Chapter XVI: Part 16

CAP. CXXXVII.--_Of some lordships which are called of the
Nubians, who had been Christians, and of the number of churches
which are in the country which they border upon._

At the end of the kingdom of Bagamidri there are Moors who are called Bellonos, and are tributaries of Prester John for a great number of horses. Towards the north, these Bellonos border upon a people who are called Nubiis; and they say that these had been Christians and ruled from Rome. I heard from a man, a Syrian, a native of Tripoli of Syria, and his name is John of Syria (he went about with us three years in the Prester’s country, and came with us to Portugal), that he had been to this country, and that there are in it a hundred and fifty churches, which still contain crucifixes and effigies of Our Lady, and other effigies painted on the walls, and all old: and the people of this country are neither Christians, Moors, nor Jews; and that they live in the desire to become Christians. These churches are all in old ancient castles which are throughout the country; and as many castles there are, so many churches. While we were in the country of the Prester John there came six men from that country as ambassadors to the Prester himself, begging of him to send them priests and friars to teach them. He did not choose to send them; and it was said that he said to them that he had his Abima from the country of the Moors, that is to say from the Patriarch of Alexandria, who is under the rule of the Moors; how then could he give priests and friars since another gave them. And so they returned. They say that in ancient times these people had everything from Rome, and that it is a very long time ago that a bishop died, whom they had got from Rome, and on account of the wars of the Moors they could not get another, and so they lost all their clergy and their Christianity. These border upon Egypt, and they say they have much fine gold in their country. This country lies in front of Suaquem, which is close to the Red Sea. These lordships of Nubiis are on both sides of the Nile, and they say that as many castles as there are, so many captains: they have no king, but only captains. This Suaquem is the town which is at the extremity of the Prester’s country, in the beginning of Egypt, in front of these lordships, with the Moorish Bellonos in the middle. And they say that from this Suaquem along the coast of the sea towards Masua it is all wooded land. These are the frontier countries of Prester John’s kingdoms and lordships which I was able to learn, and of them I learned by hearsay, and of a few of them by sight.

CAP. CXXXVIII.--_Of the officials that Solomon ordained for his
son that he had of the Queen Sabba when he sent him to Ethiopia;
and how they still draw honour from these offices._

I said that I would relate what I heard of the officials that Solomon gave to his son when he sent him from Jerusalem to Ethiopia to his mother the Queen Sabba. I heard say that to this day these officials or officers are alive in the families of those that came, because they go in succession from father to son. They say first that when Solomon sent his son to the Queen Sabba, his mother, he gave him officials for his house; and he gave an office from each of the twelve tribes, such as chamberlains, porters, overseers, grooms, trumpeters, chief guards, cooks, and other officials necessary for the house of a great king or lord, and that these offices are still in those families descending from them. Thus these officials honour themselves much as Israelites, and gentlemen, and our relations. All of them are in great number, because the sons of the chamberlain and their descendants, all of them are of that office; and so also the other officials all descend in the offices of their fathers and ancestors, except the pages, who usually are the sons of the great gentlemen and lords, and now they are not so. And as has been said, when the Prester sends to summon the grandees, he does not send to tell them why: and when the sons of the grandees served as pages, they used to disclose his secrets, and for this he turned them out, and the captains who are sons of Moorish or Pagan Kings whom they take in their expeditions, serve as confidential pages, and if they see them well disposed they send them to be taught without their entering inside,[260] and if they turn out discreet and good they put them inside, and they serve as pages. And the sons of the great lords serve as outside pages, and also as pages of the halter when they travel, and pages of the kitchen, and they do not enter inside, (as they say) and we saw this. All the canons that they call _debeteras_ also say that they come from the families that came from Jerusalem with the son of Solomon, and on this account they are more honoured than all the rest of the clergy.

