PROLOGUE TO THE KING OUR SOVEREIGN. (continued 4)

Here we entered into a very pretty country between very high mountains, the feet of which were very thickly peopled with large towns and noble churches. This country is laid out in large tillage fields of all sorts. Here there is an infinite quantity of figs, those of India, many lemons, oranges, and citrons, and extensive pastures of cattle. And on another occasion when I returned here with this friar, who then called himself an ambassador, we came and stayed a Saturday and a Sunday in the house of an honourable debetera, that is, canon, and these two days we went with him to the church: because there were a great number of canons in that church, we asked him how many there might be in it. He told us that there were five thousand three hundred canons, and we asked what revenues they had. He said that they were very little for so many; and we said, since the revenues are so small, why were there so many canons. He told us that at the beginning of that church there were not many, but that afterwards they had increased, because all the sons of canons, and as many as descended from them, remained canons, and the fathers each taught their sons, and so they had been increased in number, and that this happened in the King’s churches, and that frequently Prester John diminished them, when he set up a church in a new country, and sent to fetch canons from these churches, as he had ordered two hundred canons to be taken away to the church of Machan Celace,[106] and that in this valley there were eight churches, and there would be in them fully four thousand canons, and that the Prester took canons from here for the new churches, and also for the churches at court, because otherwise they would eat one another up.

Cap. lviii.—Of the mountain in which they put the sons of the Prester John, and how they stoned us near it.

The above mentioned valley reaches to the mountain where they put the sons of the Prester John. These are like banished men; as it was revealed to King Abraham, before spoken of, to whom the angels for forty years administered bread and wine for the sacrament, that all his sons should be shut up in a mountain, and that none should remain except the first born, the heir, and that this should be done for ever to all the sons of the Prester of the country, and his successors: because if this was not so done there would be great difficulty in the country, on account of its greatness, and they would rise up and seize parts of it, and would not obey the heir, and would kill him. He being frightened at such a revelation, and reflecting where such a mountain could be found, it was again told him in revelation to order his country to be searched, and to look at the highest mountains, and that mountain on which they saw wild goats on the rocks, looking as if they were going to fall below, was the mountain on which the princes were to be shut up. He ordered it to be done as it had been revealed to him, and they found this mountain, which stands above this valley, to be the one which the revelation mentioned, round the foot of which a man has to go a journey of two days; and it is of this kind: a rock cut like a wall, straight from the top to the bottom; a man going at the foot of it and looking upwards, it seems that the sky rests upon it. They say that it has three entrances or gates, in three places, and no more; I saw one of these here in this country, and I saw it in this manner. We were going from the sea to the court, and a young man, a servant of the Prester, whom they call a calacem, was guiding us, and he did not know the country well; and we wished to lodge in a town, and they would not receive us; this belonged to a sister of Prester John. The night had not yet advanced much, and he began travelling, telling us to follow him, and that he would get us lodgings. And because he travelled fast on a mule, and on a small path, I told one Lopo da Gama to ride in sight of the calacem, and that I would keep him in sight, and the ambassador and the other people would ride in sight of me. And the night closed in when we were quite a league from the road towards the mountain of the princes, and there came forth from all the villages so many people throwing stones at us, that they were near killing us, and they made us disperse in three or four directions. The ambassador had remained in the rear, and he turned back, and others who were about in the middle of the party started off in another direction; and some one there was who dismounted from his mule and fled in panic.[107] Lopo da Gama and I could not turn back, so we went forward and reached another town, which was still better prepared, on account of the noise which they heard behind in the other towns. Here many stones rained upon us, and the darkness was like having no eyes. In order that they might not throw stones at me by hearing the mule’s steps, I dismounted and gave the mule to my slave. God was pleased that an honourable man came up to me, and asked me who I was. I told him that I was a gaxia neguz, that is to say, a king’s stranger. This man was very tall, and I say honourable, because he treated me well; and he took my head under his arm, for I did not reach any higher, and so he conducted me like the bellows of a bagpipe player, saying, Atefra, atefra, which means “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid.” He took me with the mule and the slave, until he brought me into a vegetable garden which surrounded his house. Inside this garden he had a quantity of poles stuck up one against another, and in the midst of these poles he had a clean resting place like a hut, into which he put me. As it seemed to me that I was in safety, I ordered a light to be lit; and when they saw the light they rained stones on the hut, and when I put out the light the stone throwing ceased. The host, as soon as he left me, returned at the noise, and then remained an hour without coming. Whilst he was away, Lopo da Gama heard me, and broke through the bushes,[108] and came to me. On this the host came and said, “Be quiet, do not be afraid,” and ordered a candle to be lit, and to kill two fowls; and he gave us bread and wine and a hospitable welcome, according to his power. Next day, in the morning, the host took me by the hand and led me to his house, as far as a game of ball, where there were many trees of an inferior kind, and very thick, by which it was concealed as by a wall; and between them was a door, which was locked; and before this door was an ascent to the cliff. This host said to me: “Look here; if any of you were to pass inside this door, there would be nothing for it but to cut off his feet and his hands, and put out his eyes, and leave him lying there; and you must not put the blame on those who would do this, neither would you be in fault, but those who brought you hither: we, if we did not do this, we should pay with our lives, because we are the guardians of this door.” Lopo da Gama, I, and the calacem then at once mounted and rode down to the road, which was below us, a good league off, and we found that none of our party had passed by; and vespers were over, and yet we had not come together.

Cap. lix.—Of the greatness of the mountain in which they put the sons of Prester John, and of its guards, and how his kingdoms are inherited.

The manner they have of shutting up these sons of the kings. Until this King David Prester John, all had five or six wives, and they had sons of them or of most of them. By the death of the Prester, the eldest born inherited; others say that he who appeared to the Prester the most apt, and of most judgment, inherited: others say that he inherited who had the most adherents. Of this matter I will say what I know by hearing it from many. The King Alexander, the uncle of this David, died without a son, and he had daughters, and they went to the mountain and brought out from it Nahu his brother, who was father of this David. This Nahu brought with him from the mountain a legitimate son, who was, they say, a handsome youth, and a good gentleman, but of a strong temper. After that Nahu was in the kingdoms, he had other wives, of whom he had sons and daughters, and at his death they wished to make king that eldest son who had come from the mountain with his father; and some said that he was strong in temper, and would ill-treat the people. Others said that he could not inherit because he had been born as in captivity, and outside of the inheritance. So they set up as king this David who now reigns, and who at that time was a boy of eleven years of age. The Abima Martos told me that he and the Queen Helena made him king, because they had all the great men in their hands. Thus it appears to me, that beyond primogeniture, adherence enters into the question. Other sons of Nahu, who were infants, remained with the eldest who had come from the mountain with his father, and they took them all back to the said mountain, and so they do with all the sons of the Prester from the time of that King Abraham until now. They say that this mountain is cold and extensive, and they also say that the top of it is round, and that it takes fifteen days to go round it;[109] and it seems to me that may be so, because on this side, where our road lay, we travelled at the foot of it for two days; and so it reaches to the kingdoms of Amara and of Bogrimidi, which is on the Nile, and a long way from here. They say that there are on the top of this mountain yet other mountains which are very high and contain valleys: and they say that there is a valley there between two very steep mountains, and that it is by no means possible to get out of it, because it is closed by two gates, and that in this valley they place those who are nearest to the king, that is to say, those who are still of his own blood, and who have been there a short time, because they keep them with more precaution. Those who are sons of sons, and grandsons, and already almost forgotten are not so much watched over. Withal, this mountain is generally guarded by great guards, and great captains; and a quarter of the people who usually live at the court are of the guards of this mountain and their captains. These captains and guards of the mountain who are at court, lodge apart by themselves, and no one approaches them, nor do they go near others, so that no one may have an opportunity of learning the secrets of the mountain. And when they approach the door of the Prester, and he has to receive a message or speak to them, they make all the people go away, and all other affairs cease whilst they are speaking of this.

Cap. lx.—Of the punishment that was given to a friar, and also to some guards, for a message which he brought from some princes to the Prester; and how a brother of the Prester and his uncle fled, and of the manner in which they dealt with them.

