PROLOGUE TO THE KING OUR SOVEREIGN. (continued 6)

Cap. xciii.—How the Prester went to the church of Macham Selasem, and of the procession and reception that they gave him, and what passed between His Highness and me respecting the reception.

We came to pass Saturday and Sunday, the last days of December, in a meadow, with all the Court. On Monday we all set out together, the Prester going in his curtain, as on the former days. On the first day of January 1521, we came and stopped at another large church, which they did not let us see on our first coming. Its dedication is Macham Selasem, which means the Trinity. Before we arrived at this church, the Prester travelling bareheaded (as has been said) with his crown on his head and a cross in his hand as always, and inside his curtain, and we in front of him as on the previous days—quite a league before we arrived at this church, the Prester ordered eight saddled horses, very large and handsome, which are prized in this country, to be brought, and had them sent to the Portuguese that they might ride them and skirmish before him; and so they did. At the distance of a quarter of a league before reaching the church, an infinite number of people came to receive him, in this manner. The people could not be reckoned, the crosses were innumerable, clergy and friars exceeding twenty thousand divided into bands, as there were many monasteries and churches, and thus they accompanied their crosses. The friars must have been from a distance, because in this kingdom of Amara there is no monastery, nothing but great churches, and tombs of kings. There would be among this clergy fully a hundred mitres, that is high caps; and there were here sixty-four umbrellas, these could easily be counted, because they were high above the people, and were large and rich, but not so much so as those of the church of St. George, which the Prester ordered to be shown to me. All these umbrellas belonged to the churches in which the kings lie buried, and they leave them there when they die. This great multitude of people thus assembled together, although a great number of them were of the Court, yet a great part belonged to churches and monasteries and had come for this reception. The business which had to be done was that many people of the country came to see the Prester who was travelling with his head uncovered, as they had never seen him. As soon as we arrived at the church, and prayers were ended, the Prester went to his tent; and before we set out from that place he sent to call me, and he also sent word to the ambassador and his company to go to their quarters. He sent to ask me what I thought of this reception, and whether such were made for the King of Portugal. I replied that for the King of Portugal they made great receptions and festivals; but that I had never seen a reception or assembly of so many crosses and mitres, nor so many people together at once; and that his reception appeared to me so good that no better could be made in the world: and that it also seemed to me that wherever a man should relate this outside his kingdoms and lordships, he would not be believed unless it were on account of the great fame which His Highness enjoyed in Christendom and in all the world; and that this would more oblige the giving credit to such a thing. To this came the reply that the people were yet much more than they appeared to be, because they were naked people, and did not look as numerous as they were, and that our people were clothed and smart, and even though they were few they seemed to be many; and that I might go in peace to my quarters with the ambassador. I found him still on the road. When I reached him there came another message from the Prester, to say that this church was new, and that as yet they had not said mass in it; and that it was the custom for as many as entered it to make an offering; and that the ambassador should give his arms, and that I should give the hood which I had on my head, and likewise that each should give the piece which he had to bestow. By this we knew that he was delighted and rejoiced much at our opinion.

Cap. xciv.—Of the fashion and things of this church of the Trinity, and how the Prester sent to tell the ambassador to go and see the church of his mother, and of the things which happened in it.

The following day the Prester sent to call us and conduct us to the above-mentioned church, and he was already in it. This church is large and high, and the walls are of white stone hewn masonry, and with good tracery on the walls. However, they do not fix the upper woodwork upon the walls, because they could not support it, from not being linked and bound one with another, that is to say the stones and corner stones, but they are laid one above another, without any going all through the walls: though, at first sight it looks well to anyone who does not know what is inside. It has the principal door lined with plates of metal like that of the church of St. George, which we left behind us; and in the midst of this plating are stones and false pearls well set. On the top of the wall, over the principal door, are two effigies of our Lady very well made, and two angels of the same fashion, all done with the paint brush, and they say that they were painted by a friar, who learned by himself, and I saw this friar. The church has three naves in the body of the church raised on six supports. These supports are of masonry in pieces. A third nave outside, which is closed and covered in like a cloister and almost like part of the church, is raised upon sixty-one high wooden props, like very tall masts; upon these props rests the woodwork, almost flat, of very thick planks. There were suspended all round the tower sixteen curtains that could be drawn, of the length of the stuffs, which were all very rich brocade, and each curtain was of sixteen pieces of stuff. The Cabeata went about showing us these things. When we had seen all, the Prester sent to ask what we thought of these things, works and stuffs. We answered that it seemed to us very good, and that it looked as it should do, seeing to whom it belonged. Then he asked if they could send him lead to cover this church. The ambassador said that everything that His Highness might wish for, the King of Portugal would send to him in abundance, as His Highness would see, because all metals were in his possession. From this place we set out with the Prester to his tents, he in his curtain, and we on our mules, without any more ceremonies. The tents were close to another church of the same form as this, only that it was smaller. When we arrived and dismounted close to the tent, the Prester sent to tell the ambassador that we should go and see the church of his mother, which was close to the tents. We went there, and certainly it is well made for its size. Here they told us not to find any fault with it, because the Prester’s mother was so fanciful that if we found any fault with it, or said that it was not so good as that of her son, that she would order it to be thrown down and to be constructed afresh. When we had seen this church, and while we were still in it, the Prester sent to say that, since we had much gold in Portugal, why did we sell rich stuffs to the Moors for gold? The ambassador replied that the expenses of the King of Portugal and of his captains and fleets were so great, on account of the many wars they continually waged with the Moors, in many parts, that if they did not trade, they would not be able to endure them, especially as these expenses and wars were a long way off from the kingdom of Portugal, from which succours had to come; and as they went so much by sea they carried with them merchandise, and to some they sold and from others they took, and by this means they supplied a part of the expense. To this there was no answer, but he then sent word to show us in the church two large door curtains, very rich with figures, and he asked where those stuffs were made. He was told that all those were made in Christendom, and not in any other part. Upon this he sent to ask if they would send him many of those, and he would send much gold. The ambassador replied that if His Highness wrote to the King of Portugal, that he would send him as many as he wished for. At this they came with another rejoinder saying, what had we brought him? The ambassador answered that he had brought him that which he had given him, that is to say a valuable sword, and a gold-mounted dagger, and two cannons with their chambers and balls and powder, and four cloths for hanging on walls, and some handsome cuirasses, and that this had been given him by the Captain-major of India, and that he did not send these things except as a sample; and that if it pleased him he should write to the King of Portugal, and he would send him as much as he desired. They came with another addition, saying, that it was the custom of all those who had sent ambassadors to these countries to send many goods, and so they had always done to his predecessors, and that we had come and had brought nothing. The ambassador replied to this, that it was not the custom of the King of Portugal and of his captains, when they sent embassies or messages to other kings and great lords, to send any presents, except out of friendship: rather, on the contrary, all those sent things to him to make him their friend: and if the captain-major of India had sent him those presents, he had sent them to serve him, and not on account of any such custom; nevertheless, the King of Portugal had sent to the Prester by another ambassador who died in Camaran, more than a hundred thousand cruzados in goods, and he had sent them as to a brother, and not from custom or obligation. With regard to what His Highness said, that the King of Portugal had sent him many things and that they had not presented them, he had already many times sent to tell him that he would see by the captain-major’s letters what he had sent him; and how what the King of Portugal had sent had remained in India, and also he could know by the factor and clerk who came with them, because the affairs of such sovereigns are conducted by factors and clerks. And although they sent factors, the Portuguese were not accustomed to act falsely, but to deal with great truth in all that was charged or commanded to them, and he had told him the truth several times, and if he chose to believe it he might believe it, and if not, let it be as His Highness commanded. And His Highness should know that the ambassador had come by order of the great captain-major of the King of Portugal who governed the Indies, and the manner in which he had come had been such as was usual for going to all kings and emperors: and that His Highness should not send to say to him that which was not usual among the Portuguese, but rather should dismiss him, for he wanted to go because the time had arrived. The Prester sent to say that if we had come in the times of the preceding kings that they would not have done us any honour such as he had done us, unless we had brought them much goods. The ambassador replied that, on the contrary, many injuries had been done to us in his countries, and robberies, stealing whatever we had, and that there did not remain to us clothes, nor the goods we had brought for our maintenance, and that if we died in this country we should all go to Paradise as martyrs, on account of the affronts which we had met with and experienced, for already they had attempted three or four times to kill us in his countries, and that we endured all with patience, for the love of God, and of the King of Portugal, to whom we belonged: and that the King of Portugal had done other honour to Matheus, because he said he was the Prester’s ambassador. Withal he entreated him to despatch us, that we might go and give an account of that which we had been commanded, because the Portuguese were not accustomed to lie, but to do and speak truth. To this came an answer that neither the Portuguese nor the ambassador told lies, but that Matheus had been a liar, and that he well knew the honour which had been done to him by the King of Portugal, and his captain in India, as soon as he arrived there, and that we should not be angry, and we should soon be despatched, with much satisfaction to ourselves, and that we should go in peace to dine.

