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.

When we left this town of Manadeley, on the way to Barua, as has been said, we travelled through many countries, and Abdenago with us, as he had been ordered to do, and the friar with Jorge d’Abreu. We arrived at a district which is named Abacinete, a large town, and captaincy of people who were not tender hearted, for here at times they wished to throw stones at us, and in effect they did do so. This town is at one end of the kingdom of Tigray. When we were in our quarters there came to us two great lords of the Court, one of them was the Adrugaz, to whom we were at first entrusted at Court, as has been said already many times in this book; and the other was by title the Grageta, and by name Arraz Ambiata, who later was Barnagais, and was Betudete. When they came to us they at once spoke of how Prester John had remained much discontented because the ambassador would not be friendly with Jorge d’Abreu before His Highness, when he begged it of him; and that which had not been done, he now sent to entreat that it should be done, and that they should become friends, and not keep apart before the captain-major, as it appeared to be a very unseemly thing; and also the others who had fought on the road, that they should be friends. Then we made them become friends and meet together. Upon this the said lords gave to each of us his mule as the Prester had ordered. They further said that they had come to present us before the captain-major, and also to see and visit him in the name of Prester John, inasmuch as the Barnagais, who was lord of this country, and other lords, had remained at the Court. When friendship had been established, and the said mules had been given, we all travelled, returning as far as Barua, where we remained until the time of the monsoon had passed, during which they[201] were to come for us. When the time had passed, Don Rodrigo the ambassador did not choose to order any provisions to be given to Jorge d’Abreu, nor to those who were with him. And one day that he sent to ask it of him by Joan Fernandez, who wounded the factor, the ambassador wished to have him beaten, but he ran away. Upon this Jorge d’Abreu sent to ask me to come to a church, and there he told me to tell the ambassador to order provisions to be given for him, and those that were with him. I told him, and soon after returned with the answer that the ambassador said that he would give them to him, but that for those who were with him he would give nothing, as they were traitors to the service of the King of Portugal. Jorge d’Abreu answered, that for himself he did not want it, but for those who were with him, and that if he did not choose to give it that he would take it, and so we separated. Jorge d’Abreu went to the Adrugaz and Grageta to make a complaint to them. At this, those lords sent to call us, and they called all of us, and not to their houses which were large and good, but to a field in front of a church. When we were all assembled, the Adrugaz made a speech to the ambassador, asking why he treated his countrymen so ill, and saying that since he did not give them of that which was given for them, he would sell the horse and mules to maintain them, and this was not usual among grandees, and that he should consider how much displeasure Prester John would feel at his so ill treating his company; and that if he would treat them in another way, he himself would be treated differently, and would be more pleased than he was; and he entreated him to give them their own, and not break the friendship which he had already promised to keep with Jorge d’Abreu. The ambassador replied that he was not going to give it him, and they were traitors to the service of the King of Portugal for which he came. Jorge d’Abreu said that if he did not order it to be given him that he would take it: and so we arose all of us in a bad humour, and each one went to his quarters. As it seemed likely to the factor that Jorge d’Abreu would attack him and take his goods, because he had said that he would take it if a provision was not given him, he went to sleep at the ambassador’s quarters, which were some houses of a gentleman, good and strong according as they are in this country. Whilst we, the clerk of the embassy, and my nephew and I, were lying in bed, late in the night we heard shouts of, “Come this way, go that way”, and then musket shots; and running up, the clerk and I (my nephew remained behind as his eyes were suffering), we saw them knocking down the houses with rams, and firing musket shots, and it seemed to us that those that were inside must be dead, so great was the noise. So we went running to the houses of the Barnagais, where the said lords were lodging, to tell them to come to our assistance; and because the houses had two doors, one at each end, as we entered by one door, the ambassador and his companions entered by the other, and they were bringing with them the crown and letters of Prester John, and what goods they could, and one of the ambassador’s men came wounded by a musket shot in the knee, which made four or five wounds, as they had given others besides that with the bullet.[202] The ambassador and his men had gone out by a back door which the house had, and which the others did not know of. These lords then sent at once to arrest all the others, and the clerk and I went with the people that the lords sent on this errand. We found them still occupied in knocking down the house, thinking that they had caught the people inside. Here they began to ill-treat them with thumps and cudgelling, for they had no more powder, nor withal to defend themselves, and they were all carried off before these noblemen. They were further ill-treated, and it was ordered that they should be taken to another town near this named Gazeleanza, where they were to remain without going out, and they set guards to keep them. Many days passed after this, and because they could not see them,[203] and also because it is the custom of this country that no grandee can leave the Court without licence, nor go to the Court without being summoned to it; these lords, Adrugaz and Grageta, did not know what to do with us, and did not dare to leave us nor to take us away, nor to return themselves, neither could they make peace between us, and at length they took counsel and decided to send us back to the Court, and expose themselves to any punishment which he might please to give them for this.