CAP. CXXXIX.--_How the ambassador of Prester John took
possession of his lordship, and the Prester gave him a title of
all of it, and we departed to the sea._

On the day that Prester John set out for the kingdom of Adea, the friar, his ambassador, and I, we set out on the road to that lordship which the Prester had then given him, and it was the road to where our people had remained; and we arrived on the beginning of Lent,[261] that is to say of their Lent, which is ten days earlier than ours, at the land they had given him. When he had taken possession both of that which they had newly given him, and of that which they had taken from him, we made ready to depart. These lordships, that is, the one they were taking from him, is of eighty houses,[262] and it contains two churches, and it had been given him in exchange[263] for a small monastery which he before possessed near them. The lordship which they have now given him is to be arraz of the chavas, that is head or captain of the men-at-arms, who are in the lordship of Abrigima, and these chavas are eight hundred and upwards. About mid Lent we arrived at where our people were, with a great longing that the Portuguese might come for us this Easter. When Easter passed, which was the monsoon, and nobody came, we remained sad as before: and when it was the month of July and Prester John knew that the Portuguese had not come, he sent word to his ambassador to go to Abrigima, under the rule of which are the two above-mentioned lordships, and another lord of this lordship of Abrigima is named Abive arraz, and he is a great lord with more than ten thousand vassals, and he is like all the others in all that the Prester pleases. When this message came, there came another to us that we were to go with him, and that as the fruits of the earth which they gave him were already gathered in and they could not give us what was necessary, that he had ordered us to be given at that place five hundred loads of wheat, and a hundred cows, and a hundred sheep, and that his ambassador was to give us honey for wine. We were in great doubt as to whether we should make this journey or not, because it removed us a long way from the sea, and by very much travelling we should not be able to reach the sea from that district in less than one month, and this with long marches; withal we went with the intention of not remaining there longer than until we had received all, and then returning. So we did, for in the middle of January following we departed from that land by the road to where we used to be near the sea, and without leave, neither did we wait for the ambassador, nor inform him, so that he should not embarrass us, but we went on our own footing. And the said ambassador, as soon as he knew of our departure, sent two men after us entreating us to take them with us, and to send one back with any news there might be of the Portuguese, and that when there was certain news the other should come.

