of our past +labours out of our minds. Finding here an order of the +Father Provineta to forbid those who returned from the missions +to go any farther, it was thought necessary to send an agent to +Goa with an account of the revolutions that had happened in +Abyssinia and of the imprisonment of the patriarch. For +this commission I was made choice of; and, I know not by what +hidden degree of Providence, almost all affairs, whatever the +success of them was, were transacted by me. All the coasts +were beset by Dutch cruisers, which made it difficult to sail +without running the hazard of being taken. I went therefore +by land from Bazaim to Tana, where we had another college, and +from thence to our house of Chaul. Here I hired a narrow +light vessel, and, placing eighteen oars on a side, went close by +the shore from Chaul to Goa, almost eighty leagues. We were +often in danger of being taken, and particularly when we touched +at Dabal, where a cruiser blocked up one of the channels through +which ships usually sail; but our vessel requiring no great depth +of water, and the sea running high, we went through the little +channel, and fortunately escaped the cruiser. Though we +were yet far from Goa, we expected to arrive there on the next +morning, and rowed forward with all the diligence we could. +The sea was calm and delightful, and our minds were at ease, for +we imagined ourselves past danger; but soon found we had +flattered ourselves too soon with security, for we came within +sight of several barks of Malabar, which had been hid behind a +point of land which we were going to double. Here we had +been inevitably taken had not a man called to us from the shore +and informed us that among those fishing-boats there, some +crusiers would make us a prize. We rewarded our kind +informer for the service he had done us, and lay by till night +came to shelter us from our enemies. Then putting out our +oars we landed at Goa next morning about ten, and were received +at our college. It being there a festival day, each had +something extraordinary allowed him; the choicest part of our +entertainments was two pilchers, which were admired because they +came from Portugal.</p> +<p>The quiet I began to enjoy did not make me lose the +remembrance of my brethren whom I had left languishing among the +rocks of Abyssinia, or groaning in the prisons of Suaquem, whom +since I could not set at liberty without the viceroy’s +assistance, I went to implore it, and did not fail to make use of +every motive which could have any influence.</p> +<p>I described in the most pathetic manner I could the miserable +state to which the Catholic religion was reduced in a country +where it had lately flourished so much by the labours of the +Portuguese; I gave him in the strongest terms a representation of +all that we had suffered since the death of Sultan Segued, how we +had been driven out of Abyssinia, how many times they had +attempted to take away our lives, in what manner we had been +betrayed and given up to the Turks, the menaces we had been +terrified with, the insults we had endured; I laid before him the +danger the patriarch was in of being either impaled or flayed +alive; the cruelty, insolence and avarice of the Bassa of +Suaquem, and the persecution that the Catholics suffered in +Æthiopia. I exhorted, I implored him by everything I +thought might move him, to make some attempt for the preservation +of those who had voluntarily sacrificed their lives for the sake +of God. I made it appear with how much ease the Turks might +be driven out of the Red Sea, and the Portuguese enjoy all the +trade of those countries. I informed him of the navigation +of that sea, and the situation of its ports; told him which it +would be necessary to make ourselves masters of first, that we +might upon any unfortunate encounter retreat to them. I +cannot deny that some degree of resentment might appear in my +discourse; for, though revenge be prohibited to Christians, I +should not have been displeased to have had the Bassa of Suaquem +and his brother in my hands, that I might have reproached them +with the ill-treatment we had met with from them. This was +the reason of my advising to make the first attack upon Mazna, to +drive the Turks from thence, to build a citadel, and garrison it +with Portuguese.</p> +<p>The viceroy listened with great attention to all I had to say, +gave me a long audience, and asked me many questions. He +was well pleased with the design of sending a fleet into that +sea, and, to give a greater reputation to the enterprise, +proposed making his son commander-in-chief, but could by no means +be brought to think of fixing garrisons and building fortresses +there; all he intended was to plunder all they could, and lay the +towns in ashes.</p> +<p>I left no art of persuasion untried to convince him that such +a resolution would injure the interests of Christianity, that to +enter the Red Sea only to ravage the coasts would so enrage the +Turks that they would certainly massacre all the Christian +captives, and for ever shut the passage into Abyssinia, and +hinder all communication with that empire. It was my +opinion that the Portuguese should first establish themselves at +Mazna, and that a hundred of them would be sufficient to keep the +fort that should be built. He made an offer of only fifty, +and proposed that we should collect those few Portuguese who were +scattered over Abyssinia. These measures I could not +approve.</p> +<p>At length, when it appeared that the viceroy had neither +forces nor authority sufficient for this undertaking, it was +agreed that I should go immediately into Europe, and represent at +Rome and Madrid the miserable condition of the missions of +Abyssinia. The viceroy promised that if I could procure any +assistance, he would command in person the fleet and forces +raised for the expedition, assuring that he thought he could not +employ his life better than in a war so holy, and of so great an +importance, to the propagation of the Catholic faith.</p> +<p>Encouraged by this discourse of the viceroy, I immediately +prepared myself for a voyage to Lisbon, not doubting to obtain +upon the least solicitation everything that was necessary to +re-establish our mission.</p> +<p>Never had any man a voyage so troublesome as mine, or +interrupted with such variety of unhappy accidents; I was +shipwrecked on the coast of Natal, I was taken by the Hollanders, +and it is not easy to mention the danger which I was exposed to +both by land and sea before I arrived at Portugal.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 1436-h.htm or 1436-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/1436 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Voyage to Abyssinia + + +Author: Jerome Lobo + +Editor: Henry Morley + +Release Date: July 4, 2007 [eBook #1436] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA*** + + + + +This etext was prepared from the 1887 Cassell and Company edition by Les +Bowler, St. Ives, Dorset. + + + + + +A VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA. + + +BY +FATHER JEROME LOBO. + +_Translated from the French_ +by +SAMUEL JOHNSON. + +CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: +_LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_. +1887. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Jeronimo Lobo was born in Lisbon in the year 1593. He entered the Order +of the Jesuits at the age of sixteen. After passing through the studies +by which Jesuits were trained for missionary work, which included special +attention to the arts of speaking and writing, Father Lobo was sent as a +missionary to India at the age of twenty-eight, in the year 1621. He +reached Goa, as his book tells, in 1622, and was in 1624, at the age of +thirty-one, told off as one of the missionaries to be employed in the +conversion of the Abyssinians. They were to be converted, from a form of +Christianity peculiar to themselves, to orthodox Catholicism. The +Abyssinian Emperor Segued was protector of the enterprise, of which we +have here the story told. + +Father Lobo was nine years in Abyssinia, from the age of thirty-one to +the age of forty, and this was the adventurous time of his life. The +death of the Emperor Segued put an end to the protection that had given +the devoted missionaries, in the midst of dangers, a precarious hold upon +their work. When he and his comrades fell into the hands of the Turks at +Massowah, his vigour of body and mind, his readiness of resource, and his +fidelity, marked him out as the one to be sent to the headquarters in +India to secure the payment of a ransom for his companions. He obtained +the ransom, and desired also to obtain from the Portuguese Viceroy in +India armed force to maintain the missionaries in the position they had +so far won. But the Civil power was deaf to his pleading. He removed +the appeal to Lisbon, and after narrowly escaping on the way from a +shipwreck, and after having been captured by pirates, he reached Lisbon, +and sought still to obtain means of overawing the force hostile to the +work of the Jesuits in Abyssinia. The Princess Margaret gave friendly +hearing, but sent him on to persuade, if he could, the King of Spain; and +failing at Madrid, he went to Rome and tried the Pope. He was chosen to +go to the Pope, said the Patriarch Alfonso Mendez, because, of all the +brethren at Goa, the 'Pater Hieronymus Lupus' (Lobo translated into Wolf) +was the most ingenious and learned in all sciences, with a mind most +generous in its desire to conquer difficulties, dexterous in management +of business, and found most able to make himself agreeable to those with +whom there was business to be done. The vigour with which he held by his +purpose of endeavouring in every possible way to bring the Christianity +of Abyssinia within the pale of the Catholic Church is in accordance with +the character that makes the centre of the story of this book. Whimsical +touches arise out of this strength of character and readiness of +resource, as when he tells of the taste of the Abyssinians for raw cow's +flesh, with a sauce high in royal Abyssinian favour, made of the cow's +gall and contents of its entrails, of which, when he was pressed to +partake, he could only excuse himself and his brethren by suggesting that +it was too good for such humble missionaries. Out of distinguished +respect for it, they refrained from putting it into their mouths. + +Good Father Lobo gave up the desire of his heart, when it was proved +unattainable, and returned to India six years after the breaking up of +his work in Abyssinia, at the age of forty-seven. He came to be head of +the Provincials of the Jesuit settlement at Goa, and after about ten more +years of active duty in the East returned in 1658 to Lisbon, when he died +in the religious house of St. Roque in 1678, at the age of eighty-five. A +comrade of Father Lobo's, Baltazar Tellez, said that Lobo had travelled +thirty-eight thousand leagues with no other object before him but the +winning of more souls to God. His years in Abyssinia stood out +prominently to his mind among all the years of his long life, and he +wrote an account of them in Portuguese, of which the manuscript is at +Lisbon in the monastery of St. Roque, where he closed his life. + +Of that manuscript, then and still unprinted (though use was made of it +by Baltazar Tellez in his History of 'Ethiopia-Coimbra,' 1660), the Abbe +Legrand, Prior of Neuville-les-Dames, and of Prevessin, published a +translation into French. The Abbe Legrand had been to Lisbon as +Secretary to the Abbe d'Estrees, Ambassador from France to Portugal. The +negotiations were so long continued that M. Legrand was detained five +years in Lisbon, and employed the time in researches among documents +illustrating the Portuguese possessions in India and the East. He +obtained many memoirs of great interest, and published from one of them +an account of Ceylon; but of all the manuscripts he found none interested +him so much as that of Father Lobo. His translation was augmented with +illustrative dissertations, letters, and a memoir on the circumstances of +the death of M. du Roule. It filled two volumes, or 636 pages of forty +lines. This was published in 1728. It was on the 31st of October, 1728, +that Samuel Johnson, aged nineteen, went to Pembroke College, Oxford, and +Legrand's 'Voyage Historique d'Abissinie du R. P. Jerome Lobo, de la +Compagnie de Jesus, Traduit du Portugais, continue et augmente de +plusieurs Dissertations, Lettres et Memoires,' was one of the new books +read by Johnson during his short period of college life. In 1735, when +Johnson's age was twenty-six, and the world seemed to have shut against +him every door of hope, Johnson stayed for six months at Birmingham with +his old schoolfellow Hector, who was aiming at medical practice, and who +lodged at the house of a bookseller. Johnson spoke with interest of +Father Lobo, whose book he had read at Pembroke College. Mr. Warren, the +bookseller, thought it would be worth while to print a translation. +Hector joined in urging Johnson to undertake it, for a payment of five +guineas. Although nearly brought to a stop midway by hypochondriac +despondency, a little suggestion that the printers also were stopped, and +if they had not their work had not their pay, caused Johnson to go on to +the end. Legrand's book was reduced to a fifth of its size by the +omission of all that overlaid Father Lobo's personal account of his +adventures; and Johnson began work as a writer with this translation, +first published at Birmingham in 1735. + +H.M. + + + + +THE PREFACE + + +The following relation is so curious and entertaining, and the +dissertations that accompany it so judicious and instructive, that the +translator is confident his attempt stands in need of no apology, +whatever censures may fall on the performance. + +The Portuguese traveller, contrary to the general vein of his countrymen, +has amused his reader with no romantic absurdities or incredible +fictions; whatever he relates, whether true or not, is at least probable; +and he who tells nothing exceeding the bounds of probability has a right +to demand that they should believe him who cannot contradict him. + +He appears by his modest and unaffected narration to have described +things as he saw them, to have copied nature from the life, and to have +consulted his senses, not his imagination; he meets with no basilisks +that destroy with their eyes, his crocodiles devour their prey without +tears, and his cataracts fall from the rock without deafening the +neighbouring inhabitants. + +The reader will here find no regions cursed with irremediable barrenness, +or blessed with spontaneous fecundity, no perpetual gloom or unceasing +sunshine; nor are the nations here described either devoid of all sense +of humanity, or consummate in all private and social virtues; here are no +Hottentots without religion, polity, or articulate language, no Chinese +perfectly polite, and completely skilled in all sciences: he will +discover, what will always be discovered by a diligent and impartial +inquirer, that wherever human nature is to be found there is a mixture of +vice and virtue, a contest of passion and reason, and that the Creator +doth not appear partial in his distributions, but has balanced in most +countries their particular inconveniences by particular favours. + +In his account of the mission, where his veracity is most to be +suspected, he neither exaggerates overmuch the merits of the Jesuits, if +we consider the partial regard paid by the Portuguese to their +countrymen, by the Jesuits to their society, and by the Papists to their +church, nor aggravates the vices of the Abyssins; but if the reader will +not be satisfied with a Popish account of a Popish mission, he may have +recourse to the history of the church of Abyssinia, written by Dr. +Geddes, in which he will find the actions and sufferings of the +missionaries placed in a different light, though the same in which Mr. Le +Grand, with all his zeal for the Roman church, appears to have seen them. + +This learned dissertator, however valuable for his industry and +erudition, is yet more to be esteemed for having dared so freely in the +midst of France to declare his disapprobation of the Patriarch Oviedo's +sanguinary zeal, who was continually importuning the Portuguese to beat +up their drums for missionaries, who might preach the gospel with swords +in their hands, and propagate by desolation and slaughter the true +worship of the God of Peace. + +It is not easy to forbear reflecting with how little reason these men +profess themselves the followers of Jesus, who left this great +characteristic to His disciples, that they should be known by loving one +another, by universal and unbounded charity and benevolence. + +Let us suppose an inhabitant of some remote and superior region, yet +unskilled in the ways of men, having read and considered the precepts of +the gospel, and the example of our Saviour, to come down in search of the +true church: if he would not inquire after it among the cruel, the +insolent, and the oppressive; among those who are continually grasping at +dominion over souls as well as bodies; among those who are employed in +procuring to themselves impunity for the most enormous villainies, and +studying methods of destroying their fellow-creatures, not for their +crimes but their errors; if he would not expect to meet benevolence, +engaged in massacres, or to find mercy in a court of inquisition, he would +not look for the true church in the Church of Rome. + +Mr. Le Grand has given in one dissertation an example of great +moderation, in deviating from the temper of his religion, but in the +others has left proofs that learning and honesty are often too weak to +oppose prejudice. He has made no scruple of preferring the testimony of +Father du Bernat to the writings of all the Portuguese Jesuits, to whom +he allows great zeal, but little learning, without giving any other +reason than that his favourite was a Frenchman. This is writing only to +Frenchmen and to Papists: a Protestant would be desirous to know why he +must imagine that Father du Bernat had a cooler head or more knowledge; +and why one man whose account is singular is not more likely to be +mistaken than many agreeing in the same account. + +If the Portuguese were biassed by any particular views, another bias +equally powerful may have deflected the Frenchman from the truth, for +they evidently write with contrary designs: the Portuguese, to make their +mission seem more necessary, endeavoured to place in the strongest light +the differences between the Abyssinian and Roman Church; but the great +Ludolfus, laying hold on the advantage, reduced these later writers to +prove their conformity. + +Upon the whole, the controversy seems of no great importance to those who +believe the Holy Scriptures sufficient to teach the way of salvation, but +of whatever moment it may be thought, there are not proofs sufficient to +decide it. + +His discourses on indifferent subjects will divert as well as instruct, +and if either in these, or in the relation of Father Lobo, any argument +shall appear unconvincing, or description obscure, they are defects +incident to all mankind, which, however, are not too rashly to be imputed +to the authors, being sometimes, perhaps, more justly chargeable on the +translator. + +In this translation, if it may be so called, great liberties have been +taken, which, whether justifiable or not, shall be fairly confessed; and +let the judicious part of mankind pardon or condemn them. + +In the first part the greatest freedom has been used in reducing the +narration into a narrow compass, so that it is by no means a translation +but an epitome, in which, whether everything either useful or +entertaining be comprised, the compiler is least qualified to determine. + +In the account of Abyssinia, and the continuation, the authors have been +followed with more exactness, and as few passages appeared either +insignificant or tedious, few have been either shortened or omitted. + +The dissertations are the only part in which an exact translation has +been attempted, and even in those abstracts are sometimes given instead +of literal quotations, particularly in the first; and sometimes other +parts have been contracted. + +Several memorials and letters, which are printed at the end of the +dissertations to secure the credit of the foregoing narrative, are +entirely left out. + +It is hoped that, after this confession, whoever shall compare this +attempt with the original, if he shall find no proofs of fraud or +partiality, will candidly overlook any failure of judgment. + + + + +PART I--THE VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA + + +CHAPTER I + + +The author arrives after some difficulties at Goa. Is chosen for the +Mission of AEthiopia. The fate of those Jesuits who went by Zeila. The +author arrives at the coast of Melinda. + +I embarked in March, 1622, in the same fleet with the Count Vidigueira, +on whom the king had conferred the viceroyship of the Indies, then vacant +by the resignation of Alfonso Noronha, whose unsuccessful voyage in the +foregoing year had been the occasion of the loss of Ormus, which being by +the miscarriage of that fleet deprived of the succours necessary for its +defence, was taken by the Persians and English. The beginning of this +voyage was very prosperous: we were neither annoyed with the diseases of +the climate nor distressed with bad weather, till we doubled the Cape of +Good Hope, which was about the end of May. Here began our misfortunes; +these coasts are remarkable for the many shipwrecks the Portuguese have +suffered. The sea is for the most part rough, and the winds tempestuous; +we had here our rigging somewhat damaged by a storm of lightning, which +when we had repaired, we sailed forward to Mosambique, where we were to +stay some time. When we came near that coast, and began to rejoice at +the prospect of ease and refreshment, we were on the sudden alarmed with +the sight of a squadron of ships, of what nation we could not at first +distinguish, but soon discovered that they were three English and three +Dutch, and were preparing to attack us. I shall not trouble the reader +with the particulars of this fight, in which, though the English +commander ran himself aground, we lost three of our ships, and with great +difficulty escaped with the rest into the port of Mosambique. + +This place was able to afford us little consolation in our uneasy +circumstances; the arrival of our company almost caused a scarcity of +provisions. The heat in the day is intolerable, and the dews in the +night so unwholesome that it is almost certain death to go out with one's +head uncovered. Nothing can be a stronger proof of the malignant quality +of the air than that the rust will immediately corrode both the iron and +brass if they are not carefully covered with straw. We stayed, however, +in this place from the latter end of July to the beginning of September, +when having provided ourselves with other vessels, we set out for Cochin, +and landed there after a very hazardous and difficult passage, made so +partly by the currents and storms which separated us from each other, and +partly by continual apprehensions of the English and Dutch, who were +cruising for us in the Indian seas. Here the viceroy and his company +were received with so much ceremony, as was rather troublesome than +pleasing to us who were fatigued with the labours of the passage; and +having stayed here some time, that the gentlemen who attended the viceroy +to Goa might fit out their vessels, we set sail, and after having been +detained some time at sea, by calms and contrary winds, and somewhat +harassed by the English and Dutch, who were now increased to eleven ships +of war, arrived at Goa, on Saturday, the 16th of December, and the +viceroy made his entry with great magnificence. + +I lived here about a year, and completed my studies in divinity; in which +time some letters were received from the fathers in AEthiopia, with an +account that Sultan Segued, Emperor of Abyssinia, was converted to the +Church of Rome, that many of his subjects had followed his example, and +that there was a great want of missionaries to improve these prosperous +beginnings. Everybody was very desirous of seconding the zeal of our +fathers, and of sending them the assistance they requested; to which we +were the more encouraged, because the emperor's letters informed our +provincial that we might easily enter his dominions by the way of +Dancala, but unhappily, the secretary wrote Zeila for Dancala, which cost +two of our fathers their lives. + +We were, however, notwithstanding the assurances given us by the emperor, +sufficiently apprised of the danger which we were exposed to in this +expedition, whether we went by sea or land. By sea, we foresaw the +hazard we run of falling into the hands of the Turks, amongst whom we +should lose, if not our lives, at least our liberty, and be for ever +prevented from reaching the court of AEthiopia. Upon this consideration +our superiors divided the eight Jesuits chosen for this mission into two +companies. Four they sent by sea and four by land; I was of the latter +number. The four first were the more fortunate, who though they were +detained some time by the Turkish bassa, were dismissed at the request of +the emperor, who sent him a zebra, or wild ass, a creature of large size +and admirable beauty. + +As for us, who were to go by Zeila, we had still greater difficulties to +struggle with: we were entirely strangers to the ways we were to take, to +the manners, and even to the names of the nations through which we were +to pass. Our chief desire was to discover some new road by which we +might avoid having anything to do with the Turks. Among great numbers +whom we consulted on this occasion, we were informed by some that we +might go through Melinda. These men painted that hideous wilderness in +charming colours, told us that we should find a country watered with +navigable rivers, and inhabited by a people that would either inform us +of the way, or accompany us in it. These reports charmed us, because +they flattered our desires; but our superiors finding nothing in all this +talk that could be depended on, were in suspense what directions to give +us, till my companion and I upon this reflection, that since all the ways +were equally new to us, we had nothing to do but to resign ourselves to +the Providence of God, asked and obtained the permission of our superiors +to attempt the road through Melinda. So of we who went by land, two took +the way of Zeila, and my companion and I that of Melinda. + +Those who were appointed for Zeila embarked in a vessel that was going to +Caxume, where they were well received by the king, and accommodated with +a ship to carry them to Zeila; they were there treated by the Check with +the same civility which they had met with at Caxume. But the king being +informed of their arrival, ordered them to be conveyed to his court at +Auxa, to which place they were scarce come before they were thrown by the +king's command into a dark and dismal dungeon, where there is hardly any +sort of cruelty that was not exercised upon them. The Emperor of +Abyssinia endeavoured by large offers to obtain their liberty, but his +kind offices had no other effect than to heighten the rage of the king of +Zeila. This prince, besides his ill will to Sultan Segued, which was +kept up by some malcontents among the Abyssin nobility, who, provoked at +the conversion of their master, were plotting a revolt, entertained an +inveterate hatred against the Portuguese for the death of his +grandfather, who had been killed many years before, which he swore the +blood of the Jesuits should repay. So after they had languished for some +time in prison their heads were struck off. A fate which had been +likewise our own, had not God reserved us for longer labours! + +Having provided everything necessary for our journey, such as Arabian +habits, and red caps, calicoes, and other trifles to make presents of to +the inhabitants, and taking leave of our friends, as men going to a +speedy death, for we were not insensible of the dangers we were likely to +encounter, amongst horrid deserts, impassable mountains, and barbarous +nations, we left Goa on the 26th day of January in the year 1624, in a +Portuguese galliot that was ordered to set us ashore at Pate, where we +landed without any disaster in eleven days, together with a young +Abyssin, whom we made use of as our interpreter. While we stayed here we +were given to understand that those who had been pleased at Goa to give +us directions in relation to our journey had done nothing but tell us +lies. That the people were savage, that they had indeed begun to treat +with the Portuguese, but it was only from fear, that otherwise they were +a barbarous nation, who finding themselves too much crowded in their own +country, had extended themselves to the sea-shore; that they ravished the +country and laid everything waste where they came, that they were man- +eaters, and were on that account dreadful in all those parts. My +companion and I being undeceived by this terrible relation, thought it +would be the highest imprudence to expose ourselves both together to a +death almost certain and unprofitable, and agreed that I should go with +our Abyssin and a Portuguese to observe the country; that if I should +prove so happy as to escape being killed by the inhabitants, and to +discover a way, I should either return, or send back the Abyssin or +Portuguese. Having fixed upon this, I hired a little bark to Jubo, a +place about forty leagues distant from Pate, on board which I put some +provisions, together with my sacerdotal vestments, and all that was +necessary for saying mass: in this vessel we reached the coast, which we +found inhabited by several nations: each nation is subject to its own +king; these petty monarchies are so numerous, that I counted at least ten +in less than four leagues. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The author lands: The difficulty of his journey. An account of the +Galles, and of the author's reception at the king's tent; Their manner of +swearing, and of letting blood. The author returns to the Indies, and +finds the patriarch of AEthiopia. + +On this coast we landed, with an intention of travelling on foot to Jubo, +a journey of much greater length and difficulty than we imagined. We +durst not go far from our bark, and therefore were obliged to a toilsome +march along the windings of the shore, sometimes clambering up rocks, and +sometimes wading through the sands, so that we were every moment in the +utmost danger of falling from the one, or sinking in the other. Our +lodging was either in the rocks or on the sands, and even that incommoded +by continual apprehensions of being devoured by lions and tigers. Amidst +all these calamities our provisions failed us; we had little hopes of a +supply, for we found neither villages, houses, nor any trace of a human +creature; and had miserably perished by thirst and hunger had we not met +with some fishermen's boats, who exchanged their fish for tobacco. + +Through all these fatigues we at length came to Jubo, a kingdom of +considerable extent, situated almost under the line, and tributary to the +Portuguese, who carry on a trade here for ivory and other commodities. +This region so abounds with elephants, that though the teeth of the male +only are valuable, they load several ships with ivory every year. All +this coast is much infested with ravenous beasts, monkeys, and serpents, +of which last here are some seven feet in length, and thicker than an +ordinary man; in the head of this serpent is found a stone about the +bigness of an egg, resembling bezoar, and of great efficacy, as it is +said, against all kinds of poison. I stayed here some time to inform +myself whether I might, by pursuing this road, reach Abyssinia; and could +get no other intelligence but that two thousand Galles (the same people +who inhabited Melinda) had encamped about three leagues from Jubo; that +they had been induced to fix in that place by the plenty of provisions +they found there. These Galles lay everything where they come in ruin, +putting all to the sword without distinction of age or sex; which +barbarities, though their numbers are not great, have spread the terror +of them over all the country. They choose a king, whom they call Lubo: +every eighth year. They carry their wives with them, and expose their +children without any tenderness in the woods, it being prohibited, on +pain of death, to take any care of those which are born in the camp. This +is their way of living when they are in arms, but afterwards when they +settle at home they breed up their children. They feed upon raw cow's +flesh; when they kill a cow, they keep the blood to rub their bodies +with, and wear the guts about their necks for ornaments, which they +afterwards give to their wives. + +Several of these Galles came to see me, and as it seemed they had never +beheld a white man before, they gazed on me with amazement; so strong was +their curiosity that they even pulled off my shoes and stockings, that +they might be satisfied whether all my body was of the same colour with +my face. I could remark, that after they had observed me some time, they +discovered some aversion from a white; however, seeing me pull out my +handkerchief, they asked me for it with a great deal of eagerness; I cut +it into several pieces that I might satisfy them all, and distributed it +amongst them; they bound them about their heads, but gave me to +understand that they should have liked them better if they had been red: +after this we were seldom without their company, which gave occasion to +an accident, which though it seemed to threaten some danger at first, +turned afterwards to our advantage. + +As these people were continually teasing us, our Portuguese one day +threatened in jest to kill one of them. The black ran in the utmost +dread to seek his comrades, and we were in one moment almost covered with +Galles; we thought it the most proper course to decline the first impulse +of their fury, and retired into our house. Our retreat inspired them +with courage; they redoubled their cries, and posted themselves on an +eminence near at hand that overlooked us; there they insulted us by +brandishing their lances and daggers. We were fortunately not above a +stone's cast from the sea, and could therefore have retreated to our bark +had we found ourselves reduced to extremities. This made us not very +solicitous about their menaces; but finding that they continued to hover +about our habitation, and being wearied with their clamours, we thought +it might be a good expedient to fright them away by firing four muskets +towards them, in such a manner that they might hear the bullets hiss +about two feet over their heads. This had the effect we wished; the +noise and fire of our arms struck them with so much terror that they fell +upon the ground, and durst not for some time so much as lift up their +heads. They forgot immediately their natural temper, their ferocity and +haughtiness were softened into mildness and submission; they asked pardon +for their insolence, and we were ever after good friends. + +After our reconciliation we visited each other frequently, and had some +conversation about the journey I had undertaken, and the desire I had of +finding a new passage into AEthiopia. It was necessary on this account +to consult their lubo or king: I found him in a straw hut something +larger than those of his subjects, surrounded by his courtiers, who had +each a stick in his hand, which is longer or shorter according to the +quality of the person admitted into the king's presence. The ceremony +made use of at the reception of a stranger is somewhat unusual; as soon +as he enters, all the courtiers strike him with their cudgels till he +goes back to the door; the amity then subsisting between us did not +secure me from this uncouth reception, which they told me, upon my +demanding the reason of it, was to show those whom they treated with that +they were the bravest people in the world, and that all other nations +ought to bow down before them. I could not help reflecting on this +occasion how imprudently I had trusted my life in the hands of men +unacquainted with compassion or civility, but recollecting at the same +time that the intent of my journey was such as might give me hopes of the +divine protection, I banished all thoughts but those of finding a way +into AEthiopia. In this strait it occurred to me that these people, +however barbarous, have some oath which they keep with an inviolable +strictness; the best precaution, therefore, that I could use would be to +bind them by this oath to be true to their engagements. The manner of +their swearing is this: they set a sheep in the midst of them, and rub it +over with butter, the heads of families who are the chief in the nation +lay their hands upon the head of the sheep, and swear to observe their +promise. This oath (which they never violate) they explain thus: the +sheep is the mother of them who swear; the butter betokens the love +between the mother and the children, and an oath taken on a mother's head +is sacred. Upon the security of this oath, I made them acquainted with +my intention, an intention, they told me, it was impossible to put in +execution. From the moment I left them they said they could give me no +assurance of either life or liberty, that they were perfectly informed +both of the roads and inhabitants, that there were no fewer than nine +nations between us and Abyssinia, who were always embroiled amongst +themselves, or at war with the Abyssins, and enjoyed no security even in +their own territories. We were now convinced that our enterprise was +impracticable, and that to hazard ourselves amidst so many insurmountable +difficulties would be to tempt Providence; despairing, therefore, that I +should ever come this way to Abyssinia, I resolved to return back with my +intelligence to my companion, whom I had left at Pate. + +I cannot, however, leave this country without giving an account of their +manner of blood-letting, which I was led to the knowledge of by a violent +fever, which threatened to put an end to my life and travels together. +The distress I was in may easily be imagined, being entirely destitute of +everything necessary. I had resolved to let myself blood, though I was +altogether a stranger to the manner of doing it, and had no lancet, but +my companions hearing of a surgeon of reputation in the place, went and +brought him. I saw, with the utmost surprise, an old Moor enter my +chamber, with a kind of small dagger, all over rusty, and a mallet in his +hand, and three cups of horn about half a foot long. I started, and +asked what he wanted. He told me to bleed me; and when I had given him +leave, uncovering my side, applied one of his horn cups, which he stopped +with chewed paper, and by that means made it stick fast; in the same +manner he fixed on the other two, and fell to sharpening his instrument, +assuring me that he would give me no pain. He then took off his cups, +and gave in each place a stroke with his poignard, which was followed by +a stream of blood. He applied his cups several times, and every time +struck his lancet into the same place; having drawn away a large quantity +of blood, he healed the orifices with three lumps of tallow. I know not +whether to attribute my cure to bleeding or my fear, but I had from that +time no return of my fever. + +When I came to Pate, in hopes of meeting with my associate, I found that +he was gone to Mombaza, in hopes of receiving information. He was sooner +undeceived than I, and we met at the place where we parted in a few days; +and soon afterwards left Pate to return to the Indies, and in nine-and- +twenty days arrived at the famous fortress of Diou. We were told at this +place that Alfonso Mendes, patriarch of AEthiopia, was arrived at Goa +from Lisbon. He wrote to us to desire that we would wait for him at +Diou, in order to embark there for the Red Sea; but being informed by us +that no opportunities of going thither were to be expected at Diou, it +was at length determined that we should meet at Bazaim; it was no easy +matter for me to find means of going to Bazaim. However, after a very +uneasy voyage, in which we were often in danger of being dashed against +the rocks, or thrown upon the sands by the rapidity of the current, and +suffered the utmost distress for want of water, I landed at Daman, a +place about twenty leagues distant from Bazaim. Here I hire a catre and +four boys to carry me to Bazaim: these catres are a kind of travelling +couches, in which you may either lie or sit, which the boys, whose +business is the same with that of chairmen in our country, support upon +their shoulders by two poles, and carry a passenger at the rate of +eighteen or twenty miles a day. Here we at length found the patriarch, +with three more priests, like us, designed for the mission of AEthiopia. +We went back to Daman, and from thence to Diou, where we arrived in a +short time. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The author embarks with the patriarch, narrowly escapes shipwreck near +the isle of Socotora; enters the Arabian Gulf, and the Red Sea. Some +account of the coast of the Red Sea. + +The patriarch having met with many obstacles and disappointments in his +return to Abyssinia, grew impatient of being so long absent from his +church. Lopo Gomez d'Abreu had made him an offer at Bazaim of fitting +out three ships at his own expense, provided a commission could be +procured him to cruise in the Red Sea. This proposal was accepted by the +patriarch, and a commission granted by the viceroy. While we were at +Diou, waiting for these vessels, we received advice from AEthiopia that +the emperor, unwilling to expose the patriarch to any hazard, thought +Dagher, a port in the mouth of the Red Sea, belonging to a prince +dependent on the Abyssins, a place of the greatest security to land at, +having already written to that prince to give him safe passage through +his dominions. We met here with new delays; the fleet that was to +transport us did not appear, the patriarch lost all patience, and his +zeal so much affected the commander at Diou, that he undertook to equip a +vessel for us, and pushed the work forward with the utmost diligence. At +length, the long-expected ships entered the port; we were overjoyed, we +were transported, and prepared to go on board. Many persons at Diou, +seeing the vessels so well fitted out, desired leave to go this voyage +along with us, imagining they had an excellent opportunity of acquiring +both wealth and honour. We committed, however, one great error in +setting out, for having equipped our ships for privateering, and taken no +merchandise on board, we could not touch at any of the ports of the Red +Sea. The patriarch, impatient to be gone, took leave in the most tender +manner of the governor and his other friends, recommended our voyage to +the Blessed Virgin, and in the field, before we went on shipboard, made a +short exhortation, so moving and pathetic, that it touched the hearts of +all who heard it. In the evening we went on board, and early the next +morning being the 3rd of April, 1625, we set sail. + +After some days we discovered about noon the island Socotora, where we +proposed to touch. The sky was bright and the wind fair, nor had we the +least apprehension of the danger into which we were falling, but with the +utmost carelessness and jollity held on our course. At night, when our +sailors, especially the Moors, were in a profound sleep (for the +Mohammedans, believing everything forewritten in the decrees of God, and +not alterable by any human means, resign themselves entirely to +Providence), our vessel ran aground upon a sand bank at the entrance of +the harbour. We got her off with the utmost difficulty, and nothing but +a miracle could have preserved us. We ran along afterwards by the side +of the island, but were entertained with no other prospect than of a +mountainous country, and of rocks that jutted out over the sea, and +seemed ready to fall into it. In the afternoon, putting into the most +convenient ports of the island, we came to anchor; very much to the +amazement and terror of the inhabitants, who were not used to see any +Portuguese ships upon their coasts, and were therefore under a great +consternation at finding them even in their ports. Some ran for security +to the mountains, others took up arms to oppose our landing, but were +soon reconciled to us, and brought us fowls, fish, and sheep, in exchange +for India calicoes, on which they set a great value. We left this island +early the next morning, and soon came in sight of Cape Gardafui, so +celebrated heretofore under the name of the Cape of Spices, either +because great quantities were then found there, or from its neighbourhood +to Arabia the Happy, even at this day famous for its fragrant products. +It is properly at this cape (the most eastern part of Africa) that the +Gulf of Arabia begins, which at Babelmandel loses its name, and is called +the Red Sea. Here, though the weather was calm, we found the sea so +rough, that we were tossed as in a high wind for two nights; whether this +violent agitation of the water proceeded from the narrowness of the +strait, or from the fury of the late storm, I know not; whatever was the +cause, we suffered all the hardships of a tempest. We continued our +course towards the Red Sea, meeting with nothing in our passage but a +gelve, or kind of boat, made of thin boards, sewed together, with no +other sail than a mat. We gave her chase, in hopes of being informed by +the crew whether there were any Arabian vessels at the mouth of the +strait; but the Moors, who all entertain dismal apprehensions of the +Franks, plied their oars and sail with the utmost diligence, and as soon +as they reached land, quitted their boat, and scoured to the mountains. +We saw them make signals from thence, and imagining they would come to a +parley, sent out our boat with two sailors and an Abyssin, putting the +ships off from the shore, to set them free from any suspicion of danger +in coming down. All this was to no purpose, they could not be drawn from +the mountain, and our men had orders not to go on shore, so they were +obliged to return without information. Soon after we discovered the isle +of Babelmandel, which gives name to the strait so called, and parts the +sea that surrounds it into two channels; that on the side of Arabia is +not above a quarter of a league in breadth, and through this pass almost +all the vessels that trade to or from the Red Sea. The other, on the +side of AEthiopia, though much larger, is more dangerous, by reason of +the shallows, which make it necessary for a ship, though of no great +burthen, to pass very near the island, where the channel is deeper and +less embarrassed. This passage is never made use of but by those who +would avoid meeting with the Turks who are stationed on the coast of +Arabia; it was for this reason that we chose it. We passed it in the +night, and entered that sea, so renowned on many accounts in history, +both sacred and profane. + +In our description of this famous sea, an account of which may justly be +expected in this place, it is most convenient to begin with the coast of +Arabia, on which part at twelve leagues from the mouth stands the city of +Moca, a place of considerable trade. Forty leagues farther is the Isle +of Camaram, whose inhabitants are annoyed with little serpents, which +they call basilisks, which, though very poisonous and deadly, do not, as +the ancients have told us, kill with their eyes, or if they have so fatal +a power, it is not at least in this place. Sailing ninety leagues +farther, you see the noted port of Jodda, where the pilgrims that go to +Mecca and Medina unlade those rich presents which the zeal of different +princes is every day accumulating at the tomb of Mahomet. The commerce +of this place, and the number of merchants that resort thither from all +parts of the world, are above description, and so richly laden are the +ships that come hither, that when the Indians would express a thing of +inestimable price, they say, "It is of greater value than a ship of +Jodda." An hundred and eighteen leagues from thence lies Toro, and near +it the ruins of an ancient monastery. This is the place, if the report +of the inhabitants deserves any credit, where the Israelites miraculously +passed through the Red Sea on dry land; and there is some reason for +imagining the tradition not ill grounded, for the sea is here only three +leagues in breadth. All the ground about Toro is barren for want of +water, which is only to be found at a considerable distance, in one +fountain, which flows out of the neighbouring mountains, at the foot of +which there are still twelve palm-trees. Near Toro are several wells, +which, as the Arabs tell us, were dug by the order of Moses to quiet the +clamours of the thirsty Israelites. Suez lies in the bottom of the Gulf, +three leagues from Toro, once a place of note, now reduced, under the +Turks, to an inconsiderable village, where the miserable inhabitants are +forced to fetch water at three leagues' distance. The ancient Kings of +Egypt conveyed the waters of the Nile to this place by an artificial +canal, now so choked with sand, that there are scarce any marks remaining +of so noble and beneficial a work. + +The first place to be met with in travelling along the coast of Africa is +Rondelo, situate over against Toro, and celebrated for the same +miraculous passage. Forty-five leagues from thence is Cocir. Here ends +that long chain of mountains that reaches from this place even to the +entrance of the Red Sea. In this prodigious ridge, which extends three +hundred leagues, sometimes approaching near the sea, and sometimes +running far up into the land, there is only one opening, through which +all that merchandise is conveyed, which is embarked at Rifa, and from +thence distributed through all the east. These mountains, as they are +uncultivated, are in some parts shaded with large forests, and in others +dry and bare. As they are exceedingly high, all the seasons may be here +found together; when the storms of winter beat on one side, on the other +is often a serene sky and a bright sunshine. The Nile runs here so near +the shore that it might without much difficulty be turned through this +opening of the mountains into the Red Sea, a design which many of the +Emperors have thought of putting in execution, and thereby making a +communication between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, but have been +discouraged either by the greatness of the expense or the fear of laying +great part of Egypt under water, for some of that country lies lower than +sea. + +Distant from Rondelo a hundred and thirty leagues is the Isle of Suaquem, +where the Bassa of that country chooses his residence, for the +convenience of receiving the tribute with greater exactness, there being +a large trade carried on here with the Abyssins. The Turks of Suaquem +have gardens on the firm land, not above a musket shot from the island, +which supply them with many excellent herbs and fruits, of which I doubt +whether there be not a greater quantity on this little spot than on the +whole coast of Africa besides, from Melinda to Suez. For if we except +the dates which grow between Suez and Suaquem, the ground does not yield +the least product; all the necessaries of life, even water, is wanting. +Nothing can support itself in this region of barrenness but ostriches, +which devour stones, or anything they meet with; they lay a great number +of eggs, part of which they break to feed their young with. These fowls, +of which I have seen many, are very tame, and when they are pursued, +stretch out their wings, and run with amazing swiftness. As they have +cloven feet, they sometimes strike up the stones when they run, which +gave occasion to the notion that they threw stones at the hunters, a +relation equally to be credited with those of their eating fire and +digesting iron. Those feathers which are so much valued grow under their +wings: the shell of their eggs powdered is an excellent remedy for sore +eyes. + +The burning wind spoken of in the sacred writings, I take to be that +which the natives term arur, and the Arabs uri, which blowing in the +spring, brings with it so excessive a heat, that the whole country seems +a burning oven; so that there is no travelling here in this dreadful +season, nor is this the only danger to which the unhappy passenger is +exposed in these uncomfortable regions. There blows in the months of +June, July, and August, another wind, which raises mountains of sand and +carries them through the air; all that can be done in this case is when a +cloud of sand rises, to mark where it is likely to fall, and to retire as +far off as possible; but it is very usual for men to be taken +unexpectedly, and smothered in the dust. One day I found the body of a +Christian, whom I knew, upon the sand; he had doubtless been choked by +these winds. I recommended his soul to the divine mercy and buried him. +He seemed to have been some time dead, yet the body had no ill smell. +These winds are most destructive in Arabia the Desert. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +The author's conjecture on the name of the Red Sea. An account of the +cocoa-tree. He lands at Baylur. + +To return to the description of the coast: sixty leagues from Suaquem is +an island called Mazna, only considerable for its ports, which make the +Turks reside upon it, though they are forced to keep three barks +continually employed in fetching water, which is not to be found nearer +than at a distance of twelve miles. Forty leagues from hence is Dalacha, +an island where many pearls are found, but of small value. The next +place is Baylur, forty leagues from Dalacha, and twelve from Babelmandel. + +There are few things upon which a greater variety of conjectures has been +offered than upon the reasons that induced the ancients to distinguish +this gulf, which separates Asia from Africa, by the name of the Red Sea, +an appellation that has almost universally obtained in all languages. +Some affirm that the torrents, which fall after great rains from the +mountains, wash down such a quantity of red sand as gives a tincture to +the water: others tell us that the sunbeams being reverberated from the +red rocks, give the sea on which they strike the appearance of that +colour. Neither of these accounts are satisfactory; the coasts are so +scorched by the heat that they are rather black than red; nor is the +colour of this sea much altered by the winds or rains. The notion +generally received is, that the coral found in such quantities at the +bottom of the sea might communicate this colour to the water: an account +merely chimerical. Coral is not to be found in all parts of this gulf, +and red coral in very few. Nor does this water in fact differ from that +of other seas. The patriarch and I have frequently amused ourselves with +making observations, and could never discover any redness, but in the +shallows, where a kind of weed grew which they call gouesmon, which +redness disappeared as soon as we plucked up the plant. It is observable +that St. Jerome, confining himself to the Hebrew, calls this sea Jamsuf. +Jam in that language signifies sea, and suf is the name of a plant in +AEthiopia, from which the Abyssins extract a beautiful crimson; whether +this be the same with the gouesmon, I know not, but am of opinion that +the herb gives to this sea both the colour and the name. + +The vessels most used in the Red Sea, though ships of all sizes may be +met with there, are gelves, of which some mention hath been made already; +these are the more convenient, because they will not split if thrown upon +banks or against rocks. These gelves have given occasion to the report +that out of the cocoa-tree alone a ship may be built, fitted out with +masts, sails, and cordage, and victualled with bread, water, wine, sugar, +vinegar, and oil. All this indeed cannot be done out of one tree, but +may out of several of the same kind. They saw the trunk into planks, and +sew them together with thread which they spin out of the bark, and which +they twist for the cables; the leaves stitched together make the sails. +This boat thus equipped may be furnished with all necessaries from the +same tree. There is not a month in which the cocoa does not produce a +bunch of nuts, from twenty to fifty. At first sprouts out a kind of seed +or capsula, of a shape not unlike the scabbard of a scimitar, which they +cut, and place a vessel under, to receive the liquor that drops from it; +this drink is called soro, and is clear, pleasant, and nourishing. If it +be boiled, it grows hard, and makes a kind of sugar much valued in the +Indies: distil this liquor and you have a strong water, of which is made +excellent vinegar. All these different products are afforded before the +nut is formed, and while it is green it contains a delicious cooling +water; with these nuts they store their gelves, and it is the only +provision of water which is made in this country. The second bark which +contains the water is so tender that they eat it. When this fruit +arrives to perfect maturity, they either pound the kernel into meal, and +make cakes of or draw an oil from it of a fine scent and taste, and of +great use in medicine; so that what is reported of the different products +of this wonderful tree is neither false nor incredible. + +It is time we should come now to the relation of our voyage. Having +happily passed the straits at the entrance of the Red Sea, we pursued our +course, keeping as near the shore as we could, without any farther +apprehensions of the Turks. We were, however, under some concern that we +were entirely ignorant in what part of the coast to find Baylur, a port +where we proposed landing, and so little known, that our pilots, who had +made many voyages in this sea, could give us no account of it. We were +in hopes of information from the fishermen, but found that as soon as we +came near they fled from us in the greatest consternation; no signals of +peace or friendship could prevail on them to stay; they either durst not +trust or did not understand us. We plied along the coast in this +uncertainty two days, till on the first of March having doubled a point +of land, which came out a great way into the sea, we found ourselves in +the middle of a fair large bay, which many reasons induced us to think +was Baylur; that we might be farther assured we sent our Abyssin on +shore, who returning next morning confirmed our opinion. It would not be +easy to determine whether our arrival gave us greater joy, or the +inhabitants greater apprehensions, for we could discern a continual +tumult in the land, and took notice that the crews of some barks that lay +in the harbour were unlading with all possible diligence, to prevent the +cargo from falling into our hands, very much indeed to the +dissatisfaction of many of our soldiers, who having engaged in this +expedition, with no other view than of filling their pockets, were, +before the return of our Abyssin, for treating them like enemies, and +taking them as a lawful prize. We were willing to be assured of a good +reception in this port; the patriarch therefore sent me to treat with +them. I dressed myself like a merchant, and in that habit received the +four captains of gelves which the Chec sent to compliment me, and ordered +to stay as hostages, whom I sent back, that I might gain upon their +affections by the confidence I placed in their sincerity; this had so +good an effect, that the Chec, who was transported with the account the +officers gave of the civilities they had been treated with, came in an +hour to visit me, bringing with him a Portuguese, whom I had sent ashore +as a security for his return. He informed me that the King his master +was encamped not far off, and that a Chec who was then in the company was +just arrived from thence, and had seen the Emperor of AEthiopia's letters +in our favour; I was then convinced that we might land without scruple, +and to give the patriarch notice of it ordered a volley of our muskets to +be fired, which was answered by the cannon of the two ships that lay at a +distance, for fear of giving the Moors any cause of suspicion by their +approach. The Chec and his attendants, though I had given them notice +that we were going to let off our guns in honour of the King their +master, could not forbear trembling at the fire and noise. They left us +soon after, and next morning we landed our baggage, consisting chiefly of +the patriarch's library, some ornaments for the church, some images, and +some pieces of calico, which were of the same use as money. Most of the +soldiers and sailors were desirous of going with us, some from real +principles of piety, and a desire of sharing the labours and merits of +the mission, others upon motives very different, the hopes of raising a +fortune. To have taken all who offered themselves would have been an +injury to the owners of the ships, by rendering them unable to continue +their voyage; we therefore accepted only of a few. + + + +CHAPTER V + + +An account of Dancali. The conduct of Chec Furt. The author wounded. +They arrive at the court of the King of Dancali. A description of his +pavilion, and the reception they met with. + +Our goods were no sooner landed than we were surrounded with a crowd of +officers, all gaping for presents; we were forced to gratify their +avarice by opening our bales, and distributing among them some pieces of +calico. What we gave to the Chec might be worth about a pistole, and the +rest in proportion. + +The kingdom of Dancali, to which this belongs, is barren, and thinly +peopled; the king is tributary to the Emperor of Abyssinia, and very +faithful to his sovereign. The emperor had not only written to him, but +had sent a Moor and Portuguese as his ambassadors, to secure us a kind +reception; these in their way to this prince had come through the +countries of Chumo-Salamay and Senaa, the utmost confines of Abyssinia, +and had carried thither the emperor's orders concerning our passage. + +On Ascension Day we left Baylur, having procured some camels and asses to +carry our baggage. The first day's march was not above a league, and the +others not much longer. Our guides performed their office very ill, +being influenced, as we imagined, by the Chec Furt, an officer, whom, +though unwilling, we were forced to take with us. This man, who might +have brought us to the king in three days, led us out of the way through +horrid deserts destitute of water, or where what we found was so foul, +nauseous, and offensive, that it excited a loathing and aversion which +nothing but extreme necessity could have overcome. + +Having travelled some days, we were met by the King's brother, to whom, +by the advice of Chec Furt, whose intent in following us was to squeeze +all he could from us; we presented some pieces of Chinese workmanship, +such as cases of boxes, a standish, and some earthenware, together with +several pieces of painted calico, which were so much more agreeable, that +he desired some other pieces instead of our Chinese curiosities; we +willingly made the exchange. Yet some time afterwards he asked again for +those Chinese goods which he had returned us, nor was it in our power to +refuse them. I was here in danger of losing my life by a compliment +which the Portuguese paid the prince of a discharge of twelve muskets; +one being unskilfully charged too high, flew out of the soldier's hand, +and falling against my leg, wounded it very much; we had no surgeon with +us, so that all I could do was to bind it hard with some cloth. I was +obliged by this accident to make use of the Chec Furt's horse, which was +the greatest service we received from him in all our journey. + +When we came within two leagues and a half of the King's court, he sent +some messengers with his compliments, and five mules for the chief of our +company. Our road lay through a wood, where we found the ground covered +over with young locusts, a plague intolerably afflictive in a country so +barren of itself. We arrived at length at the bank of a small river, +near which the King usually keeps his residence, and found his palace at +the foot of a little mountain. It consisted of about six tents and +twenty cabins, erected amongst some thorns and wild trees, which afforded +a shelter from the heat of the weather. He received us the first time in +a cabin about a musket shot distant from the rest, furnished out with a +throne in the middle built of clay and stones, and covered with tapestry +and two velvet cushions. Over against him stood his horse with his +saddle and other furniture hanging by him, for in this country, the +master and his horse make use of the same apartment, nor doth the King in +this respect affect more grandeur than his subjects. When we entered, we +seated ourselves on the ground with our legs crossed, in imitation of the +rest, whom we found in the same posture. After we had waited some time, +the King came in, attended by his domestics and his officers. He held a +small lance in his hand, and was dressed in a silk robe, with a turban on +his head, to which were fastened some rings of very neat workmanship, +which fell down upon his forehead. All kept silence for some time, and +the King told us by his interpreter that we were welcome to his +dominions, that he had been informed we were to come by the Emperor his +father, and that he condoled the hardships we had undergone at sea. He +desired us not to be under any concern at finding ourselves in a country +so distant from our own, for those dominions were ours, and he and the +Emperor his father would give us all the proofs we could desire of the +sincerest affection. We returned him thanks for this promise of his +favour, and after a short conversation went away. Immediately we were +teazed by those who brought us the mules, and demanded to be paid the +hire of them; and had advice given us at the same time that we should get +a present ready for the King. The Chec Furt, who was extremely ready to +undertake any commission of this kind, would needs direct us in the +affair, and told us that our gifts ought to be of greater value, because +we had neglected making any such offer at our first audience, contrary to +the custom of that country. By these pretences he obliged us to make a +present to the value of about twenty pounds, with which he seemed to be +pleased, and told us we had nothing to do but prepare to make our entry. + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The King refuses their present. The author's boldness. The present is +afterwards accepted. The people are forbidden to sell them provisions. +The author remonstrates against the usage. The King redresses it. + +But such was either the hatred or avarice of this man, that instead of +doing us the good offices he pretended, he advised the King to refuse our +present, that he might draw from us something more valuable. When I +attended the King in order to deliver the presents, after I had excused +the smallness of them, as being, though unworthy his acceptance, the +largest that our profession of poverty, and distance from our country, +allowed us to make, he examined them one by one with a dissatisfied look, +and told me that however he might be pleased with our good attentions, he +thought our present such as could not be offered to a king without +affronting him; and made me a sign with his hand to withdraw, and take +back what I had brought. I obeyed, telling him that perhaps he might +send for it again without having so much. The Chec Furt, who had been +the occasion of all this, coming to us afterwards, blamed us exceedingly +for having offered so little, and being told by us that the present was +picked out by himself, that we had nothing better to give, and that what +we had left would scarce defray the expenses of our journey, he pressed +us at least to add something, but could prevail no farther than to +persuade us to repeat our former offer, which the King was now pleased to +accept, though with no kinder countenance than before. + +Here we spent our time and our provisions, without being able to procure +any more. The country indeed affords goats and honey, but nobody would +sell us any, the King, as I was secretly informed, having strictly +prohibited it, with a view of forcing all we had from us. The patriarch +sent me to expostulate the matter with the King, which I did in very warm +terms, telling him that we were assured by the Emperor of a reception in +this country far different from what we met with, which assurances he had +confirmed by his promise and the civilities we were entertained with at +our first arrival; but that instead of friends who would compassionate +our miseries, and supply our necessities, we found ourselves in the midst +of mortal enemies that wanted to destroy us. + +The King, who affected to appear ignorant of the whole affair, demanded +an account of the injuries I complained of, and told me that if any of +his subjects should dare to attempt our lives, it should cost him his +own. We were not, replied I, in danger of being stabbed or poisoned, but +are doomed to a more lingering and painful death by that prohibition +which obliges your subjects to deny us the necessaries of life; if it be +Your Highness's pleasure that we die here, we entreat that we may at +least be despatched quickly, and not condemned to longer torments. The +King, startled at this discourse, denied that he had given any such +orders, and was very importunate to know the author of our intelligence, +but finding me determined not to discover him, he sent me away with a +promise that for the future we should be furnished with everything we +wanted, and indeed that same day we bought three goats for about a crown, +and some honey, and found ourselves better treated than before. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +They obtain leave, with some difficulty, to depart from Dancali. The +difficulties of their march. A broil with the Moors. They arrive at the +plain of salt. + +This usage, with some differences we had with a Moor, made us very +desirous of leaving this country, but we were still put off with one +pretence or other whenever we asked leave to depart. Tired with these +delays, I applied myself to his favourite minister, with a promise of a +large present if he could obtain us an audience of leave; he came to us +at night to agree upon the reward, and soon accomplished all we desired, +both getting us a permission to go out of the kingdom, and procuring us +camels to carry our baggage, and that of the Abyssinian ambassadors who +were ordered to accompany us. + +We set out from the kingdom of Dancali on the 15th of June, having taken +our leave of the King, who after many excuses for everything that had +happened, dismissed us with a present of a cow, and some provisions, +desiring us to tell the Emperor of AEthiopia his father that we had met +with kind treatment in his territories, a request which we did not at +that time think it convenient to deny. + +Whatever we had suffered hitherto, was nothing to the difficulties we +were now entering upon, and which God had decreed us to undergo for the +sake of Jesus Christ. Our way now lay through a region scarce passable, +and full of serpents, which were continually creeping between our legs; +we might have avoided them in the day, but being obliged, that we might +avoid the excessive heats, to take long marches in the night, we were +every moment treading upon them. Nothing but a signal interposition of +Providence could have preserved us from being bitten by them, or +perishing either by weariness or thirst, for sometimes we were a long +time without water, and had nothing to support our strength in this +fatigue but a little honey, and a small piece of cows' flesh dried in the +sun. Thus we travelled on for many days, scarce allowing ourselves any +rest, till we came to a channel or hollow worn in the mountains by the +winter torrents; here we found some coolness, and good water, a blessing +we enjoyed for three days; down this channel all the winter runs a great +river which is dried up in the heats, or to speak more properly, hides +itself under ground. We walked along its side, sometimes seven or eight +leagues without seeing any water, and then we found it rising out of the +ground, at which places we never failed to drink as much as we could, and +fill our bottles. + +In our march, there fell out an unlucky accident, which, however, did not +prove of the bad consequence it might have done. The master of our +camels was an old Mohammedan, who had conceived an opinion that it was an +act of merit to do us all the mischief he could; and in pursuance of his +notion, made it his chief employment to steal everything he could lay +hold on; his piety even transported him so far, that one morning he stole +and hid the cords of our tents. The patriarch who saw him at the work +charged him with it, and upon his denial, showed him the end of the cord +hanging from under the saddle of one of his camels. Upon this we went to +seize them, but were opposed by him and the rest of the drivers, who set +themselves in a posture of opposition with their daggers. Our soldiers +had recourse to their muskets, and four of them putting the mouths of +their pieces to the heads of some of the most obstinate and turbulent, +struck them with such a terror, that all the clamour was stilled in an +instant; none received any hurt but the Moor who had been the occasion of +the tumult. He was knocked down by one of our soldiers, who had cut his +throat but that the fathers prevented it: he then restored the cords, and +was more tractable ever after. In all my dealings with the Moors, I have +always discovered in them an ill-natured cowardice, which makes them +insupportably insolent if you show them the least respect, and easily +reduced to reasonable terms when you treat them with a high hand. + +After a march of some days we came to an opening between the mountains, +the only passage out of Dancali into Abyssinia. Heaven seems to have +made this place on purpose for the repose of weary travellers, who here +exchange the tortures of parching thirst, burning sands, and a sultry +climate, for the pleasures of shady trees, the refreshment of a clear +stream, and the luxury of a cooling breeze. We arrived at this happy +place about noon, and the next day at evening left those fanning winds, +and woods flourishing with unfading verdure, for the dismal barrenness of +the vast uninhabitable plains, from which Abyssinia is supplied with +salt. These plains are surrounded with high mountains, continually +covered with thick clouds which the sun draws from the lakes that are +here, from which the water runs down into the plain, and is there +congealed into salt. Nothing can be more curious than to see the +channels and aqueducts that nature has formed in this hard rock, so exact +and of such admirable contrivance, that they seem to be the work of men. +To this place caravans of Abyssinia are continually resorting, to carry +salt into all parts of the empire, which they set a great value upon, and +which in their country is of the same use as money. The superstitious +Abyssins imagine that the cavities of the mountains are inhabited by evil +spirits which appear in different shapes, calling those that pass by +their names as in a familiar acquaintance, who, if they go to them, are +never seen afterwards. This relation was confirmed by the Moorish +officer who came with us, who, as he said, had lost a servant in that +manner: the man certainly fell into the hands of the Galles, who lurk in +those dark retreats, cut the throats of the merchants, and carry off +their effects. + +The heat making it impossible to travel through this plain in the day- +time, we set out in the evening, and in the night lost our way. It is +very dangerous to go through this place, for there are no marks of the +right road, but some heaps of salt, which we could not see. Our camel +drivers getting together to consult on this occasion, we suspected they +had some ill design in hand, and got ready our weapons; they perceived +our apprehensions, and set us at ease by letting us know the reason of +their consultation. Travelling hard all night, we found ourselves next +morning past the plain; but the road we were in was not more commodious, +the points of the rocks pierced our feet; to increase our perplexities we +were alarmed with the approach of an armed troop, which our fear +immediately suggested to be the Galles, who chiefly beset these passes of +the mountains; we put ourselves on the defensive, and expected them, +whom, upon a more exact examination, we found to be only a caravan of +merchants come as usual to fetch salt. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +They lose their way, are in continual apprehensions of the Galles. They +come to Duan, and settle in Abyssinia. + +About nine the next morning we came to the end of this toilsome and +rugged path, where the way divided into two, yet both led to a well, the +only one that was found in our journey. A Moor with three others took +the shortest, without directing us to follow him; so we marched forwards +we knew not whither, through woods and over rocks, without sleep or any +other refreshment: at noon the next day we discovered that we were near +the field of salt. Our affliction and distress is not to be expressed; +we were all fainting with heat and weariness, and two of the patriarch's +servants were upon the point of dying for want of water. None of us had +any but a Moor, who could not be prevailed upon to part with it at less +than the weight in gold; we got some from him at last, and endeavoured to +revive the two servants, while part of us went to look for a guide that +might put us in the right way. The Moors who had arrived at the well, +rightly guessing that we were lost, sent one of their company to look for +us, whom we heard shouting in the woods, but durst make no answer for +fear of the Galles. At length he found us, and conducted us to the rest; +we instantly forgot our past calamities, and had no other care than to +recover the patriarch's attendants. We did not give them a full draught +at first, but poured in the water by drops, to moisten their mouths and +throats, which were extremely swelled: by this caution they were soon +well. We then fell to eating and drinking, and though we had nothing but +our ordinary repast of honey and dried flesh, thought we never had +regaled more pleasantly in our lives. + +We durst not stay long in this place for fear of the Galles, who lay +their ambushes more particularly near this well, by which all caravans +must necessarily pass. Our apprehensions were very much increased by our +suspicion of the camel-drivers, who, as we imagined, had advertised the +Galles of our arrival. The fatigue we had already suffered did not +prevent our continuing our march all night: at last we entered a plain, +where our drivers told us we might expect to be attacked by the Galles; +nor was it long before our own eyes convinced us that we were in great +danger, for we saw as we went along the dead bodies of a caravan who had +been lately massacred, a sight which froze our blood, and filled us with +pity and with horror. The same fate was not far from overtaking us, for +a troop of Galles, who were detached in search of us, missed us but an +hour or two. We spent the next night in the mountains, but when we +should have set out in the morning, were obliged to a fierce dispute with +the old Moor, who had not yet lost his inclination to destroy us; he +would have had us taken a road which was full of those people we were so +much afraid of: at length finding he could not prevail with us, that we +charged the goods upon him as belonging to the Emperor, to whom he should +be answerable for the loss of them, he consented, in a sullen way, to go +with us. + +The desire of getting out of the reach of the Galles made us press +forward with great expedition, and, indeed, fear having entirely +engrossed our minds, we were perhaps less sensible of all our labours and +difficulties; so violent an apprehension of one danger made us look on +many others with unconcern; our pains at last found some intermission at +the foot of the mountains of Duan, the frontier of Abyssinia, which +separates it from the country of the Moors, through which we had +travelled. + +Here we imagined we might repose securely, a felicity we had long been +strangers to. Here we began to rejoice at the conclusion of our labours; +the place was cool and pleasant, the water was excellent, and the birds +melodious. Some of our company went into the wood to divert themselves +with hearing the birds and frightening the monkeys, creatures so cunning +that they would not stir if a man came unarmed, but would run immediately +when they saw a gun. At this place our camel drivers left us, to go to +the feast of St. Michael, which the AEthiopians celebrate the 16th of +June. We persuaded them, however, to leave us their camels and four of +their company to take care of them. + +We had not waited many days before some messengers came to us with an +account that Father Baradas, with the Emperor's nephew, and many other +persons of distinction, waited for us at some distance; we loaded our +camels, and following the course of the river, came in seven hours to the +place we were directed to halt at. Father Manuel Baradas and all the +company, who had waited for us a considerable time on the top of the +mountain, came down when they saw our tents, and congratulated our +arrival. It is not easy to express the benevolence and tenderness with +which they embraced us, and the concern they showed at seeing us worn +away with hunger, labour, and weariness, our clothes tattered, and our +feet bloody. + +We left this place of interview the next day, and on the 21st of June +arrived at Fremone, the residence of the missionaries, where we were +welcomed by great numbers of Catholics, both Portuguese and Abyssins, who +spared no endeavours to make us forget all we had suffered in so +hazardous a journey, undertaken with no other intention than to conduct +them in the way of salvation. + + + + +PART II--A DESCRIPTION OF ABYSSINIA + + +CHAPTER I + + +The history of Abyssinia. An account of the Queen of Sheba, and of Queen +Candace. The conversion of the Abyssins. + +The original of the Abyssins, like that of all other nations, is obscure +and uncertain. The tradition generally received derives them from Cham, +the son of Noah, and they pretend, however improbably, that from his time +till now the legal succession of their kings hath never been interrupted, +and that the supreme power hath always continued in the same family. An +authentic genealogy traced up so high could not but be extremely curious; +and with good reason might the Emperors of Abyssinia boast themselves the +most illustrious and ancient family in the world. But there are no real +grounds for imagining that Providence has vouchsafed them so +distinguishing a protection, and from the wars with which this empire +hath been shaken in these latter ages we may justly believe that, like +all others, it has suffered its revolutions, and that the history of the +Abyssins is corrupted with fables. This empire is known by the name of +the kingdom of Prester-John. For the Portuguese having heard such +wonderful relations of an ancient and famous Christian state called by +that name, in the Indies, imagined it could be none but this of AEthiopia. +Many things concurred to make them of this opinion: there was no +Christian kingdom or state in the Indies of which all was true which they +heard of this land of Prester-John: and there was none in the other parts +of the world who was a Christian separated from the Catholic Church but +what was known, except this kingdom of AEthiopia. It has therefore +passed for the kingdom of Prester-John since the time that it was +discovered by the Portuguese in the reign of King John the Second. + +The country is properly called Abyssinia, and the people term themselves +Abyssins. Their histories count a hundred and sixty-two reigns, from +Cham to Faciladas or Basilides; among which some women are remarkably +celebrated. One of the most renowned is the Queen of Sheba, mentioned in +Scripture, whom the natives call Nicaula or Macheda, and in their +translation of the gospel, Nagista Azeb, which in their language is Queen +of the South. They still show the ruins of a city which appears to have +been once of note, as the place where she kept her court, and a village +which, from its being the place of her birth, they call the land of Saba. +The Kings of AEthiopia draw their boasted pedigree from Minilech, the son +of this Queen and Solomon. The other Queen for whom they retain a great +veneration is Candace, whom they call Judith, and indeed if what they +relate of her could be proved, there never was, amongst the most +illustrious and beneficent sovereigns, any to whom their country was more +indebted, for it is said that she being converted by Inda her eunuch, +whom St. Philip baptised, prevailed with her subjects to quit the worship +of idols, and profess the faith of Jesus Christ. This opinion appears to +me without any better foundation than another of the conversion of the +Abyssins to the Jewish rites by the Queen of Sheba, at her return from +the court of Solomon. They, however, who patronise these traditions give +us very specious accounts of the zeal and piety of the Abyssins at their +first conversion. Many, they say, abandoned all the pleasures and +vanities of life for solitude and religious austerities; others devoted +themselves to God in an ecclesiastical life; they who could not do these +set apart their revenues for building churches, endowing chapels, and +founding monasteries, and spent their wealth in costly ornaments for the +churches and vessels for the altars. It is true that this people has a +natural disposition to goodness; they are very liberal of their alms, +they much frequent their churches, and are very studious to adorn them; +they practise fasting and other mortifications, and notwithstanding their +separation from the Roman Church, and the corruptions which have crept +into their faith, yet retain in a great measure the devout fervour of the +primitive Christians. There never were greater hopes of uniting this +people to the Church of Rome, which their adherence to the Eutichian +heresy has made very difficult, than in the time of Sultan Segued, who +called us into his dominions in the year 1625, from whence we were +expelled in 1634. As I have lived a long time in this country, and borne +a share in all that has passed, I will present the reader with a short +account of what I have observed, and of the revolution which forced us to +abandon AEthiopia, and destroyed all our hopes of reuniting this kingdom +with the Roman Church. + +The empire of Abyssinia hath been one of the largest which history gives +us an account of: it extended formerly from the Red Sea to the kingdom of +Congo, and from Egypt to the Indian Sea. It is not long since it +contained forty provinces; but is now not much bigger than all Spain, and +consists but of five kingdoms and six provinces, of which part is +entirely subject to the Emperor, and part only pays him some tribute, or +acknowledgment of dependence, either voluntarily or by compulsion. Some +of these are of very large extent: the kingdoms of Tigre, Bagameder, and +Goiama are as big as Portugal, or bigger; Amhara and Damote are something +less. The provinces are inhabited by Moors, Pagans, Jews, and +Christians: the last is the reigning and established religion. This +diversity of people and religion is the reason that the kingdom in +different parts is under different forms of government, and that their +laws and customs are extremely various. + +The inhabitants of the kingdom of Amhara are the most civilised and +polite; and next to them the natives of Tigre, or the true Abyssins. The +rest, except the Damotes, the Gasates, and the Agaus, which approach +somewhat nearer to civility, are entirely rude and barbarous. Among +these nations the Galles, who first alarmed the world in 1542, have +remarkably distinguished themselves by the ravages they have committed, +and the terror they have raised in this part of Africa. They neither sow +their lands nor improve them by any kind of culture; but, living upon +milk and flesh, encamp like the Arabs without any settled habitation. +They practise no rites of worship, though they believe that in the +regions above there dwells a Being that governs the world: whether by +this Being they mean the sun or the sky is not known; or, indeed, whether +they have not some conception of the God that created them. This deity +they call in their language Oul. In other matters they are yet more +ignorant, and have some customs so contrary even to the laws of nature, +as might almost afford reason to doubt whether they are endued with +reason. The Christianity professed by the Abyssins is so corrupted with +superstitions, errors, and heresies, and so mingled with ceremonies +borrowed from the Jews, that little besides the name of Christianity is +to be found here; and the thorns may be said to have choked the grain. +This proceeds in a great measure from the diversity of religions which +are tolerated there, either by negligence or from motives of policy; and +the same cause hath produced such various revolutions, revolts, and civil +wars within these later ages. For those different sects do not easily +admit of an union with each other, or a quiet subjection to the same +monarch. The Abyssins cannot properly be said to have either cities or +houses; they live either in tents, or in cottages made of straw and clay; +for they very rarely build with stone. Their villages or towns consist +of these huts; yet even of such villages they have but few, because the +grandees, the viceroys, and the Emperor himself are always in the camp, +that they may be prepared, upon the most sudden summons, to go where the +exigence of affairs demands their presence. And this precaution is no +more than necessary for a prince every year engaged either in foreign +wars or intestine commotions. These towns have each a governor, whom +they call gadare, over whom is the educ, or lieutenant, and both +accountable to an officer called the afamacon, or mouth of the King; +because he receives the revenues, which he pays into the hands of the +relatinafala, or grand master of the household: sometimes the Emperor +creates a ratz, or viceroy, general over all the empire, who is superior +to all his other officers. + +AEthiopia produces very near the same kinds of provisions as Portugal; +though, by the extreme laziness of the inhabitants, in a much less +quantity: however, there are some roots, herbs, and fruits which grow +there much better than in other places. What the ancients imagined of +the torrid zone being uninhabitable is so far from being true, that this +climate is very temperate: the heats, indeed, are excessive in Congo and +Monomotapa, but in Abyssinia they enjoy a perpetual spring, more +delicious and charming than that in our country. The blacks here are not +ugly like those of the kingdoms I have spoken of, but have better +features, and are not without wit and delicacy; their apprehension is +quick, and their judgment sound. The heat of the sun, however it may +contribute to their colour, is not the only reason of it; there is some +peculiarity in the temper and constitution of their bodies, since the +same men, transported into cooler climates, produce children very near as +black as themselves. + +They have here two harvests in the year, which is a sufficient recompense +for the small produce of each; one harvest they have in the winter, which +lasts through the months of July, August, and September, the other in the +spring; their trees are always green, and it is the fault of the +inhabitants that they produce so little fruit, the soil being well +adapted to all sorts, especially those that come from the Indies. They +have in the greatest plenty raisins, peaches, sour pomegranates, and +sugarcanes, and some figs. Most of these are ripe about Lent, which the +Abyssins keep with great strictness. + +After the vegetable products of this country, it seems not improper to +mention the animals which are found in it, of which here are as great +numbers, of as many different species, as in any country in the world: it +is infested with lions of many kinds, among which are many of that which +is called the lion royal. I cannot help giving the reader on this +occasion a relation of a fact which I was an eye-witness of. A lion +having taken his haunt near the place where I lived, killed all the oxen +and cows, and did a great deal of other mischief, of which I heard new +complaints every day. A servant of mine having taken a resolution to +free the country from this destroyer, went out one day with two lances, +and after he had been some time in quest of him, found him with his mouth +all smeared with the blood of a cow he had just devoured; the man rushed +upon him, and thrust his lance into his throat with such violence that it +came out between his shoulders; the beast, with one dreadful roar, fell +down into a pit, and lay struggling, till my servant despatched him. I +measured the body of this lion, and found him twelve feet between the +head and the tail. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The animals of Abyssinia; the elephant, unicorn, their horses and cows; +with a particular account of the moroc. + +There are so great numbers of elephants in Abyssinia that in one evening +we met three hundred of them in three troops: as they filled up the whole +way, we were in great perplexity a long time what measures to take; at +length, having implored the protection of that Providence that +superintends the whole creation, we went forwards through the midst of +them without any injury. Once we met four young elephants, and an old +one that played with them, lifting them up with her trunk; they grew +enraged on a sudden, and ran upon us: we had no way of securing ourselves +but by flight, which, however, would have been fruitless, had not our +pursuers been stopped by a deep ditch. The elephants of AEthiopia are of +so stupendous a size, that when I was mounted on a large mule I could not +reach with my hand within two spans of the top of their backs. In +Abyssinia is likewise found the rhinoceros, a mortal enemy to the +elephant. In the province of Agaus has been seen the unicorn, that beast +so much talked of, and so little known: the prodigious swiftness with +which this creature runs from one wood into another has given me no +opportunity of examining it particularly, yet I have had so near a sight +of it as to be able to give some description of it. The shape is the +same with that of a beautiful horse, exact and nicely proportioned, of a +bay colour, with a black tail, which in some provinces is long, in others +very short: some have long manes hanging to the ground. They are so +timorous that they never feed but surrounded with other beasts that +defend them. Deer and other defenceless animals often herd about the +elephant, which, contenting himself with roots and leaves, preserves +those beasts that place themselves, as it were, under his protection, +from the rage and fierceness of others that would devour them. + +The horses of Abyssinia are excellent; their mules, oxen, and cows are +without number, and in these principally consists the wealth of this +country. They have a very particular custom, which obliges every man +that hath a thousand cows to save every year one day's milk of all his +herd, and make a bath with it for his relations, entertaining them +afterwards with a splendid feast. This they do so many days each year, +as they have thousands of cattle, so that to express how rich any man is, +they tell you he bathes so many times. The tribute paid out of their +herds to the King, which is not the most inconsiderable of his revenues, +is one cow in ten every three years. The beeves are of several kinds; +one sort they have without horns, which are of no other use than to carry +burthens, and serve instead of mules. Another twice as big as ours which +they breed to kill, fattening them with the milk of three or four cows. +Their horns are so large, the inhabitants use them for pitchers, and each +will hold about five gallons. One of these oxen, fat and ready to be +killed, may be bought at most for two crowns. I have purchased five +sheep, or five goats with nine kids, for a piece of calico worth about a +crown. + +The Abyssins have many sort of fowls both wild and tame; some of the +former we are yet unacquainted with: there is one of wonderful beauty, +which I have seen in no other place except Peru: it has instead of a +comb, a short horn upon its head, which is thick and round, and open at +the top. The feitan favez, or devil's horse, looks at a distance like a +man dressed in feathers; it walks with abundance of majesty, till it +finds itself pursued, and then takes wing, and flies away. But amongst +all their birds there is none more remarkable than the moroc, or honey- +bird, which is furnished by nature with a peculiar instinct or faculty of +discovering honey. They have here multitudes of bees of various kinds; +some are tame, like ours, and form their combs in hives. Of the wild +ones, some place their honey in hollow trees, others hide it in holes in +the ground, which they cover so carefully, that though they are commonly +in the highway, they are seldom found, unless by the moroc's help, which, +when he has discovered any honey, repairs immediately to the road side, +and when he sees a traveller, sings, and claps his wings, making many +motions to invite him to follow him, and when he perceives him coming, +flies before him from tree to tree, till he comes to the place where the +bees have stored their treasure, and then begins to sing melodiously. The +Abyssin takes the honey, without failing to leave part of it for the +bird, to reward him for his information. This kind of honey I have often +tasted, and do not find that it differs from the other sorts in anything +but colour; it is somewhat blacker. The great quantity of honey that is +gathered, and a prodigious number of cows that is kept here, have often +made me call Abyssinia a land of honey and butter. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The manner of eating in Abyssinia, their dress, their hospitality, and +traffic. + +The great lords, and even the Emperor himself, maintain their tables with +no great expense. The vessels they make use of are black earthenware, +which, the older it is, they set a greater value on. Their way of +dressing their meat, an European, till he hath been long accustomed to +it, can hardly be persuaded to like; everything they eat smells strong +and swims with butter. They make no use of either linen or plates. The +persons of rank never touch what they eat, but have their meat cut by +their pages, and put into their mouths. When they feast a friend they +kill an ox, and set immediately a quarter of him raw upon the table (for +their most elegant treat is raw beef newly killed) with pepper and salt; +the gall of the ox serves them for oil and vinegar; some, to heighten the +delicacy of the entertainment, add a kind of sauce, which they call +manta, made of what they take out of the guts of the ox; this they set on +the fire, with butter, salt, pepper, and onion. Raw beef, thus relished, +is their nicest dish, and is eaten by them with the same appetite and +pleasure as we eat the best partridges. They have often done me the +favour of helping me to some of this sauce, and I had no way to decline +eating it besides telling them it was too good for a missionary. + +The common drink of the Abyssins is beer and mead, which they drink to +excess when they visit one another; nor can there be a greater offence +against good manners than to let the guests go away sober: their liquor +is always presented by a servant, who drinks first himself, and then +gives the cup to the company, in the order of their quality. + +The meaner sort of people here dress themselves very plain; they only +wear drawers, and a thick garment of cotton, that covers the rest of +their bodies: the people of quality, especially those that frequent the +court, run into the contrary extreme, and ruin themselves with costly +habits. They wear all sorts of silks, and particularly the fine velvets +of Turkey. + +They love bright and glaring colours, and dress themselves much in the +Turkish manner, except that their clothes are wider, and their drawers +cover their legs. Their robes are always full of gold and silver +embroidery. They are most exact about their hair, which is long and +twisted, and their care of it is such that they go bare-headed whilst +they are young for fear of spoiling it, but afterwards wear red caps, and +sometimes turbans after the Turkish fashion. + +The ladies' dress is yet more magnificent and expensive; their robes are +as large as those of the religious, of the order of St. Bernard. They +have various ways of dressing their heads, and spare no expense in ear- +rings, necklaces, or anything that may contribute to set them off to +advantage. They are not much reserved or confined, and have so much +liberty in visiting one another that their husbands often suffer by it; +but for this evil there is no remedy, especially when a man marries a +princess, or one of the royal family. Besides their clothes, the +Abyssins have no movables or furniture of much value, or doth their +manner of living admit of them. + +One custom of this country deserves to be remarked: when a stranger comes +to a village, or to the camp, the people are obliged to entertain him and +his company according to his rank. As soon as he enters a house (for +they have no inns in this nation), the master informs his neighbours that +he hath a guest; immediately they bring in bread and all kinds of +provisions; and there is great care taken to provide enough, because, if +the guest complains, the town is obliged to pay double the value of what +they ought to have furnished. This practice is so well established that +a stranger goes into a house of one he never saw with the same +familiarity and assurance of welcome as into that of an intimate friend +or near relation; a custom very convenient, but which gives encouragement +to great numbers of vagabonds throughout the kingdom. + +There is no money in Abyssinia, except in the eastern provinces, where +they have iron coin: but in the chief provinces all commerce is managed +by exchange. Their chief trade consists in provisions, cows, sheep, +goats, fowls, pepper, and gold, which is weighed out to the purchaser, +and principally in salt, which is properly the money of this country. + +When the Abyssins are engaged in a law-suit, the two parties make choice +of a judge, and plead their own cause before him; and if they cannot +agree in their choice, the governor of the place appoints them one, from +whom there lies an appeal to the viceroy and to the Emperor himself. All +causes are determined on the spot; no writings are produced. The judge +sits down on the ground in the midst of the high road, where all that +please may be present: the two persons concerned stand before him, with +their friends about them, who serve as their attorneys. The plaintiff +speaks first, the defendant answers him; each is permitted to rejoin +three or four times, then silence is commanded, and the judge takes the +opinions of those that are about him. If the evidence be deemed +sufficient, he pronounces sentence, which in some cases is decisive and +without appeal. He then takes the criminal into custody till he hath +made satisfaction; but if it be a crime punishable with death he is +delivered over to the prosecutor, who may put him to death at his own +discretion. + +They have here a particular way of punishing adultery; a woman convicted +of that crime is condemned to forfeit all her fortune, is turned out of +her husband's house, in a mean dress, and is forbid ever to enter it +again; she has only a needle given her to get her living with. Sometimes +her head is shaved, except one lock of hair, which is left her, and even +that depends on the will of her husband, who has it likewise in his +choice whether he will receive her again or not; if he resolves never to +admit her they are both at liberty to marry whom they will. There is +another custom amongst them yet more extraordinary, which is, that the +wife is punished whenever the husband proves false to the marriage +contract; this punishment indeed extends no farther than a pecuniary +mulct, and what seems more equitable, the husband is obliged to pay a sum +of money to his wife. When the husband prosecutes his wife's gallant, if +he can produce any proofs of a criminal conversation, he recovers for +damages forty cows, forty horses, and forty suits of clothes, and the +same number of other things. If the gallant be unable to pay him, he is +committed to prison, and continues there during the husband's pleasure, +who, if he sets him at liberty before the whole fine be paid, obliges him +to take an oath that he is going to procure the rest, that he may be able +to make full satisfaction. Then the criminal orders meat and drink to be +brought out, they eat and drink together, he asks a formal pardon, which +is not granted at first; however, the husband forgives first one part of +the debt, and then another, till at length the whole is remitted. + +A husband that doth not like his wife may easily find means to make the +marriage void, and, what is worse, may dismiss the second wife with less +difficulty than he took her, and return to the first; so that marriages +in this country are only for a term of years, and last no longer than +both parties are pleased with each other, which is one instance how far +distant these people are from the purity of the primitive believers, +which they pretend to have preserved with so great strictness. The +marriages are in short no more than bargains, made with this proviso, +that when any discontent shall arise on either side, they may separate, +and marry whom they please, each taking back what they brought with them. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +An account of the religion of the Abyssins. + +Yet though there is a great difference between our manners, customs, +civil government, and those of the Abyssins, there is yet a much greater +in points of faith; for so many errors have been introduced and ingrafted +into their religion, by their ignorance, their separation from the +Catholic Church, and their intercourse with Jews, Pagans, and +Mohammedans, that their present religion is nothing but a kind of +confused miscellany of Jewish and Mohammedan superstitions, with which +they have corrupted those remnants of Christianity which they still +retain. + +They have, however, preserved the belief of our principal mysteries; they +celebrate with a great deal of piety the passion of our Lord; they +reverence the cross; they pay a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the +angels, and the saints; they observe the festivals, and pay a strict +regard to the Sunday. Every month they commemorate the assumption of the +Virgin Mary, and are of opinion that no Christians beside themselves have +a true sense of the greatness of the mother of God, or pay her the +honours that are due to her. There are some tribes amongst them (for +they are distinguished like the Jews by their tribes), among whom the +crime of swearing by the name of the Virgin is punished with forfeiture +of goods and even with loss of life; they are equally scrupulous of +swearing by St. George. Every week they keep a feast to the honour of +the apostles and angels; they come to mass with great devotion, and love +to hear the word of God. They receive the sacrament often, but do not +always prepare themselves by confession. Their charity to the poor may +be said to exceed the proper bounds that prudence ought to set it, for it +contributes to encourage great numbers of beggars, which are a great +annoyance to the whole kingdom, and as I have often said, afford more +exercise to a Christian's patience than his charity; for their insolence +is such, that they will refuse what is offered them if it be not so much +as they think proper to ask. + +Though the Abyssins have not many images, they have great numbers of +pictures, and perhaps pay them somewhat too high a degree of worship. The +severity of their fasts is equal to that of the primitive church. In +Lent they never eat till after sunset; their fasts are the more severe +because milk and butter are forbidden them, and no reason or necessity +whatsoever can procure them a permission to eat meat, and their country +affording no fish, they live only on roots and pulse. On fast-days they +never drink but at their meat, and the priests never communicate till +evening, for fear of profaning them. They do not think themselves +obliged to fast till they have children either married or fit to be +married, which yet doth not secure them very long from these +mortifications, because their youths marry at the age of ten years, and +their girls younger. + +There is no nation where excommunication carries greater terrors than +among the Abyssins, which puts it in the power of the priests to abuse +this religious temper of the people, as well as the authority they +receive from it, by excommunicating them, as they often do, for the least +trifle in which their interest is concerned. + +No country in the world is so full of churches, monasteries, and +ecclesiastics as Abyssinia; it is not possible to sing in one church or +monastery without being heard by another, and perhaps by several. They +sing the psalms of David, of which, as well as the other parts of the +Holy Scriptures, they have a very exact translation in their own +language; in which, though accounted canonical, the books of the +Maccabees are omitted. The instruments of music made use of in their +rites of worship are little drums, which they hang about their necks, and +beat with both their hands; these are carried even by their chief men, +and by the gravest of their ecclesiastics. They have sticks likewise, +with which they strike the ground, accompanying the blow with a motion of +their whole bodies. They begin their concert by stamping their feet on +the ground, and playing gently on their instruments; but when they have +heated themselves by degrees, they leave off drumming, and fall to +leaping, dancing, and clapping their hands, at the same time straining +their voices to the utmost pitch, till at length they have no regard +either to the tune or the pauses, and seem rather a riotous than a +religious assembly. For this manner of worship they cite the psalm of +David, "O clap your hands all ye nations." Thus they misapply the sacred +writings to defend practices yet more corrupt than those I have been +speaking of. + +They are possessed with a strange notion that they are the only true +Christians in the world; as for us, they shunned us as heretics, and were +under the greatest surprise at hearing us mention the Virgin Mary with +the respect which is due to her, and told us that we could not be +entirely barbarians since we were acquainted with the mother of God. It +plainly appears that prepossessions so strong, which receive more +strength from the ignorance of the people, have very little tendency to +dispose them to a reunion with the Catholic Church. + +They have some opinions peculiar to themselves about purgatory, the +creation of souls, and some of our mysteries. They repeat baptism every +year, they retain the practice of circumcision, they observe the Sabbath, +they abstain from all those sorts of flesh which are forbidden by the +law. Brothers espouse the wives of their brothers, and to conclude, they +observe a great number of Jewish ceremonies. + +Though they know the words which Jesus Christ appointed to be used in the +administration of baptism, they have without scruple substituted others +in their place, which makes the validity of their baptism, and the +reality of their Christianity, very doubtful. They have a few names of +saints, the same with those in the Roman martyrology, but they often +insert others, as Zama la Cota, the Life of Truth; Ongulari, the +Evangelist; Asca Georgi, the Mouth of Saint George. + +To bring back this people into the enclosure of the Catholic Church, from +which they have been separated so many ages, was the sole view and +intention with which we undertook so long and toilsome a journey, crossed +so many seas, and passed so many deserts, with the utmost hazard of our +lives; I am certain that we travelled more than seven thousand leagues +before we arrived at our residence at Fremona. + +We came to this place, anciently called Maigoga, on the 21st of June, as +I have said before, and were obliged to continue there till November, +because the winter begins here in May, and its greatest rigour is from +the middle of June to the middle of September. The rains that are almost +continually falling in this season make it impossible to go far from +home, for the rivers overflow their banks, and therefore, in a place like +this, where there are neither bridges nor boats, are, if they are not +fordable, utterly impassable. Some, indeed, have crossed them by means +of a cord fastened on both sides of the water, others tie two beams +together, and placing themselves upon them, guide them as well as they +can, but this experiment is so dangerous that it hath cost many of these +bold adventurers their lives. This is not all the danger, for there is +yet more to be apprehended from the unwholesomeness of the air, and the +vapours which arise from the scorched earth at the fall of the first +showers, than from the torrents and rivers. Even they who shelter +themselves in houses find great difficulty to avoid the diseases that +proceed from the noxious qualities of these vapours. From the beginning +of June to that of September it rains more or less every day. The +morning is generally fair and bright, but about two hours after noon the +sky is clouded, and immediately succeeds a violent storm, with thunder +and lightning flashing in the most dreadful manner. While this lasts, +which is commonly three or four hours, none go out of doors. The +ploughman upon the first appearance of it unyokes his oxen, and betakes +himself with them into covert. Travellers provide for their security in +the neighbouring villages, or set up their tents, everybody flies to some +shelter, as well to avoid the unwholesomeness as the violence of the +rain. The thunder is astonishing, and the lightning often destroys great +numbers, a thing I can speak of from my own experience, for it once +flashed so near me, that I felt an uneasiness on that side for a long +time after; at the same time it killed three young children, and having +run round my room went out, and killed a man and woman three hundred +paces off. When the storm is over the sun shines out as before, and one +would not imagine it had rained, but that the ground appears deluged. +Thus passes the Abyssinian winter, a dreadful season, in which the whole +kingdom languishes with numberless diseases, an affliction which, however +grievous, is yet equalled by the clouds of grasshoppers, which fly in +such numbers from the desert, that the sun is hid and the sky darkened; +whenever this plague appears, nothing is seen through the whole region +but the most ghastly consternation, or heard but the most piercing +lamentations, for wherever they fall, that unhappy place is laid waste +and ruined; they leave not one blade of grass, nor any hopes of a +harvest. + +God, who often makes calamities subservient to His will, permitted this +very affliction to be the cause of the conversion of many of the natives, +who might have otherwise died in their errors; for part of the country +being ruined by the grasshoppers that year in which we arrived at +Abyssinia, many, who were forced to leave their habitations, and seek the +necessaries of life in other places, came to that part of the land where +some of our missionaries were preaching, and laid hold on that mercy +which God seemed to have appointed for others. + +As we could not go to court before November, we resolved, that we might +not be idle, to preach and instruct the people in the country; in +pursuance of this resolution I was sent to a mountain, two days' journey +distant from Maigoga. The lord or governor of the place was a Catholic, +and had desired missionaries, but his wife had conceived an implacable +aversion both from us and the Roman Church, and almost all the +inhabitants of that mountain were infected with the same prejudices as +she. They had been persuaded that the hosts which we consecrated and +gave to the communicants were mixed with juices strained from the flesh +of a camel, a dog, a hare, and a swine; all creatures which the Abyssins +look upon with abhorrence, believing them unclean, and forbidden to them, +as they were to the Jews. We had no way of undeceiving them, and they +fled from us whenever we approached. We carried with us our tent, our +chalices, and ornaments, and all that was necessary for saying mass. The +lord of the village, who, like other persons of quality throughout +AEthiopia, lived on the top of a mountain, received us with very great +civility. All that depended upon him had built their huts round about +him; so that this place compared with the other towns of Abyssinia seems +considerable; as soon as we arrived he sent us his compliments, with a +present of a cow, which, among them, is a token of high respect. We had +no way of returning this favour