With regard to the matter of these princes, I saw this: they brought here a friar who was about thirty years old, and with him quite two hundred men. They said that this friar had brought a letter to the Prester John from one of the princes of the mountain, and these two hundred men were guards of the same mountain. They flogged this friar every two days, and they also flogged these men, distributing them in two parties. On the day they flogged the friar, they flogged half of the guards, and they always began with the friar, then all the others were always in sight of one another, and each time they put questions to the friar, who gave him that letter, for whom, and if he had brought more letters, and what monastery he belonged to, and where he had become a friar, and where he had been ordained for mass? The wretched friar said that it was sixteen years since he had come out of the mountain, and that they had then given him that letter, and that he had never returned there, nor had dared to give the letter except now; that sin had caught him (and this might be the truth, because in this country they are not accustomed to put in a letter the year, nor the month, nor the day). To the guards they did not put any other question, except how had they let this friar get out. The manner of flogging is this: they throw the man on his stomach, and fasten his hands to two stakes, and a rope to both feet, and two men both pulling at the rope; there are also two as executioners to strike one at one side and the other at the other; and they do not always strike the flogged man, many blows fall on the ground, because if they hit him every time, he would die there, so severe is the flogging, and of this company I saw a man taken away from the flogging, and before they could cover him with a cloth he died. Immediately they informed the Prester John of it, because these justices are done before his tents, and he ordered the dead man to be taken back to where he had been flogged, and those who were to be flogged afterwards he ordered to put their heads on the feet of the dead man. This justice lasted two weeks, for this regularity of flogging the friar every two days never ceased, and half the guards after him; except Saturdays and Sundays, on which days justice was not done. It was the common fame and report through all the court that this friar had brought letters to the Portuguese from the princes of the mountain that we might take them out of it, and we were innocent of this, and I believe the friar was in the same case.

But in the days and time that we were there, a brother of the Prester John, a youth (as they said) of sixteen years of age, fled from the mountain, and came to the house of his mother, a queen, who had been wife of Prester John, and on account of the pain of death that here falls on whoever takes in a prince from the mountain, the mother would not take in her son, but had him arrested and taken to Prester John.[110] They said that he asked his brother why he fled, and that he answered that he was dying of hunger, and that he had not come except for the purpose of relating this to him, since no one would bring this message to him. They said that the Prester John dressed him richly, and gave him much gold, and silk stuffs, and ordered him to return to the mountain. They also said generally in this court that he only fled in order to go away with the Portuguese. With regard to this individual who thus fled and was sent back to the mountain, when we, and this ambassador who is going to Portugal, were at Lalibela, where the rock churches are, and he was going to take possession of the lordship of Abrigima, which Prester John gave him, there came that way a calacem with many people, and he brought as a prisoner this brother of the Prester; and he and his mule were covered with dark cloths, so that nothing of him appeared, and the mule only showed its eyes and ears. The messengers said that this man had run away in the habits of a friar in company with a friar, and that this friar, his companion, had discovered him the day on which they left the lands of Prester John, and had caused him to be arrested, and so the friar himself brought him a prisoner. They did not allow any person to approach or speak to this brother of Prester John, except two men, who went close to the mule. Everybody said that he would die, or that they would put out his eyes. I do not know what became of him. Of another we heard say (and he is still alive) that he had attempted to fly from the mountain, and that in order to get away he had made himself into a bush, that is, covered himself with many boughs; and some cultivators who were at their tillage saw the said bush move, and went to see what it was, and finding a man they took him prisoner, and the guards, as soon as they had him in their power, put out his eyes. They say that he is still alive, and that he is an uncle of this Prester John. They relate that there are in this mountain a great multitude of these people, and they call them Ifflaquitas, or sons of this Israel, or sons of David, like the Prester John, because all are of one race and blood. There are in this country (as they say) many churches, monasteries, priests, and friars.[111]

Cap. lxi.—In what estimation the relations of the Prester are held, and of the different method which this David wishes to pursue with his sons, and of the great provisions applied to the mountain.

In this country Prester John has no relation of his own, because those on the mother’s side are not held or reckoned or named as relations; and those on the father’s side are shut up and held to be dead, and although they marry and have children, as they say that they have an infinite number of sons and daughters, yet none of them ever comes out of the mountain, except, as has been mentioned before, if the Prester dies without an heir, then they bring out from it his nearest relation, and the most fit and proper. It is said that some women go out to be married outside, and they are not held to be relations, nor daughters nor sisters of the Prester, although they are so: they are honoured so long as their father or brother lives, and as soon as these die they are like any other ladies. I saw, and we all saw, at the court, a lady who was daughter of an uncle of this Prester, and although she still went about with an umbrella,[112] she was much neglected. We knew a son of hers who was as ill-treated as any servant, so that in a short time his lineage died and remained without any mention of being related to the king. This King David Prester who now reigns, had at our departure two sons; they said that he gave them large settled estates or dotations[113] of large revenues assigned to them. They showed to me in what part one of them had extensive lands. But the general voice was that as soon as the father should close his eyes, and that one of them should be made king, that the others would go to the mountain like their predecessors, without taking anything with them except their bodies. I also heard say that the third part of the expenses of the Prester were made for these princes and Ifflaquitas, and that this Prester dealt better with them than his predecessor had ever done; and that, beside the large revenues which were appropriated to them, he sent them much gold and silks and other fine cloths, and much salt, which in these kingdoms is current as money. And when we arrived and gave him much pepper, we learned for certain that he sent them the half of it; and he sent word to them to rejoice that the King of Portugal, his father, had ordered a visit to be paid to him, and had sent him that pepper. We also knew for certain, and by seeing it in many parts, that Prester John has in most of his kingdoms large tillages and lands, like the King’s lands[114] in our parts. These lands, or king’s patrimony, are ploughed and sown by his slaves, with his own oxen. These have their provisions and clothes from the king, and they are more free than any other people, and they are married, and they proceed originally[115] from slaves, and they intermarry. Of all the tillage that is near the mountain, most of it goes there, and the rest to monasteries, churches, poor people, and principally to poor and old gentlemen who once have held lordships and no longer hold them: and he twice ordered some of this bread to be given to us Portuguese, that is to say, once in Aquaxumo five hundred loads, and another time another five hundred in Aquate, and of this tillage he has nothing for himself, neither is any of it sold, and all is spent and given, as has been said.

Cap. lxii.—Of the end of the kingdom of Angote, and beginning of the kingdom of Amara[116], and of a lake and the things there are in it, and how the friar wished to take the ambassador to a mountain, and how we went to Acel, and of its abundance.

We return to our journey and road[117]. We went along the mountains and by a river, and above it a very pretty country, with much millet and other grains of the country, and yet they had not wheat. There was much population on the skirts of the mountains on either side of the river, and coming to the end of the valley, we left the river, and began to find a country of thickets and stones: not mountainous, but of small valleys, and other lands of much wheat, barley, and the other vegetables which the country produces. Here the kingdom of Augote ends, and the kingdom of Amara begins. Here towards the East, and in the kingdom of Amara, there is a great lake where we halted, and this lake or lagoon is quite three leagues long, and more than a league wide. This lake has in the middle a small island, on which is a monastery of St. Stephen with many friars. This monastery has many lemons, oranges, and citrons. They go to and from this monastery with a boat of reeds, with four large calabashes,[118] because they do not know how to build boats. These which I call reeds are bulrushes[119] with which they make mats in Portugal. This boat or ferrying is conducted in this manner: they take four pieces of wood and place them around those bulrushes, which are well arranged, and other four planks upon the bulrushes at right angles to the others, and they separate them well, and at each corner they place a great calabash, and so pass over on it. This lake does not run except in winter with the excess of water: they say that it pours out at two ends. There are in this lake very large animals which they call in this country gomaras;[120] they say that they are sea horses. There is also a fish, properly a conger, and it is very large. It has the ugliest head that could be described, and formed like a large toad, and the skin on its head looks like the skin of dog-fish:[121] the body is very smooth like the conger, and it is the fattest and most savoury fish that could be found in the world. This lake has large villages all round, and all of them come down to the water. It is said that there are round this lake fifteen Shumats or captaincies, all within a space of two or three leagues. There are around good lands of wheat and barley. Of these lakes we saw many in this country, and this is the largest I saw.