CAP. CXL.--_How the Portuguese came for us, and who was the
captain._

Whilst we Portuguese and the Franks were in the town of Barua waiting for them to come to us, and having sent two men to the sea in order that they should bring us the good news that our Portuguese were coming for us, on Saturday, vigil of Easter day, the 1st of April of 1526, the said two men whom we had sent to the sea reached us, and they came half dead and despairing, and they began to say, there are no Portuguese there, who were coming for us, nor are there in India, for all are routed and India lost; and they said that they knew this news by the Moors of three ships which had arrived at the Island of Masua with much sounding of music and festivity, and very rich merchandize, and that with much festivity they had disembarked at the said island. These Moors gave this news because such was their wish, and they founded themselves in asserting it on the capture of a Portuguese galley close to Diu, a port of the King of Cambay. These Portuguese who brought this news came half dead and fainting, and we remained in like manner with this news so bad for us. The ambassador, Don Rodrigo, said to me: “Padre, let us say mass to-morrow very early, and commend ourselves to God.” I answered him that my heart was not quiet, nor in such rest as to be able to say mass, but that we would go very early to the chief church and hear mass with the Barnagais. And so we did, and when the morning became light, and the mass of the resurrection was finished, the Barnagais invited us to come and dine with him, and we excused ourselves on account of the feast day, and that each of us wished to honour his own quarters: and we did this by reason of the small pleasure we felt. I went with eight Portuguese and Genoese that I had invited to dinner, and when we had done eating I left them in the house with my nephew who always accompanied me, and I went alone up a stream as far as a great rock which made shade on the sand of the river, and I wept by the way, and with tears and sighs I laid myself down in that shade for more than an hour; and, desisting from weeping, I recovered myself, and talking to myself I said: “Now this comes from God, and He is served by me in this land: the Lord be praised for ever since it is so. I know this country better than any native of it does, because I go in pursuit of game, and know its mountains, and waters, and the land which is good for cultivation, and which will give all that is planted or sown in it. I have got some good slaves and fourteen cows, and I have got rams which I will exchange for ewes. I will go near to some water, and will have a strong bush fence made to keep off the wild beasts, and I will pitch my tent in which to take refuge with my servants, and I will arrange a hermitage within, and each day I will say mass, and commend myself to God, since the Lord is pleased that I should be here. I will order the bushes to be cut to make gardens, and I will sow grain of all sorts: and with my harvests and hunting I will maintain myself and servants and slaves.” With this I remained consoled, as though good news had come to me; and I arose and returned down stream to my house, where I found the ambassador Don Rodrigo and the Portuguese and Genoese, and all our company, playing and enjoying themselves. As soon as I approached them, Don Rodrigo said to me: “Padre, what shall we do? my opinion is that we write to the Court to our friends to say to Prester John that he should bid us return to the Court.” I answered him: “Do not do it, and I shall never come from it if I go there.” And when he said to me, “What shall we do if the Prester orders us to go?” I answered, “If His Highness sends to say that the Portuguese should come, and does not say let Padre Francisco come, as he always says, I shall not go: and if he names me I will go, even though I should regret it.” And when he asked what I would do if I did not go, I gave him an account how I had gone after dinner up stream as far as the said shade and had lain down; and of the thoughts I had had, and the determination I had taken, and that I had come away consoled. All that were there arose and embraced me except the ambassador, who did not agree to this; and all of them said, and each one separately: “This is a thing which comes from God, and