but by killing the cow, and sending a +quarter smoking, with the gall, which amongst them is esteemed the most +delicate part. I imagined for some time that the gall of animals was +less bitter in this country than elsewhere, but upon tasting it, I found +it more; and yet have frequently seen our servants drink large glasses of +if with the same pleasure that we drink the most delicious wines. + +We chose to begin our mission with the lady of the village, and hoped +that her prejudice and obstinacy, however great, would in time yield to +the advice and example of her husband, and that her conversion would have +a great influence on the whole village, but having lost several days +without being able to prevail upon her to hear us on any one point, we +left the place, and went to another mountain, higher and better peopled. +When we came to the village on the top of it, where the lord lived, we +were surprised with the cries and lamentations of men that seemed to +suffer or apprehend some dreadful calamity; and were told, upon inquiring +the cause, that the inhabitants had been persuaded that we were the +devil's missionaries, who came to seduce them from the true religion, +that foreseeing some of their neighbours would be ruined by the +temptation, they were lamenting the misfortune which was coming upon +them. When we began to apply ourselves to the work of the mission we +could not by any means persuade any but the lord and the priest to +receive us into their houses; the rest were rough and untractable to that +degree that, after having converted six, we despaired of making any +farther progress, and thought it best to remove to other towns where we +might be better received. + +We found, however, a more unpleasing treatment at the next place, and had +certainly ended our lives there had we not been protected by the governor +and the priest, who, though not reconciled to the Roman Church, yet +showed us the utmost civility; the governor informed us of a design +against our lives, and advised us not to go out after sunset, and gave us +guards to protect us from the insults of the populace. + +We made no long stay in a place where they stopped their ears against the +voice of God, but returned to the foot of that mountain which we had left +some days before; we were surrounded, as soon as we began to preach, with +a multitude of auditors, who came either in expectation of being +instructed, or from a desire of gratifying their curiosity, and God +bestowed such a blessing upon our apostolical labours that the whole +village was converted in a short time. We then removed to another at the +middle of the mountain, situated in a kind of natural parterre, or +garden; the soil was fruitful, and the trees that shaded it from the +scorching heat of the sun gave it an agreeable and refreshing coolness. +We had here the convenience of improving the ardour and piety of our new +converts, and, at the same time, of leading more into the way of the true +religion: and indeed our success exceeded the utmost of our hopes; we had +in a short time great numbers whom we thought capable of being admitted +to the sacraments of baptism and the mass. + +We erected our tent, and placed our altar under some great trees, for the +benefit of the shade; and every day before sun-rising my companion and I +began to catechise and instruct these new Catholics, and used our utmost +endeavours to make them abjure their errors. When we were weary with +speaking, we placed in ranks those who were sufficiently instructed, and +passing through them with great vessels of water, baptised them according +to the form prescribed by the Church. As their number was very great, we +cried aloud, those of this rank are named Peter, those of that rank +Anthony. And did the same amongst the women, whom we separated from the +men. We then confessed them, and admitted them to the communion. After +mass we applied ourselves again to catechise, to instruct, and receive +the renunciation of their errors, scarce allowing ourselves time to make +a scanty meal, which we never did more than once a day. + +After some time had been spent here, we removed to another town not far +distant, and continued the same practice. Here I was accosted one day by +an inhabitant of that place, where he had found the people so prejudiced +against us, who desired to be admitted to confession. I could not +forbear asking him some questions about those lamentations, which we +heard upon our entering into that place. He confessed with the utmost +frankness and ingenuity that the priests and religious have given +dreadful accounts both of us and of the religion we preached; that the +unhappy people were taught by them that the curse of God attended us +wheresoever we went; that we were always followed by the grasshoppers, +that pest of Abyssinia, which carried famine and destruction over all the +country; that he, seeing no grasshoppers following us when we passed by +their village, began to doubt of the reality of what the priests had so +confidently asserted, and was now convinced that the representation they +made of us was calumny and imposture. This discourse gave us double +pleasure, both as it proved that God had confuted the accusations of our +enemies, and defended us against their malice without any efforts of our +own, and that the people who had shunned us with the strongest +detestation were yet lovers of truth, and came to us on their own accord. +Nothing could be more grossly absurd than the reproaches which the +Abyssinian ecclesiastics aspersed us and our religion with. They had +taken advantage of the calamity that happened the year of our arrival: +and the Abyssins, with all their wit, did not consider that they had +often been distressed by the grasshoppers before there came any Jesuits +into the country, and indeed before there were any in the world. + +Whilst I was in these mountains, I went on Sundays and saints' days +sometimes to one church and sometimes to another. One day I went out +with a resolution not to go to a certain church, where I imagined there +was no occasion for me, but before I had gone far, I found myself pressed +by a secret impulse to return back to that same church. I obeyed the +influence, and discovered it to proceed from the mercy of God to three +young children who were destitute of all succour, and at the point of +death. I found two very quickly in this miserable state; the mother had +retired to some distance that she might not see them die, and when she +saw me stop, came and told me that they had been obliged by want to leave +the town they lived in, and were at length reduced to this dismal +condition, that she had been baptised, but that the children had not. +After I had baptised and relieved them, I continued my walk, reflecting +with wonder on the mercy of God, and about evening discovered another +infant, whose mother, evidently a Catholic, cried out to me to save her +child, or at least that if I could not preserve this uncertain and +perishable life, I should give it another certain and permanent. I sent +my servant to fetch water with the utmost expedition, for there was none +near, and happily baptised the child before it expired. + +Soon after this I returned to Fremona, and had great hopes of +accompanying the patriarch to the court; but, when we were almost setting +out, received the command of the superior of the mission to stay at +Fremona, with a charge of the house there, and of all the Catholics that +were dispersed over the kingdom of Tigre, an employment very +ill-proportioned to my abilities. The house at Fremona has always been +much regarded even by those emperors who persecuted us; Sultan Segued +annexed nine large manors to it for ever, which did not make us much more +wealthy, because of the expensive hospitality which the great conflux of +strangers obliged us to. The lands in Abyssinia yield but small +revenues, unless the owners themselves set the value upon them, which we +could not do. + +The manner of letting farms in Abyssinia differs much from that of other +countries: the farmer, when the harvest is almost ripe, invites the chumo +or steward, who is appointed to make an estimate of the value of each +year's product, to his house, entertains him in the most agreeable manner +he can; makes him a present, and then takes him to see his corn. If the +chumo is pleased with the treat and present, he will give him a +declaration or writing to witness that his ground, which afforded five or +six sacks of corn, did you yield so many bushels, and even of this it is +the custom to abate something; so that our revenue did not increase in +proportion to our lands; and we found ourselves often obliged to buy +corn, which, indeed, is not dear, for in fruitful years forty or fifty +measures, weighing each about twenty-two pounds, may be purchased for a +crown. + +Besides the particular charge I had of the house of Fremona, I was +appointed the patriarch's grand-vicar through the whole kingdom of Tigre. +I thought that to discharge this office as I ought, it was incumbent on +me to provide necessaries as well for the bodies as the souls of the +converted Catholics. This labour was much increased by the famine which +the grasshoppers had brought that year upon the country. Our house was +perpetually surrounded by some of those unhappy people, whom want had +compelled to abandon their habitations, and whose pale cheeks and meagre +bodies were undeniable proofs of their misery and distress. All the +relief I could possibly afford them could not prevent the death of such +numbers that their bodies filled the highways; and to increase our +affliction, the wolves having devoured the carcases, and finding no other +food, fell upon the living; their natural fierceness being so increased +by hunger, that they dragged the children out of the very houses. I saw +myself a troop of wolves tear a child of six years old in pieces before I +or any one else could come to its assistance. + +While I was entirely taken up with the duties of my ministry, the viceroy +of Tigre received the commands of the Emperor to search for the bones of +Don Christopher de Gama. On this occasion it may not be thought +impertinent to give some account of the life and death of this brave and +holy Portuguese, who, after having been successful in many battles, fell +at last into the hands of the Moors, and completed that illustrious life +by a glorious martyrdom. + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The adventures of the Portuguese, and the actions of Don Christopher de +Gama in AEthiopia. + +About the beginning of the sixteenth century arose a Moor near the Cape +of Gardafui, who, by the assistance of the forces sent him from Moca by +the Arabs and Turks, conquered almost all Abyssinia, and founded the +kingdom of Adel. He was called Mahomet Gragne, or the Lame. When he had +ravaged AEthiopia fourteen years, and was master of the greatest part of +it, the Emperor David sent to implore succour of the King of Portugal, +with a promise that when those dominions were recovered which had been +taken from him, he would entirely submit himself to the Pope, and resign +the third part of his territories to the Portuguese. After many delays, +occasioned by the great distance between Portugal and Abyssinia, and some +unsuccessful attempts, King John the Third, having made Don Stephen de +Gama, son of the celebrated Don Vasco de Gama, viceroy of the Indies, +gave him orders to enter the Red Sea in pursuit of the Turkish galleys, +and to fall upon them wherever he found them, even in the Port of Suez. +The viceroy, in obedience to the king's commands, equipped a powerful +fleet, went on board himself, and cruised about the coast without being +able to discover the Turkish vessels. Enraged to find that with this +great preparation he should be able to effect nothing, he landed at Mazna +four hundred Portuguese, under the command of Don Christopher de Gama, +his brother. He was soon joined by some Abyssins, who had not yet forgot +their allegiance to their sovereign; and in his march up the country was +met by the Empress Helena, who received him as her deliverer. At first +nothing was able to stand before the valour of the Portuguese, the Moors +were driven from one mountain to another, and were dislodged even from +those places, which it seemed almost impossible to approach, even +unmolested by the opposition of an enemy. + +These successes seemed to promise a more happy event than that which +followed them. It was now winter, a season in which, as the reader hath +been already informed, it is almost impossible to travel in AEthiopia. +The Portuguese unadvisedly engaged themselves in an enterprise, to march +through the whole country, in order to join the Emperor, who was then in +the most remote part of his dominions. Mahomet, who was in possession of +the mountains, being informed by his spies that the Portuguese were but +four hundred, encamped in the plain of Ballut, and sent a message to the +general that he knew the Abyssins had imposed on the King of Portugal, +which, being acquainted with their treachery, he was not surprised at, +and that in compassion of the commander's youth, he would give him and +his men, if they would return, free passage, and furnish them with +necessaries; that he might consult upon the matter, and depend upon his +word, reminding him, however, that it was not safe to refuse his offer. + +The general presented the ambassador with a rich robe, and returned this +gallant answer: "That he and his fellow-soldiers were come with an +intention to drive Mahomet out of these countries, which he had +wrongfully usurped; that his present design was, instead of returning +back the way he came, as Mahomet advised, to open himself a passage +through the country of his enemies; that Mahomet should rather think of +determining whether he would fight or yield up his ill-gotten +territories, than of prescribing measures to him; that he put his whole +confidence in the omnipotence of God and the justice of his cause, and +that to show how just a sense he had of Mahomet's kindness, he took the +liberty of presenting him with a looking-glass and a pair of pincers." + +This answer, and the present, so provoked Mahomet, who was at dinner when +he received it, that he rose from table immediately to march against the +Portuguese, imagining he should meet with no resistance; and indeed, any +man, however brave, would have been of the same opinion; for his forces +consisted of fifteen thousand foot, beside a numerous body of cavalry, +and the Portuguese commander had but three hundred and fifty men, having +lost eight in attacking some passes, and left forty at Mazma, to maintain +an open intercourse with the viceroy of the Indies. This little troop of +our countrymen were upon the declivity of a hill near a wood; above them +stood the Abyssins, who resolved to remain quiet spectators of the +battle, and to declare themselves on that side which should be favoured +with victory. + +Mahomet began the attack with only ten horsemen, against whom as many +Portuguese were detached, who fired with so much exactness, that nine of +the Moors fell, and the tenth with great difficulty made his escape. This +omen of good fortune gave the soldiers great encouragement; the action +grew hot, and they came at length to a general battle; but the Moors, +dismayed by the advantages our men had obtained at first, were half +defeated before the fight. The great fire of our muskets and artillery +broke them immediately. Mahomet preserved his own life not without +difficulty, but did not lose his capacity with the battle: he had still a +great number of troops remaining, which he rallied, and entrenched +himself at Membret, a place naturally strong, with an intention to pass +the winter there, and wait for succours. + +The Portuguese, who were more desirous of glory than wealth, did not +encumber themselves with plunder, but with the utmost expedition pursued +their enemies, in hopes of cutting them entirely off. This expectation +was too sanguine: they found them encamped in a place naturally almost +inaccessible, and so well fortified, that it would be no less than +extreme rashness to attack them. They therefore entrenched themselves on +a hill over against the enemy's camp, and though victorious, were under +great disadvantages. They saw new troops arrive every day at the enemy's +camp, and their small number grew less continually; their friends at +Mazna could not join them; they knew not how to procure provisions, and +could put no confidence in the Abyssins; yet recollecting the great +things achieved by their countrymen, and depending on the Divine +protection, they made no doubt of surmounting all difficulties. + +Mahomet on his part was not idle; he solicited the assistance of the +Mahometan princes, pressed them with all the motives of religion, and +obtained a reinforcement of two thousand musketeers from the Arabs, and a +train of artillery from the Turks. Animated with these succours, he +marched out of his trenches to enter those of the Portuguese, who +received him with the utmost bravery, destroyed prodigious numbers of his +men, and made many sallies with great vigour, but losing every day some +of their small troops, and most of their officers being killed, it was +easy to surround and force them. + +Their general had already one arm broken, and his knee shattered with a +musket-shot, which made him unable to repair to all those places where +his presence was necessary to animate his soldiers. Valour was at length +forced to submit to superiority of numbers; the enemy entered the camp +and put all to the sword. The general with ten more escaped the +slaughter, and by means of their horses retreated to a wood, where they +were soon discovered by a detachment sent in search of them, and brought +to Mahomet, who was overjoyed to see his most formidable enemy in his +power, and ordered him to take care of his uncle and nephew, who were +wounded, telling him he should answer for their lives; and, upon their +death, taxed him with hastening it. The brave Portuguese made no +excuses, but told him he came thither to destroy Mahometans, and not to +save them. Mahomet, enraged at this language, ordered a stone to be put +on his head, and exposed this great man to the insults and reproaches of +the whole army. After this they inflicted various kinds of tortures on +him, which he endured with incredible resolution, and without uttering +the least complaint, praising the mercy of God who had ordained him to +suffer in such a cause. + +Mahomet, at last satisfied with cruelty, made an offer of sending him to +the viceroy of the Indies, if he would turn Mussulman. The hero took +fire at this proposal, and answered with the highest indignation that +nothing should make him forsake his heavenly Master to follow an +impostor, and continued in the severest terms to vilify their false +prophet, till Mahomet struck off his head. + +Nor did the resentment of Mahomet end here; he divided his body into +quarters, and sent them to different places. The Catholics gathered the +remains of this glorious martyr, and interred them. Every Moor that +passed by threw a stone upon his grave, and raised in time such a heap, +as I found it difficult to remove when I went in search of those precious +relics. + +What I have here related of the death of Don Christopher de Gama I was +told by an old man, who was an eye-witness of it: and there is a +tradition in the country that in the place where his head fell, a +fountain sprung up of wonderful virtue, which cured many diseases +otherwise past remedy. + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Mahomet continues the war, and is killed. The stratagem of Peter Leon. + +Mahomet, that he might make the best use of his victory, ranged over a +great part of Abyssinia in search of the Emperor Claudius, who was then +in the kingdom of Dambia. All places submitted to the Mahometan, whose +insolence increased every day with his power; and nothing after the +defeat of the Portuguese was supposed able to put a stop to the progress +of his arms. + +The soldiers of Portugal, having lost their chief, resorted to the +Emperor, who, though young, promised great things, and told them that +since their own general was dead, they would accept of none but himself. +He received them with great kindness, and hearing of Don Christopher de +Gama's misfortune, could not forbear honouring with some tears the memory +of a man who had come so far to his succour, and lost his life in his +cause. + +The Portuguese, resolved at any rate to revenge the fate of their +general, desired the Emperor to assign them the post opposite to Mahomet, +which was willingly granted them. That King, flushed with his victories, +and imagining to fight was undoubtedly to conquer, sought all occasions +of giving the Abyssins battle. The Portuguese, who desired nothing more +than to re-establish their reputation by revenging the affront put upon +them by the late defeat, advised the Emperor to lay hold on the first +opportunity of fighting. Both parties joined battle with equal fury. The +Portuguese directed all their force against that part where Mahomet was +posted. Peter Leon, who had been servant to the general, singled the +King out among the crowd, and shot him into the head with his musket. +Mahomet, finding himself wounded, would have retired out of the battle, +and was followed by Peter Leon, till he fell down dead; the Portuguese, +alighting from his horse, cut off one of his ears. The Moors being now +without a leader, continued the fight but a little time, and at length +fled different ways in the utmost disorder; the Abyssinians pursued them, +and made a prodigious slaughter. One of them, seeing the King's body on +the ground, cut off his head and presented it to the Emperor. The sight +of it filled the whole camp with acclamations; every one applauded the +valour and good fortune of the Abyssin, and no reward was thought great +enough for so important a service. Peter Leon, having stood by some +time, asked whether the King had but one ear? if he had two, says he, it +seems likely that the man who killed him cut off one and keeps it as a +proof of his exploit. The Abyssin stood confused, and the Portuguese +produced the ear out of his pocket. Every one commended the stratagem; +and the Emperor commanded the Abyssin to restore all the presents he had +received, and delivered them with many more to Peter Leon. + +I imagined the reader would not be displeased to be informed who this man +was, whose precious remains were searched for by a viceroy of Tigre, at +the command of the Emperor himself. The commission was directed to me, +nor did I ever receive one that was more welcome on many accounts. I had +contracted an intimate friendship with the Count de Vidigueira, viceroy +of the Indies, and had been desired by him, when I took my leave of him, +upon going to Melinda, to inform myself where his relation was buried, +and to send him some of his relics. + +The viceroy, son-in-law to the Emperor, with whom I was joined in the +commission, gave me many distinguishing proofs of his affection to me, +and of his zeal for the Catholic religion. It was a journey of fifteen +days through part of the country possessed by the Galles, which made it +necessary to take troops with us for our security; yet, notwithstanding +this precaution, the hazard of the expedition appeared so great, that our +friends bid us farewell with tears, and looked upon us as destined to +unavoidable destruction. The viceroy had given orders to some troops to +join us on the road, so that our little army grew stronger as we +advanced. There is no making long marches in this country; an army here +is a great city well peopled and under exact government: they take their +wives and children with them, and the camp hath its streets, its market +places, its churches, courts of justice, judges, and civil officers. + +Before they set forward, they advertise the governors of provinces +through which they are to pass, that they may take care to furnish what +is necessary for the subsistence of the troops. These governors give +notice to the adjacent places that the army is to march that way on such +a day, and that they are assessed such a quantity of bread, beer, and +cows. The peasants are very exact in supplying their quota, being +obliged to pay double the value in case of failure; and very often when +they have produced their full share, they are told that they have been +deficient, and condemned to buy their peace with a large fine. + +When the providore has received these contributions, he divides them +according to the number of persons, and the want they are in: the +proportion they observe in this distribution is twenty pots of beer, ten +of mead, and one cow to a hundred loaves. The chief officers and persons +of note carry their own provisions with them, which I did too, though I +afterwards found the precaution unnecessary, for I had often two or three +cows more than I wanted, which I bestowed on those whose allowance fell +short. + +The Abyssins are not only obliged to maintain the troops in their march, +but to repair the roads, to clear them, especially in the forests, of +brambles and thorns, and by all means possible to facilitate the passage +of the army. They are, by long custom, extremely ready at encamping. As +soon as they come to a place they think convenient to halt at, the +officer that commands the vanguard marks out with his pike the place for +the King's or viceroy's tent: every one knows his rank, and how much +ground he shall take up; so the camp is formed in an instant. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +They discover the relics. Their apprehension of the Galles. The author +converts a criminal, and procures his pardon. + +We took with us an old Moor, so enfeebled with age that they were forced +to carry him: he had seen, as I have said, the sufferings and death of +Don Christopher de Gama; and a Christian, who had often heard all those +passages related to his father, and knew the place where the uncle and +nephew of Mahomet were buried, and where they interred one quarter of the +Portuguese martyr. We often examined these two men, and always apart; +they agreed in every circumstance of their relations, and confirmed us in +our belief of them by leading us to the place where we took up the uncle +and nephew of Mahomet, as they had described. With no small labour we +removed the heap of stones which the Moors, according to their custom, +had thrown upon the body, and discovered the treasure we came in search +of. Not many paces off was the fountain where they had thrown his head, +with a dead dog, to raise a greater aversion in the Moors. I gathered +the teeth and the lower jaw. No words can express the ecstasies I was +transported with at seeing the relics of so great a man, and reflecting +that it had pleased God to make me the instrument of their preservation, +so that one day, if our holy father the Pope shall be so pleased, they +may receive the veneration of the faithful. All burst into tears at the +sight. We indulged a melancholy pleasure in reflecting what that great +man had achieved for the deliverance of Abyssinia, from the yoke and +tyranny of the Moors; the voyages he had undertaken; the battles he had +fought; the victories he had won; and the cruel and tragical death he had +suffered. Our first moments were so entirely taken up with these +reflections that we were incapable of considering the danger we were in +of being immediately surrounded by the Galles; but as soon as we awoke to +that thought, we contrived to retreat as fast as we could. Our +expedition, however, was not so great but we saw them on the top of a +mountain ready to pour down upon us. The viceroy attended us closely +with his little army, but had been probably not much more secure than we, +his force consisting only of foot, and the Galles entirely of horse, a +service at which they are very expert. Our apprehensions at last proved +to be needless, for the troops we saw were of a nation at that time in +alliance with the Abyssins. + +Not caring, after this alarm, to stay longer here, we set out on our +march back, and in our return passed through a village where two men, who +had murdered a domestic of the viceroy, lay under an arrest. As they had +been taken in the fact, the law of the country allowed that they might +have been executed the same hour, but the viceroy having ordered that +their death should be deferred till his return, delivered them to the +relations of the dead, to be disposed of as they should think proper. +They made great rejoicings all the night, on account of having it in +their power to revenge their relation; and the unhappy criminals had the +mortification of standing by to behold this jollity, and the preparations +made for their execution. + +The Abyssins have three different ways of putting a criminal to death: +one way is to bury him to the neck, to lay a heap of brambles upon his +head, and to cover the whole with a great stone; another is to beat him +to death with cudgels; a third, and the most usual, is to stab him with +their lances. The nearest relation gives the first thrust, and is +followed by all the rest according to their degrees of kindred; and they +to whom it does not happen to strike while the offender is alive, dip the +points of their lances in his blood to show that they partake in the +revenge. It frequently happens that the relations of the criminal are +for taking the like vengeance for his death, and sometimes pursue this +resolution so far that all those who had any share in the prosecution +lose their lives. + +I being informed that these two men were to die, wrote to the viceroy for +his permission to exhort them, before they entered into eternity, to +unite themselves to the Church. My request being granted, I applied +myself to the men, and found one of them so obstinate that he would not +even afford me a hearing, and died in his error. The other I found more +flexible, and wrought upon him so far that he came to my tent to be +instructed. After my care of his eternal welfare had met with such +success, I could not forbear attempting something for his temporal, and +by my endeavours matters were so accommodated that the relations were +willing to grant his life on condition he paid a certain number of cows, +or the value. Their first demand was of a thousand; he offered them +five; they at last were satisfied with twelve, provided they were paid +upon the spot. The Abyssins are extremely charitable, and the women, on +such occasions, will give even their necklaces and pendants, so that, +with what I gave myself, I collected in the camp enough to pay the fine, +and all parties were content. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +The viceroy is offended by his wife. He complains to the Emperor, but +without redress. He meditates a revolt, raises an army, and makes an +attempt to seize upon the author. + +We continued our march, and the viceroy having been advertised that some +troops had appeared in a hostile manner on the frontiers, went against +them. I parted from him, and arrived at Fremona, where the Portuguese +expected me with great impatience. I reposited the bones of Don +Christopher de Gama in a decent place, and sent them the May following to +the viceroy of the Indies, together with his arms, which had been +presented me by a gentleman of Abyssinia, and a picture of the Virgin +Mary, which that gallant Portuguese always carried about him. + +The viceroy, during all the time he was engaged in this expedition, heard +very provoking accounts of the bad conduct of his wife, and complained of +it to the Emperor, entreating him either to punish his daughter himself, +or to permit him to deliver her over to justice, that, if she was falsely +accused, she might have an opportunity of putting her own honour and her +husband's out of dispute. The Emperor took little notice of his son-in- +law's remonstrances; and, the truth is, the viceroy was somewhat more +nice in that matter than the people of rank in this country generally +are. There are laws, it is true, against adultery, but they seem to have +been only for the meaner people, and the women of quality, especially the +ouzoros, or ladies of the blood royal, are so much above them, that their +husbands have not even the liberty of complaining; and certainly to +support injuries of this kind without complaining requires a degree of +patience which few men can boast of. The viceroy's virtue was not proof +against this temptation. He fell into a deep melancholy, and resolved to +be revenged on his father-in-law. He knew the present temper of the +people, that those of the greatest interest and power were by no means +pleased with the changes of religion, and only waited for a fair +opportunity to revolt; and that these discontents were everywhere +heightened by the monks and clergy. Encouraged by these reflections, he +was always talking of the just reasons he had to complain of the Emperor, +and gave them sufficient room to understand that if they would appear in +his party, he would declare himself for the ancient religion, and put +himself at the head of those who should take arms in the defence of it. +The chief and almost the only thing that hindered him from raising a +formidable rebellion, was the mutual distrust they entertained of one +another, each fearing that as soon as the Emperor should publish an act +of grace, or general amnesty, the greatest part would lay down their arms +and embrace it; and this suspicion was imagined more reasonable of the +viceroy than of any other. Notwithstanding this difficulty, the priests, +who interested themselves much in this revolt, ran with the utmost +earnestness from church to church, levelling their sermons against the +Emperor and the Catholic religion; and that they might have the better +success in putting a stop to all ecclesiastical innovations, they came to +a resolution of putting all the missionaries to the sword; and that the +viceroy might have no room to hope for a pardon, they obliged him to give +the first wound to him that should fall into his hands. + +As I was the nearest, and by consequence the most exposed, an order was +immediately issued out for apprehending me, it being thought a good +expedient to seize me, and force me to build a citadel, into which they +might retreat if they should happen to meet with a defeat. The viceroy +wrote to me to desire that I would come to him, he having, as he said, an +affair of the highest importance to communicate. + +The frequent assemblies which the viceroy held had already been much +talked of; and I had received advice that he was ready for a revolt, and +that my death was to be the first signal of an open war. Knowing that +the viceroy had made many complaints of the treatment he received from +his father-in-law, I made no doubt that he had some ill design in hand; +and yet could scarce persuade myself that after all the tokens of +friendship I had received from him he would enter into any measures for +destroying me. While I was yet in suspense, I despatched a faithful +servant to the viceroy with my excuse for disobeying him; and gave the +messenger strict orders to observe all that passed, and bring me an exact +account. + +This affair was of too great moment not to engage my utmost endeavours to +arrive at the most certain knowledge of it, and to advertise the court of +the danger. I wrote, therefore, to one of our fathers, who was then near +the Emperor, the best intelligence I could obtain of all that had passed, +of the reports that were spread through all this part of the empire, and +of the disposition which I discovered in the people to a general +defection; telling him, however, that I could not yet believe that the +viceroy, who had honoured me with his friendship, and of whom I never had +any thought but how to oblige him, could now have so far changed his +sentiments as to take away my life. + +The letters which I received by my servant, and the assurances he gave +that I need fear nothing, for that I was never mentioned by the viceroy +without great marks of esteem, so far confirmed me in my error, that I +went from Fremona with a resolution to see him. I did not reflect that a +man who could fail in his duty to his King, his father-in-law, and his +benefactor, might, without scruple, do the same to a stranger, though +distinguished as his friend; and thus sanguine and unsuspecting continued +my journey, still receiving intimation from all parts to take care of +myself. At length, when I was within a few days' journey of the viceroy, +I received a billet in more plain and express terms than anything I had +been told yet, charging me with extreme imprudence in putting myself into +the hands of those men who had undoubtedly sworn to cut me off. + +I began, upon this, to distrust the sincerity of the viceroy's +professions, and resolved, upon the receipt of another letter from the +viceroy, to return directly. In this letter, having excused himself for +not waiting for my arrival, he desired me in terms very strong and +pressing to come forward, and stay for him at his own house, assuring me +that he had given such orders for my entertainment as should prevent my +being tired with living there. I imagined at first that he had left some +servants to provide for my reception, but being advertised at the same +time that there was no longer any doubt of the certainty of his revolt, +that the Galles were engaged to come to his assistance, and that he was +gone to sign a treaty with them, I was no longer in suspense what +measures to take, but returned to Fremona. + +Here I found a letter from the Emperor, which prohibited me to go out, +and the orders which he had sent through all these parts, directing them +to arrest me wherever I was found, and to hinder me from proceeding on my +journey. These orders came too late to contribute to my preservation, +and this prince's goodness had been in vain, if God, whose protection I +have often had experience of in my travels, had not been my conductor in +this emergency. + +The viceroy, hearing that I was returned to my residence, did not +discover any concern or chagrin as at a disappointment, for such was his +privacy and dissimulation that the most penetrating could never form any +conjecture that could be depended on, about his designs, till everything +was ready for the execution of them. My servant, a man of wit, was +surprised as well as everybody else; and I can ascribe to nothing but a +miracle my escape from so many snares as he laid to entrap me. + +There happened during this perplexity of my affairs an accident of small +consequence in itself, which yet I think deserves to be mentioned, as it +shows the credulity and ignorance of the Abyssins. I received a visit +from a religious, who passed, though he was blind, for the most learned +person in all that country. He had the whole Scriptures in his memory, +but seemed to have been at more pains to retain them than understand +them; as he talked much he often took occasion to quote them, and did it +almost always improperly. Having invited him to sup and pass the night +with me, I set before him some excellent mead, which he liked so well as +to drink somewhat beyond the bounds of exact temperance. Next day, to +make some return for his entertainment, he took upon him to divert me +with some of those stories which the monks amuse simple people with, and +told me of a devil that haunted a fountain, and used to make it his +employment to plague the monks that came thither to fetch water, and +continued his malice till he was converted by the founder of their order, +who found him no very stubborn proselyte till they came to the point of +circumcision; the devil was unhappily prepossessed with a strong aversion +from being circumcised, which, however, by much persuasion, he at last +agreed to, and afterwards taking a religious habit, died ten years after +with great signs of sanctity. He added another history of a famous +Abyssinian monk, who killed a devil two hundred feet high, and only four +feet thick, that ravaged all the country; the peasants had a great desire +to throw the dead carcase from the top of a rock, but could not with all +their force remove it from the place, but the monk drew it after him with +all imaginable ease and pushed it down. This story was followed by +another, of a young devil that became a religious of the famous monastery +of Aba Gatima. The good father would have favoured me with more +relations of the same kind, if I had been in the humour to have heard +them, but, interrupting him, I told him that all these relations +confirmed what we had found by experience, that the monks of Abyssinia +were no improper company for the devil. + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +The viceroy is defeated and hanged. The author narrowly escapes being +poisoned. + +I did not stay long at Fremona, but left that town and the province of +Tigre, and soon found that I was very happy in that resolution, for +scarce had I left the place before the viceroy came in person to put me +to death, who, not finding me, as he expected, resolved to turn all his +vengeance against the father Gaspard Paes, a venerable man, who was grown +grey in the missions of AEthiopia, and five other missionaries newly +arrived from the Indies; his design was to kill them all at one time +without suffering any to escape; he therefore sent for them all, but one +happily being sick, another stayed to attend him; to this they owed their +lives, for the viceroy, finding but four of them, sent them back, telling +them he would see them all together. The fathers, having been already +told of his revolt, and of the pretences he made use of to give it +credit, made no question of his intent to massacre them, and contrived +their escape so that they got safely out of his power. + +The viceroy, disappointed in his scheme, vented all his rage upon Father +James, whom the patriarch had given him as his confessor; the good man +was carried, bound hand and foot, into the middle of the camp; the +viceroy gave the first stab in the throat, and all the rest struck him +with their lances, and dipped their weapons in his blood, promising each +other that they would never accept of any act of oblivion or terms of +peace by which the Catholic religion was not abolished throughout the +empire, and all those who professed it either banished or put to death. +They then ordered all the beads, images, crosses, and relics which the +Catholics made use of to be thrown into the fire. + +The anger of God was now ready to fall upon his head for these daring and +complicated crimes; the Emperor had already confiscated all his goods, +and given the government of the kingdom of Tigre to Keba Christos, a good +Catholic, who was sent with a numerous army to take possession of it. As +both armies were in search of each other, it was not long before they +came to a battle. The revolted viceroy Tecla Georgis placed all his +confidence in the Galles, his auxiliaries. Keba Christos, who had +marched with incredible expedition to hinder the enemy from making any +intrenchments, would willingly have refreshed his men a few days before +the battle, but finding the foe vigilant, thought it not proper to stay +till he was attacked, and therefore resolved to make the first onset; +then presenting himself before his army without arms and with his head +uncovered, assured them that such was his confidence in God's protection +of those that engaged in so just a cause, that though he were in that +condition and alone, he would attack his enemies. + +The battle began immediately, and of all the troops of Tecla Georgis only +the Galles made any resistance, the rest abandoned him without striking a +blow. The unhappy commander, seeing all his squadrons broken, and three +hundred of the Galles, with twelve ecclesiastics, killed on the spot, hid +himself in a cave, where he was found three days afterwards, with his +favourite and a monk. When they took him, they cut off the heads of his +two companions in the field, and carried him to the Emperor; the +procedure against him was not long, and he was condemned to be burnt +alive. Then imagining that, if he embraced the Catholic faith, the +intercession of the missionaries, with the entreaties of his wife and +children, might procure him a pardon, he desired a Jesuit to hear his +confession, and abjured his errors. The Emperor was inflexible both to +the entreaties of his daughter and the tears of his grand-children, and +all that could be obtained of him was that the sentence should be +mollified, and changed into a condemnation to be hanged. Tecla Georgis +renounced his abjuration, and at his death persisted in his errors. +Adero, his sister, who had borne the greatest share in his revolt, was +hanged on the same tree fifteen days after. + +I arrived not long after at the Emperor's court, and had the honour of +kissing his hands; but stayed not long in a place where no missionary +ought to linger, unless obliged by the most pressing necessity: but being +ordered by my superiors into the kingdom of Damote, I set out on my +journey, and on the road was in great danger of losing my life by my +curiosity of tasting a herb, which I found near a brook, and which, +though I had often heard of it, I did not know. It bears a great +resemblance to our radishes; the leaf and colour were beautiful, and the +taste not unpleasant. It came into my mind when I began to chew it that +perhaps it might be that venomous herb against which no antidote had yet +been found, but persuading myself afterwards that my fears were merely +chimerical, I continued to chew it, till a man accidentally meeting me, +and seeing me with a handful of it, cried out to me that I was poisoned; +I had happily not swallowed any of it, and throwing out what I had in my +mouth, I returned God thanks for this instance of his protection. + +I crossed the Nile the first time in my journey to the kingdom of Damote; +my passage brought into my mind all that I had read either in ancient or +modern writers of this celebrated river; I recollected the great expenses +at which some Emperors had endeavoured to gratify their curiosity of +knowing the sources of this mighty stream, which nothing but their little +acquaintance with the Abyssins made so difficult to be found. I passed +the river within two days' journey of its head, near a wide plain, which +is entirely laid under water when it begins to overflow the banks. Its +channel is even here so wide, that a ball-shot from a musket can scarce +reach the farther bank. Here is neither boat nor bridge, and the river +is so full of hippopotami, or river-horses, and crocodiles, that it is +impossible to swim over without danger of being devoured. The only way +of passing it is upon floats, which they guide as well as they can with +long poles. Nor is even this way without danger, for these destructive +animals overturn the floats, and tear the passengers in pieces. The +river horse, which lives only on grass and branches of trees, is +satisfied with killing the men, but the crocodile being more voracious, +feeds upon the carcases. + +But since I am arrived at the banks of this renowned river, which I have +passed and repassed so many times; and since all that I have read of the +nature of its waters, and the causes of its overflowing, is full of +fables, the reader may not be displeased to find here an account of what +I saw myself, or was told by the inhabitants. + + + +CHAPTER X + + +A description of the Nile. + +The Nile, which the natives call Abavi, that is, the Father of Waters, +rises first in Sacala, a province of the kingdom of Goiama, which is one +of the most fruitful and agreeable of all the Abyssinian dominions. This +province is inhabited by a nation of the Agaus, who call, but only call, +themselves Christians, for by daily intermarriages they have allied +themselves to the Pagan Agaus, and adopted all their customs and +ceremonies. These two nations are very numerous, fierce, and +unconquerable, inhabiting a country full of mountains, which are covered +with woods, and hollowed by nature into vast caverns, many of which are +capable of containing several numerous families, and hundreds of cows. To +these recesses the Agaus betake themselves when they are driven out of +the plain, where it is almost impossible to find them, and certain ruin +to pursue them. This people increases extremely, every man being allowed +so many wives as he hath hundreds of cows, and it is seldom that the +hundreds are required to be complete. + +In the eastern part of this kingdom, on the declivity of a mountain, +whose descent is so easy that it seems a beautiful plain, is that source +of the Nile which has been sought after at so much expense of labour, and +about which such variety of conjectures hath been formed without success. +This spring, or rather these two springs, are two holes, each about two +feet diameter, a stone's cast distant from each other; the one is but +about five feet and a half in depth--at least we could not get our +plummet farther, perhaps because it was stopped by roots, for the whole +place is full of trees; of the other, which is somewhat less, with a line +of ten feet we could find no bottom, and were assured by the inhabitants +that none ever had been found. It is believed here that these springs +are the vents of a great subterraneous lake, and they have this +circumstance to favour their opinion, that the ground is always moist and +so soft that the water boils up under foot as one walks upon it. This is +more visible after rains, for then the ground yields and sinks so much, +that I believe it is chiefly supported by the roots of trees that are +interwoven one with another; such is the ground round about these +fountains. At a little distance to the south is a village named Guix, +through which the way lies to the top of the mountain, from whence the +traveller discovers a vast extent of land, which appears like a deep +valley, though the mountain rises so imperceptibly that those who go up +or down it are scarce sensible of any declivity. + +On the top of this mountain is a little hill which the idolatrous Agaus +have in great veneration; their priest calls them together at this place +once a year, and having sacrificed a cow, throws the head into one of the +springs of the Nile; after which ceremony, every one sacrifices a cow or +more, according to their different degrees of wealth or devotion. The +bones of these cows have already formed two mountains of considerable +height, which afford a sufficient proof that these nations have always +paid their adorations to this famous river. They eat these sacrifices +with great devotion, as flesh consecrated to their deity. Then the +priest anoints himself with the grease and tallow of the cows, and sits +down on a heap of straw, on the top and in the middle of a pile which is +prepared; they set fire to it, and the whole heap is consumed without any +injury to the priest, who while the fire continues harangues the standers +by, and confirms them in their present ignorance and superstition. When +the pile is burnt, and the discourse at an end, every one makes a large +present to the priest, which is the grand design of this religious +mockery. + +To return to the course of the Nile: its waters, after the first rise, +run to the eastward for about a musket-shot, then turning to the north, +continue hidden in the grass and weeds for about a quarter of a league, +and discover themselves for the first time among some rocks--a sight not +to be enjoyed without some pleasure by those who have read the fabulous +accounts of this stream delivered by the ancients, and the vain +conjectures and reasonings which have been formed upon its original, the +nature of its water, its cataracts, and its inundations, all which we are +now entirely acquainted with and eye-witnesses of. + +Many interpreters of the Holy Scriptures pretend that Gihon, mentioned in +Genesis, is no other than the Nile, which encompasseth all AEthiopia; but +as the Gihon had its source from the terrestrial paradise, and we know +that the Nile rises in the country of the Agaus, it will be found, I +believe, no small difficulty to conceive how the same river could arise +from two sources so distant from each other, or how a river from so low a +source should spring up and appear in a place perhaps the highest in the +world: for if we consider that Arabia and Palestine are in their +situation almost level with Egypt; that Egypt is as low, if compared with +the kingdom of Dambia, as the deepest valley in regard of the highest +mountain; that the province of Sacala is yet more elevated than Dambia; +that the waters of the Nile must either pass under the Red Sea, or take a +great compass about, we shall find it hard to conceive such an attractive +power in the earth as may be able to make the waters rise through the +obstruction of so much sand from places so low to the most lofty region +of AEthiopia. + +But leaving these difficulties, let us go on to describe the course of +the Nile. It rolls away from its source with so inconsiderable a +current, that it appears unlikely to escape being dried up by the hot +season, but soon receiving an increase from the Gemma, the Keltu, the +Bransu, and other less rivers, it is of such a breadth in the plain of +Boad, which is not above three days' journey from its source, that a ball +shot from a musket will scarce fly from one bank to the other. Here it +begins to run northwards, deflecting, however, a little towards the east, +for the space of nine or ten leagues, and then enters the so much talked +of Lake of Dambia, called by the natives Bahar Sena, the Resemblance of +the Sea, or Bahar Dambia, the Sea of Dambia. It crosses this lake only +at one end with so violent a rapidity, that the waters of the Nile may be +distinguished through all the passage, which is six leagues. Here begins +the greatness of the Nile. Fifteen miles farther, in the land of Alata, +it rushes precipitately from the top of a high rock, and forms one of the +most beautiful water-falls in the world: I passed under it without being +wet; and resting myself there, for the sake of the coolness, was charmed +with a thousand delightful rainbows, which the sunbeams painted on the +water in all their shining and lively colours. The fall of this mighty +stream from so great a height makes a noise that may be heard to a +considerable distance; but I could not observe that the neighbouring +inhabitants were at all deaf. I conversed with several, and was as +easily heard by them as I heard them. The mist that rises from this fall +of water may be seen much farther than the noise can be heard. After +this cataract the Nile again collects its scattered stream among the +rocks, which seem to be disjoined in this place only to afford it a +passage. They are so near each other that, in my time, a bridge of +beams, on which the whole Imperial army passed, was laid over them. +Sultan Segued hath since built here a bridge of one arch in the same +place, for which purpose he procured masons from India. This bridge, +which is the first the Abyssins have seen on the Nile, very much +facilitates a communication between the provinces, and encourages +commerce among the inhabitants of his empire. + +Here the river alters its course, and passes through many various +kingdoms; on the east it leaves Begmeder, or the Land of Sheep, so called +from great numbers that are bred there, beg, in that language, signifying +sheep, and meder, a country. It then waters the kingdoms of Amhara, +Olaca, Choaa, and Damot, which lie on the left side, and the kingdom of +Goiama, which it bounds on the right, forming by its windings a kind of +peninsula. Then entering Bezamo, a province of the kingdom of Damot, and +Gamarchausa, part of Goiama, it returns within a short day's journey of +its spring; though to pursue it through all its mazes, and accompany it +round the kingdom of Goiama, is a journey of twenty-nine days. So far, +and a few days' journey farther, this river confines itself to Abyssinia, +and then passes into the bordering countries of Fazulo and Ombarca. + +These vast regions we have little knowledge of: they are inhabited by +nations entirely different from the Abyssins; their hair is like that of +the other blacks, short and curled. In the year 1615, Rassela Christos, +lieutenant-general to Sultan Segued, entered those kingdoms with his army +in a hostile manner; but being able to get no intelligence of the +condition of the people, and astonished at their unbounded extent, he +returned, without daring to attempt anything. + +As the empire of the Abyssins terminates at these deserts, and as I have +followed the course of the Nile no farther, I here leave it to range over +barbarous kingdoms, and convey wealth and plenty into Egypt, which owes +to the annual inundations of this river its envied fertility. I know not +anything of the rest of its passage, but that it receives great increases +from many other rivers; that it has several cataracts like the first +already described, and that few fish are to be found in it, which +scarcity, doubtless, is to be attributed to the river-horses and +crocodiles, which destroy the weaker inhabitants of these waters, and +something may be allowed to the cataracts, it being difficult for fish to +fall so far without being killed. + +Although some who have travelled in Asia and Africa have given the world +their descriptions of crocodiles and hippopotamus, or river-horse, yet as +the Nile has at least as great numbers of each as any river in the world, +I cannot but think my account of it would be imperfect without some +particular mention of these animals. + +The crocodile is very ugly, having no proportion between his length and +thickness; he hath short feet, a wide mouth, with two rows of sharp +teeth, standing wide from each other, a brown skin so fortified with +scales, even to his nose, that a musket-ball cannot penetrate it. His +sight is extremely quick, and at a great distance. In the water he is +daring and fierce, and will seize on any that are so unfortunate as to be +found by him bathing, who, if they escape with life, are almost sure to +leave some limb in his mouth. Neither I, nor any with whom I have +conversed about the crocodile, have ever seen him weep, and therefore I +take the liberty of ranking all that hath been told us of his tears +amongst the fables which are only proper to amuse children. + +The hippopotamus, or river-horse, grazes upon the land and browses on the +shrubs, yet is no less dangerous than the crocodile. He is the size of +an ox, of a brown colour without any hair, his tail is short, his neck +long, and his head of an enormous bigness; his eyes are small, his mouth +wide, with teeth half a foot long; he hath two tusks like those of a wild +boar, but larger; his legs are short, and his feet part into four toes. +It is easy to observe from this description that he hath no resemblance +of a horse, and indeed