Cap. xcv.—How Prester John sent to tell those of the embassy and the Franks to go and see his baptism, and of the representation which the Franks made for him, and how he ordered that I should be present at the baptism, and of the fashion of the tank, and how he desired the Portuguese to swim, and gave them a banquet.

On the 4th day of the month of January Prester John sent to tell us to order our tents, both that of the church and our own, to be taken from this place to a distance of about half a league, where they had made a large tank of water, in which they were to be baptized on the day of the Kings, because on that day it is their custom to be baptized every year, as that was the day on which Christ was baptized. We took thither a small tent for resting in and the church tent. The next day, which was the vigil of the day of the Kings, the Prester sent to call us, and we saw the enclosure where the tank was. The enclosure was a fence, and very large, in a plain. He sent to ask us if we intended to be baptized. I replied that it was not our custom to be baptized more than once, when we were little. Some said, principally the ambassador, that we would do what His Highness commanded. When they perceived that, they came back again with another message to me, asking what I said as to being baptized. I answered that I had been already baptized, and should not be so again. They still sent word that if we did not wish to be baptised in their tank, they would send us water to our tent. To this the ambassador replied that it should be as His Highness ordered. The Franks and our people had arranged to give a representation of the Kings,[181] and they sent to tell him of it. A message came that it pleased him, and so they got ready for it, and they made it in the inclosure and plain close to the King’s tent, which was pitched close to the tank. They gave the representation, and it was not esteemed, nor hardly looked at, and so it was a cold affair. Now that it was night they told us to go to our tent, which was not far off. In all this night till dawn a great number of priests never ceased chaunting over the said tank, saying that they were blessing the water, and about midnight, a little earlier or later, they began the baptism. They say, and I believe that such is the truth, that the first person baptized is the Prester, and after him the Abima, and after him the Queen, the wife of the Prester. They say that these three persons wear cloths over their nakedness, and that all the others were as their mothers bore them. When it was almost the hour of sunrise, and the baptism in fullest force, the Prester sent to call me to see the said baptism. I went and remained there till the hour of tierce, seeing how they were baptized; they placed me at one end of the tank, with my face towards Prester John, and they baptize in this manner.

The tank is large, the bottom of it in the earth, and it is cut very straight in the earth, and well squared; it is lined with planks, and over the planks waxed cotton cloth is spread. The water came from a rivulet through a conduit, like those to irrigate gardens, and it fell into the tank through a cane, at the end of which was a bag that was full; because they strain the water which falls into the tank; and it was no longer running when I saw it: the tank was full of blessed water, as they said, and they told me that it contained oil. This tank had five or six steps at one end, and about three fathoms in front of these steps was the dais of Prester John, on which he sat. He had before him a curtain of blue tafetan, with an opening of about a span, by which those who were baptized saw him, because he was with his face to the tank. In the tank stood the old priest, the master of the Prester, who was with me Christmas night, and he was naked as when his mother bore him (and quite dead of cold, because it was a very sharp frost), standing in the water up to his shoulders or thereabouts, for so deep was the tank that those who were to be baptized entered by the steps, naked, with their backs to the Prester, and when they came out again they showed him their fronts, the women as well as the men. When they came to the said priest, he put his hands on their head, and put it three times under the water, saying in his language, “In name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”: he made the sign of the cross as a blessing, and they went away in peace. (The “I baptize thee”, I heard him say it.) If they were little people they did not go down all the steps, and the priest approached them, and dipped them there. They placed me at the other end of the tank, with my face looking to the Prester, so that when he saw the backs, I saw the fronts, and the contrary way when they came out of the tank. After a great number of baptized persons had passed, he sent to call me to be near him; and so near that the Cabeata did not stir to hear what the Prester said, and to speak to the interpreter who was close to me: and he asked me what I thought of that office. I answered him that the things of God’s service which were done in good faith and without evil deceit, and in His praise, were good, but such an office as this, there was none in our Church, rather it forbade us baptizing without necessity on that day, because on that day Christ was baptized, so that we should not think of saying of ourselves that we were baptized on the same day as Christ; also the Church does not order this sacrament to be given more than once. Afterwards he asked whether we had it written in books not to be baptized more than once. I replied, Yes, that we had, and that in the Creed, which was made at the Council of Pope Leon, with the three hundred and eighteen bishops, about which at times His Highness had questioned me, it was said: “Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum.” Then they said to me that such was the truth, and so it was written in their books; but what were they to do with many who turned Moors and Jews after being Christians and then repented, and with others who did not believe well in baptism, what remedy would they have? I answered: For those who do not rightly believe, teaching and preaching would suffice for them, and if that did not profit, burn them as heretics. And so Christ spoke, and St. Mark wrote it: “Qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit salvus erit, qui vero non crediderit condemnabitur.” And as to those who turned Moors or Jews, and afterwards of their own free will recognised their error, and asked for mercy, the Abima would absolve them, with penances salutary for their souls, if he had powers for this, if not, let them go to the Pope of Rome, in whom are all the powers. And those who did not repent, they might take them and burn them, for such is the use in Frankland and the Church of Rome. To this there came the reply, that all this seemed to him good, but that his grandfather had ordained this baptism by the counsel of great priests, in order that so many souls should not be lost, and that it had been the custom until now; and he asked if the Pope would concede to the Abima to hold these powers, and how much it would cost him, and in how much time could they come. I answered him that the Pope desired nothing except to save souls, and that he would esteem it fortunate to send to him, the Abima, with such powers, and that it would only cost him the expenses of the journey, which would not be much, and also the letters of his powers: and that they could go and come through Portugal in three years: and by the road of Jerusalem, that I did not know it. To this there came no answer except that I might go in peace to say mass. I said it was no longer time for saying mass, that midday was long passed. So I went to dine with our Portuguese and the Franks.

This tank was all closed in and covered over with coloured tent cloths, so well that more could not be said, and so well arranged, with so many oranges and lemons, and boughs suspended and so well disposed, that the boughs, oranges, and lemons appeared to have grown there, and that it was a well ordered garden. The large tent which was over the tank was long and ...,[182] and above covered with red and blue crosses of the fashion of the crosses of the order of Christ. This day, later in the afternoon, Prester John sent to call the ambassador and all his company. The baptism was already ended, and His Highness was still within his curtain where I left him. We entered there, and he at once asked the ambassador what he thought of it. He replied that it was very good, although we had not got such a custom. The water was then running into the tank, and he asked if there were here Portuguese who could swim. At once two jumped into the tank, and swam and dived as much as the tank allowed of. He enjoyed greatly, as he showed by his looks, seeing them swim and dive. After this he desired us to go outside and go to one end of the enclosure or circuit; and here he ordered a banquet to be made for us of bread and wine (according to their custom and the use of the country), and he desired us to raise our church tent and the tent we were lodging in, because he wished to return to his quarters, and that we should go in front of him because he was ordering his horsemen to skirmish in the manner in which they fight with the Moors in the field. So we went in front of him, looking at the said skirmish. They began, but soon there came such heavy rain that it did not allow them to carry out the skirmish which they had begun well.[183]

Cap. xcvi.—How I went with an interpreter to visit the Abima Mark, and how I was questioned about circumcision, and how the Abima celebrates the holy orders.