we will all go with you, and we will bring our wives and sons and slaves; we have got very good mules, and we very well know the sea and the land markets, and some of us will remain with you, and others will go and trade, and we will enrich ourselves, and we will make a place of our own in which we will breed cattle, and we will make large tilled fields.” When the ambassador heard this he answered nothing, and said: “You, Padre, have got much game and good things to eat, let us all sup here if you bid us, and to-morrow we will also dine here with you, and after dinner we will go with your snares after game, and we will go and sup at my house.” This pleased me very much, and we all supped this Easter and dined on Monday. After that, we rode out to hunt, and killed many hares and three or four ...,[264] and went to sup at the house of the ambassador. All the Portuguese and white men of other nations being very firm in the agreement before come to through me, when it was already night, after supper, and all of us going home to our quarters, and all with me to conduct me to mine, there came up to us on the road a servant of mine named Abetay, a married man of the country. And he came running so fast that he could not speak from fatigue: and he began to say: “Sir, Sir, the Portuguese on the sea.” I asked him: “Abetay, who told you this?” he replied, “A man said it who has now arrived from the sea and is with the Barnagais.” I said to him: “Abetay, if this is true, of nine mules that I have got, five mine and four of my nephew’s, excepting the one the Prester gave me, on which you cannot ride, I will give you the best, and I will not sleep until I see this man.” Then I took leave of my companions and went to the gates of the Barnagais’ palace, and they would not open them to me; and I waited at the gate with the said man until the cocks crew, and the man came out, to whom I at once said: “Are you the man who saw the Portuguese on the sea?” He replied: “I did not see them with my eyes, but I heard with my ears, in the morning of Easter, firing of cannon at Dalaqua, and I bring this message from the Sultan[265] of Arquiquo to the Barnagais.” I made my calculations, as it was not new moon, for at sight of it the Moors make great rejoicing, who could these be who were firing, whether they could be Rumys, Moors, or Christians. I gave this news to all our company who came to me for it on the Tuesday morning to ask, as they knew that I had gone to seek the man who had come from the sea. As I said before, that the Prester’s ambassador had sent after us two of his men for them to bring him in great haste any news of the Portuguese that we might hear, in that hour we despatched one to him, and he was one of his men, and another of this country to go night and day and take this message to the ambassador, so that he might make ready, we having some hope of good, for we had no other contrariety, except that two men of ours had brought the news from the sea that India was lost, and they could not believe in the coming of the Portuguese; on the contrary, they said this firing of bombards was rejoicing of the Moors, on being certified of the injury to India. This Tuesday, in the night, while we were thus neither believing nor disbelieving either the good or the bad news, there reached us a letter from Hector da Silveira, captain-major of the Indian sea, who had come for us, and remained in Masua. Here I do not know what to say of how great was the pleasure of all of us, except that we went out of our senses, so great was the joy. Don Rodrigo, the ambassador, returning to us said that we should start, and at once, next morning; some said that that was good. I said that it did not seem to me good; because, up to this time we had been held to be Christians, and if we travelled on such great feast days, they would say that we were not so, and that we should keep the octaves until Monday. Then that night we despatched a Portuguese, and a man of the sea coast, with our letter to Hector da Silveira; and to the Prester’s ambassador we sent his man who was still with us, with another man of the country, and they were to travel day and night and take him this certain news, and the ambassador was to do the same, and travel day and night by some other shorter road along the sea on the way to Arquiquo.