nothing could give occasion to the name but some +likeness in his ears, and his neighing and snorting like a horse when he +is provoked or raises his head out of water. His hide is so hard that a +musket fired close to him can only make a slight impression, and the best +tempered lances pushed forcibly against him are either blunted or +shivered, unless the assailant has the skill to make his thrust at +certain parts which are more tender. There is great danger in meeting +him, and the best way is, upon such an accident, to step aside and let +him pass by. The flesh of this animal doth not differ from that of a +cow, except that it is blacker and harder to digest. + +The ignorance which we have hitherto been in of the original of the Nile +hath given many authors an opportunity of presenting us very gravely with +their various systems and conjectures about the nature of its waters, and +the reason of its overflows. + +It is easy to observe how many empty hypotheses and idle reasonings the +phenomena of this river have put mankind to the expense of. Yet there +are people so bigoted to antiquity, as not to pay any regard to the +relation of travellers who have been upon the spot, and by the evidence +of their eyes can confute all that the ancients have written. It was +difficult, it was even impossible, to arrive at the source of the Nile by +tracing its channel from the mouth; and all who ever attempted it, having +been stopped by the cataracts, and imagining none that followed them +could pass farther, have taken the liberty of entertaining us with their +own fictions. + +It is to be remembered likewise that neither the Greeks nor Romans, from +whom we have received all our information, ever carried their arms into +this part of the world, or ever heard of multitudes of nations that dwell +upon the banks of this vast river; that the countries where the Nile +rises, and those through which it runs, have no inhabitants but what are +savage and uncivilised; that before they could arrive at its head, they +must surmount the insuperable obstacles of impassable forests, +inaccessible cliffs, and deserts crowded with beasts of prey, fierce by +nature, and raging for want of sustenance. Yet if they who endeavoured +with so much ardour to discover the spring of this river had landed at +Mazna on the coast of the Red Sea, and marched a little more to the south +than the south-west, they might perhaps have gratified their curiosity at +less expense, and in about twenty days might have enjoyed the desired +sight of the sources of the Nile. + +But this discovery was reserved for the invincible bravery of our noble +countrymen, who, not discouraged by the dangers of a navigation in seas +never explored before, have subdued kingdoms and empires where the Greek +and Roman greatness, where the names of Caesar and Alexander, were never +heard of; who have demolished the airy fabrics of renowned hypotheses, +and detected those fables which the ancients rather chose to invent of +the sources of the Nile than to confess their ignorance. I cannot help +suspending my narration to reflect a little on the ridiculous +speculations of those swelling philosophers, whose arrogance would +prescribe laws to nature, and subject those astonishing effects, which we +behold daily, to their idle reasonings and chimerical rules. Presumptuous +imagination! that has given being to such numbers of books, and patrons +to so many various opinions about the overflows of the Nile. Some of +these theorists have been pleased to declare it as their favourite notion +that this inundation is caused by high winds which stop the current, and +so force the water to rise above its banks, and spread over all Egypt. +Others pretend a subterraneous communication between the ocean and the +Nile, and that the sea being violently agitated swells the river. Many +have imagined themselves blessed with the discovery when they have told +us that this mighty flood proceeds from the melting of snow on the +mountains of AEthiopia, without reflecting that this opinion is contrary +to the received notion of all the ancients, who believed that the heat +was so excessive between the tropics that no inhabitant could live there. +So much snow and so great heat are never met with in the same region; and +indeed I never saw snow in Abyssinia, except on Mount Semen in the +kingdom of Tigre, very remote from the Nile, and on Namera, which is +indeed not far distant, but where there never falls snow sufficient to +wet the foot of the mountain when it is melted. + +To the immense labours and fatigues of the Portuguese mankind is indebted +for the knowledge of the real cause of these inundations so great and so +regular. Their observations inform us that Abyssinia, where the Nile +rises and waters vast tracts of land, is full of mountains, and in its +natural situation much higher than Egypt; that all the winter, from June +to September, no day is without rain; that the Nile receives in its +course all the rivers, brooks, and torrents which fall from those +mountains; these necessarily swell it above the banks, and fill the +plains of Egypt with the inundation. This comes regularly about the +month of July, or three weeks after the beginning of a rainy season in +AEthiopia. The different degrees of this flood are such certain +indications of the fruitfulness or sterility of the ensuing year, that it +is publicly proclaimed in Cairo how much the water hath gained each +night. This is all I have to inform the reader of concerning the Nile, +which the Egyptians adored as the deity, in whose choice it was to bless +them with abundance, or deprive them of the necessaries of life. + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The author discovers a passage over the Nile. Is sent into the province +of Ligonus, which he gives a description of. His success in his mission. +The stratagem of the monks to encourage the soldiers. The author +narrowly escapes being burned. + +When I was to cross this river at Boad, I durst not venture myself on the +floats I have already spoken of, but went up higher in hopes of finding a +more commodious passage. I had with me three or four men that were +reduced to the same difficulty with myself. In one part seeing people on +the other side, and remarking that the water was shallow, and that the +rocks and trees which grew very thick there contributed to facilitate the +attempt, I leaped from one rock to another, till I reached the opposite +bank, to the great amazement of the natives themselves, who never had +tried that way; my four companions followed me with the same success: and +it hath been called since the passage of Father Jerome. + +That province of the kingdom of Damot, which I was assigned to by my +superior, is called Ligonus, and is perhaps one of the most beautiful and +agreeable places in the world; the air is healthful and temperate, and +all the mountains, which are not very high, shaded with cedars. They sow +and reap here in every season, the ground is always producing, and the +fruits ripen throughout the year; so great, so charming is the variety, +that the whole region seems a garden laid out and cultivated only to +please. I doubt whether even the imagination of a painter has yet +conceived a landscape as beautiful as I have seen. The forests have +nothing uncouth or savage, and seem only planted for shade and coolness. +Among a prodigious number of trees which fill them, there is one kind +which I have seen in no other place, and to which we have none that bears +any resemblance. This tree, which the natives call ensete, is +wonderfully useful; its leaves, which are so large as to cover a man, +make hangings for rooms, and serve the inhabitants instead of linen for +their tables and carpets. They grind the branches and the thick parts of +the leaves, and when they are mingled with milk, find them a delicious +food. The trunk and the roots are even more nourishing than the leaves +or branches, and the meaner people, when they go a journey, make no +provision of any other victuals. The word ensete signifies the tree +against hunger, or the poor's tree, though the most wealthy often eat of +it. If it be cut down within half a foot of the ground and several +incisions made in the stump, each will put out a new sprout, which, if +transplanted, will take root and grow to a tree. The Abyssins report +that this tree when it is cut down groans like a man, and, on this +account, call cutting down an ensete killing it. On the top grows a +bunch of five or six figs, of a taste not very agreeable, which they set +in the ground to produce more trees. + +I stayed two months in the province of Ligonus, and during that time +procured a church to be built of hewn stone, roofed and wainscoted with +cedar, which is the most considerable in the whole country. My continual +employment was the duties of the mission, which I was always practising +in some part of the province, not indeed with any extraordinary success +at first, for I found the people inflexibly obstinate in their opinions, +even to so great a degree, that when I first published the Emperor's +edict requiring all his subjects to renounce their errors, and unite +themselves to the Roman Church, there were some monks who, to the number +of sixty, chose rather to die by throwing themselves headlong from a +precipice than obey their sovereign's commands: and in a battle fought +between these people that adhered to the religion of their ancestors, and +the troops of Sultan Segued, six hundred religious, placing themselves at +the head of their men, marched towards the Catholic army with the stones +of the altars upon their heads, assuring their credulous followers that +the Emperor's troops would immediately at the sight of those stones fall +into disorder and turn their backs; but, as they were some of the first +that fell, their death had a great influence upon the people to undeceive +them, and make them return to the truth. Many were converted after the +battle, and when they had embraced the Catholic faith, adhered to that +with the same constancy and firmness with which they had before persisted +in their errors. + +The Emperor had sent a viceroy into this province, whose firm attachment +to the Roman Church, as well as great abilities in military affairs, made +him a person very capable of executing the orders of the Emperor, and of +suppressing any insurrection that might be raised, to prevent those +alterations in religion which they were designed to promote: a farther +view in the choice of so warlike a deputy was that a stop might be put to +the inroads of the Galles, who had killed one viceroy, and in a little +time after killed this. + +It was our custom to meet together every year about Christmas, not only +that we might comfort and entertain each other, but likewise that we +might relate the progress and success of our missions, and concert all +measures that might farther the conversion of the inhabitants. This year +our place of meeting was the Emperor's camp, where the patriarch and +superior of the missions were. I left the place of my abode, and took in +my way four fathers, that resided at the distance of two days' journey, +so that the company, without reckoning our attendants, was five. There +happened nothing remarkable to us till the last night of our journey, +when taking up our lodging at a place belonging to the Empress, a +declared enemy to all Catholics, and in particular to the missionaries, +we met with a kind reception in appearance, and were lodged in a large +stone house covered with wood and straw, which had stood uninhabited so +long, that great numbers of red ants had taken possession of it; these, +as soon as we were laid down, attacked us on all sides, and tormented us +so incessantly that we were obliged to call up our domestics. Having +burnt a prodigious number of these troublesome animals, we tried to +compose ourselves again, but had scarce closed our eyes before we were +awakened by the fire that had seized our lodging. Our servants, who were +fortunately not all gone to bed, perceived the fire as soon as it began, +and informed me, who lay nearest the door. I immediately alarmed all the +rest, and nothing was thought of but how to save ourselves and the little +goods we had, when, to our great astonishment, we found one of the doors +barricaded in such a manner that we could not open it. Nothing now could +have prevented our perishing in the flames had not those who kindled them +omitted to fasten that door near which I was lodged. We were no longer +in doubt that the inhabitants of the town had laid a train, and set fire +to a neighbouring house, in order to consume us; their measures were so +well laid, that the house was in ashes in an instant, and three of our +beds were burnt which the violence of the flame would not allow us to +carry away. We spent the rest of the night in the most dismal +apprehensions, and found next morning that we had justly charged the +inhabitants with the design of destroying us, for the place was entirely +abandoned, and those that were conscious of the crime had fled from the +punishment. We continued our journey, and came to Gorgora, where we +found the fathers met, and the Emperor with them. + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +The author is sent into Tigre. Is in danger of being poisoned by the +breath of a serpent. Is stung by a serpent. Is almost killed by eating +anchoy. The people conspire against the missionaries, and distress them. + +My superiors intended to send me into the farthest parts of the empire, +but the Emperor over-ruled that design, and remanded me to Tigre, where I +had resided before. I passed in my journey by Ganete Ilhos, a palace +newly built, and made agreeable by beautiful gardens, and had the honour +of paying my respects to the Emperor, who had retired thither, and +receiving from him a large present for the finishing of a hospital, which +had been begun in the kingdom of Tigre. After having returned him +thanks, I continued my way, and in crossing a desert two days' journey +over, was in great danger of my life, for, as I lay on the ground, I +perceived myself seized with a pain which forced me to rise, and saw +about four yards from me one of those serpents that dart their poison at +a distance; although I rose before he came very near me, I yet felt the +effects of his poisonous breath, and, if I had lain a little longer, had +certainly died; I had recourse to bezoar, a sovereign remedy against +these poisons, which I always carried about me. These serpents are not +long, but have a body short and thick, and their bellies speckled with +brown, black, and yellow; they have a wide mouth, with which they draw in +a great quantity of air, and, having retained it some time, eject it with +such force that they kill at four yards' distance. I only escaped by +being somewhat farther from him. This danger, however, was not much to +be regarded in comparison of another which my negligence brought me into. +As I was picking up a skin that lay upon the ground, I was stung by a +serpent that left his sting in my finger; I at least picked an extraneous +substance about the bigness of a hair out of the wound, which I imagined +was the sting. This slight wound I took little notice of, till my arm +grew inflamed all over; in a short time the poison infected my blood, and +I felt the most terrible convulsions, which were interpreted as certain +signs that my death was near and inevitable. I received now no benefit +from bezoar, the horn of the unicorn, or any of the usual antidotes, but +found myself obliged to make use of an extraordinary remedy, which I +submitted to with extreme reluctance. This submission and obedience +brought the blessing of Heaven upon me; nevertheless, I continued +indisposed a long time, and had many symptoms which made me fear that all +the danger was not yet over. I then took cloves of garlic, though with a +great aversion, both from the taste and smell. I was in this condition a +whole month, always in pain, and taking medicines the most nauseous in +the world. At length youth and a happy constitution surmounted the +malignity, and I recovered my former health. + +I continued two years at my residence in Tigre, entirely taken up with +the duties of the mission--preaching, confessing, baptising--and enjoyed +a longer quiet and repose than I had ever done since I left Portugal. +During this time one of our fathers, being always sick and of a +constitution which the air of Abyssinia was very hurtful to, obtained a +permission from our superiors to return to the Indies; I was willing to +accompany him through part of his way, and went with him over a desert, +at no great distance from my residence, where I found many trees loaded +with a kind of fruit, called by the natives anchoy, about the bigness of +an apricot, and very yellow, which is much eaten without any ill effect. +I therefore made no scruple of gathering and eating it, without knowing +that the inhabitants always peeled it, the rind being a violent +purgative; so that, eating the fruit and skin together, I fell into such +a disorder as almost brought me to my end. The ordinary dose is six of +these rinds, and I had devoured twenty. + +I removed from thence to Debaroa, fifty-four miles nearer the sea, and +crossed in my way the desert of the province of Saraoe. The country is +fruitful, pleasant, and populous; there are greater numbers of Moors in +these parts than in any other province of Abyssinia, and the Abyssins of +this country are not much better than the Moors. + +I was at Debaroa when the prosecution was first set on foot against the +Catholics. Sultan Segued, who had been so great a favourer of us, was +grown old, and his spirit and authority decreased with his strength. His +son, who was arrived at manhood, being weary of waiting so long for the +crown he was to inherit, took occasion to blame his father's conduct, and +found some reason for censuring all his actions; he even proceeded so far +as to give orders sometimes contrary to the Emperor's. He had embraced +the Catholic religion, rather through complaisance than conviction or +inclination; and many of the Abyssins who had done the same, waited only +for an opportunity of making public profession of the ancient erroneous +opinions, and of re-uniting themselves to the Church of Alexandria. So +artfully can this people dissemble their sentiments that we had not been +able hitherto to distinguish our real from our pretended favourers; but +as soon as this Prince began to give evident tokens of his hatred, even +in the lifetime of the Emperor, we saw all the courtiers and governors +who had treated us with such a show of friendship declare against us, and +persecute us as disturbers of the public tranquillity, who had come into +AEthiopia with no other intention than to abolish the ancient laws and +customs of the country, to sow divisions between father and son, and +preach up a revolution. + +After having borne all sorts of affronts and ill-treatments, we retired +to our house at Fremona, in the midst of our countrymen, who had been +settling round about us a long time, imagining we should be more secure +there, and that, at least during the life of the Emperor, they would not +come to extremities, or proceed to open force. I laid some stress upon +the kindness which the viceroy of Tigre had shown to us, and in +particular to me; but was soon convinced that those hopes had no real +foundation, for he was one of the most violent of our persecutors. He +seized upon all our lands, and, advancing with his troops to Fremona, +blocked up the town. The army had not been stationed there long before +they committed all sorts of disorders; so that one day a Portuguese, +provoked beyond his temper at the insolence of some of them, went out +with his four sons, and, wounding several of them, forced the rest back +to their camp. + +We thought we had good reason to apprehend an attack; their troops were +increasing, our town was surrounded, and on the point of being forced. +Our Portuguese therefore thought that, without staying till the last +extremities, they might lawfully repel one violence by another, and +sallying out to the number of fifty, wounded about three score of the +Abyssins, and had put them to the sword but that they feared it might +bring too great an odium upon our cause. The Portuguese were some of +them wounded, but happily none died on either side. + +Though the times were by no means favourable to us, every one blamed the +conduct of the viceroy; and those who did not commend our action made the +necessity we were reduced to of self-defence an excuse for it. The +viceroy's principal design was to get my person into his possession, +imagining that if I was once in his power, all the Portuguese would pay +him a blind obedience. Having been unsuccessful in his attempt by open +force, he made use of the arts of negotiation, but with an event not more +to his satisfaction. This viceroy being recalled, a son-in-law of the +Emperor's succeeded, who treated us even worse than his predecessor had +done. + +When he entered upon his command, he loaded us with kindnesses, giving us +so many assurances of his protection that, while the Emperor lived, we +thought him one of our friends; but no sooner was our protector dead than +this man pulled off his mask, and, quitting all shame, let us see that +neither the fear of God nor any other consideration was capable of +restraining him when we were to be distressed. The persecution then +becoming general, there was no longer any place of security for us in +Abyssinia, where we were looked upon by all as the authors of all the +civil commotions, and many councils were held to determine in what manner +they should dispose of us. Several were of opinion that the best way +would be to kill us all at once, and affirmed that no other means were +left of re-establishing order and tranquillity in the kingdom. + +Others, more prudent, were not for putting us to death with so little +consideration, but advised that we should be banished to one of the isles +of the Lake of Dambia, an affliction more severe than death itself. These +alleged in vindication of their opinions that it was reasonable to +expect, if they put us to death, that the viceroy of the Indies would +come with fire and sword to demand satisfaction. This argument made so +great an impression upon some of them that they thought no better +measures could be taken than to send us back again to the Indies. This +proposal, however, was not without its difficulties, for they suspected +that when we should arrive at the Portuguese territories, we would levy +an army, return back to Abyssinia, and under pretence of establishing the +Catholic religion revenge all the injuries we had suffered. While they +were thus deliberating upon our fate, we were imploring the succour of +the Almighty with fervent and humble supplications, entreating him in the +midst of our sighs and tears that he would not suffer his own cause to +miscarry, and that, however it might please him to dispose of our +lives--which, we prayed, he would assist us to lay down with patience and +resignation worthy of the faith for which we were persecuted--he would +not permit our enemies to triumph over the truth. + +Thus we passed our days and nights in prayers, in affliction, and tears, +continually crowded with widows and orphans that subsisted upon our +charity and came to us for bread when we had not any for ourselves. + +While we were in this distress we received an account that the viceroy of +the Indies had fitted out a powerful fleet against the King of Mombaza, +who, having thrown off the authority of the Portuguese, had killed the +governor of the fortress, and had since committed many acts of cruelty. +The same fleet, as we were informed, after the King of Mombaza was +reduced, was to burn and ruin Zeila, in revenge of the death of two +Portuguese Jesuits who were killed by the King in the year 1604. As +Zeila was not far from the frontiers of Abyssinia, they imagined that +they already saw the Portuguese invading their country. + +The viceroy of Tigre had inquired of me a few days before how many men +one India ship carried, and being told that the complement of some was a +thousand men, he compared that answer with the report then spread over +all the country, that there were eighteen Portuguese vessels on the coast +of Adel, and concluded that they were manned by an army of eighteen +thousand men; then considering what had been achieved by four hundred, +under the command of Don Christopher de Gama, he thought Abyssinia +already ravaged, or subjected to the King of Portugal. Many declared +themselves of his opinion, and the court took its measures with respect +to us from these uncertain and ungrounded rumours. Some were so +infatuated with their apprehensions that they undertook to describe the +camp of the Portuguese, and affirmed that they had heard the report of +their cannons. + +All this contributed to exasperate the inhabitants, and reduced us often +to the point of being massacred. At length they came to a resolution of +giving us up to the Turks, assuring them that we were masters of a vast +treasure, in hope that after they had inflicted all kinds of tortures on +us, to make us confess where we had hid our gold, or what we had done +with it, they would at length kill us in rage for the disappointment. Nor +was this their only view, for they believed that the Turks would, by +killing us, kindle such an irreconcilable hatred between themselves and +our nation as would make it necessary for them to keep us out of the Red +Sea, of which they are entirely masters: so that their determination was +as politic as cruel. Some pretend that the Turks were engaged to put us +to death as soon as we were in their power. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +The author relieves the patriarch and missionaries, and supports them. He +escapes several snares laid for him by the viceroy of Tigre. They put +themselves under the protection of the Prince of Bar. + +Having concluded this negotiation, they drove us out of our houses, and +robbed us of everything that was worth carrying away; and, not content +with that, informed some banditti that were then in those parts of the +road we were to travel through, so that the patriarch and some +missionaries were attacked in a desert by these rovers, with their +captain at their head, who pillaged his library, his ornaments, and what +little baggage the missionaries had left, and might have gone away +without resistance or interruption had they satisfied themselves with +only robbing; but when they began to fall upon the missionaries and their +companions, our countrymen, finding that their lives could only be +preserved by their courage, charged their enemies with such vigour that +they killed their chief and forced the rest to a precipitate flight. But +these rovers, being acquainted with the country, harassed the little +caravan till it was past the borders. + +Our fathers then imagined they had nothing more to fear, but too soon +were convinced of their error, for they found the whole country turned +against them, and met everywhere new enemies to contend with and new +dangers to surmount. Being not far distant from Fremona, where I +resided, they sent to me for succour. I was better informed of the +distress they were in than themselves, having been told that a numerous +body of Abyssins had posted themselves in a narrow pass with an intent to +surround and destroy them; therefore, without long deliberation, I +assembled my friends, both Portuguese and Abyssins, to the number of +fourscore, and went to their rescue, carrying with me provisions and +refreshments, of which I knew they were in great need. These glorious +confessors I met as they were just entering the pass designed for the +place of their destruction, and doubly preserved them from famine and the +sword. A grateful sense of their deliverance made them receive me as a +guardian angel. We went together to Fremona, and being in all a +patriarch, a bishop, eighteen Jesuits, and four hundred Portuguese whom I +supplied with necessaries, though the revenues of our house were lost, +and though the country was disaffected to us, in the worst season of the +year. We were obliged for the relief of the poor and our own subsistence +to sell our ornaments and chalices, which we first broke in pieces, that +the people might not have the pleasure of ridiculing our mysteries by +profaning the vessels made use of in the celebration of them, for they +now would gladly treat with the highest indignities what they had a year +before looked upon with veneration. + +Amidst all these perplexities the viceroy did not fail to visit us, and +make us great offers of service in expectation of a large present. We +were in a situation in which it was very difficult to act properly; we +knew too well the ill intentions of the viceroy, but durst not complain, +or give him any reason to imagine that we knew them. We longed to +retreat out of his power, or at least to send one of our company to the +Indies with an account of persecution we suffered, and could without his +leave neither do one nor the other. + +When it was determined that one should be sent to the Indies, I was at +first singled out for the journey, and it was intended that I should +represent at Goa, at Rome, and at Madrid the distresses and necessities +of the mission of AEthiopia; but the fathers reflecting afterwards that I +best understood the Abyssinian language, and was most acquainted with the +customs of the country, altered their opinions, and, continuing me in +AEthiopia either to perish with them or preserve them, deputed four other +Jesuits, who in a short time set out on their way to the Indies. + +About this time I was sent for to the viceroy's camp to confess a +criminal, who, though falsely, was believed a Catholic, to whom, after a +proper exhortation, I was going to pronounce the form of absolution, when +those that waited to execute him told him aloud that if he expected to +save his life by professing himself a Catholic, he would find himself +deceived, and that he had nothing to do but prepare himself for death. +The unhappy criminal had no sooner heard this than, rising up, he +declared his resolution to die in the religion of his country, and being +delivered up to his prosecutors was immediately dispatched with their +lances. + +The chief reason of calling me was not that I might hear this confession: +the viceroy had another design of seizing my person, expecting that +either the Jesuits or Portuguese would buy my liberty with a large +ransom, or that he might exchange me for his father, who was kept +prisoner by a revolted prince. That prince would have been no loser by +the exchange, for so much was I hated by the Abyssinian monks that they +would have thought no expense too great to have gotten me into their +hands, that they might have glutted their revenge by putting me to the +most painful death they could have invented. Happily I found means to +retire out of this dangerous place, and was followed by the viceroy +almost to Fremona, who, being disappointed, desired me either to visit +him at his camp, or appoint a place where we might confer. I made many +excuses, but at length agreed to meet him at a place near Fremona, +bringing each of us only three companions. I did not doubt but he would +bring more, and so he did, but found that I was upon my guard, and that +my company increased in proportion to his. My friends were resolute +Portuguese, who were determined to give him no quarter if he made any +attempt upon my liberty. Finding himself once more countermined, he +returned ashamed to his camp, where a month after, being accused of a +confederacy in the revolt of that prince who kept his father prisoner, he +was arrested, and carried in chains to the Emperor. + +The time now approaching in which we were to be delivered to the Turks, +we had none but God to apply to for relief: all the measures we could +think of were equally dangerous. Resolving, nevertheless, to seek some +retreat where we might hide ourselves either all together or separately, +we determined at last to put ourselves under the protection of the Prince +John Akay, who had defended himself a long time in the province of Bar +against the power of Abyssinia. + +After I had concluded a treaty with this prince, the patriarch and all +the fathers put themselves into his hands, and being received with all +imaginable kindness and civility, were conducted with a guard to Adicota, +a rock excessively steep, about nine miles from his place of residence. +The event was not agreeable to the happy beginning of our negotiation, +for we soon began to find that our habitation was not likely to be very +pleasant. We were surrounded with Mahometans, or Christians who were +inveterate enemies to the Catholic faith, and were obliged to act with +the utmost caution. Notwithstanding these inconveniences we were pleased +with the present tranquillity we enjoyed, and lived contentedly on +lentils and a little corn that we had; and I, after we had sold all our +goods, resolved to turn physician, and was soon able to support myself by +my practice. + +I was once consulted by a man troubled with asthma, who presented me with +two alquieres--that is, about twenty-eight pounds weight--of corn and a +sheep. The advice I gave him, after having turned over my books, was to +drink goats' urine every morning; I know not whether he found any benefit +by following my prescription, for I never saw him after. + +Being under a necessity of obeying our acoba, or protector, we changed +our place of abode as often as he desired it, though not without great +inconveniences, from the excessive heat of the weather and the faintness +which our strict observation of the fasts and austerities of Lent, as it +is kept in this country, had brought upon us. At length, wearied with +removing so often, and finding that the last place assigned for our abode +was always the worst, we agreed that I should go to our sovereign and +complain. + +I found him entirely taken up with the imagination of a prodigious +treasure, affirmed by the monks to be hidden under a mountain. He was +told that his predecessors had been hindered from discovering it by the +demon that guarded it, but that the demon was now at a great distance +from his charge, and was grown blind and lame; that having lost his son, +and being without any children except a daughter that was ugly and +unhealthy, he was under great affliction, and entirely neglected the care +of his treasure; that if he should come, they could call one of their +ancient brothers to their assistance, who, being a man of a most holy +life, would be able to prevent his making any resistance. To all these +stories the prince listened with unthinking credulity. The monks, +encouraged by this, fell to the business, and brought a man above a +hundred years old, whom, because he could not support himself on +horseback, they had tied on the beast, and covered him with black wool. +He was followed by a black cow (designed for a sacrifice to the demon of +the place), and by some monks that carried mead, beer, and parched corn, +to complete the offering. + +No sooner were they arrived at the foot of the mountain than every one +began to work: bags were brought from all parts to convey away the +millions which each imagined would be his share. The Xumo, who +superintended the work, would not allow any one to come near the +labourers, but stood by, attended by the old monk, who almost sang +himself to death. At length, having removed a vast quantity of earth and +stones, they discovered some holes made by rats or moles, at sight of +which a shout of joy ran through the whole troop: the cow was brought and +sacrificed immediately, and some pieces of flesh were thrown into these +holes. Animated now with assurance of success, they lose no time: every +one redoubles his endeavours, and the heat, though intolerable, was less +powerful than the hopes they had conceived. At length some, not so +patient as the rest, were weary, and desisted. The work now grew more +difficult; they found nothing but rock, yet continued to toil on, till +the prince, having lost all temper, began to inquire with some passion +when he should have a sight of this treasure, and after having been some +time amused with many promises by the monks, was told that he had not +faith enough to be favoured with the discovery. + +All this I saw myself, and could not forbear endeavouring to convince our +protector how much he was imposed upon: he was not long before he was +satisfied that he had been too credulous, for all those that had so +industriously searched after this imaginary wealth, within five hours +left the work in despair, and I continued almost alone with the prince. + +Imagining no time more proper to make the proposal I was sent with than +while his passion was still hot against the monks, I presented him with +two ounces of gold and two plates of silver, with some other things of +small value, and was so successful that he gratified me in all my +requests, and gave us leave to return to Adicora, where we were so +fortunate to find our huts yet uninjured and entire. + +About this time the fathers who had stayed behind at Fremona arrived with +the new viceroy, and an officer fierce in the defence of his own +religion, who had particular orders to deliver all the Jesuits up to the +Turks, except me, whom the Emperor was resolved to have in his own hands, +alive or dead. We had received some notice of this resolution from our +friends at court, and were likewise informed that the Emperor, their +master, had been persuaded that my design was to procure assistance from +the Indies, and that I should certainly return at the head of an army. +The patriarch's advice upon this emergency was that I should retire into +the woods, and by some other road join the nine Jesuits who were gone +towards Mazna. I could think of no better expedient, and therefore went +away in the night between the 23rd and 24th of April with my comrade, an +old man, very infirm and very timorous. We crossed woods never crossed, +I believe, by any before: the darkness of the night and the thickness of +the shade spread a kind of horror round us; our gloomy journey was still +more incommoded by the brambles and thorns, which tore our hands; amidst +all these difficulties I applied myself to the Almighty, praying him to +preserve us from those dangers which we endeavoured to avoid, and to +deliver us from those to which our flight exposed us. Thus we travelled +all night, till eight next morning, without taking either rest or food; +then, imagining ourselves secure, we made us some cakes of barley-meal +and water, which we thought a feast. + +We had a dispute with our guides, who though they had bargained to +conduct us for an ounce of gold, yet when they saw us so entangled in the +intricacies of the wood that we could not possibly get out without their +direction, demanded seven ounces of gold, a mule, and a little tent which +we had; after a long dispute we were forced to come to their terms. We +continued to travel all night, and to hide ourselves in the woods all +day: and here it was that we met the three hundred elephants I spoke of +before. We made long marches, travelling without any halt from four in +the afternoon to eight in the morning. + +Arriving at a valley where travellers seldom escape being plundered, we +were obliged to double our pace, and were so happy as to pass it without +meeting with any misfortune, except that we heard a bird sing on our left +hand--a certain presage among these people of some great calamity at +hand. As there is no reasoning them out of superstition, I knew no way +of encouraging them to go forward but what I had already made use of on +the same occasion, assuring them that I heard one at the same time on the +right. They were happily so credulous as to take my word, and we went on +till we came to a well, where we stayed awhile to refresh ourselves. +Setting out again in the evening, we passed so near a village where these +robbers had retreated that the dogs barked after us. Next morning we +joined the fathers, who waited for us. After we had rested ourselves +some time in that mountain, we resolved to separate and go two and two, +to seek for a more convenient place where we might hide ourselves. We +had not gone far before we were surrounded by a troop of robbers, with +whom, by the interest of some of the natives who had joined themselves to +our caravan, we came to a composition, giving them part of our goods to +permit us to carry away the rest; and after this troublesome adventure +arrived at a place something more commodious than that which we had +quitted, where we met with bread, but of so pernicious a quality that, +after having ate it, we were intoxicated to so great a degree that one of +my friends, seeing me so disordered, congratulated my good fortune of +having met with such good wine, and was surprised when I gave him an +account of the whole affair. He then offered me some curdled milk, very +sour, with barley-meal, which we boiled, and thought it the best +entertainment we had met with a long time. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +They are betrayed into the hands of the Turks; are detained awhile at +Mazna; are threatened by the Bassa of Suaquem. They agree for their +ransom, and are part of them dismissed. + +Some time after, we received news that we should prepare ourselves to +serve the Turks--a message which filled us with surprise, it having never +been known that one of these lords had ever abandoned any whom he had +taken under his protection; and it is, on the contrary, one of the +highest points of honour amongst them to risk their fortunes and their +lives in the defence of their dependants who have implored their +protection. But neither law nor justice was of any advantage to us, and +the customs of the country were doomed to be broken when they would have +contributed to our security. + +We were obliged to march in the extremity of the hot season, and had +certainly perished by the fatigue had we not entered the woods, which +shaded us from the scorching sun. The day before our arrival at the +place where we were to be delivered to the Turks, we met with five +elephants, that pursued us, and if they could have come to us would have +prevented the miseries we afterwards endured, but God had decreed +otherwise. + +On the morrow we came to the banks of a river, where we found fourscore +Turks that waited for us, armed with muskets. They let us rest awhile, +and then put us into the hands of our new masters, who, setting us upon +camels, conducted us to Mazna. Their commander, seeming to be touched +with our misfortunes, treated us with much gentleness and humanity; he +offered us coffee, which we drank, but with little relish. We came next +day to Mazna, in so wretched a condition that we were not surprised at +being hooted by the boys, but thought ourselves well used that they threw +no stones at us. + +As soon as we were brought hither, all we had was taken from us, and we +were carried to the governor, who is placed there by the Bassa of +Suaquem. Having been told by the Abyssins that we had carried all the +gold out of AEthiopia, they searched us with great exactness, but found +nothing except two chalices, and some relics of so little value that we +redeemed them for six sequins. As I had given them my chalice upon their +first demand, they did not search me, but gave us to understand that they +expected to find something of greater value, which either we must have +hidden or the Abyssins must have imposed on them. They left us the rest +of the day at a gentleman's house, who was our friend, from whence the +next day they fetched us to transport us to the island, where they put us +into a kind of prison, with a view of terrifying us into a confession of +the place where we had hid our gold, in which, however, they found +themselves deceived. + +But I had here another affair upon my hands which was near costing me +dear. My servant had been taken from me and left at Mazna, to be sold to +the Arabs. Being advertised by him of the danger he was in, I laid claim +to him, without knowing the difficulties which this way of proceeding +would bring upon me. The governor sent me word that my servant should be +restored to me upon payment of sixty piastres; and being answered by me +that I had not a penny for myself, and therefore could not pay sixty +piastres to redeem my servant, he informed me by a renegade Jew, who +negotiated the whole affair, that either I must produce the money or +receive a hundred blows of the battoon. Knowing that those orders are +without appeal, and always punctually executed, I prepared myself to +receive the correction I was threatened with, but unexpectedly found the +people so charitable as to lend me the money. By several other threats +of the same kind they drew from us about six hundred crowns. + +On the 24th of June we embarked in two galleys for Suaquem, where the +bassa resided. His brother, who was his deputy at Mazna, made us promise +before we went that we would not mention the money he had squeezed from +us. The season was not very proper for sailing, and our provisions were +but short. In a little time we began to feel the want of better stores, +and thought ourselves happy in meeting with a gelve, which, though small, +was a much better sailer than our vessel, in which I was sent to Suaquem +to procure camels and provisions. I was not much at my ease, alone among +six Mahometans, and could not help apprehending that some zealous pilgrim +of Mecca might lay hold on this opportunity, in the heat of his devotion, +of sacrificing me to his prophet. + +These apprehensions were without ground. I contracted an acquaintance, +which was soon improved into a friendship, with these people; they +offered me part of their provisions, and I gave them some of mine. As we +were in a place abounding with oysters--some of which were large and good +to eat, others more smooth and shining, in which pearls are found--they +gave me some of those they gathered; but whether it happened by trifling +our time away in oyster-catching, or whether the wind was not favourable, +we came to Suaquem later than the vessel I had left, in which were seven +of my companions. + +As they had first landed, they had suffered the first transports of the +bassa's passion, who was a violent, tyrannical man, and would have killed +his own brother for the least advantage--a temper which made him fly into +the utmost rage at seeing us poor, tattered, and almost naked; he treated +us with the most opprobrious language, and threatened to cut off our +heads. We comforted ourselves in this condition, hoping that all our +sufferings would end in shedding our blood for the name of Jesus Christ. +We knew that the bassa had often made a public declaration before our +arrival that he should die contented if he could have the pleasure of +killing us all with his own hand. This violent resolution was not +lasting; his zeal gave way to his avarice, and he could not think of +losing so large a sum as he knew he might expect for our ransom: he +therefore sent us word that it was in our choice either to die, or to pay +him thirty thousand crowns, and demanded to know our determination. + +We knew that his ardent thirst of our blood was now cold, that time and +calm reflection and the advice of his friends had all conspired to bring +him to a milder temper, and therefore willingly began to treat with him. +I told the messenger, being deputed by the rest to manage the affair, +that he could not but observe the wretched condition we were in, that we +had neither money nor revenues, that what little we had was already taken +from us, and that therefore all we could promise was to set a collection +on foot, not much doubting but that our brethren would afford us such +assistance as might enable us to make him a handsome present according to +custom. + +This answer was not at all agreeable to the bassa, who returned an answer +that he would be satisfied with twenty thousand crowns, provided we paid +them on the spot, or gave him good securities for the payment. To this +we could only repeat what we had said before: he then proposed to abate +five thousand of his last demand, assuring us that unless we came to some +agreement, there was no torment so cruel but we should suffer it, and +talked of nothing but impaling and flaying us alive; the terror of these +threatenings was much increased by his domestics, who told us of many of +his cruelties. This is certain, that some time before, he had used some +poor pagan merchants in that manner, and had caused the executioner to +begin to flay them, when some Brahmin, touched with compassion, +generously contributed the sum demanded for their ransom. We had no +reason to hope for so much kindness, and, having nothing of our own, +could promise no certain sum. + +At length some of his favourites whom he most confided in, knowing his +cruelty and our inability to pay what he demanded, and apprehending that, +if he should put us to the death he threatened, they should soon see the +fleets of Portugal in the Red Sea, laying their towns in ashes to revenge +it, endeavoured to soften his passion and preserve our lives, offering to +advance the sum we should agree for, without any other security than our +words. By this assistance, after many interviews with the bassa's +agents, we agreed to pay four thousand three hundred crowns, which were +accepted on condition that they should be paid down, and we should go on +board within two hours: but, changing his resolution on a sudden, he sent +us word by his treasurer that two of the most considerable among us +should stay behind for security, while the rest went to procure the money +they promised. They kept the patriarch and two more fathers, one of +which was above fourscore years old, in whose place I chose to remain +prisoner, and represented to the bassa that, being worn out with age, he +perhaps might die in his hands, which would lose the part of the ransom +which was due on his account; that therefore it would be better to choose +a younger in his place, offering to stay myself with him, that the good +old man might be set at liberty. + +The bassa agreed to another Jesuit, and it pleased Heaven that the lot +fell upon Father Francis Marquez. I imagined that I might with the same +ease get the patriarch out of his hand, but no sooner had I begun to +speak but the anger flashed in his eyes, and his look was sufficient to +make me stop and despair of success. We parted immediately, leaving the +patriarch and two fathers in prison, whom we embraced with tears, and +went to take up our lodging on board the vessel. + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Their treatment on board the vessel. Their reception at Diou. The +author applies to the viceroy for assistance, but without success; he is +sent to solicit in Europe. + +Our condition here was not much better than that of the illustrious +captives whom we left behind. We were in an Arabian ship, with a crew of +pilgrims of Mecca, with whom it was a point of religion to insult us. We +were lodged upon the deck, exposed to all the injuries of the weather, +nor was there the meanest workman or sailor who did not either kick or +strike us. When we went first on board, I perceived a humour in my +finger, which I neglected at first, till it spread over my hand and +swelled up my arm, afflicting me with the most horrid torture. There was +neither surgeon nor medicines to be had, nor could I procure anything to +ease my pain but a little oil, with which I anointed my arm, and in time +found some relief. The weather was very bad, and the wind almost always +against us, and, to increase our perplexity, the whole crew, though +Moors, were in the greatest apprehension of meeting any of those vessels +which the Turks maintain in the strait of Babelmandel; the ground of +their fear was that the captain had neglected the last year to touch at +Moca, though he had promised. Thus we were in danger of falling into a +captivity perhaps more severe than that we had just escaped from. While +we were wholly engaged with these apprehensions, we discovered a Turkish +ship and galley were come upon us. It was almost calm--at least, there +was not wind enough to give us any prospect of escaping--so that when the +galley came up to us, we thought ourselves lost without remedy, and had +probably fallen into their hands had not a breeze sprung up just in the +instant of danger, which carried us down the channel between the mainland +and the isle of Babelmandel. I have already said that this passage is +difficult and dangerous, which, nevertheless, we passed in the night, +without knowing what course we held, and were transported at finding +ourselves next morning out of the Red Sea and half a league from +Babelmandel. The currents are here so violent that they carried us +against our will to Cape Guardafui, where we sent our boats ashore for +fresh water, which we began to be in great want of. The captain refused +to give us any when we desired some, and treated us with great insolence, +till, coming near the land, I spoke to him in a tone more lofty and +resolute than I had ever done, and gave him to understand that when he +touched at Diou he might have occasion for our interest. This had some +effect upon him, and procured us a greater degree of civility than we had +met with before. + +At length after forty days' sailing we landed at Diou, where we were met +by the whole city, it being reported that the patriarch was one of our +number; for there was not a gentleman who was not impatient to have the +pleasure of beholding that good man, now made famous by his labours and +sufferings. It is not in my power to represent the different passions +they were affected with at seeing us pale, meagre, without clothes--in a +word, almost naked and almost dead with fatigue and ill-usage. They +could not behold us in that miserable condition without reflecting on the +hardships we had undergone, and our brethren then underwent, in Suaquem +and Abyssinia. Amidst their thanks to God for our deliverance, they +could not help lamenting the condition of the patriarch and the other +missionaries who were in chains, or, at least, in the hands of professed +enemies to our holy religion. All this did not hinder them from +testifying in the most obliging manner their joy for our deliverance, and +paying such honours as surprised the Moors, and made them repent in a +moment of the ill-treatment they had shown us on board. One who had +discovered somewhat more humanity than the rest thought himself +sufficiently honoured when I took him by the hand and presented him to +the chief officer of the custom house, who promised to do all the favours +that were in his power. + +When we passed by in sight of the fort, they gave us three salutes with +their cannon, an honour only paid to generals. The chief men of the +city, who waited for us on the shore, accompanied us through a crowd of +people, whom curiosity had drawn from all parts of our college. Though +our place of residence at Diou is one of the most beautiful in all the +Indies, we stayed there only a few days, and as soon as we had recovered +our fatigues went on board the ships that were appointed to convoy the +northern fleet. I was in the admiral's. We arrived at Goa in some +vessels bound for Camberia: here we lost a good old Abyssin convert, a +man much valued in his order, and who was actually prior of his convent +when he left Abyssinia, choosing rather to forsake all for religion than +to leave the way of salvation, which God had so mercifully favoured him +with the knowledge of. + +We continued our voyage, and almost without stopping sailed by Surate and +Damam, where the rector of the college came to see us, but so sea-sick +that the interview was without any satisfaction on either side. Then +landing at Bazaim we were received by our fathers with their accustomed +charity, and nothing was thought of but how to put the unpleasing +remembrance of our past labours out of our minds. Finding here an order +of the Father Provineta to forbid those who returned from the missions to +go any farther, it was thought necessary to send an agent to Goa with an +account of the revolutions that had happened in Abyssinia and of the +imprisonment of the patriarch. For this commission I was made choice of; +and, I know not by what hidden degree of Providence, almost all affairs, +whatever the success of them was, were transacted by me. All the coasts +were beset by Dutch cruisers, which made it difficult to sail without +running the hazard of being taken. I went therefore by land from Bazaim +to Tana, where we had another college, and from thence to our house of +Chaul. Here I hired a narrow light vessel, and, placing eighteen oars on +a side, went close by the shore from Chaul to Goa, almost eighty leagues. +We were often in danger of being taken, and particularly when we touched +at Dabal, where a cruiser blocked up one of the channels through which +ships usually sail; but our vessel requiring no great depth of water, and +the sea running high, we went through the little channel, and fortunately +escaped the cruiser. Though we were yet far from Goa, we expected to +arrive there on the next morning, and rowed forward with all the +diligence we could. The sea was calm and delightful, and our minds were +at ease, for we imagined ourselves past danger; but soon found we had +flattered ourselves too soon with security, for we came within sight of +several barks of Malabar, which had been hid behind a point of land which +we were going to double. Here we had been inevitably taken had not a man +called to us from the shore and informed us that among those +fishing-boats there, some crusiers would make us a prize. We rewarded +our kind informer for the service he had done us, and lay by till night +came to shelter us from our enemies. Then putting out our oars we landed +at Goa next morning about ten, and were received at our college. It +being there a festival day, each had something extraordinary allowed him; +the choicest part of our entertainments was two pilchers, which were +admired because they came from Portugal. + +The quiet I began to enjoy did not make me lose the remembrance of my +brethren whom I had left languishing among the rocks of Abyssinia, or +groaning in the prisons of Suaquem, whom since I could not set at liberty +without the viceroy's assistance, I went to implore it, and did not fail +to make use of every motive which could have any influence. + +I described in the most pathetic manner I could the miserable state to +which the Catholic religion was reduced in a country where it had lately +flourished so much by the labours of the Portuguese; I gave him in the +strongest terms a representation of all that we had suffered since the +death of Sultan Segued, how we had been driven out of Abyssinia, how many +times they had attempted to take away our lives, in what manner we had +been betrayed and given up to the Turks, the menaces we had been +terrified with, the insults we had endured; I laid before him the danger +the patriarch was in of being either impaled or flayed alive; the +cruelty, insolence and avarice of the Bassa of Suaquem, and the +persecution that the Catholics suffered in AEthiopia. I exhorted, I +implored him by everything I thought might move him, to make some attempt +for the preservation of those who had voluntarily sacrificed their lives +for the sake of God. I made it appear with how much ease the Turks might +be driven out of the Red Sea, and the Portuguese enjoy all the trade of +those countries. I informed him of the navigation of that sea, and the +situation of its ports; told him which it would be necessary to make +ourselves masters of first, that we might upon any unfortunate encounter +retreat to them. I cannot deny that some degree of resentment might +appear in my discourse; for, though revenge be prohibited to Christians, +I should not have been displeased to have had the Bassa of Suaquem and +his brother in my hands, that I might have reproached them with the ill- +treatment we had met with from them. This was the reason of my advising +to make the first attack upon Mazna, to drive the Turks from thence, to +build a citadel, and garrison it with Portuguese. + +The viceroy listened with great attention to all I had to say, gave me a +long audience, and asked me many questions. He was well pleased with the +design of sending a fleet into that sea, and, to give a greater +reputation to the enterprise, proposed making his son commander-in-chief, +but could by no means be brought to think of fixing garrisons and +building fortresses there; all he intended was to plunder all they could, +and lay the towns in ashes. + +I left no art of persuasion untried to convince him that such a +resolution would injure the interests of Christianity, that to enter the +Red Sea only to ravage the coasts would so enrage the Turks that they +would certainly massacre all the Christian captives, and for ever shut +the passage into Abyssinia, and hinder all communication with that +empire. It was my opinion that the Portuguese should first establish +themselves at Mazna, and that a hundred of them would be sufficient to +keep the fort that should be built. He made an offer of only fifty, and +proposed that we should collect those few Portuguese who were scattered +over Abyssinia. These measures I could not approve. + +At length, when it appeared that the viceroy had neither forces nor +authority sufficient for this undertaking, it was agreed that I should go +immediately into Europe, and represent at Rome and Madrid the miserable +condition of the missions of Abyssinia. The viceroy promised that if I +could procure any assistance, he would command in person the fleet and +forces raised for the expedition, assuring that he thought he could not +employ his life better than in a war so holy, and of so great an +importance, to the propagation of the Catholic faith. + +Encouraged by this discourse of the viceroy, I immediately prepared +myself for a voyage to Lisbon, not doubting to obtain upon the least +solicitation everything that was necessary to re-establish our mission. + +Never had any man a voyage so troublesome as mine, or interrupted with +such variety of unhappy accidents; I was shipwrecked on the coast of +Natal, I was taken by the Hollanders, and it is not easy to mention the +danger which I was exposed to both by land and sea before I arrived at +Portugal. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA*** + + +******* This file should be named 1436.txt or 1436.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/1436 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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After passing through +the studies by which Jesuits were trained for missionary work, which +included special attention to the arts of speaking and writing, +Father Lobo was sent as a missionary to India at the age of twenty- +eight, in the year 1621. He reached Goa, as his book tells, in +1622, and was in 1624, at the age of thirty-one, told off as one of +the missionaries to be employed in the conversion of the +Abyssinians. They were to be converted, from a form of Christianity +peculiar to themselves, to orthodox Catholicism. The Abyssinian +Emperor Segued was protector of the enterprise, of which we have +here the story told. + +Father Lobo was nine years in Abyssinia, from the age of thirty-one +to the age of forty, and this was the adventurous time of his life. +The death of the Emperor Segued put an end to the protection that +had given the devoted missionaries, in the midst of dangers, a +precarious hold upon their work. When he and his comrades fell into +the hands of the Turks at Massowah, his vigour of body and mind, his +readiness of resource, and his fidelity, marked him out as the one +to be sent to the headquarters in India to secure the payment of a +ransom for his companions. He obtained the ransom, and desired also +to obtain from the Portuguese Viceroy in India armed force to +maintain the missionaries in the position they had so far won. But +the Civil power was deaf to his pleading. He removed the appeal to +Lisbon, and after narrowly escaping on the way from a shipwreck, and +after having been captured by pirates, he reached Lisbon, and sought +still to obtain means of overawing the force hostile to the work of +the Jesuits in Abyssinia. The Princess Margaret gave friendly +hearing, but sent him on to persuade, if he could, the King of +Spain; and failing at Madrid, he went to Rome and tried the Pope. +He was chosen to go to the Pope, said the Patriarch Alfonso Mendez, +because, of all the brethren at Goa, the 'Pater Hieronymus Lupus' +(Lobo translated into Wolf) was the most ingenious and learned in +all sciences, with a mind most generous in its desire to conquer +difficulties, dexterous in management of business, and found most +able to make himself agreeable to those with whom there was business +to be done. The vigour with which he held by his purpose of +endeavouring in every possible way to bring the Christianity of +Abyssinia within the pale of the Catholic Church is in accordance +with the character that makes the centre of the story of this book. +Whimsical touches arise out of this strength of character and +readiness of resource, as when he tells of the taste of the +Abyssinians for raw cow's flesh, with a sauce high in royal +Abyssinian favour, made of the cow's gall and contents of its +entrails, of which, when he was pressed to partake, he could only +excuse himself and his brethren by suggesting that it was too good +for such humble missionaries. Out of distinguished respect for it, +they refrained from putting it into their mouths. + +Good Father Lobo gave up the desire of his heart, when it was proved +unattainable, and returned to India six years after the breaking up +of his work in Abyssinia, at the age of forty-seven. He came to be +head of the Provincials of the Jesuit settlement at Goa, and after +about ten more years of active duty in the East returned in 1658 to +Lisbon, when he died in the religious house of St. Roque in 1678, at +the age of eighty-five. A comrade of Father Lobo's, Baltazar +Tellez, said that Lobo had travelled thirty-eight thousand leagues +with no other object before him but the winning of more souls to +God. His years in Abyssinia stood out prominently to his mind among +all the years of his long life, and he wrote an account of them in +Portuguese, of which the manuscript is at Lisbon in the monastery of +St. Roque, where he closed his life. + +Of that manuscript, then and still unprinted (though use was made of +it by Baltazar Tellez in his History of 'Ethiopia-Coimbra,' 1660), +the Abbe Legrand, Prior of Neuville-les-Dames, and of Prevessin, +published a translation into French. The Abbe Legrand had been to +Lisbon as Secretary to the Abbe d'Estrees, Ambassador from France to +Portugal. The negotiations were so long continued that M. Legrand +was detained five years in Lisbon, and employed the time in +researches among documents illustrating the Portuguese possessions +in India and the East. He obtained many memoirs of great interest, +and published from one of them an account of Ceylon; but of all the +manuscripts he found none interested him so much as that of Father +Lobo. His translation was augmented with illustrative +dissertations, letters, and a memoir on the circumstances of the +death of M. du Roule. It filled two volumes, or 636 pages of forty +lines. This was published in 1728. It was on the 31st of October, +1728, that Samuel Johnson, aged nineteen, went to Pembroke College, +Oxford, and Legrand's 'Voyage Historique d'Abissinie du R. P. Jerome +Lobo, de la Compagnie de Jesus, Traduit du Portugais, continue et +augmente de plusieurs Dissertations, Lettres et Memoires,' was one +of the new books read by Johnson during his short period of college +life. In 1735, when Johnson's age was twenty-six, and the world +seemed to have shut against him every door of hope, Johnson stayed +for six months at Birmingham with his old schoolfellow Hector, who +was aiming at medical practice, and who lodged at the house of a +bookseller. Johnson spoke with interest of Father Lobo, whose book +he had read at Pembroke College. Mr. Warren, the bookseller, +thought it would be worth while to print a translation. Hector +joined in urging Johnson to undertake it, for a payment of five +guineas. Although nearly brought to a stop midway by hypochondriac +despondency, a little suggestion that the printers also were +stopped, and if they had not their work had not their pay, caused +Johnson to go on to the end. Legrand's book was reduced to a fifth +of its size by the omission of all that overlaid Father Lobo's +personal account of his adventures; and Johnson began work as a +writer with this translation, first published at Birmingham in 1735. +H.M. + + + +THE PREFACE + + + +The following relation is so curious and entertaining, and the +dissertations that accompany it so judicious and instructive, that +the translator is confident his attempt stands in need of no +apology, whatever censures may fall on the performance. + +The Portuguese traveller, contrary to the general vein of his +countrymen, has amused his reader with no romantic absurdities or +incredible fictions; whatever he relates, whether true or not, is at +least probable; and he who tells nothing exceeding the bounds of +probability has a right to demand that they should believe him who +cannot contradict him. + +He appears by his modest and unaffected narration to have described +things as he saw them, to have copied nature from the life, and to +have consulted his senses, not his imagination; he meets with no +basilisks that destroy with their eyes, his crocodiles devour their +prey without tears, and his cataracts fall from the rock without +deafening the neighbouring inhabitants. + +The reader will here find no regions cursed with irremediable +barrenness, or blessed with spontaneous fecundity, no perpetual +gloom or unceasing sunshine; nor are the nations here described +either devoid of all sense of humanity, or consummate in all private +and social virtues; here are no Hottentots without religion, polity, +or articulate language, no Chinese perfectly polite, and completely +skilled in all sciences: he will discover, what will always be +discovered by a diligent and impartial inquirer, that wherever human +nature is to be found there is a mixture of vice and virtue, a +contest of passion and reason, and that the Creator doth not appear +partial in his distributions, but has balanced in most countries +their particular inconveniences by particular favours. + +In his account of the mission, where his veracity is most to be +suspected, he neither exaggerates overmuch the merits of the +Jesuits, if we consider the partial regard paid by the Portuguese to +their countrymen, by the Jesuits to their society, and by the +Papists to their church, nor aggravates the vices of the Abyssins; +but if the reader will not be satisfied with a Popish account of a +Popish mission, he may have recourse to the history of the church of +Abyssinia, written by Dr. Geddes, in which he will find the actions +and sufferings of the missionaries placed in a different light, +though the same in which Mr. Le Grand, with all his zeal for the +Roman church, appears to have seen them. + +This learned dissertator, however valuable for his industry and +erudition, is yet more to be esteemed for having dared so freely in +the midst of France to declare his disapprobation of the Patriarch +Oviedo's sanguinary zeal, who was continually importuning the +Portuguese to beat up their drums for missionaries, who might preach +the gospel with swords in their hands, and propagate by desolation +and slaughter the true worship of the God of Peace. + +It is not easy to forbear reflecting with how little reason these +men profess themselves the followers of Jesus, who left this great +characteristic to His disciples, that they should be known by loving +one another, by universal and unbounded charity and benevolence. + +Let us suppose an inhabitant of some remote and superior region, yet +unskilled in the ways of men, having read and considered the +precepts of the gospel, and the example of our Saviour, to come down +in search of the true church: if he would not inquire after it +among the cruel, the insolent, and the oppressive; among those who +are continually grasping at dominion over souls as well as bodies; +among those who are employed in procuring to themselves impunity for +the most enormous villainies, and studying methods of destroying +their fellow-creatures, not for their crimes but their errors; if he +would not expect to meet benevolence, engage in massacres, or to +find mercy in a court of inquisition, he would not look for the true +church in the Church of Rome. + +Mr. Le Grand has given in one dissertation an example of great +moderation, in deviating from the temper of his religion, but in the +others has left proofs that learning and honesty are often too weak +to oppose prejudice. He has made no scruple of preferring the +testimony of Father du Bernat to the writings of all the Portuguese +Jesuits, to whom he allows great zeal, but little learning, without +giving any other reason than that his favourite was a Frenchman. +This is writing only to Frenchmen and to Papists: a Protestant +would be desirous to know why he must imagine that Father du Bernat +had a cooler head or more knowledge; and why one man whose account +is singular is not more likely to be mistaken than many agreeing in +the same account. + +If the Portuguese were biassed by any particular views, another bias +equally powerful may have deflected the Frenchman from the truth, +for they evidently write with contrary designs: the Portuguese, to +make their mission seem more necessary, endeavoured to place in the +strongest light the differences between the Abyssinian and Roman +Church; but the great Ludolfus, laying hold on the advantage, +reduced these later writers to prove their conformity. + +Upon the whole, the controversy seems of no great importance to +those who believe the Holy Scriptures sufficient to teach the way of +salvation, but of whatever moment it may be thought, there are not +proofs sufficient to decide it. + +His discourses on indifferent subjects will divert as well as +instruct, and if either in these, or in the relation of Father Lobo, +any argument shall appear unconvincing, or description obscure, they +are defects incident to all mankind, which, however, are not too +rashly to be imputed to the authors, being sometimes, perhaps, more +justly chargeable on the translator. + +In this translation, if it may be so called, great liberties have +been taken, which, whether justifiable or not, shall be fairly +confessed; and let the judicious part of mankind pardon or condemn +them. + +In the first part the greatest freedom has been used in reducing the +narration into a narrow compass, so that it is by no means a +translation but an epitome, in which, whether everything either +useful or entertaining be comprised, the compiler is least qualified +to determine. + +In the account of Abyssinia, and the continuation, the authors have +been followed with more exactness, and as few passages appeared +either insignificant or tedious, few have been either shortened or +omitted. + +The dissertations are the only part in which an exact translation +has been attempted, and even in those abstracts are sometimes given +instead of literal quotations, particularly in the first; and +sometimes other parts have been contracted. + +Several memorials and letters, which are printed at the end of the +dissertations to secure the credit of the foregoing narrative, are +entirely left out. + +It is hoped that, after this confession, whoever shall compare this +attempt with the original, if he shall find no proofs of fraud or +partiality, will candidly overlook any failure of judgment. + + + + +PART I - THE VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA + + + + +Chapter I + + + +The author arrives after some difficulties at Goa. Is chosen for +the Mission of Aethiopia. The fate of those Jesuits who went by +Zeila. The author arrives at the coast of Melinda. + + +I embarked in March, 1622, in the same fleet with the Count +Vidigueira, on whom the king had conferred the viceroyship of the +Indies, then vacant by the resignation of Alfonso Noronha, whose +unsuccessful voyage in the foregoing year had been the occasion of +the loss of Ormus, which being by the miscarriage of that fleet +deprived of the succours necessary for its defence, was taken by the +Persians and English. The beginning of this voyage was very +prosperous: we were neither annoyed with the diseases of the +climate nor distressed with bad weather, till we doubled the Cape of +Good Hope, which was about the end of May. Here began our +misfortunes; these coasts are remarkable for the many shipwrecks the +Portuguese have suffered. The sea is for the most part rough, and +the winds tempestuous; we had here our rigging somewhat damaged by a +storm of lightning, which when we had repaired, we sailed forward to +Mosambique, where we were to stay some time. When we came near that +coast, and began to rejoice at the prospect of ease and refreshment, +we were on the sudden alarmed with the sight of a squadron of ships, +of what nation we could not at first distinguish, but soon +discovered that they were three English and three Dutch, and were +preparing to attack us. I shall not trouble the reader with the +particulars of this fight, in which, though the English commander +ran himself aground, we lost three of our ships, and with great +difficulty escaped with the rest into the port of Mosambique. + +This place was able to afford us little consolation in our uneasy +circumstances; the arrival of our company almost caused a scarcity +of provisions. The heat in the day is intolerable, and the dews in +the night so unwholesome that it is almost certain death to go out +with one's head uncovered. Nothing can be a stronger proof of the +malignant quality of the air than that the rust will immediately +corrode both the iron and brass if they are not carefully covered +with straw. We stayed, however, in this place from the latter end +of July to the beginning of September, when having provided +ourselves with other vessels, we set out for Cochim, and landed +there after a very hazardous and difficult passage, made so partly +by the currents and storms which separated us from each other, and +partly by continual apprehensions of the English and Dutch, who were +cruising for us in the Indian seas. Here the viceroy and his +company were received with so much ceremony, as was rather +troublesome than pleasing to us who were fatigued with the labours +of the passage; and having stayed here some time, that the gentlemen +who attended the viceroy to Goa might fit out their vessels, we set +sail, and after having been detained some time at sea, by calms and +contrary winds, and somewhat harassed by the English and Dutch, who +were now increased to eleven ships of war, arrived at Goa, on +Saturday, the 16th of December, and the viceroy made his entry with +great magnificence. + +I lived here about a year, and completed my studies in divinity; in +which time some letters were received from the fathers in Aethiopia, +with an account that Sultan Segued, Emperor of Abyssinia, was +converted to the Church of Rome, that many of his subjects had +followed his example, and that there was a great want of +missionaries to improve these prosperous beginnings. Everybody was +very desirous of seconding the zeal of our fathers, and of sending +them the assistance they requested; to which we were the more +encouraged, because the emperor's letters informed our provincial +that we might easily enter his dominions by the way of Dancala, but +unhappily, the secretary wrote Zeila for Dancala, which cost two of +our fathers their lives. + +We were, however, notwithstanding the assurances given us by the +emperor, sufficiently apprised of the danger which we were exposed +to in this expedition, whether we went by sea or land. By sea, we +foresaw the hazard we run of falling into the hands of the Turks, +amongst whom we should lose, if not our lives, at least our liberty, +and be for ever prevented from reaching the court of Aethiopia. +Upon this consideration our superiors divided the eight Jesuits +chosen for this mission into two companies. Four they sent by sea +and four by land; I was of the latter number. The four first were +the more fortunate, who though they were detained some time by the +Turkish bassa, were dismissed at the request of the emperor, who +sent him a zebra, or wild ass, a creature of large size and +admirable beauty. + +As for us, who were to go by Zeila, we had still greater +difficulties to struggle with: we were entirely strangers to the +ways we were to take, to the manners, and even to the names of the +nations through which we were to pass. Our chief desire was to +discover some new road by which we might avoid having anything to do +with the Turks. Among great numbers whom we consulted on this +occasion, we were informed by some that we might go through Melinda. +These men painted that hideous wilderness in charming colours, told +us that we should find a country watered with navigable rivers, and +inhabited by a people that would either inform us of the way, or +accompany us in it. These reports charmed us, because they +flattered our desires; but our superiors finding nothing in all this +talk that could be depended on, were in suspense what directions to +give us, till my companion and I upon this reflection, that since +all the ways were equally new to us, we had nothing to do but to +resign ourselves to the Providence of God, asked and obtained the +permission of our superiors to attempt the road through Melinda. So +of we who went by land, two took the way of Zeila, and my companion +and I that of Melinda. + +Those who were appointed for Zeila embarked in a vessel that was +going to Caxume, where they were well received by the king, and +accommodated with a ship to carry them to Zeila; they were there +treated by the check with the same civility which they had met with +at Caxume. But the king being informed of their arrival, ordered +them to be conveyed to his court at Auxa, to which place they were +scarce come before they were thrown by the king's command into a +dark and dismal dungeon, where there is hardly any sort of cruelty +that was not exercised upon them. The Emperor of Abyssinia +endeavoured by large offers to obtain their liberty, but his kind +offices had no other effect than to heighten the rage of the king of +Zeila. This prince, besides his ill will to Sultan Segued, which +was kept up by some malcontents among the Abyssin nobility, who, +provoked at the conversion of their master, were plotting a revolt, +entertained an inveterate hatred against the Portuguese for the +death of his grandfather, who had been killed many years before, +which he swore the blood of the Jesuits should repay. So after they +had languished for some time in prison their heads were struck off. +A fate which had been likewise our own, had not God reserved us for +longer labours! + +Having provided everything necessary for our journey, such as +Arabian habits, and red caps, calicoes, and other trifles to make +presents of to the inhabitants, and taking leave of our friends, as +men going to a speedy death, for we were not insensible of the +dangers we were likely to encounter, amongst horrid deserts, +impassable mountains, and barbarous nations, we left Goa on the 26th +day of January in the year 1624, in a Portuguese galliot that was +ordered to set us ashore at Pate, where we landed without any +disaster in eleven days, together with a young Abyssin, whom we made +use of as our interpreter. While we stayed here we were given to +understand that those who had been pleased at Goa to give us +directions in relation to our journey had done nothing but tell us +lies. That the people were savage, that they had indeed begun to +treat with the Portuguese, but it was only from fear, that otherwise +they were a barbarous nation, who finding themselves too much +crowded in their own country, had extended themselves to the sea- +shore; that they ravished the country and laid everything waste +where they came, that they were man-eaters, and were on that account +dreadful in all those parts. My companion and I being undeceived by +this terrible relation, thought it would be the highest imprudence +to expose ourselves both together to a death almost certain and +unprofitable, and agreed that I should go with our Abyssin and a +Portuguese to observe the country; that if I should prove so happy +as to escape being killed by the inhabitants, and to discover a way, +I should either return, or send back the Abyssin or Portuguese. +Having fixed upon this, I hired a little bark to Jubo, a place about +forty leagues distant from Pate, on board which I put some +provisions, together with my sacerdotal vestments, and all that was +necessary for saying mass: in this vessel we reached the coast, +which we found inhabited by several nations: each nation is subject +to its own king; these petty monarchies are so numerous, that I +counted at least ten in less than four leagues. + + + +Chapter II + + + +The author lands: The difficulty of his journey. An account of the +Galles, and of the author's reception at the king's tent; Their +manner of swearing, and of letting blood. The author returns to the +Indies, and finds the patriarch of Aethiopia. + + +On this coast we landed, with an intention of travelling on foot to +Jubo, a journey of much greater length and difficulty than we +imagined. We durst not go far from our bark, and therefore were +obliged to a toilsome march along the windings of the shore, +sometimes clambering up rocks, and sometimes wading through the +sands, so that we were every moment in the utmost danger of falling +from the one, or sinking in the other. Our lodging was either in +the rocks or on the sands, and even that incommoded by continual +apprehensions of being devoured by lions and tigers. Amidst all +these calamities our provisions failed us; we had little hopes of a +supply, for we found neither villages, houses, nor any trace of a +human creature; and had miserably perished by thirst and hunger had +we not met with some fishermen's boats, who exchanged their fish for +tobacco. + +Through all these fatigues we at length came to Jubo, a kingdom of +considerable extent, situated almost under the line, and tributary +to the Portuguese, who carry on a trade here for ivory and other +commodities. This region so abounds with elephants, that though the +teeth of the male only are valuable, they load several ships with +ivory every year. All this coast is much infested with ravenous +beasts, monkeys, and serpents, of which last here are some seven +feet in length, and thicker than an ordinary man; in the head of +this serpent is found a stone about the bigness of an egg, +resembling bezoar, and of great efficacy, as it is said, against all +kinds of poison. I stayed here some time to inform myself whether I +might, by pursuing this road, reach Abyssinia; and could get no +other intelligence but that two thousand Galles (the same people who +inhabited Melinda) had encamped about three leagues from Jubo; that +they had been induced to fix in that place by the plenty of +provisions they found there. These Galles lay everything where they +come in ruin, putting all to the sword without distinction of age or +sex; which barbarities, though their numbers are not great, have +spread the terror of them over all the country. They choose a king, +whom they call Lubo: every eighth year they carry their wives with +them, and expose their children without any tenderness in the woods, +it being prohibited, on pain of death, to take any care of those +which are born in the camp. This is their way of living when they +are in arms, but afterwards when they settle at home they breed up +their children. They feed upon raw cow's flesh; when they kill a +cow, they keep the blood to rub their bodies with, and wear the guts +about their necks for ornaments, which they afterwards give to their +wives. + +Several of these Galles came to see me, and as it seemed they had +never beheld a white man before, they gazed on me with amazement; so +strong was their curiosity that they even pulled off my shoes and +stockings, that they might be satisfied whether all my body was of +the same colour with my face. I could remark, that after they had +observed me some time, they discovered some aversion from a white; +however, seeing me pull out my handkerchief, they asked me for it +with a great deal of eagerness; I cut it into several pieces that I +might satisfy them all, and distributed it amongst them; they bound +them about their heads, but gave me to understand that they should +have liked them better if they had been red: after this we were +seldom without their company, which gave occasion to an accident, +which though it seemed to threaten some danger at first, turned +afterwards to our advantage. + +As these people were continually teasing us, our Portuguese one day +threatened in jest to kill one of them. The black ran in the utmost +dread to seek his comrades, and we were in one moment almost covered +with Galles; we thought it the most proper course to decline the +first impulse of their fury, and retired into our house. Our +retreat inspired them with courage; they redoubled their cries, and +posted themselves on an eminence near at hand that overlooked us; +there they insulted us by brandishing their lances and daggers. We +were fortunately not above a stone's cast from the sea, and could +therefore have retreated to our bark had we found ourselves reduced +to extremities. This made us not very solicitous about their +menaces; but finding that they continued to hover about our +habitation, and being wearied with their clamours, we thought it +might be a good expedient to fright them away by firing four muskets +towards them, in such a manner that they might hear the bullets hiss +about two feet over their heads. This had the effect we wished; the +noise and fire of our arms struck them with so much terror that they +fell upon the ground, and durst not for some time so much as lift up +their heads. They forgot immediately their natural temper, their +ferocity and haughtiness were softened into mildness and submission; +they asked pardon for their insolence, and we were ever after good +friends. + +After our reconciliation we visited each other frequently, and had +some conversation about the journey I had undertaken, and the desire +I had of finding a new passage into Aethiopia. It was necessary on +this account to consult their lubo or king: I found him in a straw +hut something larger than those of his subjects, surrounded by his +courtiers, who had each a stick in his hand, which is longer or +shorter according to the quality of the person admitted into the +king's presence. The ceremony made use of at the reception of a +stranger is somewhat unusual; as soon as he enters, all the +courtiers strike him with their cudgels till he goes back to the +door; the amity then subsisting between us did not secure me from +this uncouth reception, which they told me, upon my demanding the +reason of it, was to show those whom they treated with that they +were the bravest people in the world, and that all other nations +ought to bow down before them. I could not help reflecting on this +occasion how imprudently I had trusted my life in the hands of men +unacquainted with compassion of civility, but recollecting at the +same time that the intent of my journey was such as might give me +hopes of the divine protection, I banished all thoughts but those of +finding a way into Aethiopia. In this strait it occurred to me that +these people, however barbarous, have some oath which they keep with +an inviolable strictness; the best precaution, therefore, that I +could use would be to bind them by this oath to be true to their +engagements. The manner of their swearing is this: they set a +sheep in the midst of them, and rub it over with butter, the heads +of families who are the chief in the nation lay their hands upon the +head of the sheep, and swear to observe their promise. This oath +(which they never violate) they explain thus: the sheep is the +mother of them who swear; the butter betokens the love between the +mother and the children, and an oath taken on a mother's head is +sacred. Upon the security of this oath, I made them acquainted with +my intention, an intention, they told me, it was impossible to put +in execution. From the moment I left them they said they could give +me no assurance of either life or liberty, that they were perfectly +informed both of the roads and inhabitants, that there were no fewer +than nine nations between us and Abyssinia, who were always +embroiled amongst themselves, or at war with the Abyssins, and +enjoyed no security even in their own territories. We were now +convinced that our enterprise was impracticable, and that to hazard +ourselves amidst so many insurmountable difficulties would be to +tempt Providence; despairing, therefore, that I should ever come +this way to Abyssinia, I resolved to return back with my +intelligence to my companion, whom I had left at Pate. + +I cannot, however, leave this country without giving an account of +their manner of blood-letting, which I was led to the knowledge of +by a violent fever, which threatened to put an end to my life and +travels together. The distress I was in may easily be imagined, +being entirely destitute of everything necessary. I had resolved to +let myself blood, though I was altogether a stranger to the manner +of doing it, and had no lancet, but my companions hearing of a +surgeon of reputation in the place, went and brought him. I saw, +with the utmost surprise, an old Moor enter my chamber, with a kind +of small dagger, all over rusty, and a mallet in his hand, and three +cups of horn about half a foot long. I started, and asked what he +wanted. He told me to bleed me; and when I had given him leave, +uncovering my side, applied one of his horn cups, which he stopped +with chewed paper, and by that means made it stick fast; in the same +manner he fixed on the other two, and fell to sharpening his +instrument, assuring me that he would give me no pain. He then took +off his cups, and gave in each place a stroke with his poignard, +which was followed by a stream of blood. He applied his cups +several times, and every time struck his lancet into the same place; +having drawn away a large quantity of blood, he healed the orifices +with three lumps of tallow. I know not whether to attribute my cure +to bleeding or my fear, but I had from that time no return of my +fever. + +When I came to Pate, in hopes of meeting with my associate, I found +that he was gone to Mombaza, in hopes of receiving information. He +was sooner undeceived than I, and we met at the place where we +parted in a few days; and soon afterwards left Pate to return to the +Indies, and in nine-and-twenty days arrived at the famous fortress +of Diou. We were told at this place that Alfonso Mendes, patriarch +of Aethiopia, was arrived at Goa from Lisbon. He wrote to us to +desire that we would wait for him at Diou, in order to embark there +for the Red Sea; but being informed by us that no opportunities of +going thither were to be expected at Diou, it was at length +determined that we should meet at Bazaim; it was no easy matter for +me to find means of going to Bazaim. However, after a very uneasy +voyage, in which we were often in danger of being dashed against the +rocks, or thrown upon the sands by the rapidity of the current, and +suffered the utmost distress for want of water, I landed at Daman, a +place about twenty leagues distant from Bazaim. Here I hire a catre +and four boys to carry me to Bazaim: these catres are a kind of +travelling couches, in which you may either lie or sit, which the +boys, whose business is the same with that of chairmen in our +country, support upon their shoulders by two poles, and carry a +passenger at the rate of eighteen or twenty miles a day. Here we at +length found the patriarch, with three more priests, like us, +designed for the mission of Aethiopia. We went back to Daman, and +from thence to Diou, where we arrived in a short time. + + + +Chapter III + + + +The author embarks with the patriarch, narrowly escapes shipwreck +near the isle of Socotora; enters the Arabian Gulf, and the Red Sea. +Some account of the coast of the Red Sea. + + +The patriarch having met with many obstacles and disappointments in +his return to Abyssinia, grew impatient of being so long absent from +his church. Lopo Gomez d'Abreu had made him an offer at Bazaim of +fitting out three ships at his own expense, provided a commission +could be procured him to cruise in the Red Sea. This proposal was +accepted by the patriarch, and a commission granted by the viceroy. +While we were at Diou, waiting for these vessels, we received advice +from Aethiopia that the emperor, unwilling to expose the patriarch +to any hazard, thought Dagher, a port in the mouth of the Red Sea, +belonging to a prince dependent on the Abyssins, a place of the +greatest security to land at, having already written to that prince +to give him safe passage through his dominions. We met here with +new delays; the fleet that was to transport us did not appear, the +patriarch lost all patience, and his zeal so much affected the +commander at Diou, that he undertook to equip a vessel for us, and +pushed the work forward with the utmost diligence. At length, the +long-expected ships entered the port; we were overjoyed, we were +transported, and prepared to go on board. Many persons at Diou, +seeing the vessels so well fitted out, desired leave to go this +voyage along with us, imagining they had an excellent opportunity of +acquiring both wealth and honour. We committed, however, one great +error in setting out, for having equipped our ships for +privateering, and taken no merchandise on board, we could not touch +at any of the ports of the Red Sea. The patriarch, impatient to be +gone, took leave in the most tender manner of the governor and his +other friends, recommended our voyage to the Blessed Virgin, and in +the field, before we went on shipboard, made a short exhortation, so +moving and pathetic, that it touched the hearts of all who heard it. +In the evening we went on board, and early the next morning being +the 3rd of April, 1625, we set sail. + +After some days we discovered about noon the island Socotora, where +we proposed to touch. The sky was bright and the wind fair, nor had +we the least apprehension of the danger into which we were falling, +but with the utmost carelessness and jollity held on our course. At +night, when our sailors, especially the Moors, were in a profound +sleep (for the Mohammedans, believing everything forewritten in the +decrees of God, and not alterable by any human means, resign +themselves entirely to Providence), our vessel ran aground upon a +sand bank at the entrance of the harbour. We got her off with the +utmost difficulty, and nothing but a miracle could have preserved +us. We ran along afterwards by the side of the island, but were +entertained with no other prospect than of a mountainous country, +and of rocks that jutted out over the sea, and seemed ready to fall +into it. In the afternoon, putting into the most convenient ports +of the island, we came to anchor; very much to the amazement and +terror of the inhabitants, who were not used to see any Portuguese +ships upon their coasts, and were therefore under a great +consternation at finding them even in their ports. Some ran for +security to the mountains, others took up arms to oppose our +landing, but were soon reconciled to us, and brought us fowls, fish, +and sheep, in exchange for India calicoes, on which they set a great +value. We left this island early the next morning, and soon came in +sight of Cape Gardafui, so celebrated heretofore under the name of +the Cape of Spices, either because great quantities were then found +there, or from its neighbourhood to Arabia the Happy, even at this +day famous for its fragrant products. It is properly at this cape +(the most eastern part of Africa) that the Gulf of Arabia begins, +which at Babelmandel loses its name, and is called the Red Sea. +Here, though the weather was calm, we found the sea so rough, that +we were tossed as in a high wind for two nights; whether this +violent agitation of the water proceeded from the narrowness of the +strait, or from the fury of the late storm, I know not; whatever was +the cause, we suffered all the hardships of a tempest. We continued +our course towards the Red Sea, meeting with nothing in our passage +but a gelve, or kind of boat, made of thin boards, sewed together, +with no other sail than a mat. We gave her chase, in hopes of being +informed by the crew whether there were any Arabian vessels at the +mouth of the strait; but the Moors, who all entertain dismal +apprehensions of the Franks, plied their oars and sail with the +utmost diligence, and as soon as they reached land, quitted their +boat, and scoured to the mountains. We saw them make signals from +thence, and imagining they would come to a parley, sent out our boat +with two sailors and an Abyssin, putting the ships off from the +shore, to set them free from any suspicion of danger in coming down. +All this was to no purpose, they could not be drawn from the +mountain, and our men had orders not to go on shore, so they were +obliged to return without information. Soon after we discovered the +isle of Babelmandel, which gives name to the strait so called, and +parts the sea that surrounds it into two channels; that on the side +of Arabia is not above a quarter of a league in breadth, and through +this pass almost all the vessels that trade to or from the Red Sea. +The other, on the side of Aethiopia, though much larger, is more +dangerous, by reason of the shallows, which make it necessary for a +ship, though of no great burthen, to pass very near the island, +where the channel is deeper and less embarrassed. This passage is +never made use of but by those who would avoid meeting with the +Turks who are stationed on the coast of Arabia; it was for this +reason that we chose it. We passed it in the night, and entered +that sea, so renowned on many accounts in history, both sacred and +profane. + +In our description of this famous sea, an account of which may +justly be expected in this place, it is most convenient to begin +with the coast of Arabia, on which part at twelve leagues from the +mouth stands the city of Moca, a place of considerable trade. Forty +leagues farther is the Isle of Camaram, whose inhabitants are +annoyed with little serpents, which they call basilisks, which, +though very poisonous and deadly, do not, as the ancients have told +us, kill with their eyes, or if they have so fatal a power, it is +not at least in this place. Sailing ninety leagues farther, you see +the noted port of Jodda, where the pilgrims that go to Mecca and +Medina unlade those rich presents which the zeal of different +princes is every day accumulating at the tomb of Mahomet. The +commerce of this place, and the number of merchants that resort +thither from all parts of the world, are above description, and so +richly laden are the ships that come hither, that when the Indians +would express a thing of inestimable price, they say, "It is of +greater value than a ship of Jodda." An hundred and eighteen +leagues from thence lies Toro, and near it the ruins of an ancient +monastery. This is the place, if the report of the inhabitants +deserves any credit, where the Israelites miraculously passed +through the Red Sea on dry land; and there is some reason for +imagining the tradition not ill grounded, for the sea is here only +three leagues in breadth. All the ground about Toro is barren for +want of water, which is only to be found at a considerable distance, +in one fountain, which flows out of the neighbouring mountains, at +the foot of which there are still twelve palm-trees. Near Toro are +several wells, which, as the Arabs tell us, were dug by the order of +Moses to quiet the clamours of the thirsty Israelites. Suez lies in +the bottom of the Gulf, three leagues from Toro, once a place of +note, now reduced, under the Turks, to an inconsiderable village, +where the miserable inhabitants are forced to fetch water at three +leagues' distance. The ancient Kings of Egypt conveyed the waters +of the Nile to this place by an artificial canal, now so choked with +sand, that there are scarce any marks remaining of so noble and +beneficial a work. + +The first place to be met with in travelling along the coast of +Africa is Rondelo, situate over against Toro, and celebrated for the +same miraculous passage. Forty-five leagues from thence is Cocir. +Here ends that long chain of mountains that reaches from this place +even to the entrance of the Red Sea. In this prodigious ridge, +which extends three hundred leagues, sometimes approaching near the +sea, and sometimes running far up into the land, there is only one +opening, through which all that merchandise is conveyed, which is +embarked at Rifa, and from thence distributed through all the east. +These mountains, as they are uncultivated, are in some parts shaded +with large forests, and in others dry and bare. As they are +exceedingly high, all the seasons may be here found together; when +the storms of winter beat on one side, on the other is often a +serene sky and a bright sunshine. The Nile runs here so near the +shore that it might without much difficulty be turned through this +opening of the mountains into the Red Sea, a design which many of +the Emperors have thought of putting in execution, and thereby +making a communication between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, +but have been discouraged either by the greatness of the expense or +the fear of laying great part of Egypt under water, for some of that +country lies lower than sea. + +Distant from Rondelo a hundred and thirty leagues is the Isle of +Suaquem, where the Bassa of that country chooses his residence, for +the convenience of receiving the tribute with greater exactness, +there being a large trade carried on here with the Abyssins. The +Turks of Suaquem have gardens on the firm land, not above a musket +shot from the island, which supply them with many excellent herbs +and fruits, of which I doubt whether there be not a greater quantity +on this little spot than on the whole coast of Africa besides, from +Melinda to Suez. For if we except the dates which grow between Suez +and Suaquem, the ground does not yield the least product; all the +necessaries of life, even water, is wanting. Nothing can support +itself in this region of barrenness but ostriches, which devour +stones, or anything they meet with; they lay a great number of eggs, +part of which they break to feed their young with. These fowls, of +which I have seen many, are very tame, and when they are pursued, +stretch out their wings, and run with amazing swiftness. As they +have cloven feet, they sometimes strike up the stones when they run, +which gave occasion to the notion that they threw stones at the +hunters, a relation equally to be credited with those of their +eating fire and digesting iron. Those feathers which are so much +valued grow under their wings: the shell of their eggs powdered is +an excellent remedy for sore eyes. + +The burning wind spoken of in the sacred writings, I take to be that +which the natives term arur, and the Arabs uri, which blowing in the +spring, brings with it so excessive a heat, that the whole country +seems a burning oven; so that there is no travelling here in this +dreadful season, nor is this the only danger to which the unhappy +passenger is exposed in these uncomfortable regions. There blows in +the months of June, July, and August, another wind, which raises +mountains of sand and carries them through the air; all that can be +done in this case is when a cloud of sand rises, to mark where it is +likely to fall, and to retire as far off as possible; but it is very +usual for men to be taken unexpectedly, and smothered in the dust. +One day I found the body of a Christian, whom I knew, upon the sand; +he had doubtless been choked by these winds. I recommended his soul +to the divine mercy and buried him. He seemed to have been some +time dead, yet the body had no ill smell. These winds are most +destructive in Arabia the Desert. + + + +Chapter IV + + + +The author's conjecture on the name of the Red Sea. An account of +the cocoa-tree. He lands at Baylur. + + +To return to the description of the coast: sixty leagues from +Suaquem is an island called Mazna, only considerable for its ports, +which make the Turks reside upon it, though they are forced to keep +three barks continually employed in fetching water, which is not to +be found nearer than at a distance of twelve miles. Forty leagues +from hence is Dalacha, an island where many pearls are found, but of +small value. The next place is Baylur, forty leagues from Dalacha, +and twelve from Babelmandel. + +There are few things upon which a greater variety of conjectures has +been offered than upon the reasons that induced the ancients to +distinguish this gulf, which separates Asia from Africa, by the name +of the Red Sea, an appellation that has almost universally obtained +in all languages. Some affirm that the torrents, which fall after +great rains from the mountains, wash down such a quantity of red +sand as gives a tincture to the water: others tell us that the +sunbeams being reverberated from the red rocks, give the sea on +which they strike the appearance of that colour. Neither of these +accounts are satisfactory; the coasts are so scorched by the heat +that they are rather black than red; nor is the colour of this sea +much altered by the winds or rains. The notion generally received +is, that the coral found in such quantities at the bottom of the sea +might communicate this colour to the water: an account merely +chimerical. Coral is not to be found in all parts of this gulf, and +red coral in very few. Nor does this water in fact differ from that +of other seas. The patriarch and I have frequently amused ourselves +with making observations, and could never discover any redness, but +in the shallows, where a kind of weed grew which they call gouesmon, +which redness disappeared as soon as we plucked up the plant. It is +observable that St. Jerome, confining himself to the Hebrew, calls +this sea Jamsuf. Jam in that language signifies sea, and suf is the +name of a plant in Aethiopia, from which the Abyssins extract a +beautiful crimson; whether this be the same with the gouesmon, I +know not, but am of opinion that the herb gives to this sea both the +colour and the name. + +The vessels most used in the Red Sea, though ships of all sizes may +be met with there, are gelves, of which some mention hath been made +already; these are the more convenient, because they will not split +if thrown upon banks or against rocks. These gelves have given +occasion to the report that out of the cocoa-tree alone a ship may +be built, fitted out with masts, sails, and cordage, and victualled +with bread, water, wine, sugar, vinegar, and oil. All this indeed +cannot be done out of one tree, but may out of several of the same +kind. They saw the trunk into planks, and sew them together with +thread which they spin out of the bark, and which they twist for the +cables; the leaves stitched together make the sails. This boat thus +equipped may be furnished with all necessaries from the same tree. +There is not a month in which the cocoa does not produce a bunch of +nuts, from twenty to fifty. At first sprouts out a kind of seed or +capsula, of a shape not unlike the scabbard of a scimitar, which +they cut, and place a vessel under, to receive the liquor that drops +from it; this drink is called soro, and is clear, pleasant, and +nourishing. If it be boiled, it grows hard, and makes a kind of +sugar much valued in the Indies: distil this liquor and you have a +strong water, of which is made excellent vinegar. All these +different products are afforded before the nut is formed, and while +it is green it contains a delicious cooling water; with these nuts +they store their gelves, and it is the only provision of water which +is made in this country. The second bark which contains the water +is so tender that they eat it. When this fruit arrives to perfect +maturity, they either pound the kernel into meal, and make cakes of +or draw an oil from it of a fine scent and taste, and of great use +in medicine; so that what is reported of the different products of +this wonderful tree is neither false nor incredible. + +It is time we should come now to the relation of our voyage. Having +happily passed the straits at the entrance of the Red Sea, we +pursued our course, keeping as near the shore as we could, without +any farther apprehensions of the Turks. We were, however, under +some concern that we were entirely ignorant in what part of the +coast to find Baylur, a port where we proposed landing, and so +little known, that our pilots, who had made many voyages in this +sea, could give us no account of it. We were in hopes of +information from the fishermen, but found that as soon as we came +near they fled from us in the greatest consternation; no signals of +peace or friendship could prevail on them to stay; they either durst +not trust or did not understand us. We plied along the coast in +this uncertainty two days, till on the first of March having doubled +a point of land, which came out a great way into the sea, we found +ourselves in the middle of a fair large bay, which many reasons +induced us to think was Baylur; that we might be farther assured we +sent our Abyssin on shore, who returning next morning confirmed our +opinion. It would not be easy to determine whether our arrival gave +us greater joy, or the inhabitants greater apprehensions, for we +could discern a continual tumult in the land, and took notice that +the crews of some barks that lay in the harbour were unlading with +all possible diligence, to prevent the cargo from falling into our +hands, very much indeed to the dissatisfaction of many of our +soldiers, who having engaged in this expedition, with no other view +than of filling their pockets, were, before the return of our +Abyssin, for treating them like enemies, and taking them as a lawful +prize. We were willing to be assured of a good reception in this +port; the patriarch therefore sent me to treat with them. I dressed +myself like a merchant, and in that habit received the four captains +of gelves which the chec sent to compliment me, and ordered to stay +as hostages, whom I sent back, that I might gain upon their +affections by the confidence I placed in their sincerity; this had +so good an effect, that the chec, who was transported with the +account the officers gave of the civilities they had been treated +with, came in an hour to visit me, bringing with him a Portuguese, +whom I had sent ashore as a security for his return. He informed me +that the King his master was encamped not far off, and that a chec +who was then in the company was just arrived from thence, and had +seen the Emperor of Aethiopia's letters in our favour; I was then +convinced that we might land without scruple, and to give the +patriarch notice of it ordered a volley of our muskets to be fired, +which was answered by the cannon of the two ships that lay at a +distance, for fear of giving the Moors any cause of suspicion by +their approach. The chec and his attendants, though I had given +them notice that we were going to let off our guns in honour of the +King their master, could not forbear trembling at the fire and +noise. They left us soon after, and next morning we landed our +baggage, consisting chiefly of the patriarch's library, some +ornaments for the church, some images, and some pieces of calico, +which were of the same use as money. Most of the soldiers and +sailors were desirous of going with us, some from real principles of +piety, and a desire of sharing the labours and merits of the +mission, others upon motives very different, the hopes of raising a +fortune. To have taken all who offered themselves would have been +an injury to the owners of the ships, by rendering them unable to +continue their voyage; we therefore accepted only of a few. + + + +Chapter V + + + +An account of Dancali. The conduct of Chec Furt. The author +wounded. They arrive at the court of the King of Dancali. A +description of his pavilion, and the reception they met with. + + +Our goods were no sooner landed than we were surrounded with a crowd +of officers, all gaping for presents; we were forced to gratify +their avarice by opening our bales, and distributing among them some +pieces of calico. What we gave to the chec might be worth about a +pistole, and the rest in proportion. + +The kingdom of Dancali, to which this belongs, is barren, and thinly +peopled; the king is tributary to the Emperor of Abyssinia, and very +faithful to his sovereign. The emperor had not only written to him, +but had sent a Moor and Portuguese as his ambassadors, to secure us +a kind reception; these in their way to this prince had come through +the countries of Chumo-Salamay and Senaa, the utmost confines of +Abyssinia, and had carried thither the emperor's orders concerning +our passage. + +On Ascension Day we left Baylur, having procured some camels and +asses to carry our baggage. The first day's march was not above a +league, and the others not much longer. Our guides performed their +office very ill, being influenced, as we imagined, by