From here we travelled quite four leagues through bushes and muddy places, a country of much millet, and well watered. At the end of the journey and much overtired, the friar wished to take the ambassador to some very high mountains to halt and sleep. The ambassador answered him, that he had not come to go all round countries, but to travel by straight roads; and that with regard to food, that he brought enough to buy it, either with gold or silver, or pepper, and cloths of the King of Portugal, which his captain-major had given us, and that on the roads where we halted outside the towns they brought us provisions, if he, the friar, did not take them by force from those that brought them, and from fear of him they did not bring them. We remained on the road halted in the open air, and the friar with his men went up the mountain; and at midnight he sent us bread and wine. Friday we set out from the place where we slept thus, and the friar did not come nor any message from him, nor people for the baggage, When we had gone the distance of a league, a servant of the friar reached us, and said that we should not go beyond the first town which was a good one for halting at Saturday and Sunday: and this we did. As soon as we arrived at this first town, and saw that it was good, we did not wish to pass it. This town is named the Acel; it is situated on a small hill between two rivers and is good land, there were here many millet fields, and all other grain crops and wheat. It is a very good town, and they hold a great fair in it. Beyond one of the rivers there is a large town of Moors, rich with great trade of slaves, silks and all other kinds of merchandise. It is like the town of Manadeley in the territory of Tigrimahom. The Moors of this place also say that they pay to the Prester very heavy tribute like the others. Here there is great intercourse between the Christians and Moors, because the Christians and Christian women carry water to the Moors and wash their clothes. The Christian women go to the town of the Moors, which is separate and alone, from which we formed a bad opinion. We stayed Saturday and Sunday in a field at the foot of the town, where our people were all night with their lances, keeping off the tigers which fought with us energetically, that is to say, with the mules, and our people did not sleep all night. Here there were disputes between Jorge d’Abreu and the ambassador about a very small matter.

On Monday we travelled over flat country between mountains which were very populous and much cultivated, for a distance of two leagues. We ascended a very high mountain without cliffs or stones or bushes, all taken advantage of for tillage; and on the summit of this mountain we passed our midday rest, separated from one another, on account of the quarrels which had taken place in Acel, at the foot of some small bushes. From this place one could see much land at a great distance; there sat down with me ten or twelve respectable men, and the interpreter, was with us, and the talk was about the height of this mountain on which we were, and of the many countries we saw. They showed me the mountain where the princes were, and which I have mentioned before; it seemed to be three or four leagues from here: its scarped rock, like that further back, ran to such a length towards the Nile, that we could not sight the end of it. And the mountain where we were was so high that that of the princes seemed to be commanded by it. Here they related to me more fully the numerous guards and restrictions over these princes, and the great abundance they had of provisions and clothes. And because from here one could discern a very extensive view as far as the eyes could see towards the West, I asked what countries went in that direction, and if they all belonged to Prester John. They told me that for a month’s journey in that direction were the dominions of the Prester; after that, one entered mountains and deserts, and after them very wretched people, very black and very bad. In his opinion, these lasted for a distance of fifteen days’ journey, and when these were finished, there appeared white Moors of the kingdom of Tunis. (And I am not surprised, because it is from Tunis that the Kafilas come to Cairo and to this country of the Prester.) They bring white burnooses, but not good ones, and other merchandise. They also told me that on this mountain was divided the country of the millet from that of the wheat, and that further on we should not find more millet, but wheat and barley.

Cap. lxiii.—How we came to another lake, and from there to the church of Macham Celacem, and how they did not let us enter it.

Here we travelled for three leagues on level roads, always on this mountain height, all through fields of wheat and thin barley. We met with another lake like the former one, although not so large, and yet it was about a league in length, and half a league in breadth. This lake has a small stream flowing out of it, and no water entering it except that from the hills when it rains. It seems to be of great depth, surrounded by strong rushes. We went to sleep in a great field of grass, where the mosquitoes were near killing us. These fields are not taken advantage of except for pasture, as they are rather marshy, and the people do not know how to draw off the water at the feet of the mountains from the tilled lands. There were many and large towns, and much tillage of wheat and barley. From here we took our road through very large valleys, and yet they had very poor cultivation of wheat and barley; some were yellow, as though dying from the water, and others which were dying of drought, and so we were confused with the perishing of these crops. We began to enter here into a country where by day there was great heat, and at night great cold. In this country ordinary men wear round them a strip of ox-hide; these ordinary persons are nearly all of them, and very few are the special ones: and the women likewise wear a cloth a little bit bigger than that of the men, and here cover what they can of what God has given them; the rest shows. The women wear their hair in two parts or in two lengths; with the one the hair comes down to the shoulders, with the other it is brought over the ears to the top of the head. They say that these lands belong to the Prester’s trumpeters. A little apart from the road there is on the right hand side a large grove at the foot of a mountain, and there there is a large church of many canons; it is said that it was built by a king who lies there. Passing through great mountain ranges this day, we went to sleep outside of all of them at the entrance of some beautiful plains. On the 26th of September in the morning we travelled through these plains a distance of a league; we arrived at a very large church, which is named Macham[122] Selasem which means the Trinity. We came later to this church with the Prester John to transfer there the bones of his father. This church is surrounded by two enclosures, one of a well built high wall, and another of palisades of strong wood. This which is of palisades is outside, and of the circumference of half a league. We were going very joyfully to see this church which the friar vaunted very much, and we slept here to carry out our desire, but we did not see it because they did not let us enter, and it was in this way. When we were a good crossbow shot from the stockade enclosure, there came to us men in great haste telling us to dismount; this we did at once, knowing that it is their custom to dismount when they are near churches, and out of reverence for this which is a great one, it appeared to us that they dismounted further off. Going on foot and arriving close to the door of the wooden enclosure, there were there a great many men who would not let us go in. Not only us, but also the friar who brought us, for they put their hands on his breast, saying that they had not leave to let us come in. It did not avail us to say that we were Christians, the tumult was so great, that it almost came to a fight. We went away from them, and mounted and went our way: and when we were already a good way from the church, they came running after us, asking us to turn back, and that they would let us enter, as they now had got leave. Then we did not choose to turn back, so this time we did not see the church or its construction. The plain in which this church stands and its situation are as follows: its enclosures are on an open hill, and all round is a plain; on one side it is a league in extent, in another direction the plain extends two leagues, in another three, and in another direction below, which is towards the south, four or five leagues: it is a wonderful country, there is not a span that is not made use of, and sown with all sorts of seed, except millet, which they have not got. This plain has fresh crops all the year round, one gathered in and another sown. At the back of this church runs a pretty river, open and without any trees, and water comes from it to irrigate a great part of the tilled lands. Other conduits of water descend from the mountains, so that these fields are all irrigated. In these plains there are many large houses standing apart, like farm houses, and there are small villages, and in them churches, because, though there is a king’s church, the cultivators are not deprived of churches.

Cap. lxiv.—How the Presters endowed this kingdom with churches, and how we went to the village of Abra, and from there to some great dykes.