CAP. CXLI.--_How the Barnagais made ready, and we travelled with
him on the road to the sea._

On Monday after the octaves of Easter, the 9th of April, we set out from Barua, the Barnagais and we Portuguese, and the other three white men who were with us, on the road to Arquiquo. The Barnagais and his gentlemen and two that he sent for may have taken with them a thousand men on mules, and a large number on foot. This day we went to sleep at a distance of two leagues from Barua, at a place called Dinguil, encamped in a plain in which every Monday at night, and Tuesday in the morning, people assemble who are going to the fair of Arquiquo, and they go together in a caravan, because this road is not travelled over except by a great assemblage, from fear of the Arabs and wild beasts. Here there joined us fully two thousand persons who were going to the said fair, and they said that there were few people, and that they had failed to come from fear of want of water. With the people who came with the Barnagais and those who came from this place, Dinguil, we set out and went to sleep at the place of scanty water. And in the distance that there may be from Barua, whence we started with the Barnagais, to Arquiquo, of fourteen leagues or fifteen at most, we passed all the week till Saturday morning, and we took up our quarters close to the town of Arquiquo, not approaching our ships because the Barnagais had to present us, and his people were not yet assembled, because besides the people who came with him from Barua, he was expecting men and captains who were to go against Suaquem, which is towards Egypt. These men did not arrive till the Monday following. At night, and we at liberty, we went to see our people, and they us. On account of the heats, which were great and insupportable, the Barnagais and captains ordered dwellings to be made of wood and tall bushes, and they also ordered dwellings to be made for us Portuguese to sleep in, covered with sails above, as there was no man could endure the heat of the country from the great multitude of people and the suffocation of tents and huts. The Portuguese who came for us had made their dwellings over the sea where there was always a breeze; others lodged in good terraced houses, which were in the island. On Tuesday, in the morning, the Barnagais and his captains and me with him, he conducted us to where Hector da Silveira was, and delivered us up to him with much pleasure and joy. He ordered fifty cows and many sheep, fowls, and fish to be given him for the ships. On the Thursday following, Prester John’s ambassador reached us, he had travelled day and night, and as soon as the first message which we sent was given him he ordered mules to be put in readiness, in order that if a positive message came, he might travel day and night, which he did as soon as the message was given him. We Portuguese went to wait for him at the town of Arquiquo, to come with him, and the Barnagais also came to deliver him up. While we were thus waiting for the monsoon, that is, wind for departure, which always comes from the 26th and 27th of April till the 3rd or 4th of May, and if one does not go out with this monsoon there is no other till the end of August; on the 21st of April there reached us four _calacems_, that is, four messengers from Prester John to say that he had news by Zeila of the Portuguese fleet having entered the Red Sea, and that they thought they came for us; and since it was a long time that we had left his Court, and we might be sad, that we should at once return to him, and he would give us much gold and clothes, and would send us joyful and contented to the King of Portugal his brother. These calacems said that they had been sent in such haste that in each town they had taken fresh mules from the captains, and had travelled night and day, and they requested us very earnestly not to do anything else there except turn back: and they required the same of Alicacanate, the Prester’s ambassador, to return with us, and we with him: they moreover requested Hector da Silveira to send us because Prester John would feel displeasure at our going away vexed. Hector da Silveira answered, and we with him, to the said calacems, that by no means could we turn back, nor could he wait, nor did the monsoon allow of it, and that if we did not go away now at once, other ships would never come for us, and that his ambassador might return if he liked. This was told to the ambassador of Prester John, and he replied that by no means would he return without us, because he would order him to be thrown to the lions. So we all remained with great pleasure; and the calacems discontented because their labour had been in vain.