Next day after the baptism I went to visit the Abima Marcos, whom as yet I had not spoken to, nor seen, except at the baptism, when he was half dead with the cold, and I could not speak to him there. He rejoiced greatly at my visit, and would not give me his hand to kiss it, but rather wished to throw himself on the ground with demonstrations of kissing my feet. When we were seated both together on a bedstead, the beginning of our conversation was to give thanks to God for bringing us together. Then he began to speak of the great pleasure he had received from what they had related to him of what I had said on several occasions, and from what he had seen had passed with me at the baptism, and from the great clearness with which I had spoken the truth in the presence of the Prester, which he would not believe from him, the Abima, because he was alone; and that if he had a partner or two, who would assist him in speaking the truth, he would withdraw the Prester from many things and errors, in which he was with his people. Upon this there came in a priest of his, a white man, son of a Gibete, that is, a white man born in this country. This one asked why we were not circumcised, since Christ had been so. I answered that it was true that Christ had been circumcised, and that he chose it in order to fulfil the law which was in force at that time, and in order not to be accused before the time of being a breaker of the law: and afterwards it had been commanded to cease circumcision. This priest next said that he was the son of a Frank, and that when he was born his father would not have him circumcised, and when he was already twenty years old and his father had died, he had gone to bed entire, and in the morning found himself cut smaller: how would that be since God no longer would have circumcision. I answered him that it would be a great lie, because although God had not forbidden circumcision, yet he would not be sufficiently worthy nor so holy, that God should have wrought a miracle for him, and from imperfect to make him perfect: and if it was so as he said, that he went to bed entire and found himself cut, the devil must have cut him to make a mockery of him. The Abima, with as many as were in the house, were seized with much laughter, and the Abima rejoiced much; and this priest, from this time forward became much my friend, and came every day to our mass, and was very friendly with the Portuguese. The Abima sent for wine and fruit, and sent with me to our tents much bread and wine and a cow. On the 8th day of January the Abima Mark conferred orders, and I went to see their manner of giving them, and it is as follows. They pitched a white tent in a large plain without inhabitants, where there were quite five or six thousand people to be ordained. The Abima arrived upon a mule, and I with him, as I came in his company, and many others who came with him. In the midst of these people he made a speech from his mule in Arabic, which one of his priests translated into Abyssinian. I asked the interpreter that I brought with me what the Abima said. He told me that he said if there was anyone here who had two wives or more, even though one was dead, that he was not to become a priest, and that if he did become a priest, that he excommunicated him, and held him to be accursed by the curse of God. Having made this speech he went to sit on a chair in front of the said tent, and before him sat three priests on the ground with several books in their hands, and others which ruled the office; and they made all sit down, as many as were to be ordained, squatting,[184] that is to say, upon their heels. This in three very long rows, and each row ended at the three priests who had the books. And there they examined them a very short examination, for each one did not read more than two or three words: then they go to one who stands behind these with a vase of ink and a stamp like a seal, and he puts this stamp on the flat of the right arm. Then they rose from where they came, and went to sit in the middle of the plain in a clump, in which sat all those that had been examined, and there were very few who did not pass. When this examination was ended, the Abima went into the tent and sat on the said chair. This tent had two entrances, and they put all the examined persons in a line, one before another, and they passed before the Abima, entering by one door and going out by the other: when they passed before him, he put his hand on their head, and said words which I did not understand, and so there did not remain one for whom this ceremony was not done. Here he took a book in his hands and read a piece for himself, and held a cross in his hand, and made with it the sign of the cross over them. This ceremony being concluded, a priest who was with the Abima went out to the door of the tent, and read from a book something like an epistle or gospel; then the Abima said mass, which was not more than as much as one might say the psalm Miserere mei Deus three times. And he gave the communion to these priests, who were two thousand three hundred and fifty seven, all mass priests: because the mass priests are ordained by themselves, and the deacons by themselves on another day: and the Abima told me that the deacons were ordained in all the orders as far as deacon, like St. Stephen. And later I saw men ordained zagonais and priests of the mass all in one day, and this several times, because he conferred orders almost every day, and always in great number, because they come to him from all the kingdoms and lordships of the Prester, for there is no other who ordains these priests. They are not put down in a register, nor do they carry a letter, or other certificate of their orders; and as to the number which I named, which was 2,357, I did not count them, but I asked the person who had the charge, and he told me this number, and certainly it seems to me that it would be true. As to the orders of zagonais,[185] I will relate where I saw them and was present at them.

Cap. xcvii.—How the Prester questioned me about the ceremony of holy orders, and also how I went to the lesser orders which they call zagonais, and what sort of people are ordained.

On the following day, 9th of January, Prester John sent to call me, and as soon as I arrived, there came a message to say that they had told him that I had been to see how they made his priests, and what did I think of it? I answered that I had seen two things, which if I had not seen, even though another should have told them to me with an oath, I should not have believed, and which would not be believed from me, although I should affirm that I had seen them, as I did see them. One was the multitude of clergy and crosses at the reception of His Highness, and the other was the great number of priests that I had seen ordained together; and the office seemed to me very good, but what did not seem to me good was the great indecency with which those priests came who were ordained; and so I had seen the order of the Church transgressed in the ordaining of those priests. Then there came a message that I should not be astonished at any of these things, for, as to his reception, there had only come to it the priests of the churches of his ancestors which were in those districts, and that these wore mitres, and hats, and crosses, which his ancestors had left them; and that the clergy who had been ordained were very few for what there usually are, as there are always about five or six thousand ordained; and now there were few because they did not know that the Abima was coming: and he asked me to tell him what indecency I had seen and what breach of the commands of the Church. I answered that it seemed to me very indecent and a very shameful thing that priests who were ordained for the mass, and were to receive the body of the Lord, to come almost naked and showing their nakedness, and that Adam and Eve as soon as they had sinned saw that they were naked and covered themselves because they had to appear before the Lord: and these had to receive him: and also that a friar had come entirely blind, how was he, who never had eyes, to be made a priest for the mass: also another entirely paralysed of the right hand, and four or five who were paralysed in the legs: these also they made priests, and a priest had to be sound in his limbs. The answer came, that he rejoiced much that I looked at all things and spoke of what did not seem to me right, so as to amend them. As to the priests that were naked he would see to that. With respect to the cripples, that I should speak to Ajaze Raphael, who was present on the occasion. This Ajaze Raphael was the honourable priest and great gentleman to whom we were entrusted when we came to the Court. Then I went to dine with him in his tent, and before we dined he sent for a book, which, according to what they read in it, must have been a sacramental of their fashion, and he read in it that a priest had to be complete, as I had said. I told him that the book spoke the truth, and that a priest had to be complete in age, judgment, learning, and limbs: and that those that I saw and had called cripples were wanting in some of their limbs; firstly, the blind man who had never seen, how could he know learning, or administer the sacrament? The Ajaze answered, that I had good reason if our books spoke thus. I said that they did so, and at great length. He asked me what such as these would do if they had not alms from the church. I answered that in this country I did not know, but that in our country such as these, being given to the church, might serve and would have alms in the churches and monasteries, and such as the blind would be organ blowers and bell ringers, and do other things which there are there, and which there are not in this country. And if they did not serve in monasteries or churches, that the Kings of the country had in their cities and towns large hospitals, with much revenue, for the blind and cripples, and sick and poor. The Ajaze answered, that this all seemed very good, and that the Prester should know it, and would be much pleased.