We continued our journey through these plains, which appeared as I have described, and issuing from them, that is, from those we had seen, we entered into others still wider, and yet not so well provided with tillage: they appeared to be soaked with water like marshes;[123] there are great pastures in them, and also great lakes, and from them overflow the waters which make the marshes. There are very many herds, both cows and sheep (there are no goats here). There are very many villages distant from the road, and in all of them churches. We travelled through these plains quite ten or twelve leagues towards the East,[124] where they showed us a great church, which they said was of St. George, in which lies the grandfather of this Prester John (I will speak of it). When we were in it they said that the former kings coming from the kingdoms of the Barnagais and Tigrimahom, where their origin was, increasing their dominions in these countries of the gentiles, and coming through the kingdom of Angote to this kingdom of Amara, made a great stay and residence in it. And they made in it a great establishment of churches for their tombs, and endowed each one with large revenues. To that church which King Nahu built, the father of this Prester who now lives, he ended by giving as an endowment the whole of this kingdom, without one span remaining which does not belong to churches, and he ended by giving it to the church of Macham Selasem, and he began and his son ended. These churches of the kings do not prevent those of the cultivators, which are in infinite number. A man may travel fully fifteen days through the lands of Macham Selasem, and there is not in all this kingdom a single monastery that we saw or heard speak of, after all the number of them in the countries left behind, but all are churches of canons, and those of the cultivators of priests. This kingdom now has no lordship; it used to have its title, and it was Amara tafila, which means King of Amara, like as also Xoa tafila means King of Xoa. There was this lordship here until the remains of Nahu were removed to the church of Macham Selacem, at which the Portuguese were present; then the going and confirming the dotation to the church was concluded, and the Prester set aside the Amara tafila that there was till then, and gave the lordships to the churches, that is to say, to the ancient ones as they had held them. As his father had left them to this church of Macham Selasem, all the canons and priests of these churches and of all the others of the other kingdoms and lordships left behind, and further on, serve the Prester in all services except in wars. And the administration of justice is all one, both of canons and of priests and friars. So the friar who conducted us bore himself with one and all, as to carrying our baggage, and so they one and all obeyed him, (as has been said) and he ordered priests and friars to be flogged. Going through these great plains, when nothing else appeared in sight, it seemed to us that we were now at sea[125] and out of the mountains. We came to stay Saturday and Sunday, which was the last day of September, at a small village of Our Lady, very poor and ill kept, close to which church towards the east commence most wild mountains and deep fosses descending to the greatest abysses men ever saw; nor could their depth be believed, like as the mountains where the Israelites live are scarped from the top, so are these. Below they are of great width, in some places of four leagues, in others five, in others about three. (This in our opinion.) They say that these dykes run to the Nile, which is very far from here, and higher up we know well that they reach the country of the Moors; they say that in the parts of the Moors they are not so precipitous. At the bottom of these dykes there are many dwellings and an infinite number of apes, hairy like lions from the breast upwards.

Cap. lxv.—How we came to some gates and deep passes difficult to travel, and we went up to the gates, at which the kingdom begins which is named Xoa.

On Monday the 1st of October 1520, we travelled on our road through level country of lakes and large pastures for a distance of three or four leagues, all along these dykes, and we went to sleep near them where we had to cross these depths. Tuesday morning we began to travel for half a league, and we arrived at some gates on a rock which divided two valleys,[126] one to the right, the other to the left hand, and so narrow near the gates that they might hold one cart and no more; with small buttresses, between which the gates shut and close from slope to slope. Going through this gate one enters at once as into a deep valley, with shale[127] on either side raised more than the height of a lance, as if the edge of the sword had made this, these slopes, and this valley. The height of these walls has a length of two games of quoits[128] of such narrowness that a man cannot go on horseback, and the mules go scraping the stirrups on both sides, and so steep that a man descends with his hands and feet, and this seems to be made artificially. Coming out of this narrow pass one travels through a loophole[129] which is about four spans wide, and from one end to the other these clefts are all shale; it is not to be believed, and I would not have believed it, if I had not seen it: and if I had not seen our mules and people pass, I would affirm that goats could not pass there in security. So we set our mules going there as if one was sending them to destruction, and we after them with hands and feet down the rock, without there being any other road. This great roughness lasts for a crossbow shot, and they call these here aqui afagi, which means death of the asses. (Here they pay dues.) We passed these gates many times, and we never passed them without finding beasts and oxen dead, which had come from below upwards and had not been able to get up the ascent. Leaving this pass, there still remains quite two leagues of road sufficiently steep and rocky, and difficult to travel over. In the middle of this descent there is a rock hollowed out at the bottom, and water falls from the top of it (there are always many beggars in this cave). Thus we descended fully two leagues until reaching a great river which is named Anecheta, which contains many fish and very large ones. From here we travelled, ascending for quite a league, until reaching a passage which sights another river, at which are other gates which now are not used; and yet the gates are there still. Those who pass these dykes and clefts come to sleep here, because they cannot go in one day from one end to the other. At this halting place[130] the friar who conducted us committed a great cruelty, as though he were not a Christian, or had done it to Moors. Because a Xuum or captain of some villages which are on a hill above the place where we were resting, did not come up so quickly with the people who lived there, he sent some men of his, and those who carried our baggage, to go and destroy for them some great bean fields which they had by the side of their houses. These men who went there brought to where we were more than a moio[131] of beans, which were their provisions in this country, because in these valleys they have nothing except millet and beans. It was a pity to see such destruction; and because we opposed him, he said that such was the justice of the country, and also each day he ordered many of those who carried our baggage to be flogged, and he took from them mules, cows, and stuffs, saying that so should be treated whoever served ill.

On Tuesday the 2nd of October we took our road through many steep rocks (as before) between which we passed very narrow and bad paths, and dangerous passes; both on one side and on the other scarped rock, a thing not to be credited. We reached the other river, a good league from where we slept; this river is great, and is named Gemaa; it also contains much fish. They say that both these rivers join together and go to the river Nile. We began to travel and ascend as great cliffs as we had descended the day before. In this ascent there will be two leagues; at the end of it are other gates, and another pass such as from aqui afagi. These gates are always shut, and all who pass through them pay dues. Neither above nor below is there any other way or passage. Outside of these gates we went to sleep at a plain which is about half a league from the gates. Already when there, nothing showed of the dykes, clefts, and cliffs which we had traversed; on the contrary, all appeared to be a plain on this side and on the further side, without there being anything in the middle, and there were five long leagues from one set of gates to the other. The kingdoms of Amara and Shoa are divided by these gates and ravines. These gates are called Badabaxa, which means new land. In these ravines and cliffs there are numerous tribes of birds, and we could not determine where they breed, nor how they could bring up their young without their fulling down from the rocks: because whoever saw it would not judge otherwise than that it was an impossible thing, according to its greatness.

Cap. lxvi.—How the Prester John went to the burial of Janes Ichee of the monastery of Brilibanos, and of the election of another Ichee, who was a Moor.

On Wednesday, the 3rd of October, we travelled through plains not very far removed from the edge of the rocks and ravines, and we went to sleep on the rock itself opposite the monastery which is named Brilibanos.[132] I saw the Prester John go to this monastery three times. The first was to the burial of the head[133] of the monastery, who was named Janes, in our language Joannes, and the title of his prelacy was Ichee.[134] This Ichee of this monastery is the greatest prelate there is in these kingdoms, exclusive of the Abima Marcos, who is over all. And the Prester also went in the month in which they hold the funereal memorial which they call tescar.[135] He also went there at the end of forty days after the death of the said Ichee to choose and appoint another. They said that the deceased was a holy man, and that in life he had worked miracles, and therefore the Prester went to his burial and funereal memorial. There was among us a Portuguese, a native of Lisbon, by name Lazaro d’Andrade, who was a painter, and he lost his sight; the Prester sent to tell him to go to the tomb of this deceased man, and to wash with good faith, and that he would receive health: he went there and returned as he went. He whom they made Ichee was also held to be a man of holy life, and he had been a Moor. As he was much my friend, he related to me all his life, and told me that when he was in his sect he heard a revelation, which said to him: You are not following the path; go to the Abima Marcos, who is head of the priests of Ethiopia, and he will teach you another path. Then he came to the Abima Marcos, and related to him what he had heard, and the Abima Marcos had made him a Christian, and had taught him, and held him as a son: and therefore the Prester took this friar who had been a Moor for governor of this monastery, and he bears the name of Jacob. This Jacob also acquired the Portuguese language, and we both understood one another very well, and he wrote in his own handwriting the Gloria of the Mass, and the Creed, and Paternoster, and Ave Maria, and Apostles’ Creed, and the Salve Regina, and he knew it in Latin as well as I did. He also wrote out the Gospel of St. John, and all very well ornamented. This Jacob now remained Ichee in this monastery. Ichee means prior or abbot, and in the Tigray language, which is in the kingdoms of the Barnagais and of Tigrimahom, they say Abba for the principal father; and for the prior of the cloister who is below him, they say that there was (as I have before written) in this language a prior of the cloister who is called Gabez.[136] In the time when this happened, it was not when we were travelling, but another time when the court came here and stayed at a distance of a league and a half from the said monastery in a very large plain, because the monastery lies in the very deep ravine where we passed through the gates.