LAUS DEO.

IN NOMINE DN̄I, AMEN.

IN THIS PART IS RELATED THE JOURNEY
WHICH WAS MADE FROM THE COUNTRY OF
THE PRESTER JOHN TO PORTUGAL.

CAP. I.--_Of how we departed from the port and island of Masua
until arriving at Ormuz._

On the 28th day of April, of 1526, we set sail, the whole fleet together; it consisted of five sail, namely three royal galloons and two carvels. We reached the island of Camaran the 1st day of May, and there the wind wearied us. We were there three days, and whilst waiting I remembered how we had there buried Duarte Galvam, the ambassador to Prester John, who was sent by the king our sovereign. I was present at his decease, and I went to his burial, and with the licentiate Pero Gomez Teixeira, who was then judge, we marked the grave, so that if at any time any of his relations or friends came, they might know it, to remove his remains to a country of Christians if they chose. And I went with a slave of mine to where we had left him buried, and I ordered him to be dug up, and to dispose all his bones in order; but we did not find more than three teeth, and I put them in a small box, and we brought his remains to the galloon St. Leon, in which I went, without anyone knowing of it except one Gaspar de Saa, factor of the said fleet, and who was of his household. As soon as we had got the said remains on board the galloon, the wind changed to a stern wind, and that hour we set sail, and this factor said to me: “Certainly, as Duarte Galvam was a good man and ended his days in the service of God, so God gives us a good wind for him.” And we had the same wind till the 10th of May, when we were opposite Aden, and already in the open sea,[266] and the winter weather from India was facing us, and we facing it. The storm was so great that the second night we passed in it, what with the great darkness and high wind, we lost one another and were separated without seeing each other again, or knowing what course each ship was making. This galloon St. Leon, in which I went, had a large boat made fast astern with three ropes, and in it was a ship boy, a Frenchman by nation, who steered it. In the fourth night that we passed in this storm, the sea was so wild and high that we all thought we should be lost; and at midnight a little more or less, all three ropes of the boat broke, and the galloon gave so many and so great lurches, that we thought we should go to the bottom of the sea. The master of the galloon sounded his whistle and gave out a _Paternoster_ through the ship to all hands[267] for the soul of the ship boy who was in the boat. On the following day an auction was held, that is, a valuation and sale of the pieces and things which the ship boy had with him, and with them and a slave of his a hundred and twenty pardaos[268] were made. We sailed with this storm[269] until we got to the strait of Ormuz, and on the 28th of May we reached the port of Mazquate, which belongs to the Kingdom of Ormuz, and pays tribute to the King of Portugal our sovereign. There we found one of the carvels of our convoy and fleet, which gave an account of the storm which it had passed, and three days after that the other carvel, companion of the first, arrived; and the same day a galloon arrived, and each related the storms. Ten days after our arrival at this port of Mazquate, they saw tacking about on the sea the galloon Sam Donis, the flagship of the fleet, and she could not fetch the port: two Portuguese fustas, which guarded the strait of the port of Mazquate, went out to her, and as soon as they reached the galloon they turned back, and with great haste they took provisions and water to succour the galloon and her crew, who were lost with hunger and thirst, more with thirst than hunger. The fustas passed the night there; and next day, in the early morning, all our boats and the town boats set out from the town to fetch the galloon, and they did bring her and arrived with her in the port in the afternoon. Here they related the great straits and danger in which they found themselves, saying that they had run before the storm which caught them at the entrance of the strait,[270] and they went as far as the bay of Cambay, from which they could not come out: and the Lord was pleased that the storm should not cease, by which the sea was secure from enemies. They also said that for three days they had not eaten, from being short of water. They spoke of the great virtue and compassion of Hector da Silveira, captain-major of this fleet, and they said that he was the first to leave off drinking, and that with tears in his eyes and a little water in his hand he went about distributing it among the sick: and after the time that they found themselves in these straits, he did not any more sleep in nor enter his cabin, that it might not be supposed that he went to fill himself with water and left the crews to suffer. So they said it was true that on the day when they sighted land and we succoured them, there was not a single drop of water in the galloon, nor had either the sound or the sick tasted it: and that they had sight that day miraculously of the land and port, and we of them; because they already despaired of their lives. I heard this from the ambassadors, Don Rodrigo de Lima who went to the Prester John, and Alicacanate, the ambassador of the Prester, who is going to Portugal; and generally all said it who were in the galloon. All the people landed to refresh themselves and recover from the fatigue of the sea. We were few days in this port of Mazquate, and from there our fleet sailed together, God be praised, and with us certain fustas of those which guard this port and strait. We went to the city of Ormuz, a fortress of the king our sovereign, and found there Lopo Vaz de Sampayo, captain-major and governor of the Indies for his Highness. When we reached the port, all the gentlemen and captains of the ships, carvels, galleys, and fustas, and all the other people, both of the fortress and of the fleet and company of the captain-major, came out to receive us on the beach; and the captain-major was on the beach in front of the fortress, and there they gave us our welcome. Then we went together to the church which is inside the fort, and the captain-major came down there to embrace the ambassadors, and me with them, and some others of our embassy. Then we went each to his quarters. The following day we all came to hear mass and to speak to the captain-major, and to give him a letter from Prester John, which we had brought for Diogo Lopez de Sequeira, who had been captain-major and governor of the Indies, and who took us to the country of the Prester: and we gave the letter to Lopo Yaz de Sampayo, as he had succeeded to the said charge. Besides, we gave him a silk robe with five gold plates before and other five behind, and one on each shoulder, which in all made twelve. Each one was the size of the palm of the hand, and Prester John sent it to Diogo Lopez. The governor, Lopo Vaz de Sampayo, gave the favour of two hundred pardaos to Don Rodrigo de Lima, the ambassador who had gone to the Prester, and another two hundred to the Prester’s ambassador, and to me he gave the favour of a hundred pardaos. Hector da Silveira remained few days at Ormuz, and soon returned with his fleet to wait for the ships which come from Jiddah to Dio, and come out with the monsoon with which we came, and they pass the winter at Aden, and with the first wind make their voyage; and we remained until being certain that the winter had passed.