These noblemen, seeing that the time had gone by for them[204] to come for us, and also that there could be no peace between us, as has been said, took the determination to send us back, and we began to travel, we and the Franks who were coming with us. On arriving at the town of Abacinen, before mentioned, the first town, at once the people put themselves on guard not to receive us, and so many friars came down from a mountain that they seemed like sheep, and all brought bows and their weapons, and it was like a field battle, and there were wounded on both sides. Nevertheless, the field remained in our possession, and we took up our quarters in the town: and those of the place on the mountain, and the men belonging to these lords treated the town like a town of Moors, and plundered everything, both wheat and barley, fowls, capon, sheep, and household furniture, and whatever they found. From this place we departed and travelled our journey in parties, that is to say, Jorge d’Abreu and those that were with him and the friar together, and we with the ambassador and his people, and the Adrugaz and Grageta. Thus we travelled till we reached Manadeley, where they wounded our men, and here we found the Moor who ran away from the ambassador, and yet he was but little afraid of him. When we had passed this town about half a league, we met the Barnagais, who came from the Court and brought a message for the noblemen and for us what we were to do. We all placed ourselves in a tilled field at the foot of a big tree, as many as there was room for there. These noblemen were much reproved by the Barnagais for having brought us without leave, and he also bawled a good deal at the ambassador and at Jorge d’Abreu: and he told the ambassador at once to give up to him the crown of the Prester, and the letters which he was carrying for the King of Portugal and the captain-major. Between the ambassador and Jorge d’Abreu some very ugly words passed. Then the Barnagais told the others to continue on their way to the Court, and there they would have their punishment. He then gave us captains to conduct us separately as we came. So we travelled with him as far as his lands, through the heavy rain which now fell. Those who went with the ambassador’s party he took with him to the town of Barua, where the quarrel happened, which is the chief town of his kingdom, and he put Jorge d’Abreu and his company in Barra, which is the chief town of the captaincy of Ceivel, all belonging to the Barnagais. The Barnagais himself settled in the town of Barra, and he said that he did it in order not to be annoyed by the ambassador: and the distance from one town to the other may be three leagues and a half or four. At this time we were very ill provided with all things; Jorge d’Abreu and his companions were better provided than we were: and our hunting and fishing was of great advantage to us, for we had a river and hunting ground.

In this country of Prester John Lent begins on Monday of Sexagesima, which is ten days before our Lent, and after the day of the Purification they observe three days of severe fast, generally, clergy, friars, and laymen. They say that they observe the fast of the city of Niniveh, and they assert that there are many friars here who in these three days do not eat more than once, and do not eat bread but only herbs, and they also say that most of the women do not give milk to their children more than once a day. The general fast of Lent is almost bread and water, because even though they should wish to eat fish, in that country they have not got it. In the sea and in the fresh water, where there are rivers, there is much fish, and yet here there is very little skill in catching them, although some little, but not much, is caught for the great gentlemen. The general food during Lent is bread: at this time there are no vegetables here, for they have not got them except when it rains, from their want of skill, because there is plenty of water for gardens and orchards and other good works, if they would choose to make them. In most of the monasteries the friars have got some cabbages like the kind called “orto”, which they keep taking the leaves off (this all through the year), and they eat them. In the districts where there are grapes and peaches, these come in Lent, because they begin in February and finish at the end of April, so that those who have them have something to eat. What they generally eat is cardamine seed, which they call canfa, and they make with it a sauce and call it tebba, and they soak their