On the 10th day of the said month of January the Abima made deacons. They do not examine for this office, and they make deacons of children in the lap who cannot yet speak, and, to the age of fifteen years, when they are still unmarried, and if they are married, they cannot be deacons. Those who are going to be mass priests, as soon as they are deacons they get married, and, when married, are ordained for the mass; because if they got ordained for the mass before being married, they could not afterwards be married or have a wife. The children who can neither speak nor walk, are carried by men in their arms, because women cannot enter into the church, and their lamentations resemble those of kids in a yard without the mothers, when they are separated and are dying of hunger, because they finish the office at hours of vespers; and they are without food because they have to receive the communion. The little children of such age we know that they cannot read, and of the bigger ones there are but few who can read, and the ceremony with regard to them is this. The Abima is seated on a chair in the church tent, and these deacons pass before him in a line after he has said a short prayer, and when they pass thus, he cuts a lock of hair from the head of each; then he takes the book and again reads a prayer; they come another time and he gives them keys to touch, and they open the door of the tent or only put their hands to it.[186] Also they put a cloth on their head, and each of these things they do in turn; and he gives them small earthenware pots (to touch),[187] for there are no cruets there; and they return another time and he puts his hands upon their heads; and between each of these things he always prays a little, and the little ones come in arms, as has been said. Then they follow with their mass, and at the end of it they give the communion to all of them, and it is an amazing thing the danger of the little ones, for even by force of water they cannot make them swallow the Sacrament, both on account of their tender age, and their much crying. This office having been concluded, the Abima begged me to come and dine with him at his abode, and when I was there he asked me to give him my opinion of that office, as I had been present, and had seen it well, and the Prester had sent to tell him to talk to me about the said office, because he would find in me good reason. Then I told him what I had said to Ajaze Rafael of the enormity and indecency of the priests and cripples and blind men who had come to be ordained. He answered, that the Prester had already sent him word of this, and of what had passed about it, and of what ought to be done, and also he had sent him word of what the Ajaze had said, but he asked me about the zagonais whom he had just made. I said to him that his services seemed to me very good, but that to ordain children newly born, and great ignorant boys, did not seem to me well, neither should it be done in the house of God. He answered that God had brought us to this country to speak the truth, and that he only did that which he was commanded, and that the Prester ordered him to make zagonais[188] of all the children, and that they would learn, because he was very old, and he did not know when they would have another Abima, and that this country had already been twenty-three years without an Abima, and that it was not very long ago that they had sent two thousand ounces of gold to Cairo in search for an Abima: and on account of the wars of the Sultan[189] with the Turk, they had not sent him, and they had taken the gold, and that now God had brought us to this country for us to speak the truth, and that this country might quickly be provided with an Abima, because his life as Abima was short. After these two times of going to see how orders were conferred, I went an infinite number of times later to see them, for they were given nearly every day, and also on Sundays, for they did not wait for the four seasons, nor Lent. If some day they desisted from conferring them, then at once some came to me and made friends with me without my knowing them before, and they entreated me for the love of God to speak to the Abima, and ask him to confer orders, as they had nothing to eat: and if I went to ask it of him at vespers, at that time he ordered the tent to be pitched in order to confer them next day; and certainly I never asked it but what he did it, for he had a very good will towards me; and all the things which I said to him he used to do them as though I had been his equal in dignity.

Cap. xcviii.—How long a time the Prester’s country was without an Abima, and for what cause and where they go to seek them, and of the state of the Abima, and how he goes when he rides.

How this country was for twenty-three years without an Abima: they say that after the time when the Abima died in the time of the great grandfather of this Prester, who was named Zeriaco, the father of Alexander, the grandfather of this king, and father of his father Nahu, for ten years after the death of the said Abima, the Prester would not send for another, and he said he did not choose that an Abima should come from Alexandria, and that he should not come from Rome, for he did not choose it, and he would rather lose his countries than have a reverend father from the country of the heretics: and he died also at the end of ten years that the country had been without an Abima: and his son Alexander, grandfather of this Prester, had remained in the same opinion for thirteen years without choosing to send for an Abima, until the people complained, saying that now there were neither priests nor zagonais to serve the churches, and that the servants being lost, the churches would be lost, and that when the churches were lost the faith would be lost. Therefore, seeing this, Alexander sent to Cairo to seek for an Abima from the Patriarch of Alexandria who was there, and he sent him two, so that one should succeed the other, and both were alive in our time. Whilst we were here the Abima Jacob died, who was to succeed this one who is now living; and he told me that he had been fifty years in the country, and that he had come as white as he now was, and he was then of the age of sixty-five years, and that he was getting to the age of one hundred and twenty and odd years. That the Prester who sent for them was most Christian, and that soon after they had come, the Prester John by his command had ordered that Saturday should not be kept, and that they should not do other erroneous ceremonies which they used to do, and that they should eat pig’s flesh and all other meat, although it had not had its throat cut. When this had begun to be done at the Court and its neighbourhood, not very long ago, there came to this country two Franks, who are still living in it, that is to say, one Marcoreo, a Venetian, and after him Pero de Covilhan, a Portuguese; these, when they arrived, before they were at Court, began to keep the usages of the country which are still kept in some parts, that is, to keep Saturdays, and to eat like the people of the country. Some priests and friars who pretended to know something of the Bible seeing this, came to the Prester and complained of the two Abimas, principally of the Vicar, and saying, What thing is this? these Franks who have now come from Frankland, each one from his own kingdom, and they keep our ancient customs, how is it that this Abima, who came from Alexandria, orders things to be done which are not written in the books? and on this account the Prester had given orders to return to the former usages. This the Abima related to me, giving great thanks to God for our arrival, and because the Prester had seen and heard our mass, and was much pleased with all our offices, and Church matters, and he, the Abima, hoped in God that by our coming, and others who should come after us, this country would return to the truth, and he did not pray to the Lord for anything else but to grant him life until he should see in this country a ruler of the Church of Rome, and to hear tell that the Latin mass was celebrated in the house of Mekkah which belongs to Mahomed; and he trusted in God that it would soon be, because the Abyssinians had a prophecy that there would not be more than a hundred Popes in their country, and that then there would be a new ruler belonging to the Church of Rome, and that the Abima would complete the hundred; and also he held it to be a prophecy that the Franks from the end of the earth would come by sea and would join with the Abyssinians, and would destroy Jiddah and Tor[190] and Mekkah; and that so many people would cross over and would pull down Mekkah, and without moving would hand the stones from one to another and would throw them into the Red Sea, and Mekkah would remain a razed plain, and that also they would take the great city of Cairo, and upon that there would be great differences as to whose it should be, and the Franks would remain in the great city.

The manner of this Abima in his person and state is in this wise. I will relate how he was in his tent, for I never saw him more than once in his house. He is always seated on a bedstead, such as the great people of this country are accustomed to use, and he has a curtain over the bedstead: he wears a white cotton robe of fine thin stuff, and in India from whence it comes it is called cacha: he has an upper garment which does not seem like a good cloak for rain,[191] nor like a church cloak, he has a hood like that of a cloak for rain, it is of camlet of blue silk. On his head he has a large turban, also of blue stuff, and, as I have said, he is a very old man, small and bald. He has a beard like very white wool, thin and of middling length, for in this country the clergy do not use to wear beards. He is pleasing in his speech, and rarely speaks without giving thanks to God. When he goes out to the King’s tent, or to confer orders, he goes on a mule well caparisoned and accompanied by many both on mules and on foot. He carries a cross in his hand, and at his side they carry three crosses on poles raised higher than him. With respect to this I told him that these crosses ought to go in front of him. He told me that the cross which he carried in his hand was most excellent, and that no others had to go before it. He carries before him through all the country wherever he goes two tall umbrellas with long supports, like those of the Prester, but not rich; there also go before him four men with whips, who make the people withdraw on each side where he goes on the roads. The country is covered with children and youths and priests and friars who follow after him shouting, each in his language. I asked what they shouted, they told me that they said: My lord make us priests or zagonais, and may God grant you a long life.

Cap. xcix.—Of the assembly of clergy, which took place in the church of Macham Selasem when they consecrated it, and of the translation of the King Nahum, father of this Prester, and of a small church there is there.