Returning to our journey; Thursday and Friday, we also travelled through plains, and not at any distance from those ravines; and we came to stop at some small houses almost under the ground. They make them in that way on account of the winds; because it is all a plain without any shelter, they also make the cattle folds underground, that the cows may be sheltered from the wind. Here there live dirty and ill clad people, they breed numerous cows, mares, mules, and fowls. Around these hamlets were the strongest and best crops of barley that we had yet seen, but there were few of them. In the tilled fields, in many places they sow three or four bushels[137] of seed in a tillage, and at the distance of a crossbow shot from there a similar quantity, and so the land is divided,[138] and all the villages had their sowed land scattered. There were not as much as six alqueires of sowing for any one cultivator or inhabitant, though the land is the best that could be mentioned, because there is no one to put it to profit. There are many birds in these plains, such as storks, wild ducks, water fowl, and birds of many kinds, because there are many lagoons, and no one knows how to catch them. This mountain is named Huaguida.

Cap. lxvii.—How we travelled for three days through plains, and of the curing of infirmities and of the sight of the people.

Monday, the 9th of October, we travelled through plains like the preceding ones, both of grass and tilled land, and we went to sleep at a place named Anda. Here we ate barley bread very badly made. So also we travelled on Tuesday through plains like those of the days before, and we slept close to some small villages. On Wednesday we now fell in with better land and tillage of wheat and barley, that is, crops all the year round, one gathered and another sown. This country is called Tabaguy; it is a very populous country, with large towns and great breeding of all sorts of animals. There were in this country many sick people, as of fevers, and all is left to nature, for they do not apply any other remedy, only if they have a headache they bleed the head itself: and if they have a stomach ache or pain in the back or shoulders, they apply fire, as to the beasts. For fevers they do not apply any remedy. On this Wednesday we had sight of the tents and camp of the Prester John, and we went to sleep off the road, as we were accustomed. On Thursday we travelled a short distance, and also we travelled little on Friday, and went to stay Saturday and Sunday at a small town which has a new church not yet painted, because all are painted, but not with good work. This church is named Auriata,[139] which means of the apostles, and they said that it was a king’s church. The tents are about three or four leagues from here, and from this town it is little more than half a league to the church where the Abima Marcos was lodged. On this Saturday and Sunday that we remained here there came to us three mariners, who had fled from our fleet in the port of Masua, and the friar who conducted us learning that the mariners had come to see us, was in great ill humour at it, saying, that it was not the usage of the country, when strange people came, for them to have conversation with any one before speaking to the King; and with this ill humour he returned to his tent and to his lodging. This same Saturday the friar went to see the Abigima Marcos, and brought to us from there a tray of raisins and a jar of very good grape wine. On the following Sunday one of the said mariners came again to see us, and because the friar had complained the day before of his coming, the ambassador told the mariner to go first and speak to the friar, and to tell him that he did not come for any bad purpose, but only from the great friendship that he had always had with us. The friar when he saw him ordered him to be seized and arrested, and they wanted to put him in irons if the ambassador and we had not gone to take him out of their hands, and with rough words, and above all the said friar said very complainingly that we were not to speak to any one until we had spoken to the Prester John, because such is their custom when new people arrived.

Cap. lxviii.—How a great lord of title was given to us as a guard, and of the tent which he sent us.

On Monday, the 17th of October, we set out, thinking that we should this day reach the court and camp, because we had gone to halt at a league from it. Then it seemed to us that they intended to take us there next day very early. While we were in this hope, there came to us a great lord, who is called by title Adugraz, which means chief major domo, he said that he was come to protect us and give us what we had need of. This gentleman told us to mount at once and come with him. We got ready, as it appeared that he was going to take us to the court: he took a turn backwards, not by the road we had come by, but he turned with us round some hills and we returned back more than a league, he telling us not to be in any ill humour, as the Prester was coming in that direction where we were going, and indeed six or seven horsemen were going in front of us on very good horses, skirmishing and amusing themselves, and a great many mules. They conducted us behind some hills, and the gentleman lodged himself in his tent, and ordered us to be lodged near him in our poor tent, such as we had brought for the journey, and ordered us to be provided with all that was necessary, and we were much put out of the way;[140] and the Prester was coming to halt near where we were. On Wednesday in the morning they brought us a large round tent, saying that the Prester John sent us that tent, and that nobody had a tent such as that except him, and the churches, and that his tent belonged to him when he was on a journey. So we remained till Friday without knowing what we were to do. The captain who guarded us and the friar warned us to look well after our goods, as there were many thieves in the country, and the Franks[141] who were in the country also told us so: they further told us that there were agents and captains of thieves, and that they paid dues of what they stole.

Cap. lxix.—How the ambassador, and we with him, were summoned by order of the Prester, and of the order in which we went, and of his state.

On Friday, the 20th of October, at the hour of tierce, the friar came to us in great haste, for the Prester John had sent to call us, and that we should bring what we had brought for him, and also all our baggage, as he wished to see it. The ambassador ordered all that to be loaded which the captain-major had sent for him, and no more. We dressed ourselves and arranged ourselves very well, God be praised; and many people came to accompany us. So we went in order from the place we started from as far as a great entrance, where we saw the tents pitched in a great plain, that is, certain white tents, and, in front of the white ones, one very large red tent pitched, which they say is set up for great feasts or receptions. In front of these pitched tents were set up two rows of arches covered with white and red cotton cloths, that is, an arch covered with red and the next with white: not covered but rolled round the arch, like a stole on the pole of a cross, and so these arches were continued to the end; there may have been quite twenty arches in each row, and in width and height they were like the small arches of a cloister. One row may have been apart from the other about the distance of a game of quoits.[142] There were many people collected together; so many that they would exceed twenty thousand persons. All these people were in a semicircle, and removed a good way off on each side; the smartest people were standing much nearer to the arches. Among these smarter people were many canons and church people with caps like mitres, but with points upwards of coloured silk stuffs, and some of them of scarlet cloth: and there were other people very well dressed. In front of these well-dressed people were four horses, that is, two on one side and two on the other, saddled and caparisoned with rich brocade coverings; what armour-plating or arms were underneath I do not know. These horses had diadems high above their ears, they came down to the bits[143] of the bridle, with large plumes on them. Below these were many other good horses saddled but not arrayed like these four, and all the heads of all of them were on a level, making a line like the people. Then, in a line behind these horses (because the crowd was much and thick), there were honourable men, who were not clothed except from the waist downwards, with many thin white cotton cloths, and crowded, standing one before the other.[144] It is the custom, before the King and before the great lords who rule, to have men who carry whips of a short stick and a long thong, and when they strike in the air they make a great noise, and make the people stand off. Of these a hundred walked before us, and with their noise a man could not be heard. The people riding horses and mules, who came with us, dismounted a long way off, and we still rode on a good distance, and then dismounted at about a crossbow-shot from the tent, or the distance of a game of mancal. Those who conducted us did us a courtesy and we to them, for we had been already taught, and this courtesy is to lower the right hand to the ground. In this space of a crossbow-shot there came to us fully sixty men like courtiers or mace-bearers, and they came half-running, because they are accustomed so to run with all the messages of the Prester. These came dressed in shirts and good silk cloths, and over their shoulders or shoulder, and below, they were covered with grey skins with much hair on them; it was said they were lion skins. These men wore above the skins collars of gold badly wrought, and other jewels and false stones, and rich pieces round their necks. They also wore girdles of silk coloured ribands, in width and weaving like horse-girths, except that they were long and had long fringes reaching to the ground. These men came as many on one side as on the other, and accompanied us as far as the first row of arches, for we did not pass these. Before we arrived at these arches, there were four captive lions where we had to pass, and in fact passed. These lions were bound with great chains. In the middle of the field, in the shade of these first arches, stood four honourable men, among whom was one of the two greatest lords that are in the court of the Prester, and who is called by title Betudete.[145] Of these there are two, one serves on the right hand, the other on the left hand. They said that he of the right hand was at war with the Moors, and he of the left hand was this one here. The other three who stood here were great men. Before these four we did as did those who conducted us. On reaching them we remained a good while without speaking to them, nor they to us. On this there came an old priest, who they say is a relation and the confessor of the Prester, with a cloak of white Indian cloth[146] of the fashion of a burnoose, and a cap like those of the others who stood apart. The title of this man is Cabeata, and he is the second person in these kingdoms. This priest came out of the said tent which would yet be two casts of quoits from the arches. Of the four men who were with us at the arches, three went half way to receive him, and the Betudete, who was the greatest lord of them, remained with us; and when the others came up he also advanced three or four steps, and so all five came to us. On reaching him, the Cabeata asked the ambassador what he wanted and where he came from. The ambassador answered that he came from India, and was bringing an embassage to the Prester John, from the captain-major and governor of the Indies for the King of Portugal. With this he returned to the Prester, and with these questions, and ceremonious courtesies, he came three times. Twice the ambassador answered him in the same manner, and the third time he said, I do not know what to say of it. The Cabeata said: Say what you want and I will tell it to the King. The ambassador replied that he would not give his embassage except to his Highness, and that he would not send to say anything except that he and his company sent to kiss his hands, and that they gave great thanks to God for having fulfilled their desires and having brought Christians together with Christians, and for their being the first. With this answer the Cabeata returned and came back directly with another message, when the above-mentioned persons went to receive him as before: and on reaching us he said that Prester John sent to say that we should deliver to him what the great captain had sent him. Then the ambassador asked us what he ought to do, and that each of us should say whatever he thought of it. We all said that we thought that he should give him what was sent. Then the ambassador delivered it to him piece by piece, and, besides, four bales of pepper which were for our own expenses. When it was received it was all carried to the tents, and all afterwards brought back to the arches where we were. And they came and stretched the tent cloths which we had given on the arches, and so with the other stuffs. Having set everything in sight of the people, they caused silence to be made, and the chief justice of the court made a speech in a very loud voice, declaring, piece by piece, all the things which the captain-major had sent to the Prester John, and that all were to give thanks to the Lord because Christians had come together with Christians, and that if there were here any whom it grieved, that they might weep, and any that rejoiced at it, that they might sing. And the great crowd of people who were near by gave a great shout as in praise of God, and it lasted a good while; and with that they dismissed us. We went to lodge at the distance of a long gunshot from the tents of the Prester, where they had already pitched the tent which they had sent us, and there we remained and also the goods which remained to us.