bread in it, and it is very hot. They do the same with linseed, which they also eat in sauce, and call it tebba; and so they prepare mustard and call it cenafiche. These three sauces are the general food of Lent: and they do not eat milk or butter, nor drink wine of grapes or honey. The general drink is a beverage made of barley, which they call çanha, and they also make it of Indian corn[205] and of another grain called guza;[206] they also make it of darnel. They do not drink this when it is fresh because it brings a man to the ground, and when it is cold and settled, this is the best drink here. There are many friars who do not eat bread in Lent, and others in the whole year, and others who in all their lives do not eat it, and I will relate what I saw of this. When the ambassador and I were going on the road to the court, in a district which is called Janamora, a friar came to us to go in security from the robbers: and he travelled with us for more than a month, and because he was a friar I kept him near me. This friar brought with him six or seven novices who were going to be ordained, and he carried four large books to sell: he carried the books on a mule. He lodged with me in my tent, and the first day at night I called him to eat, as it was his supper hour; he excused himself, that he did not want to eat; upon this, the novices came with water-cresses,[207] and they gave them a boiling without salt or oil, or anything else, and they ate those cresses without any other addition. I asked the novices about this, and they told me they never ate bread. And because I had often heard say that there were many friars here who did not eat bread, and I doubted this, I watched this friar and looked after him night and day: the whole day he was close to me like my groom, and at night he slept near me on the ground in his habit as he wore it by day; and always, in all this time that this friar was with me, I never saw him eat anything but herbs, that is to say, water-cresses, mallows, water-parsley, where they found them, nettles, and if we passed near any monastery, he sent there to find a cabbage, and not finding herbs, the novices brought him lentils in a gourd of water newly grown with the sprout just out; he ate of those, and I ate them, and it is the coldest food in the world. This friar travelled with us more than a month, and at the court he was in our company three weeks without eating anything except what has been mentioned. Later, I saw this friar in the town of Aquaxumo, where Prester John sent us to for eight months: as soon as he knew that I was there, he came to see me and brought me a few lemons; he was wearing a habit of leather without sleeves, and his arms were bare; and we embraced. I succeeded in putting my hand under his arm, and I found that he was girt with an iron girdle four fingers broad, and I took the friar by the hand and brought him into my room; and I showed that to Pero Lopez, my nephew, and besides we also found that this girdle was lined[208] on both edges on the side towards the skin with points of the size of those of a saw for sawing wood, not sharpened (and all this out of Lent). This friar considered himself aggrieved by this, and he never visited me again, and on my account he went away from that town: later I saw many of these. We also heard tell of many friars here, who, during the whole of Lent, did not sit down, and always remained on foot. I heard that there was one in that condition at a distance of two leagues from where we were in a grotto. As it was Lent, I rode and went to see him, I and others, and we found him standing in a tabernacle of wall the size of himself. This tabernacle was made like a box without a covering, much plastered with clay and dung: and this tabernacle was already old, and others had been there before; and where the hips reached there was a ledge,[209] and the walls were thinner by three inches; and where the elbows reached, for each of them there was another such recess; and in front was a stand in the wall with a book. This friar was clothed with a haircloth woven with the hair of oxtails, and underneath it he had another such iron girdle as that of Aquaxumo. He showed it us of his own will, without our asking him, or knowing that he had got it. In another grotto near this one lodged two friars, young boys who supplied him with food of herbs. These grottoes had been long used for these purposes,[210] because there were tombs in them. This friar became much our friend after this visit, and came to see us often after Lent.