Saturday, the 12th day of January, there was a great assemblage of clergy in the said church, and all the night they were engaged in much chaunting and sounding of instruments, and they said that they were consecrating the church. Mass had not yet been said in this church, for it was said in another small church which was close to this, in which was buried the father of this Prester; and he wished to remove him to the large church which he had ordered to be built and had commenced in his lifetime, and which his son had finished; and they said that it was thirteen years since he died. On the Sunday, when it was morning, they said mass in this church. This church already has, at its beginning, four hundred canons with large revenues, and they have increased as the others did, and they have not enough to eat. On the 15th of the said month we were all summoned, and they told us to go to the said church, where there were more than two thousand priests, and as many zagonais; these were together before the principal entrance to the church, and inside the circuit, which is almost part of it. The Prester was within his curtains upon the space above the steps of the principal entrance, before him were the before mentioned clergy, and they made a great office, with singing, and instruments, and dancing, and leaping. When a great part of the office had been performed, the Prester sent to ask what we thought of it. We replied that things done for the service of God in His name, all seemed good to us, and certainly they did a service that was agreeable to see as a thing done in praise of God. Soon he again sent to ask which seemed to us the best mode, this or ours, and which pleased us most, we were to say which, and that they would take. Here we answered that God would be served in many ways, and that this office seemed to us good, and that also ours seemed to us good, because all was for God, and the one and the other were done with one object, namely, to serve God, and obtain merit before Him. Then there came another message, that we were not to keep anything back in our hearts, and to send and tell him the truth. Then we sent word that we had already said the truth, and that we kept back nothing in our hearts; and so we remained there until the end of the office. This being ended, they ordered all the people to go out of the church, and all the clergy, and we also with them, and they sent to place us on the north side, and told us to remain quiet there. The clergy and people all went to the small church, where the father of this Prester was buried, and there entered it, as many as it would hold. Whilst we remained thus, not knowing why we had been sent to this place, there passed between us and the great church all the clergy and people in a very well ordered procession, and they brought the remains of the father of the Prester, and carried them to the great church; and there came in this procession the Abima Marcos, who was very much fatigued, and two men supported him under the arms on account of his great age. Moreover, there came in it the Queens, that is, the Queen Helena, mother of the Prester, and the Queen his wife; and each of them with her black parasol for mourning, because, before, they had white parasols. All the people also were covered with black cloths, and wept and uttered loud cries, saying: Abeto, abeto, which means, “O Lord, O Lord”. They said this so dolefully, that we, standing where we were, all wept. The bier in which the remains came was under a canopy of brocade, closed in with curtains of satin. So they placed the bier and canopy in the church, in the cross part, where we stood with the people who could not enter the church. We came to this office at sunrise, and we went away by night with torches.

Cap. c.—Of the conversation which the ambassador had with the Prester about carpets, and how the Prester ordered for us an evening’s entertainment and banquet.

On the 17th of January, Prester John sent to call us, and we all went with the ambassador, both Portuguese and Franks; and as soon as we arrived near the tents, the Prester sent to ask how much carpets of twenty palms cost in Portugal. The ambassador sent him word that he was not a merchant, nor were those who came with him, and that he did not know for certain what they cost. They again came to say that a carpet of twenty ells had been brought from Cairo for four ounces of gold. The ambassador replied that it seemed to him that in Portugal it would cost twenty ducats. Then they came with another question, whether there were in Portugal carpets of twenty or thirty ells? The ambassador sent word that there were. Then they returned to ask whether, if the Prester sent gold to the captain-major, he would send him these carpets, and if he would send him enough to carpet the whole of that church? The ambassador sent word that he would send him enough for a thousand such churches. Another time he sent to ask, if they would send those carpets if he sent the gold? They answered him that whatever His Highness sent to ask for from the King of Portugal, or his great captain, all should be sent him in perfection, as his Highness would see from the things that he might have need of. He ceased about the carpets, and sent to ask if there was anyone in Portugal who could read the Arabic character and the Abyssinian character? They answered that all interpreters were to be found in Portugal. He sent word that he well believed that there would be such in Portugal, but at sea who would read those letters? They replied that at sea there were a great many Arabs and Abyssinians who continually sailed in the ships of the King of Portugal; and that the Moors carried off Abyssinians from their country, and went to sell them in Arabia and Persia, and in Egypt and India, and to the Portuguese. And the Portuguese, whenever they took Moors prisoners, happened to find among them many Abyssinians. At once they freed them, and clothed and treated them very well, because they knew they were Christians; and that we had brought here George the interpreter, whom His Highness knew well, who had been rescued from captivity from a Moor of Ormuz, and he could tell His Highness how he got there. The Prester then ordered him to be asked how he went from these countries to Ormuz. He replied that a man who was a Moor and had become Christian deceitfully, had sold him to the Moors, and they carried him to Ormuz, and he had remained there until the father Francisco Alvarez, who came there, took him out of captivity, and did and still does to him many favours: and so also to the other Abyssinians that they take from the Moors who keep them as captives. Upon this he sent to ask if we wished to eat: we replied that we kissed the hands of His Highness, and that we had already eaten. Then he had us conducted to a tent which had never been pitched till then. It was pitched behind the great church, inside the circuit; it was a large[192] tent; above it was covered with crosses of Christ, just like that which was over the tank the day of the baptism. The whole of this tent was carpeted, and it was large like a reception room, and he sent to tell us that for his sake we should enjoy ourselves there and talk of our affairs. Whilst we were in conversation they brought to us much to eat and drink of various viands, among which were many fowls, or their skins, and they were stuffed with their own meat without bones, minced and pounded with spices: these skins of fowls had nothing wanting except the necks, and the legs below the knees, and they had nothing broken, so that we could not determine how or whence they had extracted the meat from inside, or the skin from the meat. This dainty was very good. There also came large earthen pots with boiled meats and other viands of divers kinds, done in their fashion: what was boiled was done with much butter, and the roast well roast. There were also many jars of wine, among which was one very large jar of clear glass (for the others were of black earthenware), and with this jar was a large gilt glass cup, and another cup of silver, enamelled with four large stones which looked like sapphires, placed in a square on this cup, which was large and beautiful. After this repast, the Prester sent to request us to sing and dance after our fashion, and to enjoy ourselves. Then our people began to sing songs to a harpsichord which we had here, and afterwards dance and country songs. There were with us certain pages and others, and we heard others outside, as though the Prester were there, and also those who were with us affirmed that he was there, and that nothing indecorous ought to occur among us. For this evening they sent us twenty-five large white candles and a candlestick of iron, and a large tray on which to set the candlestick, and it had as many places for holding candles as there were candles, for they sent them according to the number. We were at this entertainment quite till midnight. Seeing such hours we sent to ask leave to go, and they gave it us. We went to our quarters, and the morning did not delay long, for it was very late.

Cap. ci.—How the Prester sent to call the ambassador and those that were with him, and of what passed in the great church.

On the following day, 18th of January, the Prester sent to call us to go to the said church. We went, and he ordered us to be placed before his curtains, where he was before, on the top of the steps which make a courtyard before the principal door: and there we stood. We mounted two rows of the steps, and there were in the church much more clergy than the other time when the remains of his father were removed. All these clergy did nothing but sing, dance, and jump, that is to say, leaping upwards. When we had been a good while at this feast, he sent to ask us if they sang like that in our country. We answered no, because our singing was very slow and quiet, both the voice and the movement of the body, and that they did not dance or leap. Upon this he sent to ask whether as that was not our custom we thought theirs bad. We sent word that the service of God, in whatever manner it was done, seemed to us good. When this office was ended, they began to walk round the church with twenty-five crosses, and each priest who carried a cross carried a thurible, because they carry the cross in the left hand almost like a staff, and the thurible in the right hand. Others carried thuribles without crosses, and they expended incense without stint. On the steps where we stood there were two basins of brass, very large, gilt, and wrought with a graving tool, and full of incense, and at each turn they took they cast off rich vestments and cloaks made according to their custom; and also some of those who sang and danced had such vestments. There were in this office many mitres made in their fashion. They told us to move from the place where we stood to another side of the church, on the side of the epistle; and in that part, at the transept door, were the Queens, the mother and wife of the Prester, each with her white parasol. Whilst we were in front of them, where they assigned to us to stand, they sent to ask of what metal were the patens and chalices in our country. We replied that they were of gold or of silver. They came to ask why we did not make them of any other metal. We answered that the regulations forbade their being of other metal, because other metals are dirty and produce rust and verdigris and other impurity. Still they came with another message to know whether we did this from economy or if there was there much gold and silver. They had for answer that it was done for cleanliness and to do what the regulations ordered, and that if they did it out of economy they would not make them of gold and silver, but would make them of tin or lead or copper, which were metals of low price. Here we knew why the Prester put these questions, because he had moved from his curtains inside the church, and had come to the umbrella of his wife, which was stuck in the cross entrance: and he also sent to ask how many chalices each church had in Portugal? We answered that there were monasteries and churches there which had two hundred, and no church, however poor, had less than three or four chalices, and upwards. He sent to ask what was the name of the church or monastery which had two hundred chalices? We told him that many possessed that number, principally a monastery named Batalha. He sent to ask why it was called Batalha? We said because the King of Portugal had won a battle there, and had ordered this monastery to be built, and the patron of it is our Lady: and because he had a monastery in the kingdom of Amara, for that reason he asked this question, and in this kingdom there is no other called Battle, because in former times a Negus had there conquered certain Moorish kings, and had built this monastery in honour of our Lady. He sent to ask how many kings lie buried in Batalha? We told him that four lay there and one prince, and several Infantes, and that other kings lie buried in other rich monasteries, and cathedral sees in the kingdom of Portugal, in splendid tombs. Upon this he sent to tell us to go and say our mass because midday was approaching, which was the hour at which we used to say it.