the Chec Furt, +an officer, whom, though unwilling, we were forced to take with us. +This man, who might have brought us to the king in three days, led +us out of the way through horrid deserts destitute of water, or +where what we found was so foul, nauseous, and offensive, that it +excited a loathing and aversion which nothing but extreme necessity +could have overcome. + +Having travelled some days, we were met by the King's brother, to +whom, by the advice of Chec Furt, whose intent in following us was +to squeeze all he could from us; we presented some pieces of Chinese +workmanship, such as cases of boxes, a standish, and some +earthenware, together with several pieces of painted calico, which +were so much more agreeable, that he desired some other pieces +instead of our Chinese curiosities; we willingly made the exchange. +Yet some time afterwards he asked again for those Chinese goods +which he had returned us, nor was it in our power to refuse them. I +was here in danger of losing my life by a compliment which the +Portuguese paid the prince of a discharge of twelve muskets; one +being unskilfully charged too high, flew out of the soldier's hand, +and falling against my leg, wounded it very much; we had no surgeon +with us, so that all I could do was to bind it hard with some cloth. +I was obliged by this accident to make use of the Chec Furt's horse, +which was the greatest service we received from him in all our +journey. + +When we came within two leagues and a half of the King's court, he +sent some messengers with his compliments, and five mules for the +chief of our company. Our road lay through a wood, where we found +the ground covered over with young locusts, a plague intolerably +afflictive in a country so barren of itself. We arrived at length +at the bank of a small river, near which the King usually keeps his +residence, and found his palace at the foot of a little mountain. +It consisted of about six tents and twenty cabins, erected amongst +some thorns and wild trees, which afforded a shelter from the heat +of the weather. He received us the first time in a cabin about a +musket shot distant from the rest, furnished out with a throne in +the middle built of clay and stones, and covered with tapestry and +two velvet cushions. Over against him stood his horse with his +saddle and other furniture hanging by him, for in this country, the +master and his horse make use of the same apartment, nor doth the +King in this respect affect more grandeur than his subjects. When +we entered, we seated ourselves on the ground with our legs crossed, +in imitation of the rest, whom we found in the same posture. After +we had waited some time, the King came in, attended by his domestics +and his officers. He held a small lance in his hand, and was +dressed in a silk robe, with a turban on his head, to which were +fastened some rings of very neat workmanship, which fell down upon +his forehead. All kept silence for some time, and the King told us +by his interpreter that we were welcome to his dominions, that he +had been informed we were to come by the Emperor his father, and +that he condoled the hardships we had undergone at sea. He desired +us not to be under any concern at finding ourselves in a country so +distant from our own, for those dominions were ours, and he and the +Emperor his father would give us all the proofs we could desire of +the sincerest affection. We returned him thanks for this promise of +his favour, and after a short conversation went away. Immediately +we were teazed by those who brought us the mules, and demanded to be +paid the hire of them; and had advice given us at the same time that +we should get a present ready for the King. The Chec Furt, who was +extremely ready to undertake any commission of this kind, would +needs direct us in the affair, and told us that our gifts ought to +be of greater value, because we had neglected making any such offer +at our first audience, contrary to the custom of that country. By +these pretences he obliged us to make a present to the value of +about twenty pounds, with which he seemed to be pleased, and told us +we had nothing to do but prepare to make our entry. + + + +Chapter VI + + + +The King refuses their present. The author's boldness. The present +is afterwards accepted. The people are forbidden to sell them +provisions. The author remonstrates against the usage. The King +redresses it. + + +But such was either the hatred or avarice of this man, that instead +of doing us the good offices he pretended, he advised the King to +refuse our present, that he might draw from us something more +valuable. When I attended the King in order to deliver the +presents, after I had excused the smallness of them, as being, +though unworthy his acceptance, the largest that our profession of +poverty, and distance from our country, allowed us to make, he +examined them one by one with a dissatisfied look, and told me that +however he might be pleased with our good attentions, he thought our +present such as could not be offered to a king without affronting +him; and made me a sign with his hand to withdraw, and take back +what I had brought. I obeyed, telling him that perhaps he might +send for it again without having so much. The Chec Furt, who had +been the occasion of all this, coming to us afterwards, blamed us +exceedingly for having offered so little, and being told by us that +the present was picked out by himself, that we had nothing better to +give, and that what we had left would scarce defray the expenses of +our journey, he pressed us at least to add something, but could +prevail no farther than to persuade us to repeat our former offer, +which the King was now pleased to accept, though with no kinder +countenance than before. + +Here we spent our time and our provisions, without being able to +procure any more. The country indeed affords goats and honey, but +nobody would sell us any, the King, as I was secretly informed, +having strictly prohibited it, with a view of forcing all we had +from us. The patriarch sent me to expostulate the matter with the +King, which I did in very warm terms, telling him that we were +assured by the Emperor of a reception in this country far different +from what we met with, which assurances he had confirmed by his +promise and the civilities we were entertained with at our first +arrival; but that instead of friends who would compassionate our +miseries, and supply our necessities, we found ourselves in the +midst of mortal enemies that wanted to destroy us. + +The King, who affected to appear ignorant of the whole affair, +demanded an account of the injuries I complained of, and told me +that if any of his subjects should dare to attempt our lives, it +should cost him his own. We were not, replied I, in danger of being +stabbed or poisoned, but are doomed to a more lingering and painful +death by that prohibition which obliges your subjects to deny us the +necessaries of life; if it be Your Highness's pleasure that we die +here, we entreat that we may at least be despatched quickly, and not +condemned to longer torments. The King, startled at this discourse, +denied that he had given any such orders, and was very importunate +to know the author of our intelligence, but finding me determined +not to discover him, he sent me away with a promise that for the +future we should be furnished with everything we wanted, and indeed +that same day we bought three goats for about a crown, and some +honey, and found ourselves better treated than before. + + + +Chapter VII + + + +They obtain leave, with some difficulty, to depart from Dancali. +The difficulties of their march. A broil with the Moors. They +arrive at the plain of salt. + + +This usage, with some differences we had with a Moor, made us very +desirous of leaving this country, but we were still put off with one +pretence or other whenever we asked leave to depart. Tired with +these delays, I applied myself to his favourite minister, with a +promise of a large present if he could obtain us an audience of +leave; he came to us at night to agree upon the reward, and soon +accomplished all we desired, both getting us a permission to go out +of the kingdom, and procuring us camels to carry our baggage, and +that of the Abyssinian ambassadors who were ordered to accompany us. + +We set out from the kingdom of Dancali on the 15th of June, having +taken our leave of the King, who after many excuses for everything +that had happened, dismissed us with a present of a cow, and some +provisions, desiring us to tell the Emperor of Aethiopia his father +that we had met with kind treatment in his territories, a request +which we did not at that time think it convenient to deny. + +Whatever we had suffered hitherto, was nothing to the difficulties +we were now entering upon, and which God had decreed us to undergo +for the sake of Jesus Christ. Our way now lay through a region +scarce passable, and full of serpents, which were continually +creeping between our legs; we might have avoided them in the day, +but being obliged, that we might avoid the excessive heats, to take +long marches in the night, we were every moment treading upon them. +Nothing but a signal interposition of Providence could have +preserved us from being bitten by them, or perishing either by +weariness or thirst, for sometimes we were a long time without +water, and had nothing to support our strength in this fatigue but a +little honey, and a small piece of cows' flesh dried in the sun. +Thus we travelled on for many days, scarce allowing ourselves any +rest, till we came to a channel or hollow worn in the mountains by +the winter torrents; here we found some coolness, and good water, a +blessing we enjoyed for three days; down this channel all the winter +runs a great river which is dried up in the heats, or to speak more +properly, hides itself under ground. We walked along its side, +sometimes seven or eight leagues without seeing any water, and then +we found it rising out of the ground, at which places we never +failed to drink as much as we could, and fill our bottles. + +In our march, there fell out an unlucky accident, which, however, +did not prove of the bad consequence it might have done. The master +of our camels was an old Mohammedan, who had conceived an opinion +that it was an act of merit to do us all the mischief he could; and +in pursuance of his notion, made it his chief employment to steal +everything he could lay hold on; his piety even transported him so +far, that one morning he stole and hid the cords of our tents. The +patriarch who saw him at the work charged him with it, and upon his +denial, showed him the end of the cord hanging from under the saddle +of one of his camels. Upon this we went to seize them, but were +opposed by him and the rest of the drivers, who set themselves in a +posture of opposition with their daggers. Our soldiers had recourse +to their muskets, and four of them putting the mouths of their +pieces to the heads of some of the most obstinate and turbulent, +struck them with such a terror, that all the clamour was stilled in +an instant; none received any hurt but the Moor who had been the +occasion of the tumult. He was knocked down by one of our soldiers, +who had cut his throat but that the fathers prevented it: he then +restored the cords, and was more tractable ever after. In all my +dealings with the Moors, I have always discovered in them an ill- +natured cowardice, which makes them insupportably insolent if you +show them the least respect, and easily reduced to reasonable terms +when you treat them with a high hand. + +After a march of some days we came to an opening between the +mountains, the only passage out of Dancali into Abyssinia. Heaven +seems to have made this place on purpose for the repose of weary +travellers, who here exchange the tortures of parching thirst, +burning sands, and a sultry climate, for the pleasures of shady +trees, the refreshment of a clear stream, and the luxury of a +cooling breeze. We arrived at this happy place about noon, and the +next day at evening left those fanning winds, and woods flourishing +with unfading verdure, for the dismal barrenness of the vast +uninhabitable plains, from which Abyssinia is supplied with salt. +These plains are surrounded with high mountains, continually covered +with thick clouds which the sun draws from the lakes that are here, +from which the water runs down into the plain, and is there +congealed into salt. Nothing can be more curious than to see the +channels and aqueducts that nature has formed in this hard rock, so +exact and of such admirable contrivance, that they seem to be the +work of men. To this place caravans of Abyssinia are continually +resorting, to carry salt into all parts of the empire, which they +set a great value upon, and which in their country is of the same +use as money. The superstitious Abyssins imagine that the cavities +of the mountains are inhabited by evil spirits which appear in +different shapes, calling those that pass by their names as in a +familiar acquaintance, who, if they go to them, are never seen +afterwards. This relation was confirmed by the Moorish officer who +came with us, who, as he said, had lost a servant in that manner: +the man certainly fell into the hands of the Galles, who lurk in +those dark retreats, cut the throats of the merchants, and carry off +their effects. + +The heat making it impossible to travel through this plain in the +day-time, we set out in the evening, and in the night lost our way. +It is very dangerous to go through this place, for there are no +marks of the right road, but some heaps of salt, which we could not +see. Our camel drivers getting together to consult on this +occasion, we suspected they had some ill design in hand, and got +ready our weapons; they perceived our apprehensions, and set us at +ease by letting us know the reason of their consultation. +Travelling hard all night, we found ourselves next morning past the +plain; but the road we were in was not more commodious, the points +of the rocks pierced our feet; to increase our perplexities we were +alarmed with the approach of an armed troop, which our fear +immediately suggested to be the Galles, who chiefly beset these +passes of the mountains; we put ourselves on the defensive, and +expected them, whom, upon a more exact examination, we found to be +only a caravan of merchants come as usual to fetch salt. + + + +Chapter VIII + + + +They lose their way, are in continual apprehensions of the Galles. +They come to Duan, and settle in Abyssinia. + + +About nine the next morning we came to the end of this toilsome and +rugged path, where the way divided into two, yet both led to a well, +the only one that was found in our journey. A Moor with three +others took the shortest, without directing us to follow him; so we +marched forwards we knew not whither, through woods and over rocks, +without sleep or any other refreshment: at noon the next day we +discovered that we were near the field of salt. Our affliction and +distress is not to be expressed; we were all fainting with heat and +weariness, and two of the patriarch's servants were upon the point +of dying for want of water. None of us had any but a Moor, who +could not be prevailed upon to part with it at less than the weight +in gold; we got some from him at last, and endeavoured to revive the +two servants, while part of us went to look for a guide that might +put us in the right way. The Moors who had arrived at the well, +rightly guessing that we were lost, sent one of their company to +look for us, whom we heard shouting in the woods, but durst make no +answer for fear of the Galles. At length he found us, and conducted +us to the rest; we instantly forgot our past calamities, and had no +other care than to recover the patriarch's attendants. We did not +give them a full draught at first, but poured in the water by drops, +to moisten their mouths and throats, which were extremely swelled: +by this caution they were soon well. We then fell to eating and +drinking, and though we had nothing but our ordinary repast of honey +and dried flesh, thought we never had regaled more pleasantly in our +lives. + +We durst not stay long in this place for fear of the Galles, who lay +their ambushes more particularly near this well, by which all +caravans must necessarily pass. Our apprehensions were very much +increased by our suspicion of the camel-drivers, who, as we +imagined, had advertised the Galles of our arrival. The fatigue we +had already suffered did not prevent our continuing our march all +night: at last we entered a plain, where our drivers told us we +might expect to be attacked by the Galles; nor was it long before +our own eyes convinced us that we were in great danger, for we saw +as we went along the dead bodies of a caravan who had been lately +massacred, a sight which froze our blood, and filled us with pity +and with horror. The same fate was not far from overtaking us, for +a troop of Galles, who were detached in search of us, missed us but +an hour or two. We spent the next night in the mountains, but when +we should have set out in the morning, were obliged to a fierce +dispute with the old Moor, who had not yet lost his inclination to +destroy us; he would have had us taken a road which was full of +those people we were so much afraid of: at length finding he could +not prevail with us, that we charged the goods upon him as belonging +to the Emperor, to whom he should be answerable for the loss of +them, he consented, in a sullen way, to go with us. + +The desire of getting out of the reach of the Galles made us press +forward with great expedition, and, indeed, fear having entirely +engrossed our minds, we were perhaps less sensible of all our +labours and difficulties; so violent an apprehension of one danger +made us look on many others with unconcern; our pains at last found +some intermission at the foot of the mountains of Duan, the frontier +of Abyssinia, which separates it from the country of the Moors, +through which we had travelled. + +Here we imagined we might repose securely, a felicity we had long +been strangers to. Here we began to rejoice at the conclusion of +our labours; the place was cool and pleasant, the water was +excellent, and the birds melodious. Some of our company went into +the wood to divert themselves with hearing the birds and frightening +the monkeys, creatures so cunning that they would not stir if a man +came unarmed, but would run immediately when they saw a gun. At +this place our camel drivers left us, to go to the feast of St. +Michael, which the Aethiopians celebrate the 16th of June. We +persuaded them, however, to leave us their camels and four of their +company to take care of them. + +We had not waited many days before some messengers came to us with +an account that Father Baradas, with the Emperor's nephew, and many +other persons of distinction, waited for us at some distance; we +loaded our camels, and following the course of the river, came in +seven hours to the place we were directed to halt at. Father Manuel +Baradas and all the company, who had waited for us a considerable +time on the top of the mountain, came down when they saw our tents, +and congratulated our arrival. It is not easy to express the +benevolence and tenderness with which they embraced us, and the +concern they showed at seeing us worn away with hunger, labour, and +weariness, our clothes tattered, and our feet bloody. + +We left this place of interview the next day, and on the 21st of +June arrived at Fremone, the residence of the missionaries, where we +were welcomed by great numbers of Catholics, both Portuguese and +Abyssins, who spared no endeavours to make us forget all we had +suffered in so hazardous a journey, undertaken with no other +intention than to conduct them in the way of salvation. + + + + +PART II - A DESCRIPTION OF ABYSSINIA + + + + +Chapter I + + + +The history of Abyssinia. An account of the Queen of Sheba, and of +Queen Candace. The conversion of the Abyssins. + + +The original of the Abyssins, like that of all other nations, is +obscure and uncertain. The tradition generally received derives +them from Cham, the son of Noah, and they pretend, however +improbably, that from his time till now the legal succession of +their kings hath never been interrupted, and that the supreme power +hath always continued in the same family. An authentic genealogy +traced up so high could not but be extremely curious; and with good +reason might the Emperors of Abyssinia boast themselves the most +illustrious and ancient family in the world. But there are no real +grounds for imagining that Providence has vouchsafed them so +distinguishing a protection, and from the wars with which this +empire hath been shaken in these latter ages we may justly believe +that, like all others, it has suffered its revolutions, and that the +history of the Abyssins is corrupted with fables. This empire is +known by the name of the kingdom of Prester-John. For the +Portuguese having heard such wonderful relations of an ancient and +famous Christian state called by that name, in the Indies, imagined +it could be none but this of Aethiopia. Many things concurred to +make them of this opinion: there was no Christian kingdom or state +in the Indies of which all was true which they heard of this land of +Prester-John: and there was none in the other parts of the world +who was a Christian separated from the Catholic Church but what was +known, except this kingdom of Aethiopia. It has therefore passed +for the kingdom of Prester-John since the time that it was +discovered by the Portuguese in the reign of King John the Second. + +The country is properly called Abyssinia, and the people term +themselves Abyssins. Their histories count a hundred and sixty-two +reigns, from Cham to Faciladas or Basilides; among which some women +are remarkably celebrated. One of the most renowned is the Queen of +Sheba, mentioned in Scripture, whom the natives call Nicaula or +Macheda, and in their translation of the gospel, Nagista Azeb, which +in their language is Queen of the South. They still show the ruins +of a city which appears to have been once of note, as the place +where she kept her court, and a village which, from its being the +place of her birth, they call the land of Saba. The Kings of +Aethiopia draw their boasted pedigree from Minilech, the son of this +Queen and Solomon. The other Queen for whom they retain a great +veneration is Candace, whom they call Judith, and indeed if what +they relate of her could be proved, there never was, amongst the +most illustrious and beneficent sovereigns, any to whom their +country was more indebted, for it is said that she being converted +by Inda her eunuch, whom St. Philip baptised, prevailed with her +subjects to quit the worship of idols, and profess the faith of +Jesus Christ. This opinion appears to me without any better +foundation than another of the conversion of the Abyssins to the +Jewish rites by the Queen of Sheba, at her return from the court of +Solomon. They, however, who patronise these traditions give us very +specious accounts of the zeal and piety of the Abyssins at their +first conversion. Many, they say, abandoned all the pleasures and +vanities of life for solitude and religious austerities; others +devoted themselves to God in an ecclesiastical life; they who could +not do these set apart their revenues for building churches, +endowing chapels, and founding monasteries, and spent their wealth +in costly ornaments for the churches and vessels for the altars. It +is true that this people has a natural disposition to goodness; they +are very liberal of their alms, they much frequent their churches, +and are very studious to adorn them; they practise fasting and other +mortifications, and notwithstanding their separation from the Roman +Church, and the corruptions which have crept into their faith, yet +retain in a great measure the devout fervour of the primitive +Christians. There never were greater hopes of uniting this people +to the Church of Rome, which their adherence to the Eutichian heresy +has made very difficult, than in the time of Sultan Segued, who +called us into his dominions in the year 1625, from whence we were +expelled in 1634. As I have lived a long time in this country, and +borne a share in all that has passed, I will present the reader with +a short account of what I have observed, and of the revolution which +forced us to abandon Aethiopia, and destroyed all our hopes of +reuniting this kingdom with the Roman Church. + +The empire of Abyssinia hath been one of the largest which history +gives us an account of: it extended formerly from the Red Sea to +the kingdom of Congo, and from Egypt to the Indian Sea. It is not +long since it contained forty provinces; but is now not much bigger +than all Spain, and consists but of five kingdoms and six provinces, +of which part is entirely subject to the Emperor, and part only pays +him some tribute, or acknowledgment of dependence, either +voluntarily or by compulsion. Some of these are of very large +extent: the kingdoms of Tigre, Bagameder, and Goiama are as big as +Portugal, or bigger; Amhara and Damote are something less. The +provinces are inhabited by Moors, Pagans, Jews, and Christians: the +last is the reigning and established religion. This diversity of +people and religion is the reason that the kingdom in different +parts is under different forms of government, and that their laws +and customs are extremely various. + +The inhabitants of the kingdom of Amhara are the most civilised and +polite; and next to them the natives of Tigre, or the true Abyssins. +The rest, except the Damotes, the Gasates, and the Agaus, which +approach somewhat nearer to civility, are entirely rude and +barbarous. Among these nations the Galles, who first alarmed the +world in 1542, have remarkably distinguished themselves by the +ravages they have committed, and the terror they have raised in this +part of Africa. They neither sow their lands nor improve them by +any kind of culture; but, living upon milk and flesh, encamp like +the Arabs without any settled habitation. They practise no rites of +worship, though they believe that in the regions above there dwells +a Being that governs the world: whether by this Being they mean the +sun or the sky is not known; or, indeed, whether they have not some +conception of the God that created them. This deity they call in +their language Oul. In other matters they are yet more ignorant, +and have some customs so contrary even to the laws of nature, as +might almost afford reason to doubt whether they are endued with +reason. The Christianity professed by the Abyssins is so corrupted +with superstitions, errors, and heresies, and so mingled with +ceremonies borrowed from the Jews, that little besides the name of +Christianity is to be found here; and the thorns may be said to have +choked the grain. This proceeds in a great measure from the +diversity of religions which are tolerated there, either by +negligence or from motives of policy; and the same cause hath +produced such various revolutions, revolts, and civil wars within +these later ages. For those different sects do not easily admit of +an union with each other, or a quiet subjection to the same monarch. +The Abyssins cannot properly be said to have either cities or +houses; they live either in tents, or in cottages made of straw and +clay; for they very rarely build with stone. Their villages or +towns consist of these huts; yet even of such villages they have but +few, because the grandees, the viceroys, and the Emperor himself are +always in the camp, that they may be prepared, upon the most sudden +summons, to go where the exigence of affairs demands their presence. +And this precaution is no more than necessary for a prince every +year engaged either in foreign wars or intestine commotions. These +towns have each a governor, whom they call gadare, over whom is the +educ, or lieutenant, and both accountable to an officer called the +afamacon, or mouth of the King; because he receives the revenues, +which he pays into the hands of the relatinafala, or grand master of +the household: sometimes the Emperor creates a ratz, or viceroy, +general over all the empire, who is superior to all his other +officers. + +Aethiopia produces very near the same kinds of provisions as +Portugal; though, by the extreme laziness of the inhabitants, in a +much less quantity: however, there are some roots, herbs, and +fruits which grow there much better than in other places. What the +ancients imagined of the torrid zone being uninhabitable is so far +from being true, that this climate is very temperate: the heats, +indeed, are excessive in Congo and Monomotapa, but in Abyssinia they +enjoy a perpetual spring, more delicious and charming than that in +our country. The blacks here are not ugly like those of the +kingdoms I have spoken of, but have better features, and are not +without wit and delicacy; their apprehension is quick, and their +judgment sound. The heat of the sun, however it may contribute to +their colour, is not the only reason of it; there is some +peculiarity in the temper and constitution of their bodies, since +the same men, transported into cooler climates, produce children +very near as black as themselves. + +They have here two harvests in the year, which is a sufficient +recompense for the small produce of each; one harvest they have in +the winter, which lasts through the months of July, August, and +September, the other in the spring; their trees are always green, +and it is the fault of the inhabitants that they produce so little +fruit, the soil being well adapted to all sorts, especially those +that come from the Indies. They have in the greatest plenty +raisins, peaches, sour pomegranates, and sugarcanes, and some figs. +Most of these are ripe about Lent, which the Abyssins keep with +great strictness. + +After the vegetable products of this country, it seems not improper +to mention the animals which are found in it, of which here are as +great numbers, of as many different species, as in any country in +the world: it is infested with lions of many kinds, among which are +many of that which is called the lion royal. I cannot help giving +the reader on this occasion a relation of a fact which I was an eye- +witness of. A lion having taken his haunt near the place where I +lived, killed all the oxen and cows, and did a great deal of other +mischief, of which I heard new complaints every day. A servant of +mine having taken a resolution to free the country from this +destroyer, went out one day with two lances, and after he had been +some time in quest of him, found him with his mouth all smeared with +the blood of a cow he had just devoured; the man rushed upon him, +and thrust his lance into his throat with such violence that it came +out between his shoulders; the beast, with one dreadful roar, fell +down into a pit, and lay struggling, till my servant despatched him. +I measured the body of this lion, and found him twelve feet between +the head and the tail. + + + +Chapter II + + + +The animals of Abyssinia; the elephant, unicorn, their horses and +cows; with a particular account of the moroc. + + +There are so great numbers of elephants in Abyssinia that in one +evening we met three hundred of them in three troops: as they +filled up the whole way, we were in great perplexity a long time +what measures to take; at length, having implored the protection of +that Providence that superintends the whole creation, we went +forwards through the midst of them without any injury. Once we met +four young elephants, and an old one that played with them, lifting +them up with her trunk; they grew enraged on a sudden, and ran upon +us: we had no way of securing ourselves but by flight, which, +however, would have been fruitless, had not our pursuers been +stopped by a deep ditch. The elephants of Aethiopia are of so +stupendous a size, that when I was mounted on a large mule I could +not reach with my hand within two spans of the top of their backs. +In Abyssinia is likewise found the rhinoceros, a mortal enemy to the +elephant. In the province of Agaus has been seen the unicorn, that +beast so much talked of, and so little known: the prodigious +swiftness with which this creature runs from one wood into another +has given me no opportunity of examining it particularly, yet I have +had so near a sight of it as to be able to give some description of +it. The shape is the same with that of a beautiful horse, exact and +nicely proportioned, of a bay colour, with a black tail, which in +some provinces is long, in others very short: some have long manes +hanging to the ground. They are so timorous that they never feed +but surrounded with other beasts that defend them. Deer and other +defenceless animals often herd about the elephant, which, contenting +himself with roots and leaves, preserves those beasts that place +themselves, as it were, under his protection, from the rage and +fierceness of others that would devour them. + +The horses of Abyssinia are excellent; their mules, oxen, and cows +are without number, and in these principally consists the wealth of +this country. They have a very particular custom, which obliges +every man that hath a thousand cows to save every year one day's +milk of all his herd, and make a bath with it for his relations, +entertaining them afterwards with a splendid feast. This they do so +many days each year, as they have thousands of cattle, so that to +express how rich any man is, they tell you he bathes so many times. +The tribute paid out of their herds to the King, which is not the +most inconsiderable of his revenues, is one cow in ten every three +years. The beeves are of several kinds; one sort they have without +horns, which are of no other use than to carry burthens, and serve +instead of mules. Another twice as big as ours which they breed to +kill, fattening them with the milk of three or four cows. Their +horns are so large, the inhabitants use them for pitchers, and each +will hold about five gallons. One of these oxen, fat and ready to +be killed, may be bought at most for two crowns. I have purchased +five sheep, or five goats with nine kids, for a piece of calico +worth about a crown. + +The Abyssins have many sort of fowls both wild and tame; some of the +former we are yet unacquainted with: there is one of wonderful +beauty, which I have seen in no other place except Peru: it has +instead of a comb, a short horn upon its head, which is thick and +round, and open at the top. The feitan favez, or devil's horse, +looks at a distance like a man dressed in feathers; it walks with +abundance of majesty, till it finds itself pursued, and then takes +wing, and flies away. But amongst all their birds there is none +more remarkable than the moroc, or honey-bird, which is furnished by +nature with a peculiar instinct or faculty of discovering honey. +They have here multitudes of bees of various kinds; some are tame, +like ours, and form their combs in hives. Of the wild ones, some +place their honey in hollow trees, others hide it in holes in the +ground, which they cover so carefully, that though they are commonly +in the highway, they are seldom found, unless by the moroc's help, +which, when he has discovered any honey, repairs immediately to the +road side, and when he sees a traveller, sings, and claps his wings, +making many motions to invite him to follow him, and when he +perceives him coming, flies before him from tree to tree, till he +comes to the place where the bees have stored their treasure, and +then begins to sing melodiously. The Abyssin takes the honey, +without failing to leave part of it for the bird, to reward him for +his information. This kind of honey I have often tasted, and do not +find that it differs from the other sorts in anything but colour; it +is somewhat blacker. The great quantity of honey that is gathered, +and a prodigious number of cows that is kept here, have often made +me call Abyssinia a land of honey and butter. + + + +Chapter III + + + +The manner of eating in Abyssinia, their dress, their hospitality, +and traffic. + + +The great lords, and even the Emperor himself, maintain their tables +with no great expense. The vessels they make use of are black +earthenware, which, the older it is, they set a greater value on. +Their way of dressing their meat, an European, till he hath been +long accustomed to it, can hardly be persuaded to like; everything +they eat smells strong and swims with butter. They make no use of +either linen or plates. The persons of rank never touch what they +eat, but have their meat cut by their pages, and put into their +mouths. When they feast a friend they kill an ox, and set +immediately a quarter of him raw upon the table (for their most +elegant treat is raw beef newly killed) with pepper and salt; the +gall of the ox serves them for oil and vinegar; some, to heighten +the delicacy of the entertainment, add a kind of sauce, which they +call manta, made of what they take out of the guts of the ox; this +they set on the fire, with butter, salt, pepper, and onion. Raw +beef, thus relished, is their nicest dish, and is eaten by them with +the same appetite and pleasure as we eat the best partridges. They +have often done me the favour of helping me to some of this sauce, +and I had no way to decline eating it besides telling them it was +too good for a missionary. + +The common drink of the Abyssins is beer and mead, which they drink +to excess when they visit one another; nor can there be a greater +offence against good manners than to let the guests go away sober: +their liquor is always presented by a servant, who drinks first +himself, and then gives the cup to the company, in the order of +their quality. + +The meaner sort of people here dress themselves very plain; they +only wear drawers, and a thick garment of cotton, that covers the +rest of their bodies: the people of quality, especially those that +frequent the court, run into the contrary extreme, and ruin +themselves with costly habits. They wear all sorts of silks, and +particularly the fine velvets of Turkey. + +They love bright and glaring colours, and dress themselves much in +the Turkish manner, except that their clothes are wider, and their +drawers cover their legs. Their robes are always full of gold and +silver embroidery. They are most exact about their hair, which is +long and twisted, and their care of it is such that they go bare- +headed whilst they are young for fear of spoiling it, but afterwards +wear red caps, and sometimes turbans after the Turkish fashion. + +The ladies' dress is yet more magnificent and expensive; their robes +are as large as those of the religious, of the order of St. Bernard. +They have various ways of dressing their heads, and spare no expense +in ear-rings, necklaces, or anything that may contribute to set them +off to advantage. They are not much reserved or confined, and have +so much liberty in visiting one another that their husbands often +suffer by it; but for this evil there is no remedy, especially when +a man marries a princess, or one of the royal family. Besides their +clothes, the Abyssins have no movables or furniture of much value, +or doth their manner of living admit of them. + +One custom of this country deserves to be remarked: when a stranger +comes to a village, or to the camp, the people are obliged to +entertain him and his company according to his rank. As soon as he +enters a house (for they have no inns in this nation), the master +informs his neighbours that he hath a guest; immediately they bring +in bread and all kinds of provisions; and there is great care taken +to provide enough, because, if the guest complains, the town is +obliged to pay double the value of what they ought to have +furnished. This practice is so well established that a stranger +goes into a house of one he never saw with the same familiarity and +assurance of welcome as into that of an intimate friend or near +relation; a custom very convenient, but which gives encouragement to +great numbers of vagabonds throughout the kingdom. + +There is no money in Abyssinia, except in the eastern provinces, +where they have iron coin: but in the chief provinces all commerce +is managed by exchange. Their chief trade consists in provisions, +cows, sheep, goats, fowls, pepper, and gold, which is weighed out to +the purchaser, and principally in salt, which is properly the money +of this country. + +When the Abyssins are engaged in a law-suit, the two parties make +choice of a judge, and plead their own cause before him; and if they +cannot agree in their choice, the governor of the place appoints +them one, from whom there lies an appeal to the viceroy and to the +Emperor himself. All causes are determined on the spot; no writings +are produced. The judge sits down on the ground in the midst of the +high road, where all that please may be present: the two persons +concerned stand before him, with their friends about them, who serve +as their attorneys. The plaintiff speaks first, the defendant +answers him; each is permitted to rejoin three or four times, then +silence is commanded, and the judge takes the opinions of those that +are about him. If the evidence be deemed sufficient, he pronounces +sentence, which in some cases is decisive and without appeal. He +then takes the criminal into custody till he hath made satisfaction; +but if it be a crime punishable with death he is delivered over to +the prosecutor, who may put him to death at his own discretion. + +They have here a particular way of punishing adultery; a woman +convicted of that crime is condemned to forfeit all her fortune, is +turned out of her husband's house, in a mean dress, and is forbid +ever to enter it again; she has only a needle given her to get her +living with. Sometimes her head is shaved, except one lock of hair, +which is left her, and even that depends on the will of her husband, +who has it likewise in his choice whether he will receive her again +or not; if he resolves never to admit her they are both at liberty +to marry whom they will. There is another custom amongst them yet +more extraordinary, which is, that the wife is punished whenever the +husband proves false to the marriage contract; this punishment +indeed extends no farther than a pecuniary mulct, and what seems +more equitable, the husband is obliged to pay a sum of money to his +wife. When the husband prosecutes his wife's gallant, if he can +produce any proofs of a criminal conversation, he recovers for +damages forty cows, forty horses, and forty suits of clothes, and +the same number of other things. If the gallant be unable to pay +him, he is committed to prison, and continues there during the +husband's pleasure, who, if he sets him at liberty before the whole +fine be paid, obliges him to take an oath that he is going to +procure the rest, that he may be able to make full satisfaction. +Then the criminal orders meat and drink to be brought out, they eat +and drink together, he asks a formal pardon, which is not granted at +first; however, the husband forgives first one part of the debt, and +then another, till at length the whole is remitted. + +A husband that doth not like his wife may easily find means to make +the marriage void, and, what is worse, may dismiss the second wife +with less difficulty than he took her, and return to the first; so +that marriages in this country are only for a term of years, and +last no longer than both parties are pleased with each other, which +is one instance how far distant these people are from the purity of +the primitive believers, which they pretend to have preserved with +so great strictness. The marriages are in short no more than +bargains, made with this proviso, that when any discontent shall +arise on either side, they may separate, and marry whom they please, +each taking back what they brought with them. + + + +Chapter IV + + + +An account of the religion of the Abyssins. + + +Yet though there is a great difference between our manners, customs, +civil government, and those of the Abyssins, there is yet a much +greater in points of faith; for so many errors have been introduced +and ingrafted into their religion, by their ignorance, their +separation from the Catholic Church, and their intercourse with +Jews, Pagans, and Mohammedans, that their present religion is +nothing but a kind of confused miscellany of Jewish and Mohammedan +superstitions, with which they have corrupted those remnants of +Christianity which they still retain. + +They have, however, preserved the belief of our principal mysteries; +they celebrate with a great deal of piety the passion of our Lord; +they reverence the cross; they pay a great devotion to the Blessed +Virgin, the angels, and the saints; they observe the festivals, and +pay a strict regard to the Sunday. Every month they commemorate the +assumption of the Virgin Mary, and are of opinion that no Christians +beside themselves have a true sense of the greatness of the mother +of God, or pay her the honours that are due to her. There are some +tribes amongst them (for they are distinguished like the Jews by +their tribes), among whom the crime of swearing by the name of the +Virgin is punished with forfeiture of goods and even with loss of +life; they are equally scrupulous of swearing by St. George. Every +week they keep a feast to the honour of the apostles and angels; +they come to mass with great devotion, and love to hear the word of +God. They receive the sacrament often, but do not always prepare +themselves by confession. Their charity to the poor may be said to +exceed the proper bounds that prudence ought to set it, for it +contributes to encourage great numbers of beggars, which are a great +annoyance to the whole kingdom, and as I have often said, afford +more exercise to a Christian's patience than his charity; for their +insolence is such, that they will refuse what is offered them if it +be not so much as they think proper to ask. + +Though the Abyssins have not many images, they have great numbers of +pictures, and perhaps pay them somewhat too high a degree of +worship. The severity of their fasts is equal to that of the +primitive church. In Lent they never eat till after sunset; their +fasts are the more severe because milk and butter are forbidden +them, and no reason or necessity whatsoever can procure them a +permission to eat meat, and their country affording no fish, they +live only on roots and pulse. On fast-days they never drink but at +their meat, and the priests never communicate till evening, for fear +of profaning them. They do not think themselves obliged to fast +till they have children either married or fit to be married, which +yet doth not secure them very long from these mortifications, +because their youths marry at the age of ten years, and their girls +younger. + +There is no nation where excommunication carries greater terrors +than among the Abyssins, which puts it in the power of the priests +to abuse this religious temper of the people, as well as the +authority they receive from it, by excommunicating them, as they +often do, for the least trifle in which their interest is concerned. + +No country in the world is so full of churches, monasteries, and +ecclesiastics as Abyssinia; it is not possible to sing in one church +or monastery without being heard by another, and perhaps by several. +They sing the psalms of David, of which, as well as the other parts +of the Holy Scriptures, they have a very exact translation in their +own language; in which, though accounted canonical, the books of the +Maccabees are omitted. The instruments of music made use of in +their rites of worship are little drums, which they hang about their +necks, and beat with both their hands; these are carried even by +their chief men, and by the gravest of their ecclesiastics. They +have sticks likewise, with which they strike the ground, +accompanying the blow with a motion of their whole bodies. They +begin their concert by stamping their feet on the ground, and +playing gently on their instruments; but when they have heated +themselves by degrees, they leave off drumming, and fall to leaping, +dancing, and clapping their hands, at the same time straining their +voices to the utmost pitch, till at length they have no regard +either to the tune or the pauses, and seem rather a riotous than a +religious assembly. For this manner of worship they cite the psalm +of David, "O clap your hands all ye nations." Thus they misapply +the sacred writings to defend practices yet more corrupt than those +I have been speaking of. + +They are possessed with a strange notion that they are the only true +Christians in the world; as for us, they shunned us as heretics, and +were under the greatest surprise at hearing us mention the Virgin +Mary with the respect which is due to her, and told us that we could +not be entirely barbarians since we were acquainted with the mother +of God. It plainly appears that prepossessions so strong, which +receive more strength from the ignorance of the people, have very +little tendency to dispose them to a reunion with the Catholic +Church. + +They have some opinions peculiar to themselves about purgatory, the +creation of souls, and some of our mysteries. They repeat baptism +every year, they retain the practice of circumcision, they observe +the Sabbath, they abstain from all those sorts of flesh which are +forbidden by the law. Brothers espouse the wives of their brothers, +and to conclude, they observe a great number of Jewish ceremonies. + +Though they know the words which Jesus Christ appointed to be used +in the administration of baptism, they have without scruple +substituted others in their place, which makes the validity of their +baptism, and the reality of their Christianity, very doubtful. They +have a few names of saints, the same with those in the Roman +martyrology, but they often insert others, as Zama la Cota, the Life +of Truth; Ongulari, the Evangelist; Asca Georgi, the Mouth of Saint +George. + +To bring back this people into the enclosure of the Catholic Church, +from which they have been separated so many ages, was the sole view +and intention with which we undertook so long and toilsome a +journey, crossed so many seas, and passed so many deserts, with the +utmost hazard of our lives; I am certain that we travelled more than +seven thousand leagues before we arrived at our residence at +Fremona. + +We came to this place, anciently called Maigoga, on the 21st of +June, as I have said before, and were obliged to continue there till +November, because the winter begins here in May, and its greatest +rigour is from the middle of June to the middle of September. The +rains that are almost continually falling in this season make it +impossible to go far from home, for the rivers overflow their banks, +and therefore, in a place like this, where there are neither bridges +nor boats, are, if they are not fordable, utterly impassable. Some, +indeed, have crossed them by means of a cord fastened on both sides +of the water, others tie two beams together, and placing themselves +upon them, guide them as well as they can, but this experiment is so +dangerous that it hath cost many of these bold adventurers their +lives. This is not all the danger, for there is yet more to be +apprehended from the unwholesomeness of the air, and the vapours +which arise from the scorched earth at the fall of the first +showers, than from the torrents and rivers. Even they who shelter +themselves in houses find great difficulty to avoid the diseases +that proceed from the noxious qualities of these vapours. From the +beginning of June to that of September it rains more or less every +day. The morning is generally fair and bright, but about two hours +after noon the sky is clouded, and immediately succeeds a violent +storm, with thunder and lightning flashing in the most dreadful +manner. While this lasts, which is commonly three or four hours, +none go out of doors. The ploughman upon the first appearance of it +unyokes his oxen, and betakes himself with them into covert. +Travellers provide for their security in the neighbouring villages, +or set up their tents, everybody flies to some shelter, as well to +avoid the unwholesomeness as the violence of the rain. The thunder +is astonishing, and the lightning often destroys great numbers, a +thing I can speak of from my own experience, for it once flashed so +near me, that I felt an uneasiness on that side for a long time +after; at the same time it killed three young children, and having +run round my room went out, and killed a man and woman three hundred +paces off. When the storm is over the sun shines out as before, and +one would not imagine it had rained, but that the ground appears +deluged. Thus passes the Abyssinian winter, a dreadful season, in +which the whole kingdom languishes with numberless diseases, an +affliction which, however grievous, is yet equalled by the clouds of +grasshoppers, which fly in such numbers from the desert, that the +sun is hid and the sky darkened; whenever this plague appears, +nothing is seen through the whole region but the most ghastly +consternation, or heard but the most piercing lamentations, for +wherever they fall, that unhappy place is laid waste and ruined; +they leave not one blade of grass, nor any hopes of a harvest. + +God, who often makes calamities subservient to His will, permitted +this very affliction to be the cause of the conversion of many of +the natives, who might have otherwise died in their errors; for part +of the country being ruined by the grasshoppers that year in which +we arrived at Abyssinia, many, who were forced to leave their +habitations, and seek the necessaries of life in other places, came +to that part of the land where some of our missionaries were +preaching, and laid hold on that mercy which God seemed to have +appointed for others. + +As we could not go to court before November, we resolved, that we +might not be idle, to preach and instruct the people in the country; +in pursuance of this resolution I was sent to a mountain, two days' +journey distant from Maigoga. The lord or governor of the place was +a Catholic, and had desired missionaries, but his wife had conceived +an implacable aversion both from us and the Roman Church, and almost +all the inhabitants of that mountain were infected with the same +prejudices as she. They had been persuaded that the hosts which we +consecrated and gave to the communicants were mixed with juices +strained from the flesh of a camel, a dog, a hare, and a swine; all +creatures which the Abyssins look upon with abhorrence, believing +them unclean, and forbidden to them, as they were to the Jews. We +had no way of undeceiving them, and they fled from us whenever we +approached. We carried with us our tent, our chalices, and +ornaments, and all that was necessary for saying mass. The lord of +the village, who, like other persons of quality throughout +Aethiopia, lived on the top of a mountain, received us with very +great civility. All that depended upon him had built their huts +round about him; so that this place compared with the other towns of +Abyssinia seems considerable; as soon as we arrived he sent us his +compliments, with a present of a cow, which, among them, is a token +of high respect. We had no way of returning this favour but by +killing the cow, and sending a quarter smoking, with the gall, which +amongst them is esteemed the most delicate part. I imagined for +some time that the gall of animals was less bitter in this country +than elsewhere, but upon tasting it, I found it more; and yet have +frequently seen our servants drink large glasses of if with the same +pleasure that we drink the most delicious wines. + +We chose to begin our mission with the lady of the village, and +hoped that her prejudice and obstinacy, however great, would in time +yield to the advice and example of her husband, and that her +conversion would have a great influence on the whole village, but +having lost several days without being able to prevail upon her to +hear us on any one point, we left the place, and went to another +mountain, higher and better peopled. When we came to the village on +the top of it, where the lord lived, we were surprised with the +cries and lamentations of men that seemed to suffer or apprehend +some dreadful calamity; and were told, upon inquiring the cause, +that the inhabitants had been persuaded that we were the devil's +missionaries, who came to seduce them from the true religion, that +foreseeing some of their neighbours would be ruined by the +temptation, they were lamenting the misfortune which was coming upon +them. When we began to apply ourselves to the work of the mission +we could not by any means persuade any but the lord and the priest +to receive us into their houses; the rest were rough and untractable +to that degree that, after having converted six, we despaired of +making any farther progress, and thought it best to remove to other +towns where we might be better received. + +We found, however, a more unpleasing treatment at the next place, +and had certainly ended our lives there had we not been protected by +the governor and the priest, who, though not reconciled to the Roman +Church, yet showed us the utmost civility; the governor informed us +of a design against our lives, and advised us not to go out after +sunset, and gave us guards to protect us from the insults of the +populace. + +We made no long stay in a place where they stopped their ears +against the voice of God, but returned to the foot of that mountain +which we had left some days before; we were surrounded, as soon as +we began to preach, with a multitude of auditors, who came either in +expectation of being instructed, or from a desire of gratifying +their curiosity, and God bestowed such a blessing upon our +apostolical labours that the whole village was converted in a short +time. We then removed to another at the middle of the mountain, +situated in a kind of natural parterre, or garden; the soil was +fruitful, and the trees that shaded it from the scorching heat of +the sun gave it an agreeable and refreshing coolness. We had here +the convenience of improving the ardour and piety of our new +converts, and, at the same time, of leading more into the way of the +true religion: and indeed our success exceeded the utmost of our +hopes; we had in a short time great numbers whom we thought capable +of being admitted to the sacraments of baptism and the mass. + +We erected our tent, and placed our altar under some great trees, +for the benefit of the shade; and every day before sun-rising my +companion and I began to catechise and instruct these new Catholics, +and used our utmost endeavours to make them abjure their errors. +When we were weary with speaking, we placed in ranks those who were +sufficiently instructed, and passing through them with great vessels +of water, baptised them according to the form prescribed by the +Church. As their number was very great, we cried