In the town of Barua, during another Lent, we saw two friars in the outer part of the church of that town, in similar tabernacles, one on one side, and the other on the other. They ate the same kind of herbs and sprouted lentils. I used to visit them frequently, and they showed that they rejoiced much at my visitation: and if any day I did not go to visit them, they sent to visit me. These were in their habits; I do not know whether they wore a haircloth or a girdle underneath. I asked if they went outside from there; they told me how they visited one another, and yet they did not sit down; and one of them, the one who showed most friendship towards me, said that he was a relation of Prester John. They remained in this abstinence until Easter; and came out at the mass of the resurrection. We also heard that on the Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent many slept in water up to their necks; and we could not believe it: when we were in Aquaxumo, we heard that we might see this in a great tank, which I have already mentioned when I spoke of this place, and that there was a great function there during Lent. Joam Escolar, clerk of the embassy, and Pero Lopez, my nephew, went one night to this tank, and they came back amazed at the multitude of people who were there, all in the water up to the neck. These were canons and wives of canons, and friars and nuns, because there are here many of all orders, as has been said. Hearing of this wonder on Thursday, I went in the morning to this tank to see how they were: and I found the tank full of stone resting-places along the edge, where it was shallow a stone, and as it increased in depth so the stones increased one above the other, as they sit upon them with the water up to their necks. As they told me that in this place and in the neighbourhood there are at this season hard frosts and cold at night, and after this, seeing Pero de Covilham at a place called Dara, I told him what I had seen. He told me that since he had seen it he had not any doubt about it, and that I should know that this was general in all the country of Prester John, and that here there were many who not only did not eat bread amongst people, but who abode in the large forests, and in the greatest depths and heights of the mountains, where they find any water, and where living people never come. Close to this Dara are some ravines of very great depth, like those before mentioned, and these are without inhabitants in the plains or flat ground. A great river falls into these ravines, and so great is the fall, that the water becomes broken up in the air, and when it reaches the bottom it seems rather a mist than water. Pero de Covilham showed to me in that ravine a grotto, which was scarcely perceptible, and he told me that a friar abode there who was esteemed as a saint, and below this grotto there seemed to be a garden, because something green showed. And on one of the slopes of this ravine he showed me a long way off where had died a white man, who was unknown, and who had lived fully twenty years in that solitude, in another grotto, and they did not know the time of his death, only not perceiving him on the mountain, they went to look at his abode or grotto, and they found it closed up from inside with a good wall, so that no one could enter it or come out of it. They informed Prester John of it, and he ordered that this grotto should not be opened.

The general fast of Lent for most of the friars and nuns, and also some of the clergy, is to eat every second day and always at night. Sundays are not fast days. Some old women also, who are in a way withdrawn from the world, keep this fast; and they say that Queen Helena fasted every day in the whole year, and only ate the said three times a week, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. In the kingdoms of Tigray, which are those of the Barnagais and Tigrimahom, the people in general during Lent eat meat on Saturdays and Sundays, and in these two days of Lent they kill more cows than in all the year, and more if they should marry their first or second wife on the Thursday before Shrove Tuesday; and they marry on that day because they hold that after marriage they may eat meat for two months, in whatever time of the year it may be, and so those who marry in these two kingdoms eat meat and drink wine, and eat butter all through Lent. I saw this in the kingdom of Barnagais, and heard of it in that of Tigrimahom; and because I say, or a second wife, let it not be supposed, or let it appear that all have more than one wife, because generally they have one as has been said; and whoever has plenty to live upon has two or three, and they are not prohibited to them by the secular justice, but only by the Church, which casts them out, and they are not capable of any benefit, as has been said. I have seen with my eyes, on the above-mentioned Thursday, married men, friends of mine, who brought other wives to their houses, and used and enjoyed this evil privilege. In this district was the commencement of Christianity, and in all the other kingdoms they hold these to be very bad Christians for this bad custom of theirs. In all the rest of the country and other kingdoms and lordships the fast is kept throughout Lent by great and small, men and women, boys and girls, without any breach, and they do almost the same at Advent. On Palm Sunday they celebrate their office in this manner. They begin their matins a little after midnight, and keep up their singing and dancing with all their images and pictures uncovered until it is quite daylight: and at the hour of prime they take the branches which each holds in his hand into the church or to the principal door, because neither women nor laymen come inside. The clergy then enter the church with the boughs, and there sing a great deal and very hurriedly, and they come out with the cross and with