Cap. cii.—How the ambassador and all the Franks went to visit the Abima, and of what passed there.

On the 29th of January, the ambassador with all the Franks, both the Portuguese and those that were here before, went to see the Abima Marcos at his quarters, because as yet the ambassador had not spoken to him. We found him, as I had gone to find him, in his house. The ambassador attempted to kiss his hand, but he would not give it, and gave him the cross which he always holds in his hand to kiss, and also to all those that accompanied him. When the ambassador was seated, he told the Abima how he came to visit him on behalf of the great captain of the King of Portugal, and that he should pardon him for not having visited him sooner, and that he had not visited him, because they had not given him an opportunity to visit anybody. The Abima answered that he should not be surprised at that, as it was the custom of this Court that they did not allow any foreigner to go to the house of any person, and that the Prester did not do this but the great people of the Court who were bad did it; and that the Prester was a good and holy man. The ambassador said to the Abima that the great captain sent him to kiss his hands, and that he commended himself to him in his prayers, and he entreated him to strengthen Prester John, so that he should have courage to join his people with those of the King of Portugal to destroy Mekkah, and cast out from it the Moors and the bad sect of Mahomed. The Abima answered that he would do as much as was in his power, and that Prester John was already encouraged not only to destroy the house of Mekkah, but to take the holy house of Jerusalem; and so they found it in their writings that the Franks would join with the Abyssinians, and would destroy Mekkah and would take the holy house: and he always had prayed to God to show him the Franks, and that God had fulfilled it for him, and for this he gave Him great thanks; and that here was the Portuguese Pero de Covilham, who spoke the language between us and them; and that many times he had said to him: Cide[193] Petrus do not be vexed, for in your days the people of your country will come to this country and to these kingdoms: and now you have to give thanks to the Lord. The ambassador further said to the Abima that the King of Portugal had been informed of His Holiness by Matheus his brother, and by other persons, and therefore he sent to entreat him to make the Prester be strong and constant in this enterprise, as was to be hoped from such men as they were. The Abima answered that he was not holy, but was a poor sinner, and Matheus was not his brother, but he had been a merchant and a friend of his, and that going on his journey with a lie, it had been ordained by God that he should afterwards do such great service and profitable work; and as to encouraging the Prester, it was unnecessary, for he was so strong and strenuous in the Christian faith, and so strenuous for the destruction of the Moorish State, that more so he could not be; and that he, the Abima, had told him of the greatness of the King of Portugal, and of the great name he has in Cairo and all Alexandria, and that he ought to give many thanks to the Lord for making him a friend and acquaintance of so great a king as is the King of Portugal; and that the Prester had much information about this, and was very joyful on that account: and the Abima still trusted in God, that he should see the great captain of the King of Portugal in the fortresses of Zeila and Masua, which would be built for the service of God. Many other things having passed he gave us leave, and we went away.

Cap. ciii.—How Pero de Covilham, Portuguese, is in the country of the Prester, and how he came there, and why he was sent.

I have sometimes spoken of Pero de Covilham, a Portuguese, who is in this country, and have quoted him, and will not desist from quoting him, as he is an honourable person of merit and credit, and it is reasonable that it should be told how he came to this country, and I will relate the cause of it, and what he told me of himself. Firstly, I say that he is my spiritual son, and he told me in confession, and out of it, how thirty-three years had passed that he had not confessed, because he said in this country they do not keep the secret of confession, and he only went to the church and there confessed his sins to God. Besides, he related to me the beginning of his life; first, that he was a native of the town of Covilham in the kingdoms of Portugal, and in his youth he had gone to Castile to live with Don Alfonso, Duke of Seville, and at the beginning of the wars between Portugal and Castile he had come with Juan de Guzman, brother of the said Duke of Seville, to Portugal. This Don Juan had given him to Don Afonzo, King of Portugal, as a groom,[194] and he soon took him as his squire, and he served in that capacity in the said wars, and went with the king to France. When king Don Afonzo died he remained with king Don Joan his son, whom he served as squire of the guard until the treasons, when the king sent him to go about Castile, because he could speak Castilian well, in order to learn who were the gentlemen who had gone there. On his return from Castile, the King Don Joan sent him to Barbary to buy woollen cloths[195] and to make peace with the King of Tremezen; and returning he was again sent to Barbary, to Muley Belagegi, he who sent the remains of the Infante Don Fernando.[196] In this journey he carried goods of the King Don Manuel, who was then Duke, to buy horses for him, because the King Don Joan intended to give him an establishment, and one Pero Afonso, a veterinary, an inhabitant of Tomar, was going to inspect the horses. On this arrival coming from Barbary, it was ordained that one Afonso de Payva, a native of Castel Branco, should come to these parts, and he waited for Pero de Covilham to come together. When he came, the King spoke to him in great secrecy, telling him that he expected a great service of him, because he had always found him a good and faithful servant, and fortunate in his acts and services; and this service was that he and another companion, who was named Afonso de Payva, should both go to discover and learn about Prester John, and where cinnamon is to be found, and the other spices which from those parts went to Venice through the countries of the Moors: and that already he had sent on this journey a man of the house of Monterio, and a friar named frey Antonio, a native of Lisbon, and that they both had arrived at Jerusalem, and that they had returned thence, saying that it was not possible to go to those countries without knowing Arabic, and therefore he requested Pero de Covilham to accept this journey and to do this service with the said Afonso de Payva. To which Pero de Covilham answered, that he regretted that his capacity was not greater, so great was his desire to serve His Highness, and that he accepted the journey with ready willingness. They were despatched from Santarem on the 7th of May of 1487; King Don Manuel, who was then Duke, was present, and gave them a map for navigating, taken from the map of the world, and it had been made by the Licentiate Calçadilha, who is Bishop of Viseu, and the doctor mestre Rodrigo, inhabitant of Pedras negras, and the doctor mestre Moyses, at that time a Jew, and this map was made in the house of Pero d’Alcaçova; and the King gave four hundred ducats[197] for the expenses of both of them, which he gave out of the chest of the expenses of the garden of Almeirim, the King Don Manuel, then Duke, being present at all this. The King Don Joan also gave him a letter of credence for all the countries and provinces in the world, so that in case he saw himself in danger or necessity, this letter of the King’s might succour him:[198] and in the presence of the Duke he gave them his blessing. Of the said four hundred ducats they took a part for their expenses, and the rest they placed in the hands of Bartolomeu, a Florentine, for it to be given to them in Valencia. Setting out, they travelled and arrived at Barcelona on the day of Corpus Domini: and they changed their route from Barcelona to Naples, and they arrived at Naples on St. John’s day, and their journey was given them by the sons of Cosmo de Medicis; and from there they passed to Rhodes; and he says that at this time there were not more than two Portuguese in Rhodes, one was named frey Gonzalo, and the other frey Fernando, and they lodged with these. From here they passed to Alexandria in a ship of Bartolomeu de Paredes: and in order to pass as merchants, they bought much honey, and they arrived at Alexandria. Here both the companions fell ill of fevers; and all their honey was taken by the Naib of Alexandria, thinking that they were dying, and God gave them health, and they paid them at their pleasure. Here they bought other merchandise and went to Cairo. Here they remained until they found some Moghreby Moors of Fez and Tremecem, who were going to Aden, and they went with them to Tor, and there they embarked and went to Suaquem, which is on the coast of Abyssinia; and thence they went to Aden, and because it was the time of the monsoon, the companions separated, and Afonso de Payva went to the country of Ethiopia, and Pero de Covilham to India, agreeing that at a certain time they should both meet in Cairo to come and give an account of what they had found to the King. And Pero de Covilham departed thence and came to Cananor, and thence to Calicut, and from there he turned back to Goa, and went to Ormuz, and returned to Tor and Cairo in search of his companion, and he found that he was dead. Whilst he was about to set out on the way to Portugal, he had news that there were there two Portuguese Jews who were going about in search of him; and by great cleverness they heard about each other, and when they had met, they gave him letters from the King of Portugal. These Jews were named, one, Rabbi Abraham, a native of Beja, the other, Josef, a native of Lamego, and he was a shoemaker. This shoemaker had been in Babilonia, and had heard news or information of the city of Ormuz, and had related it to King Don Joan, with which news, he said, the King had been much pleased. And Rabbi Abraham had sworn to the King that he would not return to Portugal without seeing Ormuz with his own eyes. When the letters had been given and read, their contents were, that if all the things for which they had come were seen, discovered, and learned, that they should return and welcome, and they should receive great favours: and if all were not found and discovered, they were to send word of what they had found, and to labour to learn the rest; and chiefly they were to go and see and learn about the great King Prester John, and to show the city of Ormuz to the Rabbi Abraham. Besides the letters, these Jews made requisitions to Pero de Covilham that he should go and learn about Prester John, and show the city of Ormuz to Rabbi Abraham. Here he at once wrote by the shoemaker of Lamego, how he had discovered cinnamon and pepper in the city of Calicut, and that cloves came from beyond, but that all could be had there; and that he had been in the cities of Cananor, Calicut, and Goa, all on the coast, and to this they could navigate by their coast and the seas of Guinea, coming to make the coast of Sofala, to which he had also gone, or a great island which the Moors call the island of the moon; they say that it has three hundred leagues of coast, and that from each of these lands one can fetch the coast of Calicut. Having sent this message to the King by the Jew of Lamego, Pero de Covilham went with the other Jew of Beja to Aden, and thence to Ormuz, and left him there, and returned thence and came to Jiddah and Mekkah and El Medina, where lies buried the Zancarron,[199] and from thence to Mount Sinai. Having seen all well he again embarked at Tor and went as far as outside the strait to the city of Zeila, and thence travelled by land until he reached Prester John, who is very near to Zeila; and he came to the Court, and gave his letters to the King Alexander, who then reigned, and he said that he received them with much pleasure and joy, and said that he would send him to his country with much honour. About this time he died, and his brother Nahum reigned, who also received him with much favour, and when he asked leave to go he would not give it. And Nahum died, and his son David reigned, who now reigns; and he says he also asked him for leave and he would not give it, saying that he had not come in his time, and his predecessors had given him lands and lordships to rule and enjoy, and that leave he could not give him, and so the matter remained. This Pero de Covilham is a man who knows all the languages that can be spoken, both of Christians, Moors, and Gentiles, and who knows all the things for which he was sent; moreover he gives an account of them as if they were present before him.