aloud, those of +this rank are named Peter, those of that rank Anthony. And did the +same amongst the women, whom we separated from the men. We then +confessed them, and admitted them to the communion. After mass we +applied ourselves again to catechise, to instruct, and receive the +renunciation of their errors, scarce allowing ourselves time to make +a scanty meal, which we never did more than once a day. + +After some time had been spent here, we removed to another town not +far distant, and continued the same practice. Here I was accosted +one day by an inhabitant of that place, where he had found the +people so prejudiced against us, who desired to be admitted to +confession. I could not forbear asking him some questions about +those lamentations, which we heard upon our entering into that +place. He confessed with the utmost frankness and ingenuity that +the priests and religious have given dreadful accounts both of us +and of the religion we preached; that the unhappy people were taught +by them that the curse of God attended us wheresoever we went; that +we were always followed by the grasshoppers, that pest of Abyssinia, +which carried famine and destruction over all the country; that he, +seeing no grasshoppers following us when we passed by their village, +began to doubt of the reality of what the priests had so confidently +asserted, and was now convinced that the representation they made of +us was calumny and imposture. This discourse gave us double +pleasure, both as it proved that God had confuted the accusations of +our enemies, and defended us against their malice without any +efforts of our own, and that the people who had shunned us with the +strongest detestation were yet lovers of truth, and came to us on +their own accord. Nothing could be more grossly absurd than the +reproaches which the Abyssinian ecclesiastics aspersed us and our +religion with. They had taken advantage of the calamity that +happened the year of our arrival: and the Abyssins, with all their +wit, did not consider that they had often been distressed by the +grasshoppers before there came any Jesuits into the country, and +indeed before there were any in the world. + +Whilst I was in these mountains, I went on Sundays and saints' days +sometimes to one church and sometimes to another. One day I went +out with a resolution not to go to a certain church, where I +imagined there was no occasion for me, but before I had gone far, I +found myself pressed by a secret impulse to return back to that same +church. I obeyed the influence, and discovered it to proceed from +the mercy of God to three young children who were destitute of all +succour, and at the point of death. I found two very quickly in +this miserable state; the mother had retired to some distance that +she might not see them die, and when she saw me stop, came and told +me that they had been obliged by want to leave the town they lived +in, and were at length reduced to this dismal condition, that she +had been baptised, but that the children had not. After I had +baptised and relieved them, I continued my walk, reflecting with +wonder on the mercy of God, and about evening discovered another +infant, whose mother, evidently a Catholic, cried out to me to save +her child, or at least that if I could not preserve this uncertain +and perishable life, I should give it another certain and permanent. +I sent my servant to fetch water with the utmost expedition, for +there was none near, and happily baptised the child before it +expired. + +Soon after this I returned to Fremona, and had great hopes of +accompanying the patriarch to the court; but, when we were almost +setting out, received the command of the superior of the mission to +stay at Fremona, with a charge of the house there, and of all the +Catholics that were dispersed over the kingdom of Tigre, an +employment very ill-proportioned to my abilities. The house at +Fremona has always been much regarded even by those emperors who +persecuted us; Sultan Segued annexed nine large manors to it for +ever, which did not make us much more wealthy, because of the +expensive hospitality which the great conflux of strangers obliged +us to. The lands in Abyssinia yield but small revenues, unless the +owners themselves set the value upon them, which we could not do. + +The manner of letting farms in Abyssinia differs much from that of +other countries: the farmer, when the harvest is almost ripe, +invites the chumo or steward, who is appointed to make an estimate +of the value of each year's product, to his house, entertains him in +the most agreeable manner he can; makes him a present, and then +takes him to see his corn. If the chumo is pleased with the treat +and present, he will give him a declaration or writing to witness +that his ground, which afforded five or six sacks of corn, did you +yield so many bushels, and even of this it is the custom to abate +something; so that our revenue did not increase in proportion to our +lands; and we found ourselves often obliged to buy corn, which, +indeed, is not dear, for in fruitful years forty or fifty measures, +weighing each about twenty-two pounds, may be purchased for a crown. + +Besides the particular charge I had of the house of Fremona, I was +appointed the patriarch's grand-vicar through the whole kingdom of +Tigre. I thought that to discharge this office as I ought, it was +incumbent on me to provide necessaries as well for the bodies as the +souls of the converted Catholics. This labour was much increased by +the famine which the grasshoppers had brought that year upon the +country. Our house was perpetually surrounded by some of those +unhappy people, whom want had compelled to abandon their +habitations, and whose pale cheeks and meagre bodies were undeniable +proofs of their misery and distress. All the relief I could +possibly afford them could not prevent the death of such numbers +that their bodies filled the highways; and to increase our +affliction, the wolves having devoured the carcases, and finding no +other food, fell upon the living; their natural fierceness being so +increased by hunger, that they dragged the children out of the very +houses. I saw myself a troop of wolves tear a child of six years +old in pieces before I or any one else could come to its assistance. + +While I was entirely taken up with the duties of my ministry, the +viceroy of Tigre received the commands of the Emperor to search for +the bones of Don Christopher de Gama. On this occasion it may not +be thought impertinent to give some account of the life and death of +this brave and holy Portuguese, who, after having been successful in +many battles, fell at last into the hands of the Moors, and +completed that illustrious life by a glorious martyrdom. + + + +Chapter V + + + +The adventures of the Portuguese, and the actions of Don Christopher +de Gama in Aethiopia. + + +About the beginning of the sixteenth century arose a Moor near the +Cape of Gardafui, who, by the assistance of the forces sent him from +Moca by the Arabs and Turks, conquered almost all Abyssinia, and +founded the kingdom of Adel. He was called Mahomet Gragne, or the +Lame. When he had ravaged Aethiopia fourteen years, and was master +of the greatest part of it, the Emperor David sent to implore +succour of the King of Portugal, with a promise that when those +dominions were recovered which had been taken from him, he would +entirely submit himself to the Pope, and resign the third part of +his territories to the Portuguese. After many delays, occasioned by +the great distance between Portugal and Abyssinia, and some +unsuccessful attempts, King John the Third, having made Don Stephen +de Gama, son of the celebrated Don Vasco de Gama, viceroy of the +Indies, gave him orders to enter the Red Sea in pursuit of the +Turkish galleys, and to fall upon them wherever he found them, even +in the Port of Suez. The viceroy, in obedience to the king's +commands, equipped a powerful fleet, went on board himself, and +cruised about the coast without being able to discover the Turkish +vessels. Enraged to find that with this great preparation he should +be able to effect nothing, he landed at Mazna four hundred +Portuguese, under the command of Don Christopher de Gama, his +brother. He was soon joined by some Abyssins, who had not yet +forgot their allegiance to their sovereign; and in his march up the +country was met by the Empress Helena, who received him as her +deliverer. At first nothing was able to stand before the valour of +the Portuguese, the Moors were driven from one mountain to another, +and were dislodged even from those places, which it seemed almost +impossible to approach, even unmolested by the opposition of an +enemy. + +These successes seemed to promise a more happy event than that which +followed them. It was now winter, a season in which, as the reader +hath been already informed, it is almost impossible to travel in +Aethiopia. The Portuguese unadvisedly engaged themselves in an +enterprise, to march through the whole country, in order to join the +Emperor, who was then in the most remote part of his dominions. +Mahomet, who was in possession of the mountains, being informed by +his spies that the Portuguese were but four hundred, encamped in the +plain of Ballut, and sent a message to the general that he knew the +Abyssins had imposed on the King of Portugal, which, being +acquainted with their treachery, he was not surprised at, and that +in compassion of the commander's youth, he would give him and his +men, if they would return, free passage, and furnish them with +necessaries; that he might consult upon the matter, and depend upon +his word, reminding him, however, that it was not safe to refuse his +offer. + +The general presented the ambassador with a rich robe, and returned +this gallant answer: "That he and his fellow-soldiers were come +with an intention to drive Mahomet out of these countries, which he +had wrongfully usurped; that his present design was, instead of +returning back the way he came, as Mahomet advised, to open himself +a passage through the country of his enemies; that Mahomet should +rather think of determining whether he would fight or yield up his +ill-gotten territories, than of prescribing measures to him; that he +put his whole confidence in the omnipotence of God and the justice +of his cause, and that to show how just a sense he had of Mahomet's +kindness, he took the liberty of presenting him with a looking-glass +and a pair of pincers." + +This answer, and the present, so provoked Mahomet, who was at dinner +when he received it, that he rose from table immediately to march +against the Portuguese, imagining he should meet with no resistance; +and indeed, any man, however brave, would have been of the same +opinion; for his forces consisted of fifteen thousand foot, beside a +numerous body of cavalry, and the Portuguese commander had but three +hundred and fifty men, having lost eight in attacking some passes, +and left forty at Mazma, to maintain an open intercourse with the +viceroy of the Indies. This little troop of our countrymen were +upon the declivity of a hill near a wood; above them stood the +Abyssins, who resolved to remain quiet spectators of the battle, and +to declare themselves on that side which should be favoured with +victory. + +Mahomet began the attack with only ten horsemen, against whom as +many Portuguese were detached, who fired with so much exactness, +that nine of the Moors fell, and the tenth with great difficulty +made his escape. This omen of good fortune gave the soldiers great +encouragement; the action grew hot, and they came at length to a +general battle; but the Moors, dismayed by the advantages our men +had obtained at first, were half defeated before the fight. The +great fire of our muskets and artillery broke them immediately. +Mahomet preserved his own life not without difficulty, but did not +lose his capacity with the battle: he had still a great number of +troops remaining, which he rallied, and entrenched himself at +Membret, a place naturally strong, with an intention to pass the +winter there, and wait for succours. + +The Portuguese, who were more desirous of glory than wealth, did not +encumber themselves with plunder, but with the utmost expedition +pursued their enemies, in hopes of cutting them entirely off. This +expectation was too sanguine: they found them encamped in a place +naturally almost inaccessible, and so well fortified, that it would +be no less than extreme rashness to attack them. They therefore +entrenched themselves on a hill over against the enemy's camp, and +though victorious, were under great disadvantages. They saw new +troops arrive every day at the enemy's camp, and their small number +grew less continually; their friends at Mazna could not join them; +they knew not how to procure provisions, and could put no confidence +in the Abyssins; yet recollecting the great things achieved by their +countrymen, and depending on the Divine protection, they made no +doubt of surmounting all difficulties. + +Mahomet on his part was not idle; he solicited the assistance of the +Mahometan princes, pressed them with all the motives of religion, +and obtained a reinforcement of two thousand musketeers from the +Arabs, and a train of artillery from the Turks. Animated with these +succours, he marched out of his trenches to enter those of the +Portuguese, who received him with the utmost bravery, destroyed +prodigious numbers of his men, and made many sallies with great +vigour, but losing every day some of their small troops, and most of +their officers being killed, it was easy to surround and force them. + +Their general had already one arm broken, and his knee shattered +with a musket-shot, which made him unable to repair to all those +places where his presence was necessary to animate his soldiers. +Valour was at length forced to submit to superiority of numbers; the +enemy entered the camp and put all to the sword. The general with +ten more escaped the slaughter, and by means of their horses +retreated to a wood, where they were soon discovered by a detachment +sent in search of them, and brought to Mahomet, who was overjoyed to +see his most formidable enemy in his power, and ordered him to take +care of his uncle and nephew, who were wounded, telling him he +should answer for their lives; and, upon their death, taxed him with +hastening it. The brave Portuguese made no excuses, but told him he +came thither to destroy Mahometans, and not to save them. Mahomet, +enraged at this language, ordered a stone to be put on his head, and +exposed this great man to the insults and reproaches of the whole +army. After this they inflicted various kinds of tortures on him, +which he endured with incredible resolution, and without uttering +the least complaint, praising the mercy of God who had ordained him +to suffer in such a cause. + +Mahomet, at last satisfied with cruelty, made an offer of sending +him to the viceroy of the Indies, if he would turn Mussulman. The +hero took fire at this proposal, and answered with the highest +indignation that nothing should make him forsake his heavenly Master +to follow an impostor, and continued in the severest terms to vilify +their false prophet, till Mahomet struck off his head. + +Nor did the resentment of Mahomet end here; he divided his body into +quarters, and sent them to different places. The Catholics gathered +the remains of this glorious martyr, and interred them. Every Moor +that passed by threw a stone upon his grave, and raised in time such +a heap, as I found it difficult to remove when I went in search of +those precious relics. + +What I have here related of the death of Don Christopher de Gama I +was told by an old man, who was an eye-witness of it: and there is +a tradition in the country that in the place where his head fell, a +fountain sprung up of wonderful virtue, which cured many diseases +otherwise past remedy. + + + +Chapter VI + + + +Mahomet continues the war, and is killed. The stratagem of Peter +Leon. + + +Mahomet, that he might make the best use of his victory, ranged over +a great part of Abyssinia in search of the Emperor Claudius, who was +then in the kingdom of Dambia. All places submitted to the +Mahometan, whose insolence increased every day with his power; and +nothing after the defeat of the Portuguese was supposed able to put +a stop to the progress of his arms. + +The soldiers of Portugal, having lost their chief, resorted to the +Emperor, who, though young, promised great things, and told them +that since their own general was dead, they would accept of none but +himself. He received them with great kindness, and hearing of Don +Christopher de Gama's misfortune, could not forbear honouring with +some tears the memory of a man who had come so far to his succour, +and lost his life in his cause. + +The Portuguese, resolved at any rate to revenge the fate of their +general, desired the Emperor to assign them the post opposite to +Mahomet, which was willingly granted them. That King, flushed with +his victories, and imagining to fight was undoubtedly to conquer, +sought all occasions of giving the Abyssins battle. The Portuguese, +who desired nothing more than to re-establish their reputation by +revenging the affront put upon them by the late defeat, advised the +Emperor to lay hold on the first opportunity of fighting. Both +parties joined battle with equal fury. The Portuguese directed all +their force against that part where Mahomet was posted. Peter Leon, +who had been servant to the general, singled the King out among the +crowd, and shot him into the head with his musket. Mahomet, finding +himself wounded, would have retired out of the battle, and was +followed by Peter Leon, till he fell down dead; the Portuguese, +alighting from his horse, cut off one of his ears. The Moors being +now without a leader, continued the fight but a little time, and at +length fled different ways in the utmost disorder; the Abyssinians +pursued them, and made a prodigious slaughter. One of them, seeing +the King's body on the ground, cut off his head and presented it to +the Emperor. The sight of it filled the whole camp with +acclamations; every one applauded the valour and good fortune of the +Abyssin, and no reward was thought great enough for so important a +service. Peter Leon, having stood by some time, asked whether the +King had but one ear? if he had two, says he, it seems likely that +the man who killed him cut off one and keeps it as a proof of his +exploit. The Abyssin stood confused, and the Portuguese produced +the ear out of his pocket. Every one commended the stratagem; and +the Emperor commanded the Abyssin to restore all the presents he had +received, and delivered them with many more to Peter Leon. + +I imagined the reader would not be displeased to be informed who +this man was, whose precious remains were searched for by a viceroy +of Tigre, at the command of the Emperor himself. The commission was +directed to me, nor did I ever receive one that was more welcome on +many accounts. I had contracted an intimate friendship with the +Count de Vidigueira, viceroy of the Indies, and had been desired by +him, when I took my leave of him, upon going to Melinda, to inform +myself where his relation was buried, and to send him some of his +relics. + +The viceroy, son-in-law to the Emperor, with whom I was joined in +the commission, gave me many distinguishing proofs of his affection +to me, and of his zeal for the Catholic religion. It was a journey +of fifteen days through part of the country possessed by the Galles, +which made it necessary to take troops with us for our security; +yet, notwithstanding this precaution, the hazard of the expedition +appeared so great, that our friends bid us farewell with tears, and +looked upon us as destined to unavoidable destruction. The viceroy +had given orders to some troops to join us on the road, so that our +little army grew stronger as we advanced. There is no making long +marches in this country; an army here is a great city well peopled +and under exact government: they take their wives and children with +them, and the camp hath its streets, its market places, its +churches, courts of justice, judges, and civil officers. + +Before they set forward, they advertise the governors of provinces +through which they are to pass, that they may take care to furnish +what is necessary for the subsistence of the troops. These +governors give notice to the adjacent places that the army is to +march that way on such a day, and that they are assessed such a +quantity of bread, beer, and cows. The peasants are very exact in +supplying their quota, being obliged to pay double the value in case +of failure; and very often when they have produced their full share, +they are told that they have been deficient, and condemned to buy +their peace with a large fine. + +When the providore has received these contributions, he divides them +according to the number of persons, and the want they are in: the +proportion they observe in this distribution is twenty pots of beer, +ten of mead, and one cow to a hundred loaves. The chief officers +and persons of note carry their own provisions with them, which I +did too, though I afterwards found the precaution unnecessary, for I +had often two or three cows more than I wanted, which I bestowed on +those whose allowance fell short. + +The Abyssins are not only obliged to maintain the troops in their +march, but to repair the roads, to clear them, especially in the +forests, of brambles and thorns, and by all means possible to +facilitate the passage of the army. They are, by long custom, +extremely ready at encamping. As soon as they come to a place they +think convenient to halt at, the officer that commands the vanguard +marks out with his pike the place for the King's or viceroy's tent: +every one knows his rank, and how much ground he shall take up; so +the camp is formed in an instant. + + + +Chapter VII + + + +They discover the relics. Their apprehension of the Galles. The +author converts a criminal, and procures his pardon. + + +We took with us an old Moor, so enfeebled with age that they were +forced to carry him: he had seen, as I have said, the sufferings +and death of Don Christopher de Gama; and a Christian, who had often +heard all those passages related to his father, and knew the place +where the uncle and nephew of Mahomet were buried, and where they +interred one quarter of the Portuguese martyr. We often examined +these two men, and always apart; they agreed in every circumstance +of their relations, and confirmed us in our belief of them by +leading us to the place where we took up the uncle and nephew of +Mahomet, as they had described. With no small labour we removed the +heap of stones which the Moors, according to their custom, had +thrown upon the body, and discovered the treasure we came in search +of. Not many paces off was the fountain where they had thrown his +head, with a dead dog, to raise a greater aversion in the Moors. I +gathered the teeth and the lower jaw. No words can express the +ecstasies I was transported with at seeing the relics of so great a +man, and reflecting that it had pleased God to make me the +instrument of their preservation, so that one day, if our holy +father the Pope shall be so pleased, they may receive the veneration +of the faithful. All burst into tears at the sight. We indulged a +melancholy pleasure in reflecting what that great man had achieved +for the deliverance of Abyssinia, from the yoke and tyranny of the +Moors; the voyages he had undertaken; the battles he had fought; the +victories he had won; and the cruel and tragical death he had +suffered. Our first moments were so entirely taken up with these +reflections that we were incapable of considering the danger we were +in of being immediately surrounded by the Galles; but as soon as we +awoke to that thought, we contrived to retreat as fast as we could. +Our expedition, however, was not so great but we saw them on the top +of a mountain ready to pour down upon us. The viceroy attended us +closely with his little army, but had been probably not much more +secure than we, his force consisting only of foot, and the Galles +entirely of horse, a service at which they are very expert. Our +apprehensions at last proved to be needless, for the troops we saw +were of a nation at that time in alliance with the Abyssins. + +Not caring, after this alarm, to stay longer here, we set out on our +march back, and in our return passed through a village where two +men, who had murdered a domestic of the viceroy, lay under an +arrest. As they had been taken in the fact, the law of the country +allowed that they might have been executed the same hour, but the +viceroy having ordered that their death should be deferred till his +return, delivered them to the relations of the dead, to be disposed +of as they should think proper. They made great rejoicings all the +night, on account of having it in their power to revenge their +relation; and the unhappy criminals had the mortification of +standing by to behold this jollity, and the preparations made for +their execution. + +The Abyssins have three different ways of putting a criminal to +death: one way is to bury him to the neck, to lay a heap of +brambles upon his head, and to cover the whole with a great stone; +another is to beat him to death with cudgels; a third, and the most +usual, is to stab him with their lances. The nearest relation gives +the first thrust, and is followed by all the rest according to their +degrees of kindred; and they to whom it does not happen to strike +while the offender is alive, dip the points of their lances in his +blood to show that they partake in the revenge. It frequently +happens that the relations of the criminal are for taking the like +vengeance for his death, and sometimes pursue this resolution so far +that all those who had any share in the prosecution lose their +lives. + +I being informed that these two men were to die, wrote to the +viceroy for his permission to exhort them, before they entered into +eternity, to unite themselves to the Church. My request being +granted, I applied myself to the men, and found one of them so +obstinate that he would not even afford me a hearing, and died in +his error. The other I found more flexible, and wrought upon him so +far that he came to my tent to be instructed. After my care of his +eternal welfare had met with such success, I could not forbear +attempting something for his temporal, and by my endeavours matters +were so accommodated that the relations were willing to grant his +life on condition he paid a certain number of cows, or the value. +Their first demand was of a thousand; he offered them five; they at +last were satisfied with twelve, provided they were paid upon the +spot. The Abyssins are extremely charitable, and the women, on such +occasions, will give even their necklaces and pendants, so that, +with what I gave myself, I collected in the camp enough to pay the +fine, and all parties were content. + + + +Chapter VIII + + + +The viceroy is offended by his wife. He complains to the Emperor, +but without redress. He meditates a revolt, raises an army, and +makes an attempt to seize upon the author. + + +We continued our march, and the viceroy having been advertised that +some troops had appeared in a hostile manner on the frontiers, went +against them. I parted from him, and arrived at Fremona, where the +Portuguese expected me with great impatience. I reposited the bones +of Don Christopher de Gama in a decent place, and sent them the May +following to the viceroy of the Indies, together with his arms, +which had been presented me by a gentleman of Abyssinia, and a +picture of the Virgin Mary, which that gallant Portuguese always +carried about him. + +The viceroy, during all the time he was engaged in this expedition, +heard very provoking accounts of the bad conduct of his wife, and +complained of it to the Emperor, entreating him either to punish his +daughter himself, or to permit him to deliver her over to justice, +that, if she was falsely accused, she might have an opportunity of +putting her own honour and her husband's out of dispute. The +Emperor took little notice of his son-in-law's remonstrances; and, +the truth is, the viceroy was somewhat more nice in that matter than +the people of rank in this country generally are. There are laws, +it is true, against adultery, but they seem to have been only for +the meaner people, and the women of quality, especially the ouzoros, +or ladies of the blood royal, are so much above them, that their +husbands have not even the liberty of complaining; and certainly to +support injuries of this kind without complaining requires a degree +of patience which few men can boast of. The viceroy's virtue was +not proof against this temptation. He fell into a deep melancholy, +and resolved to be revenged on his father-in-law. He knew the +present temper of the people, that those of the greatest interest +and power were by no means pleased with the changes of religion, and +only waited for a fair opportunity to revolt; and that these +discontents were everywhere heightened by the monks and clergy. +Encouraged by these reflections, he was always talking of the just +reasons he had to complain of the Emperor, and gave them sufficient +room to understand that if they would appear in his party, he would +declare himself for the ancient religion, and put himself at the +head of those who should take arms in the defence of it. The chief +and almost the only thing that hindered him from raising a +formidable rebellion, was the mutual distrust they entertained of +one another, each fearing that as soon as the Emperor should publish +an act of grace, or general amnesty, the greatest part would lay +down their arms and embrace it; and this suspicion was imagined more +reasonable of the viceroy than of any other. Notwithstanding this +difficulty, the priests, who interested themselves much in this +revolt, ran with the utmost earnestness from church to church, +levelling their sermons against the Emperor and the Catholic +religion; and that they might have the better success in putting a +stop to all ecclesiastical innovations, they came to a resolution of +putting all the missionaries to the sword; and that the viceroy +might have no room to hope for a pardon, they obliged him to give +the first wound to him that should fall into his hands. + +As I was the nearest, and by consequence the most exposed, an order +was immediately issued out for apprehending me, it being thought a +good expedient to seize me, and force me to build a citadel, into +which they might retreat if they should happen to meet with a +defeat. The viceroy wrote to me to desire that I would come to him, +he having, as he said, an affair of the highest importance to +communicate. + +The frequent assemblies which the viceroy held had already been much +talked of; and I had received advice that he was ready for a revolt, +and that my death was to be the first signal of an open war. +Knowing that the viceroy had made many complaints of the treatment +he received from his father-in-law, I made no doubt that he had some +ill design in hand; and yet could scarce persuade myself that after +all the tokens of friendship I had received from him he would enter +into any measures for destroying me. While I was yet in suspense, I +despatched a faithful servant to the viceroy with my excuse for +disobeying him; and gave the messenger strict orders to observe all +that passed, and bring me an exact account. + +This affair was of too great moment not to engage my utmost +endeavours to arrive at the most certain knowledge of it, and to +advertise the court of the danger. I wrote, therefore, to one of +our fathers, who was then near the Emperor, the best intelligence I +could obtain of all that had passed, of the reports that were spread +through all this part of the empire, and of the disposition which I +discovered in the people to a general defection; telling him, +however, that I could not yet believe that the viceroy, who had +honoured me with his friendship, and of whom I never had any thought +but how to oblige him, could now have so far changed his sentiments +as to take away my life. + +The letters which I received by my servant, and the assurances he +gave that I need fear nothing, for that I was never mentioned by the +viceroy without great marks of esteem, so far confirmed me in my +error, that I went from Fremona with a resolution to see him. I did +not reflect that a man who could fail in his duty to his King, his +father-in-law, and his benefactor, might, without scruple, do the +same to a stranger, though distinguished as his friend; and thus +sanguine and unsuspecting continued my journey, still receiving +intimation from all parts to take care of myself. At length, when I +was within a few days' journey of the viceroy, I received a billet +in more plain and express terms than anything I had been told yet, +charging me with extreme imprudence in putting myself into the hands +of those men who had undoubtedly sworn to cut me off. + +I began, upon this, to distrust the sincerity of the viceroy's +professions, and resolved, upon the receipt of another letter from +the viceroy, to return directly. In this letter, having excused +himself for not waiting for my arrival, he desired me in terms very +strong and pressing to come forward, and stay for him at his own +house, assuring me that he had given such orders for my +entertainment as should prevent my being tired with living there. I +imagined at first that he had left some servants to provide for my +reception, but being advertised at the same time that there was no +longer any doubt of the certainty of his revolt, that the Galles +were engaged to come to his assistance, and that he was gone to sign +a treaty with them, I was no longer in suspense what measures to +take, but returned to Fremona. + +Here I found a letter from the Emperor, which prohibited me to go +out, and the orders which he had sent through all these parts, +directing them to arrest me wherever I was found, and to hinder me +from proceeding on my journey. These orders came too late to +contribute to my preservation, and this prince's goodness had been +in vain, if God, whose protection I have often had experience of in +my travels, had not been my conductor in this emergency. + +The viceroy, hearing that I was returned to my residence, did not +discover any concern or chagrin as at a disappointment, for such was +his privacy and dissimulation that the most penetrating could never +form any conjecture that could be depended on, about his designs, +till everything was ready for the execution of them. My servant, a +man of wit, was surprised as well as everybody else; and I can +ascribe to nothing but a miracle my escape from so many snares as he +laid to entrap me. + +There happened during this perplexity of my affairs an accident of +small consequence in itself, which yet I think deserves to be +mentioned, as it shows the credulity and ignorance of the Abyssins. +I received a visit from a religious, who passed, though he was +blind, for the most learned person in all that country. He had the +whole Scriptures in his memory, but seemed to have been at more +pains to retain them than understand them; as he talked much he +often took occasion to quote them, and did it almost always +improperly. Having invited him to sup and pass the night with me, I +set before him some excellent mead, which he liked so well as to +drink somewhat beyond the bounds of exact temperance. Next day, to +make some return for his entertainment, he took upon him to divert +me with some of those stories which the monks amuse simple people +with, and told me of a devil that haunted a fountain, and used to +make it his employment to plague the monks that came thither to +fetch water, and continued his malice till he was converted by the +founder of their order, who found him no very stubborn proselyte +till they came to the point of circumcision; the devil was unhappily +prepossessed with a strong aversion from being circumcised, which, +however, by much persuasion, he at last agreed to, and afterwards +taking a religious habit, died ten years after with great signs of +sanctity. He added another history of a famous Abyssinian monk, who +killed a devil two hundred feet high, and only four feet thick, that +ravaged all the country; the peasants had a great desire to throw +the dead carcase from the top of a rock, but could not with all +their force remove it from the place, but the monk drew it after him +with all imaginable ease and pushed it down. This story was +followed by another, of a young devil that became a religious of the +famous monastery of Aba Gatima. The good father would have favoured +me with more relations of the same kind, if I had been in the humour +to have heard them, but, interrupting him, I told him that all these +relations confirmed what we had found by experience, that the monks +of Abyssinia were no improper company for the devil. + + + +Chapter IX + + + +The viceroy is defeated and hanged. The author narrowly escapes +being poisoned. + + +I did not stay long at Fremona, but left that town and the province +of Tigre, and soon found that I was very happy in that resolution, +for scarce had I left the place before the viceroy came in person to +put me to death, who, not finding me, as he expected, resolved to +turn all his vengeance against the father Gaspard Paes, a venerable +man, who was grown grey in the missions of Aethiopia, and five other +missionaries newly arrived from the Indies; his design was to kill +them all at one time without suffering any to escape; he therefore +sent for them all, but one happily being sick, another stayed to +attend him; to this they owed their lives, for the viceroy, finding +but four of them, sent them back, telling them he would see them all +together. The fathers, having been already told of his revolt, and +of the pretences he made use of to give it credit, made no question +of his intent to massacre them, and contrived their escape so that +they got safely out of his power. + +The viceroy, disappointed in his scheme, vented all his rage upon +Father James, whom the patriarch had given him as his confessor; the +good man was carried, bound hand and foot, into the middle of the +camp; the viceroy gave the first stab in the throat, and all the +rest struck him with their lances, and dipped their weapons in his +blood, promising each other that they would never accept of any act +of oblivion or terms of peace by which the Catholic religion was not +abolished throughout the empire, and all those who professed it +either banished or put to death. They then ordered all the beads, +images, crosses, and relics which the Catholics made use of to be +thrown into the fire. + +The anger of God was now ready to fall upon his head for these +daring and complicated crimes; the Emperor had already confiscated +all his goods, and given the government of the kingdom of Tigre to +Keba Christos, a good Catholic, who was sent with a numerous army to +take possession of it. As both armies were in search of each other, +it was not long before they came to a battle. The revolted viceroy +Tecla Georgis placed all his confidence in the Galles, his +auxiliaries. Keba Christos, who had marched with incredible +expedition to hinder the enemy from making any intrenchments, would +willingly have refreshed his men a few days before the battle, but +finding the foe vigilant, thought it not proper to stay till he was +attacked, and therefore resolved to make the first onset; then +presenting himself before his army without arms and with his head +uncovered, assured them that such was his confidence in God's +protection of those that engaged in so just a cause, that though he +were in that condition and alone, he would attack his enemies. + +The battle began immediately, and of all the troops of Tecla Georgis +only the Galles made any resistance, the rest abandoned him without +striking a blow. The unhappy commander, seeing all his squadrons +broken, and three hundred of the Galles, with twelve ecclesiastics, +killed on the spot, hid himself in a cave, where he was found three +days afterwards, with his favourite and a monk. When they took him, +they cut off the heads of his two companions in the field, and +carried him to the Emperor; the procedure against him was not long, +and he was condemned to be burnt alive. Then imagining that, if he +embraced the Catholic faith, the intercession of the missionaries, +with the entreaties of his wife and children, might procure him a +pardon, he desired a Jesuit to hear his confession, and abjured his +errors. The Emperor was inflexible both to the entreaties of his +daughter and the tears of his grand-children, and all that could be +obtained of him was that the sentence should be mollified, and +changed into a condemnation to be hanged. Tecla Georgis renounced +his abjuration, and at his death persisted in his errors. Adero, +his sister, who had borne the greatest share in his revolt, was +hanged on the same tree fifteen days after. + +I arrived not long after at the Emperor's court, and had the honour +of kissing his hands; but stayed not long in a place where no +missionary ought to linger, unless obliged by the most pressing +necessity: but being ordered by my superiors into the kingdom of +Damote, I set out on my journey, and on the road was in great danger +of losing my life by my curiosity of tasting a herb, which I found +near a brook, and which, though I had often heard of it, I did not +know. It bears a great resemblance to our radishes; the leaf and +colour were beautiful, and the taste not unpleasant. It came into +my mind when I began to chew it that perhaps it might be that +venomous herb against which no antidote had yet been found, but +persuading myself afterwards that my fears were merely chimerical, I +continued to +chew it, till a man accidentally meeting me, and seeing me with a +handful of it, cried out to me that I was poisoned; I had happily +not swallowed any of it, and throwing out what I had in my mouth, I +returned God thanks for this instance of his protection. + +I crossed the Nile the first time in my journey to the kingdom of +Damote; my passage brought into my mind all that I had read either +in ancient or modern writers of this celebrated river; I recollected +the great expenses at which some Emperors had endeavoured to gratify +their curiosity of knowing the sources of this mighty stream, which +nothing but their little acquaintance with the Abyssins made so +difficult to be found. I passed the river within two days' journey +of its head, near a wide plain, which is entirely laid under water +when it begins to overflow the banks. Its channel is even here so +wide, that a ball-shot from a musket can scarce reach the farther +bank. Here is neither boat nor bridge, and the river is so full of +hippopotami, or river-horses, and crocodiles, that it is impossible +to swim over without danger of being devoured. The only way of +passing it is upon floats, which they guide as well as they can with +long poles. Nor is even this way without danger, for these +destructive animals overturn the floats, and tear the passengers in +pieces. The river horse, which lives only on grass and branches of +trees, is satisfied with killing the men, but the crocodile being +more voracious, feeds upon the carcases. + +But since I am arrived at the banks of this renowned river, which I +have passed and repassed so many times; and since all that I have +read of the nature of its waters, and the causes of its overflowing, +is full of fables, the reader may not be displeased to find here an +account of what I saw myself, or was told by the inhabitants. + + + +Chapter X + + + +A description of the Nile. + + +The Nile, which the natives call Abavi, that is, the Father of +Waters, rises first in Sacala, a province of the kingdom of Goiama, +which is one of the most fruitful and agreeable of all the +Abyssinian dominions. This province is inhabited by a nation of the +Agaus, who call, but only call, themselves Christians, for by daily +intermarriages they have allied themselves to the Pagan Agaus, and +adopted all their customs and ceremonies. These two nations are +very numerous, fierce, and unconquerable, inhabiting a country full +of mountains, which are covered with woods, and hollowed by nature +into vast caverns, many of which are capable of containing several +numerous families, and hundreds of cows. To these recesses the +Agaus betake themselves when they are driven out of the plain, where +it is almost impossible to find them, and certain ruin to pursue +them. This people increases extremely, every man being allowed so +many wives as he hath hundreds of cows, and it is seldom that the +hundreds are required to be complete. + +In the eastern part of this kingdom, on the declivity of a mountain, +whose descent is so easy that it seems a beautiful plain, is that +source of the Nile which has been sought after at so much expense of +labour, and about which such variety of conjectures hath been formed +without success. This spring, or rather these two springs, are two +holes, each about two feet diameter, a stone's cast distant from +each other; the one is but about five feet and a half in depth--at +least we could not get our plummet farther, perhaps because it was +stopped by roots, for the whole place is full of trees; of the +other, which is somewhat less, with a line of ten feet we could find +no bottom, and were assured by the inhabitants that none ever had +been found. It is believed here that these springs are the vents of +a great subterraneous lake, and they have this circumstance to +favour their opinion, that the ground is always moist and so soft +that the water boils up under foot as one walks upon it. This is +more visible after rains, for then the ground yields and sinks so +much, that I believe it is chiefly supported by the roots of trees +that are interwoven one with another; such is the ground round about +these fountains. At a little distance to the south is a village +named Guix, through which the way lies to the top of the mountain, +from whence the traveller discovers a vast extent of land, which +appears like a deep valley, though the mountain rises so +imperceptibly that those who go up or down it are scarce sensible of +any declivity. + +On the top of this mountain is a little hill which the idolatrous +Agaus have in great veneration; their priest calls them together at +this place once a year, and having sacrificed a cow, throws the head +into one of the springs of the Nile; after which ceremony, every one +sacrifices a cow or more, according to their different degrees of +wealth or devotion. The bones of these cows have already formed two +mountains of considerable height, which afford a sufficient proof +that these nations have always paid their adorations to this famous +river. They eat these sacrifices with great devotion, as flesh +consecrated to their deity. Then the priest anoints himself with +the grease and tallow of the cows, and sits down on a heap of straw, +on the top and in the middle of a pile which is prepared; they set +fire to it, and the whole heap is consumed without any injury to the +priest, who while the fire continues harangues the standers by, and +confirms them in their present ignorance and superstition. When the +pile is burnt, and the discourse at an end, every one makes a large +present to the priest, which is the grand design of this religious +mockery. + +To return to the course of the Nile: its waters, after the first +rise, run to the eastward for about a musket-shot, then turning to +the north, continue hidden in the grass and weeds for about a +quarter of a league, and discover themselves for the first time +among some rocks--a sight not to be enjoyed without some pleasure by +those who have read the fabulous accounts of this stream delivered +by the ancients, and the vain conjectures and reasonings which have +been formed upon its original, the nature of its water, its +cataracts, and its inundations, all which we are now entirely +acquainted with and eye-witnesses of. + +Many interpreters of the Holy Scriptures pretend that Gihon, +mentioned in Genesis, is no other than the Nile, which encompasseth +all Aethiopia; but as the Gihon had its source from the terrestrial +paradise, and we know that the Nile rises in the country of the +Agaus, it will be found, I believe, no small difficulty to conceive +how the same river could arise from two sources so distant from each +other, or how a river from so low a source should spring up and +appear in a place perhaps the highest in the world: for if we +consider that Arabia and Palestine are in their situation almost +level with Egypt; that Egypt is as low, if compared with the kingdom +of Dambia, as the deepest valley in regard of the highest mountain; +that the province of Sacala is yet more elevated than Dambia; that +the waters of the Nile must either pass under the Red Sea, or take a +great compass about, we shall find it hard to conceive such an +attractive power in the earth as may be able to make the waters rise +through the obstruction of so much sand from places so low to the +most lofty region of Aethiopia. + +But leaving these difficulties, let us go on to describe the course +of the Nile. It rolls away from its source with so inconsiderable a +current, that it appears unlikely to escape being dried up by the +hot season, but soon receiving an increase from the Gemma, the +Keltu, the Bransu, and other less rivers, it is of such a breadth in +the plain of Boad, which is not above three days' journey from its +source, that a ball shot from a musket will scarce fly from one bank +to the other. Here it begins to run northwards, deflecting, +however, a little towards the east, for the space of nine or ten +leagues, and then enters the so much talked of Lake of Dambia, +called by the natives Bahar Sena, the Resemblance of the Sea, or +Bahar Dambia, the Sea of Dambia. It crosses this lake only at one +end with so violent a rapidity, that the waters of the Nile may be +distinguished through all the passage, which is six leagues. Here +begins the greatness of the Nile. Fifteen miles farther, in the +land of Alata, it rushes precipitately from the top of a high rock, +and forms one of the most beautiful water-falls in the world: I +passed under it without being wet; and resting myself there, for the +sake of the coolness, was charmed with a thousand delightful +rainbows, which the sunbeams painted on the water in all their +shining and lively colours. The fall of this mighty stream from so +great a height makes a noise that may be heard to a considerable +distance; but I could not observe that the neighbouring inhabitants +were at all deaf. I conversed with several, and was as easily heard +by them as I heard them. The mist that rises from this fall of +water may be seen much farther than the noise can be heard. After +this cataract the Nile again collects its scattered stream among the +rocks, which seem to be disjoined in this place only to afford it a +passage. They are so near each other that, in my time, a bridge of +beams, on which the whole Imperial army passed, was laid over them. +Sultan Segued hath since built here a bridge of one arch in the same +place, for which purpose he procured masons from India. This +bridge, which is the first the Abyssins have seen on the Nile, very +much facilitates a communication between the provinces, and +encourages commerce among the inhabitants of his empire. + +Here the river alters its course, and passes through many various +kingdoms; on the east it leaves Begmeder, or the Land of Sheep, so +called from great numbers that are bred there, beg, in that +language, signifying sheep, and meder, a country. It then waters +the kingdoms of Amhara, Olaca, Choaa, and Damot, which lie on the +left side, and the kingdom of Goiama, which it bounds on the right, +forming by its windings a kind of peninsula. Then entering Bezamo, +a province of the kingdom of Damot, and Gamarchausa, part of Goiama, +it returns within a short day's journey of its spring; though to +pursue it through all its mazes, and accompany it round the kingdom +of Goiama, is a journey of twenty-nine days. So far, and a few +days' journey farther, this river confines itself to Abyssinia, and +then passes into the bordering countries of Fazulo and Ombarca. + +These vast regions we have little knowledge of: they are inhabited +by nations entirely different from the Abyssins; their hair is like +that of the other blacks, short and curled. In the year 1615, +Rassela Christos, lieutenant-general to Sultan Segued, entered those +kingdoms with his army in a hostile manner; but being able to get no +intelligence of the condition of the people, and astonished at their +unbounded extent, he returned, without daring to attempt anything. + +As the empire of the Abyssins terminates at these deserts, and as I +have followed the course of the Nile no farther, I here leave it to +range over barbarous kingdoms, and convey wealth and plenty into +Egypt, which owes to the annual inundations of this river its envied +fertility. I know not anything of the rest of its passage, but that +it receives great increases from many other rivers; that it has +several cataracts like the first already described, and that few +fish are to be found in it, which scarcity, doubtless, is to be +attributed to the river-horses and crocodiles, which destroy the +weaker inhabitants of these waters, and something may be allowed to +the cataracts, it being difficult for fish to fall so far without +being killed. + +Although some who have travelled in Asia and Africa have given the +world their descriptions of crocodiles and hippopotamus, or river- +horse, yet as the Nile has at least as great numbers of each as any +river in the world, I cannot but think my account of it would be +imperfect without some particular mention of these animals. + +The crocodile is very ugly, having no proportion between his length +and thickness; he hath short feet, a wide mouth, with two rows of +sharp teeth, standing wide from each other, a brown skin so +fortified with scales, even to his nose, that a musket-ball cannot +penetrate it. His sight is extremely quick, and at a great +distance. In the water he is daring and fierce, and will seize on +any that are so unfortunate as to be found by him bathing, who, if +they escape with life, are almost sure to leave some limb in his +mouth. Neither I, nor any with whom I have conversed about the +crocodile, have ever seen him weep, and therefore I take the liberty +of ranking all that hath been told us of his tears amongst the +fables which are only proper to amuse children. + +The hippopotamus, or river-horse, grazes upon the land and browses +on the shrubs, yet is no less dangerous than the crocodile. He is +the size of an ox, of a brown colour without any hair, his tail is +short, his neck long, and his head of an enormous bigness; his eyes +are small, his mouth wide, with teeth half a foot long; he hath two +tusks like those of a wild boar, but larger; his legs are short, and +his feet part into four toes. It is easy to observe from this +description that he hath no resemblance of a horse, and indeed +nothing could give occasion to the name but some likeness in his +ears, and his neighing and snorting like a horse when he is provoked +or raises his head out of water. His hide is so hard that a musket +fired close to him can only make a slight impression, and the best +tempered lances pushed forcibly against him are either blunted or +shivered, unless the assailant has the skill to make his thrust at +certain parts which are more tender. There is great danger in +meeting him, and the best way is, upon such an accident, to step +aside and let him pass by. The flesh of this animal doth not differ +from that of a cow, except that it is blacker and harder to digest. + +The ignorance which we have hitherto been in of the original of the +Nile hath given many authors an opportunity of presenting us very +gravely with their various systems and conjectures about the nature +of its waters, and the reason of its overflows. + +It is easy to observe how many empty hypotheses and idle reasonings +the phenomena of this river have put mankind to the expense of. Yet +there are people so bigoted to antiquity, as not to pay any regard +to the relation of travellers who have been upon the spot, and by +the evidence of their eyes can confute all that the ancients have +written. It was difficult, it was even impossible, to arrive at the +source of the Nile by tracing its channel from the mouth; and all +who ever attempted it, having been stopped by the cataracts, and +imagining none that followed them could pass farther, have taken the +liberty of entertaining us with their own fictions. + +It is to be remembered likewise that neither the Greeks nor Romans, +from whom we have received all our information, ever carried their +arms into this part of the world, or ever heard of multitudes of +nations that dwell upon the banks of this vast river; that the +countries where the Nile rises, and those through which it runs, +have no inhabitants but what are savage and uncivilised; that before +they could arrive at its head, they must surmount the insuperable +obstacles of impassable forests, inaccessible cliffs, and deserts +crowded with beasts of prey, fierce by nature, and raging for want +of sustenance. Yet if they who endeavoured with so much ardour to +discover the spring of this river had landed at Mazna on the coast +of the Red Sea, and marched a little more to the south than the +south-west, they might perhaps have gratified their curiosity at +less expense, and in about twenty days might have enjoyed the +desired sight of the sources of the Nile. + +But this discovery was reserved for the invincible bravery of our +noble countrymen, who, not discouraged by the dangers of a +navigation in seas never explored before, have subdued kingdoms and +empires where the Greek and Roman greatness, where the names of +Caesar and Alexander, were never heard of; who have demolished the +airy fabrics of renowned hypotheses, and detected those fables which +the ancients rather chose to invent of the sources of the Nile than +to confess their ignorance. I cannot help suspending my narration +to reflect a little on the ridiculous speculations of those swelling +philosophers, whose arrogance would prescribe laws to nature, and +subject those astonishing effects, which we behold daily, to their +idle reasonings and chimerical rules. Presumptuous imagination! +that has given being to such numbers of books, and patrons to so +many various opinions about the overflows of the Nile. Some of +these theorists have been pleased to declare it as their favourite +notion that this inundation is caused by high winds which stop the +current, and so force the water to rise above its banks, and spread +over all Egypt. Others pretend a subterraneous communication +between