the palms, and give to each person his branch, and then they make a procession round the church, with the palms in their hands, and returning to the principal entrance, there go inside the church six or seven, as we go in, and they close the door, and he who has to say mass remains with the cross in his hand; they also sing both inside and outside, as we do; that is to say, in that manner, for their language is not ours, and they say mass according to their custom, and give the communion to all. In holy week mass is not said, except on Thursday and Saturday. It is usual to give salutations among one another, principally the grandees, when they meet once in the day to kiss one another on the shoulders, both together on the right shoulder, and the other remains on the left hand side; and during holy week they do not give this salutation of peace to those they meet, nor do they speak, but pass one another as if they were dumb, and without raising the eyes. And a man of fashion does not dress in this week in white clothes, all go dressed in black or blue. They abstain during this week from all work, and every day they celebrate long offices in the churches (but not with tapers, as we do). On Thursday, at hour of vespers, they perform mandato[211]; that is to say, the office of washing feet, and all the people assemble in the church, and the superior of the church sits on a three-legged stool, with a towel girt round him, and a large basin of water before him, and beginning by washing the feet of the clergy, ends with all of them. When this is finished they begin their chaunt, and they chaunt all the night, and the clergy, friars, and zagonais do not go out of the church any more, and do not eat or drink till Saturday after mass. On Friday at midday they very much decorate the church with hangings, according to their circumstances, because some of them are hung with brocades, coarse brocade, and crimson, and others with whatever they have got, or are able to get. They put their hangings principally before the chief entrance, because that is the station of the people: and before the door they put on the hangings a paper crucifix, that is to say, a print,[212] and above it a small curtain, with which it is covered. They sing all night, and all day they read the passion; when that is concluded, they draw the curtain from off the crucifix, and when it is uncovered they all cast themselves on the ground, and prostrate themselves, and give one another buffets, and they knock their heads against the walls, and also strike themselves with buffets and thumps. This lamentation lasts quite two hours. When this is over, two priests go to each door of the circuit which leads to the churchyard, and in all the churches there are three doors; at each door are two priests, one on each side, and each has in his hand a small scourge with five straps, and all, as many as were standing before the principal church door, go out through these doors stripped from the waist upwards. Passing through them they stoop, and those who stand with the scourges keep striking them as long as they are still. Some pass quickly, and receive few strokes; others wait, and receive many. Old men and old women will remain half an hour, until the blood runs, and then they sleep in the circuit of the church, and when it is midnight they begin their mass, and all receive the communion. On Easter at midnight they begin their matins, and before morning make a procession. When dawn breaks they say mass, and keep all this week until Monday of the Sunday after Easter,[213] so they make sixteen days of observance, that is, from Saturday before Palm Sunday to the Monday after Sunday after Easter.[214]

We happened to keep a Lent at the Court of Prester John, which we kept at the extremity of a country of pagans, who are named Gorages, a people (as they say) who are very bad, and of these there are no slaves, because they say that they sooner allow themselves to die, or kill themselves than serve Christians. This district in which the Court was situated is outside of the Gorages. As it appears, and as the Abyssinians say, these Gorages dwell underground. All the Court and we were encamped above a great river, which ran through great ravines, and on each side was a plain like that of Çarnache dos alhos[215] in Portugal; and in all parts of the river there were an infinite number of dwellings placed in the cliffs, one above the other, and some of them very high, which had no more door than the mouth of a large vat, through which a man could easily pass, and above these doors, an iron in the stone to which they fastened cords so as by them to know the house; and so they kept them now because in these dwellings many of the lower people of the Court were lodging, and they said that they were so large inside that twenty or thirty persons could find room inside with their baggage. And there was on this river a very strong town, which, on the side towards the river, was a very high scarped rock, and on the side towards the land a very high cave, which had fifteen fathoms in height, and six in width, and on both sides it stood over the river, and inside this cave on both sides there were everywhere dwellings like the above-mentioned; and inside the circuit were small houses of walls and thatched in which Christians now live, and they have in it a very good church. The entrance to this town is of stone, and low, with many turns, so that it seems that neither mules nor cows could enter there; yet they enter into a large portion of it, for the space of the third of a league. Up the stream there is a great rock scarped from top to bottom, and quite at the top it is level. There is nearly in the middle of this rock a monastery of our Lady, and they say that there was the palace of the king of that country and kingdom of Gorages. This rock faces to the rising sun, and they ascend to