Cap. civ.—How Prester John determined to write to the King and to the Captain-major, and how he behaved with the ambassador and with the Franks who were in his country, and of the decision as to departure.

I return to our journey, or history of us who were in the tent in which they gave us a banquet. From this time forward Prester John’s scribes did not cease from writing the letters which we were to carry for the King of Portugal and his captain-major: and they spent a long time over them, because their usage is not to write one to another, and their messages, communications, and embassages, are all by word of mouth. With us they began to acquire the manner of writing, and when they were writing, all the books of the epistles of St. Paul, of St. Peter, and St. James were present, and those that they esteemed as the most lettered studied them, and then began to write their letters in their Abyssinian language, and other letters in Arabic, and also others in our Portuguese language, which the friar who had guided us read in Abyssinian, and Pero de Covilham turned them into Portuguese, and Joam Escolar, the clerk of the embassy, wrote them, and I, who, by order of the Prester, assisted in arranging the language, and it is very laborious to translate the Abyssinian language into Portuguese: thus the letters were made for the King our Sovereign in three languages, Abyssinian, Arabic, and Portuguese; and likewise for the captain-major; and all of them in duplicate, that is to say, two in Abyssinian, two in Arabic, and two in Portuguese. And they go by two ways, that is to say, one in Abyssinian, one in Arabic, and one in Portuguese, in one bag of brocade, and three others of the same sort in another little bag: so also those for the captain-major go in two little bags. These letters are all written on sheets of parchment. On Monday, the 11th of February of the year 1521, Prester John sent to call the ambassador and all that were with him, and also the Franks who had come before. While we were a good space in front of the doors of his tent, the Prester sent to the first arrived Franks rich cloths of brocade and silk, that is to say, damask, of which three pieces came, and besides he sent thirty ounces of gold to be divided amongst all, and they were thirteen, so that each had two ounces and four to be divided amongst all. We, seeing how well they did for those Franks, who had come to them as runaways, thought that they would do better for us, and we made sure that they had prepared for us dresses of brocade. Messages were going and coming, and during this his great Betudete, who is the lord of the left hand wing, came and brought to me a cross of silver, and a crozier wrought with inlaid work, saying that the Prester sent it to me as the title and possession of the lordship which he had given me. Having received the cross and crozier we again sat down. As all the messages which went and came were about friendship between the ambassador and Jorge d’Abreu, again another time a message returned that the ambassador should be a friend to Jorge d’Abreu, and that we should all travel together as we had come. The ambassador replied that he was not going to be his friend, nor to travel where he was, but rather he begged of His Highness to keep him at his Court two months after his departure, because he sought to kill him. Upon this a message came that the Prester ordered thirty mules to carry our baggage, and that eight of these should be given for the baggage of Jorge d’Abreu, and those who were with him; and saying, besides, that he sent thirty ounces of gold for the ambassador, and fifty for those that accompanied him, and that Jorge d’Abreu, and those that were with him, were to have their share of it: and that he sent a hundred loads of flour, and as many horns of mead for the road; and that we were to be entrusted to certain captains, who would conduct us from one country to another as far as the sea; that is to say, each one through his own lands: and that they were not to annoy or injure the cultivators who were poor, for we had told him that when we came, they destroyed the people of the country: and these captains were to give us all that was necessary. Then we were entrusted to the sons of the Cabeata, because we had to travel a good deal through the lands of the Cabeata, which are of the church of the Trinity, to which the remains of the Prester’s father were removed. And this church had from its beginning four hundred canons, and a son of the Cabeata is “licanete”, which means the office which Caiaphas held when they brought Christ before him, that is to say, high priest or judge that year. And the Cabeata is head in this church, and in the other churches of this kingdom, which all belong to the kings, and his title and style means head over the heads. And this head remains over all like a bishopric.

Cap. cv.—How the Prester sent to the ambassador thirty ounces of gold and fifty for those that came with him, and a crown and letters for the King of Portugal, and letters for the Captain-major, and how we left the Court and of the road we took.

This day, in the afternoon, there came to our tent thirty ounces of gold for the ambassador and fifty for us: and with them came a large crown of gold and silver which belonged to Prester John; and its value is not so great as its size. It was brought in a round basket lined inside with cloth and outside with leather. This crown was presented by Abdenagus, page and captain of the pages, and it was stated by him that Prester John sent that crown to the King of Portugal, and to tell him that a crown was never removed except from father to son, and that he was his son, and he took it off his head and sent it to the King of Portugal, who was like his father, and that he sent it as a present; and as a crown was a precious thing, by it he presented and offered all favour and assistance and succour of men, gold, and provisions which might be necessary for his fortresses and fleets, and for the wars he might please to make against the Moors in these parts, from the Red Sea as far as the Holy House.[200] And because the dresses did not come which we knew were already made, some of our people murmured, and those who had brought these things heard it, and said that Prester John was much vexed with the ambassador because two days before he had ordered to strike and cudgel close to his tent a Portuguese who was named Magalhāes, and who had betaken himself to Jorge d’Abreu; and that he was also vexed because he would not be friends with Jorge d’Abreu, and that he was despatching us with much reserve, and that we were not to expect dresses, nor anything else, and that we should lose much for what has been related.