the ocean and the Nile, and that the sea being violently +agitated swells the river. Many have imagined themselves blessed +with the discovery when they have told us that this mighty flood +proceeds from the melting of snow on the mountains of Aethiopia, +without reflecting that this opinion is contrary to the received +notion of all the ancients, who believed that the heat was so +excessive between the tropics that no inhabitant could live there. +So much snow and so great heat are never met with in the same +region; and indeed I never saw snow in Abyssinia, except on Mount +Semen in the kingdom of Tigre, very remote from the Nile, and on +Namera, which is indeed not far distant, but where there never falls +snow sufficient to wet the foot of the mountain when it is melted. + +To the immense labours and fatigues of the Portuguese mankind is +indebted for the knowledge of the real cause of these inundations so +great and so regular. Their observations inform us that Abyssinia, +where the Nile rises and waters vast tracts of land, is full of +mountains, and in its natural situation much higher than Egypt; that +all the winter, from June to September, no day is without rain; that +the Nile receives in its course all the rivers, brooks, and torrents +which fall from those mountains; these necessarily swell it above +the banks, and fill the plains of Egypt with the inundation. This +comes regularly about the month of July, or three weeks after the +beginning of a rainy season in Aethiopia. The different degrees of +this flood are such certain indications of the fruitfulness or +sterility of the ensuing year, that it is publicly proclaimed in +Cairo how much the water hath gained each night. This is all I have +to inform the reader of concerning the Nile, which the Egyptians +adored as the deity, in whose choice it was to bless them with +abundance, or deprive them of the necessaries of life. + + + +Chapter XI + + + +The author discovers a passage over the Nile. Is sent into the +province of Ligonus, which he gives a description of. His success +in his mission. The stratagem of the monks to encourage the +soldiers. The author narrowly escapes being burned. + + +When I was to cross this river at Boad, I durst not venture myself +on the floats I have already spoken of, but went up higher in hopes +of finding a more commodious passage. I had with me three or four +men that were reduced to the same difficulty with myself. In one +part seeing people on the other side, and remarking that the water +was shallow, and that the rocks and trees which grew very thick +there contributed to facilitate the attempt, I leaped from one rock +to another, till I reached the opposite bank, to the great amazement +of the natives themselves, who never had tried that way; my four +companions followed me with the same success: and it hath been +called since the passage of Father Jerome. + +That province of the kingdom of Damot, which I was assigned to by my +superior, is called Ligonus, and is perhaps one of the most +beautiful and agreeable places in the world; the air is healthful +and temperate, and all the mountains, which are not very high, +shaded with cedars. They sow and reap here in every season, the +ground is always producing, and the fruits ripen throughout the +year; so great, so charming is the variety, that the whole region +seems a garden laid out and cultivated only to please. I doubt +whether even the imagination of a painter has yet conceived a +landscape as beautiful as I have seen. The forests have nothing +uncouth or savage, and seem only planted for shade and coolness. +Among a prodigious number of trees which fill them, there is one +kind which I have seen in no other place, and to which we have none +that bears any resemblance. This tree, which the natives call +ensete, is wonderfully useful; its leaves, which are so large as to +cover a man, make hangings for rooms, and serve the inhabitants +instead of linen for their tables and carpets. They grind the +branches and the thick parts of the leaves, and when they are +mingled with milk, find them a delicious food. The trunk and the +roots are even more nourishing than the leaves or branches, and the +meaner people, when they go a journey, make no provision of any +other victuals. The word ensete signifies the tree against hunger, +or the poor's tree, though the most wealthy often eat of it. If it +be cut down within half a foot of the ground and several incisions +made in the stump, each will put out a new sprout, which, if +transplanted, will take root and grow to a tree. The Abyssins +report that this tree when it is cut down groans like a man, and, on +this account, call cutting down an ensete killing it. On the top +grows a bunch of five or six figs, of a taste not very agreeable, +which they set in the ground to produce more trees. + +I stayed two months in the province of Ligonus, and during that time +procured a church to be built of hewn stone, roofed and wainscoted +with cedar, which is the most considerable in the whole country. My +continual employment was the duties of the mission, which I was +always practising in some part of the province, not indeed with any +extraordinary success at first, for I found the people inflexibly +obstinate in their opinions, even to so great a degree, that when I +first published the Emperor's edict requiring all his subjects to +renounce their errors, and unite themselves to the Roman Church, +there were some monks who, to the number of sixty, chose rather to +die by throwing themselves headlong from a precipice than obey their +sovereign's commands: and in a battle fought between these people +that adhered to the religion of their ancestors, and the troops of +Sultan Segued, six hundred religious, placing themselves at the head +of their men, marched towards the Catholic army with the stones of +the altars upon their heads, assuring their credulous followers that +the Emperor's troops would immediately at the sight of those stones +fall into disorder and turn their backs; but, as they were some of +the first that fell, their death had a great influence upon the +people to undeceive them, and make them return to the truth. Many +were converted after the battle, and when they had embraced the +Catholic faith, adhered to that with the same constancy and firmness +with which they had before persisted in their errors. + +The Emperor had sent a viceroy into this province, whose firm +attachment to the Roman Church, as well as great abilities in +military affairs, made him a person very capable of executing the +orders of the Emperor, and of suppressing any insurrection that +might be raised, to prevent those alterations in religion which they +were designed to promote: a farther view in the choice of so +warlike a deputy was that a stop might be put to the inroads of the +Galles, who had killed one viceroy, and in a little time after +killed this. + +It was our custom to meet together every year about Christmas, not +only that we might comfort and entertain each other, but likewise +that we might relate the progress and success of our missions, and +concert all measures that might farther the conversion of the +inhabitants. This year our place of meeting was the Emperor's camp, +where the patriarch and superior of the missions were. I left the +place of my abode, and took in my way four fathers, that resided at +the distance of two days' journey, so that the company, without +reckoning our attendants, was five. There happened nothing +remarkable to us till the last night of our journey, when taking up +our lodging at a place belonging to the Empress, a declared enemy to +all Catholics, and in particular to the missionaries, we met with a +kind reception in appearance, and were lodged in a large stone house +covered with wood and straw, which had stood uninhabited so long, +that great numbers of red ants had taken possession of it; these, as +soon as we were laid down, attacked us on all sides, and tormented +us so incessantly that we were obliged to call up our domestics. +Having burnt a prodigious number of these troublesome animals, we +tried to compose ourselves again, but had scarce closed our eyes +before we were awakened by the fire that had seized our lodging. +Our servants, who were fortunately not all gone to bed, perceived +the fire as soon as it began, and informed me, who lay nearest the +door. I immediately alarmed all the rest, and nothing was thought +of but how to save ourselves and the little goods we had, when, to +our great astonishment, we found one of the doors barricaded in such +a manner that we could not open it. Nothing now could have +prevented our perishing in the flames had not those who kindled them +omitted to fasten that door near which I was lodged. We were no +longer in doubt that the inhabitants of the town had laid a train, +and set fire to a neighbouring house, in order to consume us; their +measures were so well laid, that the house was in ashes in an +instant, and three of our beds were burnt which the violence of the +flame would not allow us to carry away. We spent the rest of the +night in the most dismal apprehensions, and found next morning that +we had justly charged the inhabitants with the design of destroying +us, for the place was entirely abandoned, and those that were +conscious of the crime had fled from the punishment. We continued +our journey, and came to Gorgora, where we found the fathers met, +and the Emperor with them. + + + +Chapter XII + + + +The author is sent into Tigre. Is in danger of being poisoned by +the breath of a serpent. Is stung by a serpent. Is almost killed +by eating anchoy. The people conspire against the missionaries, and +distress them. + + +My superiors intended to send me into the farthest parts of the +empire, but the Emperor over-ruled that design, and remanded me to +Tigre, where I had resided before. I passed in my journey by Ganete +Ilhos, a palace newly built, and made agreeable by beautiful +gardens, and had the honour of paying my respects to the Emperor, +who had retired thither, and receiving from him a large present for +the finishing of a hospital, which had been begun in the kingdom of +Tigre. After having returned him thanks, I continued my way, and in +crossing a desert two days' journey over, was in great danger of my +life, for, as I lay on the ground, I perceived myself seized with a +pain which forced me to rise, and saw about four yards from me one +of those serpents that dart their poison at a distance; although I +rose before he came very near me, I yet felt the effects of his +poisonous breath, and, if I had lain a little longer, had certainly +died; I had recourse to bezoar, a sovereign remedy against these +poisons, which I always carried about me. These serpents are not +long, but have a body short and thick, and their bellies speckled +with brown, black, and yellow; they have a wide mouth, with which +they draw in a great quantity of air, and, having retained it some +time, eject it with such force that they kill at four yards' +distance. I only escaped by being somewhat farther from him. This +danger, however, was not much to be regarded in comparison of +another which my negligence brought me into. As I was picking up a +skin that lay upon the ground, I was stung by a serpent that left +his sting in my finger; I at least picked an extraneous substance +about the bigness of a hair out of the wound, which I imagined was +the sting. This slight wound I took little notice of, till my arm +grew inflamed all over; in a short time the poison infected my +blood, and I felt the most terrible convulsions, which were +interpreted as certain signs that my death was near and inevitable. +I received now no benefit from bezoar, the horn of the unicorn, or +any of the usual antidotes, but found myself obliged to make use of +an extraordinary remedy, which I submitted to with extreme +reluctance. This submission and obedience brought the blessing of +Heaven upon me; nevertheless, I continued indisposed a long time, +and had many symptoms which made me fear that all the danger was not +yet over. I then took cloves of garlic, though with a great +aversion, both from the taste and smell. I was in this condition a +whole month, always in pain, and taking medicines the most nauseous +in the world. At length youth and a happy constitution surmounted +the malignity, and I recovered my former health. + +I continued two years at my residence in Tigre, entirely taken up +with the duties of the mission--preaching, confessing, baptising-- +and enjoyed a longer quiet and repose than I had ever done since I +left Portugal. During this time one of our fathers, being always +sick and of a constitution which the air of Abyssinia was very +hurtful to, obtained a permission from our superiors to return to +the Indies; I was willing to accompany him through part of his way, +and went with him over a desert, at no great distance from my +residence, where I found many trees loaded with a kind of fruit, +called by the natives anchoy, about the bigness of an apricot, and +very yellow, which is much eaten without any ill effect. I +therefore made no scruple of gathering and eating it, without +knowing that the inhabitants always peeled it, the rind being a +violent purgative; so that, eating the fruit and skin together, I +fell into such a disorder as almost brought me to my end. The +ordinary dose is six of these rinds, and I had devoured twenty. + +I removed from thence to Debaroa, fifty-four miles nearer the sea, +and crossed in my way the desert of the province of Saraoe. The +country is fruitful, pleasant, and populous; there are greater +numbers of Moors in these parts than in any other province of +Abyssinia, and the Abyssins of this country are not much better than +the Moors. + +I was at Debaroa when the prosecution was first set on foot against +the Catholics. Sultan Segued, who had been so great a favourer of +us, was grown old, and his spirit and authority decreased with his +strength. His son, who was arrived at manhood, being weary of +waiting so long for the crown he was to inherit, took occasion to +blame his father's conduct, and found some reason for censuring all +his actions; he even proceeded so far as to give orders sometimes +contrary to the Emperor's. He had embraced the Catholic religion, +rather through complaisance than conviction or inclination; and many +of the Abyssins who had done the same, waited only for an +opportunity of making public profession of the ancient erroneous +opinions, and of re-uniting themselves to the Church of Alexandria. +So artfully can this people dissemble their sentiments that we had +not been able hitherto to distinguish our real from our pretended +favourers; but as soon as this Prince began to give evident tokens +of his hatred, even in the lifetime of the Emperor, we saw all the +courtiers and governors who had treated us with such a show of +friendship declare against us, and persecute us as disturbers of the +public tranquillity, who had come into Aethiopia with no other +intention than to abolish the ancient laws and customs of the +country, to sow divisions between father and son, and preach up a +revolution. + +After having borne all sorts of affronts and ill-treatments, we +retired to our house at Fremona, in the midst of our countrymen, who +had been settling round about us a long time, imagining we should be +more secure there, and that, at least during the life of the +Emperor, they would not come to extremities, or proceed to open +force. I laid some stress upon the kindness which the viceroy of +Tigre had shown to us, and in particular to me; but was soon +convinced that those hopes had no real foundation, for he was one of +the most violent of our persecutors. He seized upon all our lands, +and, advancing with his troops to Fremona, blocked up the town. The +army had not been stationed there long before they committed all +sorts of disorders; so that one day a Portuguese, provoked beyond +his temper at the insolence of some of them, went out with his four +sons, and, wounding several of them, forced the rest back to their +camp. + +We thought we had good reason to apprehend an attack; their troops +were increasing, our town was surrounded, and on the point of being +forced. Our Portuguese therefore thought that, without staying till +the last extremities, they might lawfully repel one violence by +another, and sallying out to the number of fifty, wounded about +three score of the Abyssins, and had put them to the sword but that +they feared it might bring too great an odium upon our cause. The +Portuguese were some of them wounded, but happily none died on +either side. + +Though the times were by no means favourable to us, every one blamed +the conduct of the viceroy; and those who did not commend our action +made the necessity we were reduced to of self-defence an excuse for +it. The viceroy's principal design was to get my person into his +possession, imagining that if I was once in his power, all the +Portuguese would pay him a blind obedience. Having been +unsuccessful in his attempt by open force, he made use of the arts +of negotiation, but with an event not more to his satisfaction. +This viceroy being recalled, a son-in-law of the Emperor's +succeeded, who treated us even worse than his predecessor had done. + +When he entered upon his command, he loaded us with kindnesses, +giving us so many assurances of his protection that, while the +Emperor lived, we thought him one of our friends; but no sooner was +our protector dead than this man pulled off his mask, and, quitting +all shame, let us see that neither the fear of God nor any other +consideration was capable of restraining him when we were to be +distressed. The persecution then becoming general, there was no +longer any place of security for us in Abyssinia, where we were +looked upon by all as the authors of all the civil commotions, and +many councils were held to determine in what manner they should +dispose of us. Several were of opinion that the best way would be +to kill us all at once, and affirmed that no other means were left +of re-establishing order and tranquillity in the kingdom. + +Others, more prudent, were not for putting us to death with so +little consideration, but advised that we should be banished to one +of the isles of the Lake of Dambia, an affliction more severe than +death itself. These alleged in vindication of their opinions that +it was reasonable to expect, if they put us to death, that the +viceroy of the Indies would come with fire and sword to demand +satisfaction. This argument made so great an impression upon some +of them that they thought no better measures could be taken than to +send us back again to the Indies. This proposal, however, was not +without its difficulties, for they suspected that when we should +arrive at the Portuguese territories, we would levy an army, return +back to Abyssinia, and under pretence of establishing the Catholic +religion revenge all the injuries we had suffered. While they were +thus deliberating upon our fate, we were imploring the succour of +the Almighty with fervent and humble supplications, entreating him +in the midst of our sighs and tears that he would not suffer his own +cause to miscarry, and that, however it might please him to dispose +of our lives--which, we prayed, he would assist us to lay down with +patience and resignation worthy of the faith for which we were +persecuted--he would not permit our enemies to triumph over the +truth. + +Thus we passed our days and nights in prayers, in affliction, and +tears, continually crowded with widows and orphans that subsisted +upon our charity and came to us for bread when we had not any for +ourselves. + +While we were in this distress we received an account that the +viceroy of the Indies had fitted out a powerful fleet against the +King of Mombaza, who, having thrown off the authority of the +Portuguese, had killed the governor of the fortress, and had since +committed many acts of cruelty. The same fleet, as we were +informed, after the King of Mombaza was reduced, was to burn and +ruin Zeila, in revenge of the death of two Portuguese Jesuits who +were killed by the King in the year 1604. As Zeila was not far from +the frontiers of Abyssinia, they imagined that they already saw the +Portuguese invading their country. + +The viceroy of Tigre had inquired of me a few days before how many +men one India ship carried, and being told that the complement of +some was a thousand men, he compared that answer with the report +then spread over all the country, that there were eighteen +Portuguese vessels on the coast of Adel, and concluded that they +were manned by an army of eighteen thousand men; then considering +what had been achieved by four hundred, under the command of Don +Christopher de Gama, he thought Abyssinia already ravaged, or +subjected to the King of Portugal. Many declared themselves of his +opinion, and the court took its measures with respect to us from +these uncertain and ungrounded rumours. Some were so infatuated +with their apprehensions that they undertook to describe the camp of +the Portuguese, and affirmed that they had heard the report of their +cannons. + +All this contributed to exasperate the inhabitants, and reduced us +often to the point of being massacred. At length they came to a +resolution of giving us up to the Turks, assuring them that we were +masters of a vast treasure, in hope that after they had inflicted +all kinds of tortures on us, to make us confess where we had hid our +gold, or what we had done with it, they would at length kill us in +rage for the disappointment. Nor was this their only view, for they +believed that the Turks would, by killing us, kindle such an +irreconcilable hatred between themselves and our nation as would +make it necessary for them to keep us out of the Red Sea, of which +they are entirely masters: so that their determination was as +politic as cruel. Some pretend that the Turks were engaged to put +us to death as soon as we were in their power. + + + +Chapter XIII + + + +The author relieves the patriarch and missionaries, and supports +them. He escapes several snares laid for him by the viceroy of +Tigre. They put themselves under the protection of the Prince of +Bar. + + +Having concluded this negotiation, they drove us out of our houses, +and robbed us of everything that was worth carrying away; and, not +content with that, informed some banditti that were then in those +parts of the road we were to travel through, so that the patriarch +and some missionaries were attacked in a desert by these rovers, +with their captain at their head, who pillaged his library, his +ornaments, and what little baggage the missionaries had left, and +might have gone away without resistance or interruption had they +satisfied themselves with only robbing; but when they began to fall +upon the missionaries and their companions, our countrymen, finding +that their lives could only be preserved by their courage, charged +their enemies with such vigour that they killed their chief and +forced the rest to a precipitate flight. But these rovers, being +acquainted with the country, harassed the little caravan till it was +past the borders. + +Our fathers then imagined they had nothing more to fear, but too +soon were convinced of their error, for they found the whole country +turned against them, and met everywhere new enemies to contend with +and new dangers to surmount. Being not far distant from Fremona, +where I resided, they sent to me for succour. I was better informed +of the distress they were in than themselves, having been told that +a numerous body of Abyssins had posted themselves in a narrow pass +with an intent to surround and destroy them; therefore, without long +deliberation, I assembled my friends, both Portuguese and Abyssins, +to the number of fourscore, and went to their rescue, carrying with +me provisions and refreshments, of which I knew they were in great +need. These glorious confessors I met as they were just entering +the pass designed for the place of their destruction, and doubly +preserved them from famine and the sword. A grateful sense of their +deliverance made them receive me as a guardian angel. We went +together to Fremona, and being in all a patriarch, a bishop, +eighteen Jesuits, and four hundred Portuguese whom I supplied with +necessaries, though the revenues of our house were lost, and though +the country was disaffected to us, in the worst season of the year. +We were obliged for the relief of the poor and our own subsistence +to sell our ornaments and chalices, which we first broke in pieces, +that the people might not have the pleasure of ridiculing our +mysteries by profaning the vessels made use of in the celebration of +them, for they now would gladly treat with the highest indignities +what they had a year before looked upon with veneration. + +Amidst all these perplexities the viceroy did not fail to visit us, +and make us great offers of service in expectation of a large +present. We were in a situation in which it was very difficult to +act properly; we knew too well the ill intentions of the viceroy, +but durst not complain, or give him any reason to imagine that we +knew them. We longed to retreat out of his power, or at least to +send one of our company to the Indies with an account of persecution +we suffered, and could without his leave neither do one nor the +other. + +When it was determined that one should be sent to the Indies, I was +at first singled out for the journey, and it was intended that I +should represent at Goa, at Rome, and at Madrid the distresses and +necessities of the mission of Aethiopia; but the fathers reflecting +afterwards that I best understood the Abyssinian language, and was +most acquainted with the customs of the country, altered their +opinions, and, continuing me in Aethiopia either to perish with them +or preserve them, deputed four other Jesuits, who in a short time +set out on their way to the Indies. + +About this time I was sent for to the viceroy's camp to confess a +criminal, who, though falsely, was believed a Catholic, to whom, +after a proper exhortation, I was going to pronounce the form of +absolution, when those that waited to execute him told him aloud +that if he expected to save his life by professing himself a +Catholic, he would find himself deceived, and that he had nothing to +do but prepare himself for death. The unhappy criminal had no +sooner heard this than, rising up, he declared his resolution to die +in the religion of his country, and being delivered up to his +prosecutors was immediately dispatched with their lances. + +The chief reason of calling me was not that I might hear this +confession: the viceroy had another design of seizing my person, +expecting that either the Jesuits or Portuguese would buy my liberty +with a large ransom, or that he might exchange me for his father, +who was kept prisoner by a revolted prince. That prince would have +been no loser by the exchange, for so much was I hated by the +Abyssinian monks that they would have thought no expense too great +to have gotten me into their hands, that they might have glutted +their revenge by putting me to the most painful death they could +have invented. Happily I found means to retire out of this +dangerous place, and was followed by the viceroy almost to Fremona, +who, being disappointed, desired me either to visit him at his camp, +or appoint a place where we might confer. I made many excuses, but +at length agreed to meet him at a place near Fremona, bringing each +of us only three companions. I did not doubt but he would bring +more, and so he did, but found that I was upon my guard, and that my +company increased in proportion to his. My friends were resolute +Portuguese, who were determined to give him no quarter if he made +any attempt upon my liberty. Finding himself once more +countermined, he returned ashamed to his camp, where a month after, +being accused of a confederacy in the revolt of that prince who kept +his father prisoner, he was arrested, and carried in chains to the +Emperor. + +The time now approaching in which we were to be delivered to the +Turks, we had none but God to apply to for relief: all the measures +we could think of were equally dangerous. Resolving, nevertheless, +to seek some retreat where we might hide ourselves either all +together or separately, we determined at last to put ourselves under +the protection of the Prince John Akay, who had defended himself a +long time in the province of Bar against the power of Abyssinia. + +After I had concluded a treaty with this prince, the patriarch and +all the fathers put themselves into his hands, and being received +with all imaginable kindness and civility, were conducted with a +guard to Adicota, a rock excessively steep, about nine miles from +his place of residence. The event was not agreeable to the happy +beginning of our negotiation, for we soon began to find that our +habitation was not likely to be very pleasant. We were surrounded +with Mahometans, or Christians who were inveterate enemies to the +Catholic faith, and were obliged to act with the utmost caution. +Notwithstanding these inconveniences we were pleased with the +present tranquillity we enjoyed, and lived contentedly on lentils +and a little corn that we had; and I, after we had sold all our +goods, resolved to turn physician, and was soon able to support +myself by my practice. + +I was once consulted by a man troubled with asthma, who presented me +with two alquieres--that is, about twenty-eight pounds weight--of +corn and a sheep. The advice I gave him, after having turned over +my books, was to drink goats' urine every morning; I know not +whether he found any benefit by following my prescription, for I +never saw him after. + +Being under a necessity of obeying our acoba, or protector, we +changed our place of abode as often as he desired it, though not +without great inconveniences, from the excessive heat of the weather +and the faintness which our strict observation of the fasts and +austerities of Lent, as it is kept in this country, had brought upon +us. At length, wearied with removing so often, and finding that the +last place assigned for our abode was always the worst, we agreed +that I should go to our sovereign and complain. + +I found him entirely taken up with the imagination of a prodigious +treasure, affirmed by the monks to be hidden under a mountain. He +was told that his predecessors had been hindered from discovering it +by the demon that guarded it, but that the demon was now at a great +distance from his charge, and was grown blind and lame; that having +lost his son, and being without any children except a daughter that +was ugly and unhealthy, he was under great affliction, and entirely +neglected the care of his treasure; that if he should come, they +could call one of their ancient brothers to their assistance, who, +being a man of a most holy life, would be able to prevent his making +any resistance. To all these stories the prince listened with +unthinking credulity. The monks, encouraged by this, fell to the +business, and brought a man above a hundred years old, whom, because +he could not support himself on horseback, they had tied on the +beast, and covered him with black wool. He was followed by a black +cow (designed for a sacrifice to the demon of the place), and by +some monks that carried mead, beer, and parched corn, to complete +the offering. + +No sooner were they arrived at the foot of the mountain than every +one began to work: bags were brought from all parts to convey away +the millions which each imagined would be his share. The Xumo, who +superintended the work, would not allow any one to come near the +labourers, but stood by, attended by the old monk, who almost sang +himself to death. At length, having removed a vast quantity of +earth and stones, they discovered some holes made by rats or moles, +at sight of which a shout of joy ran through the whole troop: the +cow was brought and sacrificed immediately, and some pieces of flesh +were thrown into these holes. Animated now with assurance of +success, they lose no time: every one redoubles his endeavours, and +the heat, though intolerable, was less powerful than the hopes they +had conceived. At length some, not so patient as the rest, were +weary, and desisted. The work now grew more difficult; they found +nothing but rock, yet continued to toil on, till the prince, having +lost all temper, began to inquire with some passion when he should +have a sight of this treasure, and after having been some time +amused with many promises by the monks, was told that he had not +faith enough to be favoured with the discovery. + +All this I saw myself, and could not forbear endeavouring to +convince our protector how much he was imposed upon: he was not +long before he was satisfied that he had been too credulous, for all +those that had so industriously searched after this imaginary +wealth, within five hours left the work in despair, and I continued +almost alone with the prince. + +Imagining no time more proper to make the proposal I was sent with +than while his passion was still hot against the monks, I presented +him with two ounces of gold and two plates of silver, with some +other things of small value, and was so successful that he gratified +me in all my requests, and gave us leave to return to Adicora, where +we were so fortunate to find our huts yet uninjured and entire. + +About this time the fathers who had stayed behind at Fremona arrived +with the new viceroy, and an officer fierce in the defence of his +own religion, who had particular orders to deliver all the Jesuits +up to the Turks, except me, whom the Emperor was resolved to have in +his own hands, alive or dead. We had received some notice of this +resolution from our friends at court, and were likewise informed +that the Emperor, their master, had been persuaded that my design +was to procure assistance from the Indies, and that I should +certainly return at the head of an army. The patriarch's advice +upon this emergency was that I should retire into the woods, and by +some other road join the nine Jesuits who were gone towards Mazna. +I could think of no better expedient, and therefore went away in the +night between the 23rd and 24th of April with my comrade, an old +man, very infirm and very timorous. We crossed woods never crossed, +I believe, by any before: the darkness of the night and the +thickness of the shade spread a kind of horror round us; our gloomy +journey was still more incommoded by the brambles and thorns, which +tore our hands; amidst all these difficulties I applied myself to +the Almighty, praying him to preserve us from those dangers which we +endeavoured to avoid, and to deliver us from those to which our +flight exposed us. Thus we travelled all night, till eight next +morning, without taking either rest or food; then, imagining +ourselves secure, we made us some cakes of barley-meal and water, +which we thought a feast. + +We had a dispute with our guides, who though they had bargained to +conduct us for an ounce of gold, yet when they saw us so entangled +in the intricacies of the wood that we could not possibly get out +without their direction, demanded seven ounces of gold, a mule, and +a little tent which we had; after a long dispute we were forced to +come to their terms. We continued to travel all night, and to hide +ourselves in the woods all day: and here it was that we met the +three hundred elephants I spoke of before. We made long marches, +travelling without any halt from four in the afternoon to eight in +the morning. + +Arriving at a valley where travellers seldom escape being plundered, +we were obliged to double our pace, and were so happy as to pass it +without meeting with any misfortune, except that we heard a bird +sing on our left hand--a certain presage among these people of some +great calamity at hand. As there is no reasoning them out of +superstition, I knew no way of encouraging them to go forward but +what I had already made use of on the same occasion, assuring them +that I heard one at the same time on the right. They were happily +so credulous as to take my word, and we went on till we came to a +well, where we stayed awhile to refresh ourselves. Setting out +again in the evening, we passed so near a village where these +robbers had retreated that the dogs barked after us. Next morning +we joined the fathers, who waited for us. After we had rested +ourselves some time in that mountain, we resolved to separate and go +two and two, to seek for a more convenient place where we might hide +ourselves. We had not gone far before we were surrounded by a troop +of robbers, with whom, by the interest of some of the natives who +had joined themselves to our caravan, we came to a composition, +giving them part of our goods to permit us to carry away the rest; +and after this troublesome adventure arrived at a place something +more commodious than that which we had quitted, where we met with +bread, but of so pernicious a quality that, after having ate it, we +were intoxicated to so great a degree that one of my friends, seeing +me so disordered, congratulated my good fortune of having met with +such good wine, and was surprised when I gave him an account of the +whole affair. He then offered me some curdled milk, very sour, with +barley-meal, which we boiled, and thought it the best entertainment +we had met with a long time. + + + +Chapter XIV + + + +They are betrayed into the hands of the Turks; are detained awhile +at Mazna; are threatened by the Bassa of Suaquem. They agree for +their ransom, and are part of them dismissed. + + +Some time after, we received news that we should prepare ourselves +to serve the Turks--a message which filled us with surprise, it +having never been known that one of these lords had ever abandoned +any whom he had taken under his protection; and it is, on the +contrary, one of the highest points of honour amongst them to risk +their fortunes and their lives in the defence of their dependants +who have implored their protection. But neither law nor justice was +of any advantage to us, and the customs of the country were doomed +to be broken when they would have contributed to our security. + +We were obliged to march in the extremity of the hot season, and had +certainly perished by the fatigue had we not entered the woods, +which shaded us from the scorching sun. The day before our arrival +at the place where we were to be delivered to the Turks, we met with +five elephants, that pursued us, and if they could have come to us +would have prevented the miseries we afterwards endured, but God had +decreed otherwise. + +On the morrow we came to the banks of a river, where we found +fourscore Turks that waited for us, armed with muskets. They let us +rest awhile, and then put us into the hands of our new masters, who, +setting us upon camels, conducted us to Mazna. Their commander, +seeming to be touched with our misfortunes, treated us with much +gentleness and humanity; he offered us coffee, which we drank, but +with little relish. We came next day to Mazna, in so wretched a +condition that we were not surprised at being hooted by the boys, +but thought ourselves well used that they threw no stones at us. + +As soon as we were brought hither, all we had was taken from us, and +we were carried to the governor, who is placed there by the Bassa of +Suaquem. Having been told by the Abyssins that we had carried all +the gold out of Aethiopia, they searched us with great exactness, +but found nothing except two chalices, and some relics of so little +value that we redeemed them for six sequins. As I had given them my +chalice upon their first demand, they did not search me, but gave us +to understand that they expected to find something of greater value, +which either we must have hidden or the Abyssins must have imposed +on them. They left us the rest of the day at a gentleman's house, +who was our friend, from whence the next day they fetched us to +transport us to the island, where they put us into a kind of prison, +with a view of terrifying us into a confession of the place where we +had hid our gold, in which, however, they found themselves deceived. + +But I had here another affair upon my hands which was near costing +me dear. My servant had been taken from me and left at Mazna, to be +sold to the Arabs. Being advertised by him of the danger he was in, +I laid claim to him, without knowing the difficulties which this way +of proceeding would bring upon me. The governor sent me word that +my servant should be restored to me upon payment of sixty piastres; +and being answered by me that I had not a penny for myself, and +therefore could not pay sixty piastres to redeem my servant, he +informed me by a renegade Jew, who negotiated the whole affair, that +either I must produce the money or receive a hundred blows of the +battoon. Knowing that those orders are without appeal, and always +punctually executed, I prepared myself to receive the correction I +was threatened with, but unexpectedly found the people so charitable +as to lend me the money. By several other threats of the same kind +they drew from us about six hundred crowns. + +On the 24th of June we embarked in two galleys for Suaquem, where +the bassa resided. His brother, who was his deputy at Mazna, made +us promise before we went that we would not mention the money he had +squeezed from us. The season was not very proper for sailing, and +our provisions were but short. In a little time we began to feel +the want of better stores, and thought ourselves happy in meeting +with a gelve, which, though small, was a much better sailer than our +vessel, in which I was sent to Suaquem to procure camels and +provisions. I was not much at my ease, alone among six Mahometans, +and could not help apprehending that some zealous pilgrim of Mecca +might lay hold on this opportunity, in the heat of his devotion, of +sacrificing me to his prophet. + +These apprehensions were without ground. I contracted an +acquaintance, which was soon improved into a friendship, with these +people; they offered me part of their provisions, and I gave them +some of mine. As we were in a place abounding with oysters--some of +which were large and good to eat, others more smooth and shining, in +which pearls are found--they gave me some of those they gathered; +but whether it happened by trifling our time away in oyster- +catching, or whether the wind was not favourable, we came to Suaquem +later than the vessel I had left, in which were seven of my +companions. + +As they had first landed, they had suffered the first transports of +the bassa's passion, who was a violent, tyrannical man, and would +have killed his own brother for the least advantage--a temper which +made him fly into the utmost rage at seeing us poor, tattered, and +almost naked; he treated us with the most opprobrious language, and +threatened to cut off our heads. We comforted ourselves in this +condition, hoping that all our sufferings would end in shedding our +blood for the name of Jesus Christ. We knew that the bassa had +often made a public declaration before our arrival that he should +die contented if he could have the pleasure of killing us all with +his own hand. This violent resolution was not lasting; his zeal +gave way to his avarice, and he could not think of losing so large a +sum as he knew he might expect for our ransom: he therefore sent us +word that it was in our choice either to die, or to pay him thirty +thousand crowns, and demanded to know our determination. + +We knew that his ardent thirst of our blood was now cold, that time +and calm reflection and the advice of his friends had all conspired +to bring him to a milder temper, and therefore willingly began to +treat with him. I told the messenger, being deputed by the rest to +manage the affair, that he could not but observe the wretched +condition we were in, that we had neither money nor revenues, that +what little we had was already taken from us, and that therefore all +we could promise was to set a collection on foot, not much doubting +but that our brethren would afford us such assistance as might +enable us to make him a handsome present according to custom. + +This answer was not at all agreeable to the bassa, who returned an +answer that he would be satisfied with twenty thousand crowns, +provided we paid them on the spot, or gave him good securities for +the payment. To this we could only repeat what we had said before: +he then proposed to abate five thousand of his last demand, assuring +us that unless we came to some agreement, there was no torment so +cruel but we should suffer it, and talked of nothing but impaling +and flaying us alive; the terror of these threatenings was much +increased by his domestics, who told us of many of his cruelties. +This is certain, that some time before, he had used some poor pagan +merchants in that manner, and had caused the executioner to begin to +flay them, when some Brahmin, touched with compassion, generously +contributed the sum demanded for their ransom. We had no reason to +hope for so much kindness, and, having nothing of our own, could +promise no certain sum. + +At length some of his favourites whom he most confided in, knowing +his cruelty and our inability to pay what he demanded, and +apprehending that, if he should put us to the death he threatened, +they should soon see the fleets of Portugal in the Red Sea, laying +their towns in ashes to revenge it, endeavoured to soften his +passion and preserve our lives, offering to advance the sum we +should agree for, without any other security than our words. By +this assistance, after many interviews with the bassa's agents, we +agreed to pay four thousand three hundred crowns, which were +accepted on condition that they should be paid down, and we should +go on board within two hours: but, changing his resolution on a +sudden, he sent us word by his treasurer that two of the most +considerable among us should stay behind for security, while the +rest went to procure the money they promised. They kept the +patriarch and two more fathers, one of which was above fourscore +years old, in whose place I chose to remain prisoner, and +represented to the bassa that, being worn out with age, he perhaps +might die in his hands, which would lose the part of the ransom +which was due on his account; that therefore it would be better to +choose a younger in his place, offering to stay myself with him, +that the good old man might be set at liberty. + +The bassa agreed to another Jesuit, and it pleased Heaven that the +lot fell upon Father Francis Marquez. I imagined that I might with +the same ease get the patriarch out of his hand, but no sooner had I +begun to speak but the anger flashed in his eyes, and his look was +sufficient to make me stop and despair of success. We parted +immediately, leaving the patriarch and two fathers in prison, whom +we embraced with tears, and went to take up our lodging on board the +vessel. + + + +Chapter XV + + + +Their treatment on board the vessel. Their reception at Diou. The +author applies to the viceroy for assistance, but without success; +he is sent to solicit in Europe. + + +Our condition here was not much better than that of the illustrious +captives whom we left behind. We were in an Arabian ship, with a +crew of pilgrims of Mecca, with whom it was a point of religion to +insult us. We were lodged upon the deck, exposed to all the +injuries of the weather, nor was there the meanest workman or sailor +who did not either kick or strike us. When we went first on board, +I perceived a humour in my finger, which I neglected at first, till +it spread over my hand and swelled up my arm, afflicting me with the +most horrid torture. There was neither surgeon nor medicines to be +had, nor could I procure anything to ease my pain but a little oil, +with which I anointed my arm, and in time found some relief. The +weather was very bad, and the wind almost always against us, and, to +increase our perplexity, the whole crew, though Moors, were in the +greatest apprehension of meeting any of those vessels which the +Turks maintain in the strait of Babelmandel; the ground of their +fear was that the captain had neglected the last year to touch at +Moca, though he had promised. Thus we were in danger of falling +into a captivity perhaps more severe than that we had just escaped +from. While we were wholly engaged with these apprehensions, we +discovered a Turkish ship and galley were come upon us. It was +almost calm--at least, there was not wind enough to give us any +prospect of escaping--so that when the galley came up to us, we +thought ourselves lost without remedy, and had probably fallen into +their hands had not a breeze sprung up just in the instant of +danger, which carried us down the channel between the mainland and +the isle of Babelmandel. I have already said that this passage is +difficult and dangerous, which, nevertheless, we passed in the +night, without knowing what course we held, and were transported at +finding ourselves next morning out of the Red Sea and half a league +from Babelmandel. The currents are here so violent that they +carried us against our will to Cape Guardafui, where we sent our +boats ashore for fresh water, which we began to be in great want of. +The captain refused to give us any when we desired some, and treated +us with great insolence, till, coming near the land, I spoke to him +in a tone more lofty and resolute than I had ever done, and gave him +to understand that when he touched at Diou he might have occasion +for our interest. This had some effect upon him, and procured us a +greater degree of civility than we had met with before. + +At length after forty days' sailing we landed at Diou, where we were +met by the whole city, it being reported that the patriarch was one +of our number; for there was not a gentleman who was not impatient +to have the pleasure of beholding that good man, now made famous by +his labours and sufferings. It is not in my power to represent the +different passions they were affected with at seeing us pale, +meagre, without clothes--in a word, almost naked and almost dead +with fatigue and ill-usage. They could not behold us in that +miserable condition without reflecting on the hardships we had +undergone, and our brethren then underwent, in Suaquem and +Abyssinia. Amidst their thanks to God for our deliverance, they +could not help lamenting the condition of the patriarch and the +other missionaries who were in chains, or, at least, in the hands of +professed enemies to our holy religion. All this did not hinder +them from testifying in the most obliging manner their joy for our +deliverance, and paying such honours as surprised the Moors, and +made them repent in a moment of the ill-treatment they had shown us +on board. One who had discovered somewhat more humanity than the +rest thought himself sufficiently honoured when I took him by the +hand and presented him to the chief officer of the custom house, who +promised to do all the favours that were in his power. + +When we passed by in sight of the fort, they gave us three salutes +with their cannon, an honour only paid to generals. The chief men +of the city, who waited for us on the shore, accompanied us through +a crowd of people, whom curiosity had drawn from all parts of our +college. Though our place of residence at Diou is one of the most +beautiful in all the Indies, we stayed there only a few days, and as +soon as we had recovered our fatigues went on board the ships that +were appointed to convoy the northern fleet. I was in the +admiral's. We arrived at Goa in some vessels bound for Camberia: +here we lost a good old Abyssin convert, a man much valued in his +order, and who was actually prior of his convent when he left +Abyssinia, choosing rather to forsake all for religion than to leave +the way of salvation, which God had so mercifully favoured him with +the knowledge of. + +We continued our voyage, and almost without stopping sailed by +Surate and Damam, where the rector of the college came to see us, +but so sea-sick that the interview was without any satisfaction on +either side. Then landing at Bazaim we were received by our fathers +with their accustomed charity, and nothing was thought of but how to +put the unpleasing remembrance of our past labours out of our minds. +Finding here an order of the Father Provineta to forbid those who +returned from the missions to go any farther, it was thought +necessary to send an agent to Goa with an account of the revolutions +that had happened in Abyssinia and of the imprisonment of the +patriarch. For this commission I was made choice of; and, I know +not by what hidden degree of Providence, almost all affairs, +whatever the success of them was, were transacted by me. All the +coasts were beset by Dutch cruisers, which made it difficult to sail +without running the hazard of being taken. I went therefore by land +from Bazaim to Tana, where we had another college, and from thence +to our house of Chaul. Here I hired a narrow light vessel, and, +placing eighteen oars on a side, went close by the shore from Chaul +to Goa, almost eighty leagues. We were often in danger of being +taken, and particularly when we touched at Dabal, where a cruiser +blocked up one of the channels through which ships usually sail; but +our vessel requiring no great depth of water, and the sea running +high, we went through the little channel, and fortunately escaped +the cruiser. Though we were yet far from Goa, we expected to arrive +there on the next morning, and rowed forward with all the diligence +we could. The sea was calm and delightful, and our minds were at +ease, for we imagined ourselves past danger; but soon found we had +flattered ourselves too soon with security, for we came within sight +of several barks of Malabar, which had been hid behind a point of +land which we were going to double. Here we had been inevitably +taken had not a man called to us from the shore and informed us that +among those fishing-boats there, some crusiers would make us a +prize. We rewarded our kind informer for the service he had done +us, and lay by till night came to shelter us from our enemies. Then +putting out our oars we landed at Goa next morning about ten, and +were received at our college. It being there a festival day, each +had something extraordinary allowed him; the choicest part of our +entertainments was two pilchers, which were admired because they +came from Portugal. + +The quiet I began to enjoy did not make me lose the remembrance of +my brethren whom I had left languishing among the rocks of +Abyssinia, or groaning in the prisons of Suaquem, whom since I could +not set at liberty without the viceroy's assistance, I went to +implore it, and did not fail to make use of every motive which could +have any influence. + +I described in the most pathetic manner I could the miserable state +to which the Catholic religion was reduced in a country where it had +lately flourished so much by the labours of the Portuguese; I gave +him in the strongest terms a representation of all that we had +suffered since the death of Sultan Segued, how we had been driven +out of Abyssinia, how many times they had attempted to take away our +lives, in what manner we had been betrayed and given up to the +Turks, the menaces we had been terrified with, the insults we had +endured; I laid before him the danger the patriarch was in of being +either impaled or flayed alive; the cruelty, insolence and avarice +of the Bassa of Suaquem, and the persecution that the Catholics +suffered in Aethiopia. I exhorted, I implored him by everything I +thought might move him, to make some attempt for the preservation of +those who had voluntarily sacrificed their lives for the sake of +God. I made it appear with how much ease the Turks might be driven +out of the Red Sea, and the Portuguese enjoy all the trade of those +countries. I informed him of the navigation of that sea, and the +situation of its ports; told him which it would be necessary to make +ourselves masters of first, that we might upon any unfortunate +encounter retreat to them. I cannot deny that some degree of +resentment might appear in my discourse; for, though revenge be +prohibited to Christians, I should not have been displeased to have +had the Bassa of Suaquem and his brother in my hands, that I might +have reproached them with the ill-treatment we had met with from +them. This was the reason of my advising to make the first attack +upon Mazna, to drive the Turks from thence, to build a citadel, and +garrison it with Portuguese. + +The viceroy listened with great attention to all I had to say, gave +me a long audience, and asked me many questions. He was well +pleased with the design of sending a fleet into that sea, and, to +give a greater reputation to the enterprise, proposed making his son +commander-in-chief, but could by no means be brought to think of +fixing garrisons and building fortresses there; all he intended was +to plunder all they could, and lay the towns in ashes. + +I left no art of persuasion untried to convince him that such a +resolution would injure the interests of Christianity, that to enter +the Red Sea only to ravage the coasts would so enrage the Turks that +they would certainly massacre all the Christian captives, and for +ever shut the passage into Abyssinia, and hinder all communication +with that empire. It was my opinion that the Portuguese should +first establish themselves at Mazna, and that a hundred of them +would be sufficient to keep the fort that should be built. He made +an offer of only fifty, and proposed that we should collect those +few Portuguese who were scattered over Abyssinia. These measures I +could not approve. + +At length, when it appeared that the viceroy had neither forces nor +authority sufficient for this undertaking, it was agreed that I +should go immediately into Europe, and represent at Rome and Madrid +the miserable condition of the missions of Abyssinia. The viceroy +promised that if I could procure any assistance, he would command in +person the fleet and forces raised for the expedition, assuring that +he thought he could not employ his life better than in a war so +holy, and of so great an importance, to the propagation of the +Catholic faith. + +Encouraged by this discourse of the viceroy, I immediately prepared +myself for a voyage to Lisbon, not doubting to obtain upon the least +solicitation everything that was necessary to re-establish our +mission. + +Never had any man a voyage so troublesome as mine, or interrupted +with such variety of unhappy accidents; I was shipwrecked on the +coast of Natal, I was taken by the Hollanders, and it is not easy to +mention the danger which I was exposed to both by land and sea +before I arrived at Portugal. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo + diff --git a/old/vygab10.zip b/old/vygab10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc4defc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/vygab10.zip |