this monastery by a movable ladder of wood: and they say that they raise it every night from fear of the Gorages, when the Court is not here. After that[216] the ascent is by stone steps to the left hand, and a corridor runs past fifteen cells for friars, all which have windows over the water, and very high; further on are their pantries and refectory, and store rooms for provisions. Turning to the right hand by a dark path a man reaches broad daylight, and the principal door of the monastery, which is not made of the rock itself, only it seems that in ancient times it was a great hall, and the form is of a church with screens:[217] it is very light and spacious, because it has many windows over the river, and there are few friars. Many people of the Court used to come here to receive the communion, as they have much devotion for this house and its friars, because they say that they lead good lives, and suffer much injury from the bad neighbours they have. As the people of the Court and the Court are encamped in such a situation that the left wing, which belongs to the great Betudete, is towards these Gorages, there were few days that it was not said: “Last night the Gorages killed fifteen or twenty persons of the people of the great Betudete;” and they took no measures for this, because it was Lent, and on account of the rigid fast no one fights from the debility and weakness of their bodies, for the fast must not on any account be broken. During holy week, near to Easter, Prester John sent to tell us to be ready to say mass near his tent as he wished to hear it. I sent to tell him that I was ready, and that we were all ready, but that we had no tent, as one that they had given us had become rotten with the rains, and was quite worn out. He sent to say that he would give a tent and order it to be pitched, and also would send to call us for us to be ready and come with all our arrangements. When it was a little past midnight he sent to call us, and we went at once, and they conducted us before the king’s door, which we found in this state. A great part of the fence enclosure was broken and removed, from the great tent of the Prester as far as the church of Holy Cross, and on each side facing one another were more than six thousand lighted candles in very good array, and the length of the lines might be a musket shot, and from face to face of those who held the candles the distance might be fully two games of ball, one in front of the other, and it was all smooth ground. There were more than five thousand persons behind these who held the candles, and those of the candles remained like a wall,[218] and they could not be broken because they had before them canes fastened together, and they held the candles upon them in array. Before the tent of the Prester four gentlemen were riding and caracolling their horses; and they placed us near them. Upon this Prester John came out of the tent upon a black[219] mule like a raven, the size of a large horse, which the Prester holds in great estimation, and this mule always travels when the Prester travels, and if he does not ride upon it he goes on a litter. And he came out in this manner, namely, in a cloak[220] of brocade which almost reached to the ground, and the mule was also caparisoned and covered over; the Prester had his crown on his head and a cross in his hand, and there were on each side two horses with their haunches almost in a line with the head of the mule, but not near, for they went a good distance apart; these horses were so caparisoned and adorned and covered with brocade, that with the light it seemed that they were sewn up in gold; and they had great diadems on their heads, which descended to the bits, and large plumes set in the diadems. As soon as the Prester came out, the four who before that were caracolling their horses between the candles went out, and did not show here again; and when Prester John passed, those who had come to call us placed us behind him, without any one else coming there or passing before the candles, only twenty or thirty gentlemen who went on foot a good bit in front of the Prester. Thus we arrived at the church of Holy Cross, where the Prester went to hear the office of the resurrection, and here he dismounted and entered the church, and at once went inside his curtain, and we remained at the door. Soon after, an immense number of clergy came out from inside, and a great many more joined them who were outside, for there was not room for them in the church, and a great procession was ordered, and they put us at the head of it, with the most honoured dignities of the church, so we walked until the procession returned to the church; and as many as it would hold entered it, and the rest remained in the plain, and they bade us enter, and we were near the curtain till mass was finished. When they were going to give the communion Prester John sent to say that we should go and make ready to say our mass, as the tent was pitched for us, and that he was coming soon. We went with those who had called us and always had accompanied us, and they conducted us to a black tent close to that of the Prester, and we, seeing the black tent, said: “They have pitched this tent for us as a mockery.” Then the ambassador said: “Padre, you will do well not to say mass, because this is done to put us to the proof.” I answered him: “Neither do I wish to say it, let us go to our tents:” and this was when dawn was breaking. We went to our tents, which were in the grove close to the river. Then there came two pages in a great hurry over the rocks to call us, and they called us with anger. We were discussing about not going; however, we went and arrived at Prester John’s tent as the sun was rising. At once there came a message from inside, asking, Why we had omitted to say mass on so great a feast? I answered, that I did not choose to say mass on account of the great affront which had been offered—not to us, but to God and his holy resurrection, as they had pitched a black tent for us to say mass in, such as they do not pitch, except for horses and vagabonds.