On Tuesday, the 12th of February, which was our Shrove Tuesday, the friar who had guided us came, and he brought the letters for the King and for the captain-major, for as yet they had not been delivered to the ambassador, nor did the Prester send an ambassador. The letters came in this manner; before those which were for the King were in two bags, and now they changed them into three, because there were three of each language, and they had separated one of each language, and had made three bags; and for the captain-major there were two bags, as there were before, and all were of brocade. All five came placed in a basket lined with cloth inside and with leather outside. Then he took out the bags and showed that they were closed and sealed, and having shown them, again put them into the basket, and sealed its fastenings, and said to the ambassador that we might go whenever we pleased as we were entirely despatched. The ambassador replied to the friar that he wished to speak again to the Prester John before his departure, if His Highness should be so pleased. The friar and those that came with him said that the Prester had gone away that morning early, which we knew was true, and they said that he was very discontented with the ambassador because he so ill-treated men, and because he would not be a friend of Jorge d’Abreu, and for other things which he kept to himself, and that we might depart in peace, and that mestre Joam and the painter should remain in the country; as in effect they did remain. Seeing that we were thus despatched, we began to make ready to start as soon as we could, and the friar came with the thirty mules they were giving us for the journey, and with many horns in which to carry wine for the journey. When they promised them we thought that they would give them full of wine, and they came empty, and they said that the Prester said that notwithstanding that they did not drink wine during Lent, since it was our custom to drink it, that the gentlemen who conducted us would give it to us, that so it had been ordered. With respect to the mules, they at once set aside eight for Jorge d’Abreu and his companions, and also his share of the horns. Upon this some of us went to the market to buy what they wanted for the road, and on this account we were giving up our departure till another day, as it was already late, when so great a wind fell upon us that it broke the tent ropes, and the whole of it came to the ground. When we saw this and how we were left in the open, all of us that were there began to call out: “Come, come, let us be going, since they send us, let us go in peace.” So we set out from the Court this day, which was our Shrove Tuesday, and went to sleep in a field a distance of a league from the Court. There came with us and in our company Pero de Covilham, with his wife and some of his sons, and the friar came with Jorge d’Abreu, almost like his guard, and they took up their quarters apart from us.

On Ash Wednesday, in the morning, we commenced our journey, and while travelling, a son of the Cabeata passed by us, who was going to give us what was necessary in the lands of his father or of his church, through which we had to travel several days; and there also passed by Abdenago, the Captain of the pages, who had brought us the crown, because when we had done with the lands of the other gentlemen, we were to pass through his. We went to take up our quarters at the foot of a high hill, which had upon it a church of St. Michael, and we remained in a cultivated field, and at the end of it the above-named gentlemen took up their quarters, and we did not know of their being there till after we had settled ourselves. Jorge d’Abreu and the friar were in their company, and what was necessary for our supper came from there. Then in this second night of our journey, sin began to excite fresh quarrels: for Joan Gonzalvez our factor began to quarrel with one Joan Fernandez, whom he had brought, or whom the Captain-major had given him, to be his assistant with the goods that were entrusted to him, in such sort that they said that he struck him with a stick. When this quarrel began we made peace again as well as we could, and the ambassador favoured Joan Fernandez, and he left the factor and went in company with the ambassador. The following day we travelled on our road in parties, that is to say, Jorge d’Abreu and the friar in one party, and we with the son of the Cabeata in another party, and we were well provided with all that was necessary every day. When we were in the kingdom of Angote, close to a monastery of the Abima Marcos, the lands of the Cabeata having been left behind, and we had almost entered those of Abdenago, sin got into the head of Joan Fernandez, and he went and waited for the factor who was going alone with the goods, and with a lance belonging to the ambassador, and gave him two lance thrusts, one in the hand and another in the breast. That in the hand wounded his fingers, and that in the breast, God was pleased that it struck him on a rib, and did not go through it. And as we were going rather divided, and here there were two roads, some of us were on one side, and others on the other; and when we came together they called me to confess him, and another man to cure him; we found him half dead; God was pleased to give him health with the care that was taken of him. Joan Fernandez ran away and met with the ambassador, and those who were coming after him shouted loudly to take him prisoner, that he had killed the factor; and he was arrested; and the factor shouted and said that the ambassador had killed him with the favour he had shown and the lance he had given to his servant, or the man who had been given to him for his service. Abdenago had gone on to his lands where we expected to go and sleep, and with these quarrels we did not go. We remained by a great river, as its appearance showed it to be in the winter and season of thunderstorms, for at this time it contained very little water, and there we slept, with the said Joan Fernandez a prisoner and his hands tied behind him. The ambassador ordered all to watch and guard that prisoner, and he begged me to remain near the factor, and so we lay down together with our heads on one saddle, and it seems we slept. Meantime there was not wanting someone who let loose the prisoner, and he ran away to Jorge d’Abreu, who was lying down in the same river bed lower down than us. Then the ambassador’s fear became doubled. The next day we travelled and found Abdenago, who was coming in search of us, and we went with him and Jorge d’Abreu and the friar in their party and by another road, all through the lands of Abdenago: so he travelled with us through his lands and those that were not his as far as Manadeley.

Cap. cvi.—Of what happened in the town of Manadeley with the Moors.

When we arrived at this town of Manadeley, a town entirely of peaceful tributary Moors, as has been before related, we passed by this town and went to take up our quarters at some springs beneath some large trees; and because the people of the country do not care for water nor shade, but only for the heights where there is sun and wind, Abdenago passed on to a hill and sat down in a tent of his own, and we remained at the said springs. And some of our people turned back to the town to buy what they wanted; among them was a servant of the ambassador’s named Estevan Palharte: and, as it appeared, he got into a quarrel with a Moor in such a manner that the Moors broke two of his teeth, and some of our people coming up to his assistance they took one of them and struck him on the head with stones, so that he was brought to our tent half dead. However, on learning this, Abdenago came up and ordered those Moors to be made prisoners whom he found to be in fault. And because this day it soon became night, on the following day he sent to call us, and we went to where he was and got the Moors prisoners; that is to say, two of them; and he bade us all sit down on the ground and on the grass; and he also was seated on the ground with his back leaning against his chair. Thither they brought the prisoners and he gave them their trial, and put questions to them: and on account of what he found against them, he ordered them at once to be stripped and severely flogged, and to be asked from time to time: What will you give? They began by promising one ounce of gold—two—three. They again flogged them and asked: What will you give. At last they arrived at giving seven ounces. This they gave soon, and this gold was given to the two wounded men: and the two Moors were then made prisoners and sent to Prester John. I will now at once relate what happened to them. We travelled forward on our road as far as the town of Barua, where we stayed on first coming from the sea, and when we had been there already some days, there came a message from Prester John, and with the message came one of the Moors who had been flogged, and the head of the other Moor, and the messenger said that he had brought this message: That the Prester had examined into the fault of those Moors, and the injury which they had done to the Portuguese, and he had cut off the head of the one he had found to be in fault, and he sent it to us, in order that we might be certain of the truth, and know that it was that man; and that as to the other he did not find him to be guilty, but he sent him also, and if we thought that he was guilty, we should do what we pleased with him, either kill him, or let him go free, or make him a captive. We all held a council over this, and the ambassador asked what we thought we ought to do with this Moor. This was what was said by those of us who were in this matter: I spoke for all of them because I knew their wishes; and I said that since the Prester sent to say that he found him to be without fault, that neither ought we to blame him; and that if we did any justice upon him, they would hold us to be cruel men without mercy; and that if we let him go and sent him to his country, the Prester would consider that as good. All those that were there said the same; and the ambassador said that was not his opinion, but that he should take him as his slave; as in effect he did, and ordered him to be loaded with chains, and he kept him thus ten days; and the Moor escaped with all the chains that he wore.