CAP. II.--_Of the translation of the letter which Prester John
sent to Diogo Lopez, and which was given to Lopo Vaz de Sampayo._

“In the name of God the Father, Who always was, to Whom no beginning is found. In the name of the Son, one only, who is like Him without being seen, light of the stars from the beginning, before the foundations of the ocean were founded. In another time He was conceived in the womb of the Virgin without seed of man, or marriage. So was the knowledge of His office, in the name of the Paraclete, spirit of holiness, who knows all secrets, where He was first in the heights of heaven, which is sustained without props or supports, and extended the earth, without its being from the beginning, nor was it known nor created from the east to the west, and from north to south; neither is He the first nor the second, but the Trinity joined together in one Creator of all things for ever, with one sole counsel and one sole word for ever and ever. Amen.

“The king of the great and very high city of Ethiopia sends this writing and embassage: the king incense of the Virgin, whose name is his by baptism: now that he has become king he is named David, the head of his kingdoms, loved of God, prop of the faith, a relation of the lineage of Judah, son of David, son of Solomon, son of the column of Sion, son of the seed of Jacob, son of the hand of Mary, son of Nahum in the flesh.

“This goes to Diogo Lopez de Sequeira, captain-major of the Indies.

“I have heard of you that you are under the king, and that you are a conqueror in all the things which are committed to you, and have no fear of the forces of the numerous Moors, and mounted on a horse you do not fear storms, and you go armed with faith; neither are you one who is conquered by concealed things, and you go armed with the truth of the Gospel, and so you sustain yourself on the edge of the banner of the cross: and for ever thanks be to God for the said faith which procured us our joy, for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of the coming to us which you have come, and have announced your good embassy of your sovereign king Don Manuel; and with your present and peace, which you accomplished with so much fatigue in the ships, and upon the sea, with great winds and storms both by sea and land, coming to kill the Moors and Pagans by such distant journeys; and your ships are steered and directed wherever you wish, which is a miraculous thing: and we are amazed at your having gone for two years, at sea and in war, and with so much fatigue, without resting either day or night. That which it is usual to do, is done by day, and by day merchandise is bought and sold, and travelling is done; the night is for men to sleep and rest themselves, as the Scripture says. The day is for men to do their business from the morning till night. And the lion’s cub only scratches the earth and seeks[271] and prays to God that it may find food; and when the sun rises it returns to its den. And the customs of men are like those of animals: the animals exist from the beginning of the world, and you were not conquered by not sleeping at night, nor by day with the sun, from love of the true faith, as St. Paul says. Who will it be that will contradict these words. Sickness or suffering, hunger or cruelty, knife or sword, fatigue or anything else, cannot part us from the faith of Christ, in which we truly believe in death and in life. The great lords and rich men, when they are sent with an embassage of that which was good by day, it is a very deep thing; there is not one who can separate us from Jesus Christ. The apostle moreover says: Blessed is the man who is humble and endures good and evil, and in conclusion deserves to take the crown of life, and God promised him that which was his desire. There are some men who desire to attempt and care for one thing, God chooses another. God does not select a man for bad things. Now may God fulfil your desire, and give you safety, and bring you to the King Don Manuel your sovereign; and those whom you have conquered, carry them before you, with their spoils, that is of the Pagans who are not in the faith of Jesus Christ. May this be for good; and your men-at-arms may they be blessed, like you; because they are martyrs for Jesus Christ, who die for his holy name of cold and heat, with labours and fatigues; and you and they, may God conduct you with health and peace to see the face of your sovereign King Don Manuel. I heard, Sir, and I had heard what you had told us, how you arrived at our country, and there was great joy as when one takes a large booty; and when they told me that you had gone away, there was great sadness. After that, when they told me that your ambassador was coming, and of your good will up to this day, I am in great pleasure, and blessed be the name of God the Father, one only God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world. And they came to me, and I heard your reputation from afar; and now may God maintain you that you have made friendship with me. May your goodness now be fulfilled in that which I desire, and do you send me masters of working gold and silver, of making swords, and weapons of iron and helmets, and masons to make houses, and masters to make vineyards and gardens, and all other masters that are necessary, and of the best arts that are named, and to make lead to cover churches, and to make earthen tiles in our country, so that we may not cover our houses with thatch: of this we have great necessity, and we are very sad at not possessing them. I have built a very large church which is named Trinity, in which I have buried my father, whose soul may it be in God’s keeping; and your ambassadors will tell you how good its walls are, and I wished to cover it in great haste, because it is covered with thatch. I tell you this for the love of God to send me the total of these masters, which is ten of each art. On account of this your masters will neither be diminished nor increased. As long as they like to remain they may remain, and if they should wish to return I will pay them their work, and I will let them go in peace. And now hear another word: I send you there those Franks who were here, and who were going about as Moors in the country of Cairo; I made Christians of them, and they will show the road to Zeila and Aden, and Mekkah, and Masua, as they know it well. On