[221] They returned with another message, asking what tent they were to pitch. I answered that, it must be a white one, to represent the splendour of the resurrection, and the purity of Our Lady, and that a red one might well do, as it would represent the blood which Christ shed for us, and that which the apostles and martyrs had shed for him. With this they went away and returned, saying, that we should send and tell him who were the persons who had pitched the tent, and we should see the justice which he would order to be done. We replied that we did not know who had pitched the tent, neither did we ask him to do justice on any one, as this had not been done to us, but to God, and it grieved us more than any one else, because we could not say mass on so great a feast. They then returned, asking that we should have patience, and that he would punish those who had pitched the tent, and that we should go to it, since it was not to say mass, but to dine. We held council whether we should go to it or not, however we went, and they sent us a very good meal of many good viands, and good wines, among which were grape wines of good flavour, and very red. Pero de Covilham was with us during all that passed that night and day, and he told us at the dinner that he felt such great pleasure such as he had never felt in this country, nor had expected to feel, that we had not said mass in this tent, and at the answer which we had given; and that all this had only been in order to test the estimation we had for the things belonging to God and the Church, and that now they would hold us in esteem as good Christians. All this Lent we were very well provided with food and drink, and plenty of grapes and peaches which there are in this district. At the end of the dinner there came to us the old priest who performed the baptism, and he said that Prester John sent him to say that since to-day we did not say mass, that we should anyhow say it next Sunday, and that he would order a good tent to be given, and that we should celebrate offices after our fashion and usage for the soul of his mother, who had died a year ago, and that they would then do her teskar, that is to say, memorial service. All this we did according to our custom.

Sunday, the octave of Easter, when they told us to say mass, was the 15th of April. We said the office and mass for the mother of the Prester John. We went very early and found a large new white tent pitched, with its curtains of silk hung in the middle according to their usage, and very near to his tent. The friar who is now going as ambassador with other clergy is here, and we at once sung a nocturn for the deceased and said mass. Before the mass was finished there arrived two packets of letters which Don Luis de Meneses sent to us; he had come for us and was remaining at Masua. The packets had come by different roads and both messengers arrived together. There came in these packets letters to Prester John begging him to send us at once. Having seen our letters we found in them that we should set out at once and come to him to Masua by the 15th of April, as he could not wait longer: both because the monsoon did not allow of it, and because he was required in India. These fifteen days had finished this day when the letters were given to us: and in them came the news how the King Don Manuel had died. On this account we were all half dead, and we at once held council as to whether we should be silent about it, or should tell it: it was agreed that we ought not to keep it secret, because the Prester knew the news of India more quickly than we did, by the Moorish merchants who were continually coming from there: and that it was better that he should learn it from us than from others. As it is their custom in mourning to shave the head with a razor, and not the beard, and to dress in black clothes, we began to shave each other’s heads, and to dress in mourning. During this our food came, and those who brought it seeing the work we were engaged in, set the food down on the ground and without speaking returned and told it to the Prester. He at once sent two friars to know what had happened to us. The ambassador said that someone should answer the friars, as he could not for weeping. I declared to them what was the matter, according to the usage of the country, and with their words, saying: “Tell His Highness that the stars and the moon have fallen, and the sun has grown dark and lost its brightness, and we have no one to cover or protect us; we have neither father nor mother to care for us, except God, who is the Father of all: the King Don Manuel our Sovereign has departed from the life of this world, and we remain orphans and unprotected.” We commenced our lamentation, and the friars went away. In that hour proclamations were made that all the shops should be shut where bread and wine and other merchandise were sold, and also that all the offices should be closed; and this shutting up lasted three days, during which no tent was opened. At the end of three days he sent to call us, and the first word he spoke was: “Who inherits the kingdoms of the King my father?” The ambassador said, “The Prince Don Joam his son.” Hearing this he said “Atesia, atesia”, that is to say, “Do not be afraid, for you are in a country of Christians, and as the father was good the son will be good, and I will write to him.” Then we explained to him how they were waiting for us at the sea, and that also they wrote to his Highness to say that we begged his leave to go away, and that now we did not seem to be doing well[222] in his country. He told us to go and eat, and that next day they would commence despatching us, and that we should