Cap. lxx.—Of the theft which was done to us when the baggage was moved, and of the provisions which the Prester sent us, and of the conversation the friar had with us.

When our baggage came and was brought we began to see by experience the warning which was given us of thieves, because on the road they had taken by force from a servant who attended us, four tinned copper vessels, and other four of porcelain, and also other small kitchen articles, and because the servant had attempted to defend himself they had given him a great wound in one leg. The ambassador ordered him to be taken care of (of these pieces none appeared again). As soon as we were lodged the Prester John sent us three great white loaves, and many jars of mead and a cow. The messengers who brought this said that Prester John sent it, and that they would give us immediately fifty cows and as many jars of wine. The following Saturday, the 21st day, he sent us an infinite quantity of bread and wine, and many dainties of meat of various kinds, and very well arranged: and the same happened on Sunday, when, among many other dainties, he sent us a calf whole in bread, that is to say in a pie, so well dressed that we could not get tired of it. On Monday the friar came to us to say that if the ambassador would give all the pepper to the Prester John, that he would order food to be given to him and to his company, as far as Masua. And they ceased giving us food, neither did the fifty cows nor the jars of wine come. In the meantime they prohibited all the Franks who were in this country from speaking to any of us: and also they told us not to go out of our tent, that such was the custom of all those who come to this court, until they had had speech with the king not to go forth from their tents. We well knew later that such was their custom, and on account of this prohibition they kept prisoner a Portuguese, nicknamed the Sheep, who came to speak to us on the road, and one of the Franks, saying, that they came to tell us the things of the court. This Sheep ran away one night with his chains from the custody of a eunuch who guarded him, and came to our tent. Next morning they came to fetch him, but the ambassador would not give him up, but sent the factor and the interpreter to go and ask the Betudete from him, why he ordered Portuguese to be put in irons, and had them so ill-treated by slave eunuchs. The Betudete answered, saying: who had bid us come here, that Matheus had not been to Portugal by order of the Prester John, nor of Queen Helena; and that if the slave had cast irons on the Portuguese, that the Portuguese should in turn cast them on the slave, and that this was the justice of the country.

Cap. lxxi.—How the Prester moved away with his court, and how the friar told the ambassador to trade if he wished; and how the ambassador went to the court.

On Tuesday, 24th of October, while we were hoping that they would send to call us to speak to the Prester, he set out on a journey with his court to the place he had come from, which might be a distance of two leagues. The friar came, saying on his own part, that if he wished to go to where the King had changed his quarters, that we should buy mules on which to carry our goods; also telling the ambassador that if he wished to buy and sell that he might do so. The ambassador replied to him that they had not come to be merchants, but they came to serve God and the Kings, and to bring Christians together. Up to this time they had said that buying and selling was a very bad thing, and this they were doing to prove the intentions of our people. On the following Thursday the ambassador ordered me and Joam Gonzalvez, the interpreter, to go to the court and to speak to the Betudete and the Cabeata. We went and we told him those things which had been said by the friar to the ambassador, and the said friar went with us. We did not speak to the Cabeata, and we spoke to the Betudete in this manner. First we said that the friar had come to tell the ambassador to buy and sell, and that they gave him licence for that, and that the ambassador was much amazed at this, because neither he nor his father, nor his mother, nor ancestors bought or sold, nor had such a business; and the same was the case with the gentlemen and persons who came with him, and who had never been so accustomed: and that the ambassador and those that came with him were servants in the house and court of the King of Portugal, and that they served the Kings in honourable services and in wars, and not in merchandise; and besides the friar had told him to give all the pepper that remained to the Prester John, and that he would order food to be given him as long as we remained and until we reached the port of Masua, from which we had set out. And to this the ambassador said that it was not the custom of the Portuguese to eat and drink at the cost of the feeble and poor people, but to eat and drink, and pay with gold and silver: and because money was not current in these kingdoms, on that account the captain-major of the King of Portugal had given him, besides much gold and silver, much pepper and stuffs for their expenses, that of this pepper which he had brought for his expenditure he had already given four bales to the Prester, and the rest he kept for what has been said: and, besides, that the friar had told him that if he wished to come to the court he should buy mules for his baggage. With regard to this he sent to say that for the present he did not require mules, nor to move from where he now was, and that when he had to depart he would buy mules. To this the Betudete answered that the Prester had already ordered ten mules to be given, and had they not given them? We replied that we had not seen any such mules, only that this friar had given in the journey three tired mules to three men that came on foot. To the other matters he gave us no answer, but spoke of things that were irrelevant, as, for instance, whether the King of Portugal was married, and how many wives he had, and how many fortresses he had in India, with many other questions beside the purpose. We also told the Betudete, on the part of the ambassador, that if the Prester wished to listen to his embassage, that he should say so, and if he did not choose that to no other person would he give it; and that if he wished to have it in writing, that he would send it. To this he answered, that we should wait, and that we should soon have an answer. So we returned without any conclusion. Up to this time they had always forbidden the Franks who were about the court to speak to us, or to come to our tent; and if they came to see us, it was very secretly, and the friar was always by with us as a guard.

Cap. lxxii.—Of the Franks who are in the country of the Prester, and how they arrived here, and how they advised us to give the pepper and goods which we brought.

