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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.