this account let your heart be glad, and I rejoice at that which is in your desire, and I write to you for the sake of the embassage which you sent, which says that you wish to build a church and a fort in the island of Masua, and you ask me for leave to do it: I give you permission to make a church and a castle in Masua and in Dalaqua, and to put priests in the churches, and strong men to guard the castles, from fear of the Moors, dirty sons of Mahomed. Do this quickly before you go to India, and do not give yourselves leisure in this, nor go to India until you have made a church and a castle. For all this we will praise you, I and the King Don Manuel your sovereign, because God has been pleased that we should love one another. And make a market where they buy and sell merchandise, and do not allow Moors to buy and sell, but Christians. And if you wish that Moors should buy and sell there, let it be as you please and with your license. And after you have done this in Masua, come to Zeila and make there a church and castle, as I said before. This town of Zeila is a port of much provisions for Aden and all parts of Arabia, and many other countries and kingdoms; and those kingdoms and lands have no other favour except what comes to them from Zeila. When this is done which I send you word to do, you will have the kingdom of Aden in your hand, and all Arabia, and many other countries and kingdoms, without war nor death of people, because you will take all their provisions and they will be starved. When you wish to make war upon the Moors, send and tell me, and what you want or have need of; and I will send you horsemen and archers, and I will be with you, and we will defeat the Moors and Pagans justly for the faith, I and you. When you wish to go to India, leave Don Rodrigo de Lima as captain of Masua, and let not your ambassadors omit to go and come whenever there is anything suspicious there. These who now are going are the first who came here; the ambassadors of your embassage are great and good, and they love one another well in spite of their faults; and do to them much good for the sake of their goodness, especially to Don Rodrigo de Lima, who is very good, excepting his faults, and that he does not speak much with his lips, and he is remarkable for making himself good, better than all, and he is a servant to be trusted; do good to him, and he is a servant of the blessing. To Padre Francisco give twice as many thanks, because he is a holy man, honest, and of good conscience for the love of God: I know his disposition, and I gave him a cross and a staff of his lordship into his hand: this is a sign of his lordship, and he is an abbot in our country: and do you increase him and make him lord of Masua and Zeila and all the isles of the Red Sea, and of the extremities of our countries, because he is sufficient for, and deserving of such an office. Also, with regard to Joam Escolar the clerk, I have complied with his desire and wishes, because he is always at the king’s service, do to him as may be best for him, because he is a man of very good condition, and he laboured much in the writing of this, and in things which had to be done. To the rest of the embassy do them good, from the small to the great, according to what each is, and give them their reward. Our Lord give you his peace for the service of virtue, and do good to you and to all that are with you. Do good to them, and may the Lord illuminate you and them with his grace. May God assist our brothers, those who love one another well, and all those who persist in it; God is with them, and may He be with you and succour you in all cases; and may your feet be together on the road, and keep you from the evil eye, and keep you from the waves of the sea, and your ships from the storms, and you in life in all times without any sickness, and keep you in all hours of the day and night, in winter and summer, _in secula seculorum, amen_. I send you my blessing, but not by this letter only, as I am accustomed so to send it; and I excuse myself in this, and remember you, and that in all the houses of Christians and churches which were built by our ancestors, the prayer which we make says thus: “We will pray for that which we want of the Lord God and Jesus Christ his Son for those who come in pilgrimage, our brothers, and those also who have come this pilgrimage by sea or rivers or lakes or difficult roads, wherever it may be. To Thee they belong; God bring them and conduct them in safety with a smooth sea: the Lord sustain them all.” So the deacons say, praying for the priests, and in another part the priests say: “God be with you, because He is with all, and we ask for that which He has for good, and we ask for those who are brothers in dangers, and they are so now, and they come in pilgrimage a straight road with those of the road which they desire, and that we may soon find what we desire, may the Lord give it us.” The deacon says, and all the people say: “Lord God have mercy upon us.” So says the third priest: “May God bring them in safety on a smooth sea, and bring them to their relations with pleasure and peace which they desire, and may they see pleasure by His Son Jesus Christ. May He be with you, and you with Him, and with the Holy Spirit, which is eternal glory, now and for ever _in secula seculorum, amen_.”

“So, as I say, prayer is made in all the churches and hours of the offices, with incense, not for you alone, but for all of us, that He may be with us in pilgrimage, and that this pilgrimage should not come to us, but over the sea inside our country as in yours; for the sake of this do you make prayer in this office so that you may be saved, and that you may be against bad men, and that bad imaginations may not enter you. And while you live, in order to defeat the Moors and Pagans, those who do not believe in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, I will send assistance to make war, and many men and provisions and gold: not only to Masua, but to Zeila and Adel, and all the countries of the infidels, defeating the sons of Mahomed, the heretics. With the assistance of the Queen St. Mary our Lady I have defeated them, and we will defeat them. You will come by sea, and we will go by land together with consultation, with the strength of the most Holy Trinity.”

CAP. III.--_Of the voyage we made from Ormuz to India, as far as
Cochim._