Because many times I mention Franks, I wish to say that when Lopo Soarez, captain-major and governor, went from India and came to Jiddah with a large fleet, in which I also was, there were in the said place of Jiddah sixty Christian men captives of the Turks. These Christians were of many nations. These who are at the court say that they were all waiting for the favour of God and the entry of the Portuguese into Jiddah to join with them; and, because the fleet of Lopo Soarez did not make the land, they remained there. A few days after that, sixteen of these white men, with as many other Abyssinians of this country of the Prester, who were also there prisoners, stole two brigantines, and fled to go in search of the said fleet. Not being able to fetch Camaran, they made Masua, which is close to Arquico, the country of the Prester. They landed at the said port and abandoned the brigantines, and went to the court of the Prester, where they were doing them great honour, more than to us up to the present time, and they had given them lands, and vassals who provide them with food. These are the Franks, and most men of these nationalities are Genoese, two Catalans, one of Scios,[147] another a Basque, another a German; all these say that they have already been in Portugal, and they speak Portuguese and Castilian very well. They call us also Franks, and all other white people, that is to say, Syrians, which is Chaldea and Jerusalem; and the people of Cairo they call Gabetes.[148] On Sunday, the 29th of October, there came to us two of the said Franks, saying that they came in consequence of an agreement amongst themselves with respect to what they had heard say about us, namely, that the people of the court said that the pepper and all the goods that we brought belonged to the Prester John, and that the captain-major had sent it to him, and that since we would not give it him, so we should not find favour with him: and they were of opinion that it would be well to give this pepper that we had brought and all the other goods, because otherwise we should not have leave to return, because this was their custom, never to allow any one to return who came to their kingdoms: and that they would sooner have pieces and stuffs than cities or kingdoms: and that this was their opinion. Upon this we held council, and, with the opinion of the ambassador and of ourselves, we all agreed to give to the Prester four out of the five bales of pepper that we still had, and to keep one for our expenses. We also decided to send him four chests covered with hide,[149] which were among the company, in which came clothes, and this because we thought that he would be pleased with them, and that we should obtain favour. Then, on Monday, the 30th of October, the Franks came to us very early with many mules and men-servants of theirs to carry our baggage. The ambassador, with all of us, determined to send the said present of pepper and chests, and that I, with the clerk and factor, should convey it, and that the ambassador, with the other people, should go later in the afternoon. We set out with the said pepper and chests, and going along the road we met a messenger, who said he was bringing us the words of the Prester; and he dismounted to give them to us, and we dismounted to receive them, because such is their custom to give the King’s words on foot, and for them to be heard on foot. He told us that the Prester John ordered that we should come at once to the camp. We said that the ambassador was coming presently after us, and that he should return with us in order to give us the means of being able to present a service which we were conveying to his highness. He said he would do so, and moreover asked what we would give him for himself; because this is their custom always to beg. We contented him with words, with the intention of giving him nothing. He conducted us before a great enclosure of a high hedge, within which were many tents pitched, and a large long house of one storey thatched with straw, in which they said the Prester sometimes remained, and this man said that he was there. Before the entrance of this hedge there were a very great many people, and these likewise said that the Prester was there. We dismounted a space further off (according to their custom) and thence we sent to say that we wished to present a service to his highness. There came to us an honourable man saying, almost with ill-humour, how was it the ambassador had not come. We answered him that it was because he had not got mules or people to carry his goods, and that now he would come because the Franks had gone for him. We asked this man to tell us how we could present this pepper and chests to his highness; he told us not to take care for anything, that anyhow the ambassador should come, and when he had come and when he was summoned he would take the present. This man then ordered us to be shown where our tent should be pitched when he came, and the ambassador delayed very little.

Cap. lxxiii.—How they told the ambassador that the grandees of the court were counselling the Prester not to let him return, and how he ordered him to change his tent, and asked for a cross, and how he sent to summon the ambassador.

This day we learned that the Prester was not within this hedge enclosure, and that he was not in the tents nor in the houses that were there, and that he was higher up in other tents which could be seen from there on a hill, and which was about half a league from these tents. We did not see or hear anything more this day; we only pitched our tent in the place which they had assigned to us, which was not very far from the hedge enclosure on the right hand side. The Franks who were at the court came to our tent, and they told us that the grandees of the court were opposed to us, and that the friar was putting it into their heads to counsel the Prester not to allow us to return, nor to go out of his kingdoms, because we spoke ill of the country, and that we should speak more evil of it if we went out of it: and that it had always been the custom of this kingdom not to allow foreigners who came to it to go away. We had suspicions of this from what we had heard, and what these had told us; and from what we knew already of Joam Gomez and Joane, a Portuguese priest, who had come here, sent by Tristan de Acunha, in the company of a Moor, who is still alive, and dwells in Manadeley. And they did not suffer these Portuguese to depart, because they said it would cause their death if they went away. And so one Pero de Covilhan, also a Portuguese, who went away from Portugal forty years ago, by order of the King, Don Joam, may he be in holy glory, and he has been in this country for thirty and odd years. There is also a Venetian whom they call Macoreo in this country, and who says his name is Nicolas Brancaliam; it is thirty-three years since he came to this country. Also one Thomas Gradani, who has been here fifteen years, without any of them being allowed to go away. These go about the court, and there were others who died, without being allowed to depart. They say, for their excuse, that whoever comes to seek us, has need of us, and it is not in reason that they should go away, nor that we should let them go. We did not now find this Pero de Covilham at court, and they tell us that he is in his house close to the rocky gates which we passed. On Tuesday, the last day of October, the Prester John came from the tents above, where he was staying, to the enclosure tents and house where we were. When he passed he saw our tent standing not very far from his, and he at once sent a man to the ambassador to tell him to order his tent to be moved, as the place where it was sickly. We were on the spot which they had assigned to us the day before. The ambassador said in answer, that he had not got anyone to shift his tent or his baggage, and that people should come to shift it to wherever his highness commanded. This day, in the evening, there came a message from the Prester asking whether the ambassador had, or whether any of his suite had, a gold or silver cross, to send it to him to see it. The ambassador said that he had not got one, neither was there one in his company, and that one he wore he had given to the Barnegais; and with this the page went away. He returned immediately saying that we should send any we had got. We sent one of mine of wood, with a crucifix painted on it,(or perhaps, “a painted crucifix on it”) which I always carried in my hand on the road, after the custom of the country. He sent it back at once saying that he rejoiced much that we were Christians. The ambassador then ordered word to be sent to Prester John by the page who brought back the cross, that he still had for the expenses of himself and his company a little pepper, and that he wished to give it to his highness, and also four chests for keeping clothes, and that when he sent they could take to him this pepper and the chests. Then the page went with this message, and returned at once, saying that the King did not want the pepper nor the chests, and that he had already given the cloths which they had presented to him to the churches, and most of the pepper to the poor, and also that he had been told that the captain-major of India had given to the churches all the stuffs which the King of Portugal had sent for him. The ambassador answered that whoever had told him such a tale had not told him the truth, that all the things were still together, and that the servants of Matheus must have told that story that the cloths were given to the churches. And because I knew all that had happened with regard to the cloths which the King of Portugal sent to his highness, I answered: That it was true that in order that these cloths which the King had sent should not be damaged, and also to serve God and honour the churches, I had assisted to hang them up in the principal church of Cochym, which is that of Holy Cross, on the principal feast days; and that when the feasts were ended, I had helped to take them down, fold them and put them by, and this had been done to serve God and honour the feasts, and also that the cloths might not be injured and eaten by moths: and on this account they might have told him that they had been given away to the churches, but such was not the truth. When this answer had gone, another messenger arrived to say that the Prester ordered that the ambassador should come there at once with all his company and people (this might be about three hours after sunset). We all began quickly to dress ourselves in our good clothes to go whither we were summoned. When we were dressed, another message came that we were not to go: so we all remained like the peacock when he makes a wheel and is gay, and when he looks at his feet[150] becomes sad: as pleased as we were at going, so sad were we at remaining.

Cap. lxxiv.—How the ambassador having been summoned by the Prester, he did not hear him in person.

On Wednesday, the 1st day of November, about one or two hours after nightfall, the Prester sent to call us by a page. We got ready and went. On reaching the door or entrance of the first enclosure of the hedge, we found there porters who made us wait more than an hour in great cold, with the sharp wind that was blowing. Where we stood we saw in front of the other hedge enclosure many lighted candles, and men held them in their hands. And as we stood thus at this entrance, because they did not allow us to pass, our men fired off two firelocks. There came at once a message from the Prester asking why we had not brought from the sea many firelocks. The ambassador answered that we had not come for war, and on that account we had not brought arms, only three or four firelocks, which the men carried for their amusement. Meantime there came five of the principal men, among whom was an Adrugaz, to whom we were consigned when we arrived, and he made us turn back. When he came up to us with a message from the Prester, they made their accustomed courtesy, and we did so with them, and we began to advance; and we might have walked five or six paces, and we stood still, we and they. These five men were in front of us in order, as in a row, and at the end of them were two men with lighted candles in their hands on both sides. These messengers, who thus guided us, commenced to say, each one separately: Hunca hiale huchia abeton, which means: What you commanded, sire, here I bring it. And each one said these words quite ten times, one ending another began, and so they all went on. They continued saying this until we heard a cry from within, said by a company, and they said thus, in a very loud voice—louder than those outside whom we were following: Cafacinha, which means, Come inside; and we walked a little farther on. They again stood still, and we with them, and they again said the same words as before, until from within they answered like the first time. Of these pauses they made quite ten from the first entrance to the second, and each time that from within they said: Cafacinha (because it was the word or permission of the Prester), those who conducted us, and we with them, bowed our heads, and put our hands to the ground. Passing the second entrance those who guided us began to say another chaunt, it was this: Capham hia cainha afranguey abeto, which means, The Franks whom you commanded here, I bring them, sire. And this they said as many times as the former words; and they waited for an answer from within, which was the first, namely: Cafazinha; and so with many pauses we reached a dais, and before it were many lighted candles which we had seen from the first entrance, and they counted them, and there were eighty of a side, in very good order, and that those who held them might not get out of line they held in their hands before them some very long canes, across them breast high, and so the candles were all in order. The said dais was in front of the long one-storied house, which was mentioned before. This house is set up on thick piles of cypress wood, and the beams,[151] which are above the piles, are painted with poor colours, and on them are planks which descend from the top to the bottom. With regard to level it is not all well-constructed, and above it is covered with a thatch of this country which they say lasts a man’s life. At the entrance of this house, which is at the upper end of the house, four curtains were suspended, and one of these which was in the middle was of brocade, and the others of fine silk. In front of these curtains on the ground was a large and rich carpet, and there were two large cotton cloths, hairy like carpets, which they call basutos[152] (this is their word), and the rest full of coloured mats, for no part of the floor appeared; and also it was from one end to the other full of lighted candles, like the others we had seen outside. While we were quiet, from within the curtains there came a message from the Prester John, saying, without any other preliminary, that he had not sent Matheus to Portugal, and although he had gone without his permission, and the King of Portugal had sent by him many things for him, and what had become of them, and why did they not bring them as the King of Portugal had sent them, and those things which the captain-major of India had sent him, they had already given them? The ambassador replied that if his highness would hear him, he would give him an explanation of everything, and he began at once to say that what the captain-major had sent he had already given, and besides he had given him what he brought for his expenditure. And with respect to what the King of Portugal had sent, on account of the death of Duarte Galvam, the ambassador who died at Camaran, and those who were killed at Dalaka, for one of them was the factor, interpreter, and presenter of the articles which were sent; and on account of the winds having been contrary, and that they could not fetch the port of Masua, and returned to India, and the captain-major who was then in India when he left Portugal, the King thinking that his ambassadors, Duarte Galvam and Matheus, were already at this court of his highness, had only sent him to the Red Sea straits to conquer Moors, and to learn about his ambassador whom he had sent: and, therefore, they had made ready to go to Jiddah, not being certain of being able to make the port of Masua, as on a former occasion they had not made it, so they had not brought the stuffs and things which the King of Portugal had sent him, which things were in India together and preserved; and they only brought Matheus, in order if they should be able to make any port of Abyssinia to land him there, and afterwards send the goods which the King had sent with his first embassage. And because rod was pleased that they should make the port of Masua which is in his hands, although it was in the power of the Moors, the captain-major determined to send to him Don Rodrigo with these articles which he had already presented to him, and he had come in company with Matheus, only for a visit, and to learn the road for the time when an ambassador should come from the King of Portugal, and that Matheus had died at the monastery of Bisan. In reply to this answer, there came another question, that three had been killed in Dalaka, and how had Matheus escaped? To this it was answered that Matheus had escaped because he had not gone on shore from the caravel. The ambassador still requested him as a great favour to hear him, and he would know the truth, and that he would also give him in writing that which the captain-major had ordered him to say verbally, besides what was in the letter, and that from both sides he would learn the truth respecting the King’s ambassador, and of the visit sent to him by the captain-major. Messages went and came without any conclusion, and so they dismissed us on the following day, and he sent us much bread and wine and meat, and two men, who said they had to take charge of us, and give us every day bread, wine, and meat, and all that we required. This was forgotten, and some days we were very ill provided.

Cap. lxxv.—How the ambassador was summoned another time, and he took the letters he had brought, and how we asked leave to say mass.

At night on Saturday, the 3rd day of November, the Prester John sent to call us, and we went at night. On reaching the first door or entrance and waiting a little; there came a message to say that we should fire with the muskets, and that they should not carry balls, so as not to do any mischief. A little after that they ordered us to enter, and we advanced with pauses as on the former occasion; and on arriving between the doors and curtains where we were before, the dais in front of it was richly decked out, both the sides and front, with brocades, and there were smarter people on both sides, all in a semicircle with drawn swords in their hands, and placed as though they were about to slash one another. There were two hundred candles lighted on each side in a row, like those of the other day; and when we arrived messages began at once to go and come through the Cabeata and a page who is called’ by the name of Abdenago, who is the chief and captain of all the pages. This man brought his messages with a drawn sword in his hand. The first message which came was, How many we were, and how many firelocks we had brought? And upon this came another: Who had taught the Moors to make firelocks and bombards, and whether they fired with them at the Portuguese, and the Portuguese at them, and who was most afraid, the Moors or the Portuguese? Each of these questions came by itself, and each had its answer; and as to the fear of the bombards, since the Portuguese were strengthened in the faith of Jesus Christ, they had no fear of the Moors; and if they had had fear they would not have come from such a distance, and without necessity, to seek them. With respect to making firelocks and bombards, that the Moors were men who had knowledge and skill like any other men. They asked if the Turks had got good bombards, the ambassador replied; that they were as good as ours, but that we were not afraid of them, because we were fighting for the faith of Jesus Christ, and they against it. He asked who had taught the Turks to make bombards. The answer was given as for the Moors, that is to say, that the Turks were men, and had the wit and knowledge of men, perfect in all respects excepting in the faith. After this he sent to say that they should play with sword and shield, and the ambassador ordered two men of his suite to come out. They did it reasonably well, and yet not as well as the ambassador desired that the affairs of the Portuguese should be conducted: and as the Prester sent to ask for others to come out, the ambassador proposed to Jorge d’Abreu that they should both go out; and they went, out with their own swords and targes,[153] and they did it very well, as was to be expected from such men who had been brought up and trained in war and arms. At the end of it all the ambassador sent to tell the Prester John that he had done that to do him service, and that otherwise he would not have done it, even though they gave him fifty thousand crowns,[154] for any other prince, unless he were commanded to do it by the King of Portugal his sovereign, under whose obligation he was. And he begged His Highness to hear him, and learn what the captain-major of the King of Portugal had ordered him to say, and to dismiss him, that he might be able to join the fleet at the time of its arrival, so as not to cause expense without profit. An answer came that we had now just arrived, and had not seen even a third part of his dominions, that we should rest, and that the captain-major would come to Masua, and he would send him a message, and that then we should go away; and that they should make a fortress in Masua and in Suaquem, and in Zeila, and he would send all the provisions necessary for them, because the Turks were many and we were few, and besides this, by having a fortress in the Red Sea, it would be easy to make a journey to go to Jerusalem. The ambassador answered that these were the desires of the King of Portugal, and that he still begged of him to give him a hearing, and if he determined not to hear him, that he would send him the captain-major’s letter, and likewise he would send him in writing that which the captain-major had bade him say. He ordered that all should be turned into his own writing and language, and that they should send it all to him: and the ambassador did so, and sent to ask him to look at it all and give him his dismissal. After this, Prester John sent to ask that they should sing to a musical-instrument,[155] and dance, and they did so. When the dance was over we spoke to him and said that as we were Christians, that they should give us leave to say mass according to our custom, according to the Church of Rome. He immediately sent us a message that he well knew that we were Christians, and that since the Moors who were bad and vile said their prayers after their fashion, why should not we follow ours, and that he would order what was necessary to be given to us, and so he directed us to return to our lodging. When we arrived there they followed us with three hundred large loaves and twenty-four jars of wine; the person who had it brought said that they had given him thirty jars, and that on the road those who carried them had diminished them by six.