translate the letters which came for him into his language. And as we already knew the nature of his despatching, on the Sunday that they gave us the letters, we at once despatched Aires Diaz, a Portuguese of our company, and with him an Abyssinian, to go with our letters to the said Don Luis de Meneses; and on the following day we took the letters to the Prester in his language, and he at once departed to another place with his Court, and we with him. As we were travelling on the road they asked me who was carrying for me the church tent. I replied that the tent was not mine, and that I had not the care of it, that we had said our mass, and the tent had remained as we found it. They told me that I had done wrong, that the Prester did not take back anything he had given, and that the tent with its curtains was worth more than a hundred ounces of gold, and that if Prester John ordered mass to be said, and that we told him that we had got no tent, he would be angry. Withal we travelled three days, and as soon as we took up quarters we requested our leave and to be despatched. They told us not to have any fear, that he had already ordered his measures. With all our importuning he ordered that Joan Gonzalvez our factor should go with his and our letters on the way to the sea, and he at the same time gave him a very good mule and rich dresses and ten ounces of gold. He ordered that he should go at once, and he set out immediately with two servants of the Prester. We remained, and however much we importuned the Prester and made requests to him, he kept us waiting yet a month and a half, and at the end of that time he gave us rich dresses, and to four of us he gave gold chains with their crosses, and to each he gave a mule, and to me he gave a mule from his own stables, the pace of which was flying; and he gave for all of us eighty ounces of gold and a hundred loaves for the road, and he gave us his blessing. We did not travel long before we got a message from our people whom we had sent to the sea, that Don Luis had been gone a long time; and we knew well that we should not find him because the monsoon did not allow of it; nevertheless, we arrived, and we found much pepper and cloths which he left for our maintenance, and letters for us and for the Prester. Then there was a council among us what we should do with that pepper: and although the opinion of some was that we should take up quarters and eat it, since Don Luis in his letters ordered that in no way should we go away from the sea coast, because next year at all events they would come for us, others thought that only one or two of us should go to the Court to take the letters to the Prester, and to ask him for justice for the death of four men who had been killed at Arquiquo. And with this opinion of most of us it was agreed amongst us that we should send half the pepper to Prester John and the other half should remain for our maintenance, and that the factor and I should carry it; and I was to go to read to him the letters and have them translated into his language; and this having been settled in one day that the departure should be next morning. On that morning the ambassador came to me, saying, “Padre, I wish to give you another companion to go with you to the Court.” When I said, “Let it be as you command”, he replied to me: “Should you be pleased with my company, it is I that intend to go with you, and we will take all the pepper.” And because I opposed him, saying that nothing would remain for the other people to expend, he said that still he would go and carry all the pepper. He did this expecting great favours and to obtain them all himself. So the ambassador did not choose but to carry all the pepper to the Prester; and we set out at once. I went only to carry the letters to the Prester and to translate them into his language. We set out for the Court on the 1st day of September, and we travelled at a slow pace, with mules and loads; and we reached the Court at the end of November, and found the Prester in a Kingdom which is named Fatiguar, which is on the edge of the Kingdom of Adel, to which kingdom and sovereignty belong Barbora and Zeila; and the king is great and powerful. They say that he is esteemed and looked upon as a saint among the Moorish Kings because he continually makes war upon the Christians; they also say that he receives supplies from the King of Arabia and the Sheikh of Mekkah, and from other Moorish Kings and lords he receives horses and weapons for this purpose; and that he sends every year large offerings to Mekkah of many Abyssinian slaves that he captures in the wars: and also he makes presents of those slaves to the King of Arabia and to other princes. Now with respect to the place or plain where we reached the Prester and where we found him, it is as they say one day’s journey from the first market town in the Kingdom of Adel; and there are eight days’ journey from that market to Zeila. This kingdom of Fatiguar, what we saw of it, both on entering and leaving it, is all more plain than mountain, that is to say there are small and low hills all made use of for much tillage of wheat and barley; and also much cultivated ground and fields, also sown with the above-mentioned grain; there is also great breeding of all cattle, cows, sheep, goats, small mares and mules bred from she-asses. There is a great view of this country, and it seems like a great hill, not a mountain nor of rocky cliffs, but all wooded and cultivated land. They say that there are many monasteries and churches in it, and that it is a very rich country. There is on the highest part of it a lake of an extent of four leagues, from which there came to the Court an infinite quantity of fish, and oranges, lemons, and citrons, and Indian figs. Pero de Covilham told me that this hill was of a circumference of eight days’ journey round its foot; and he also made the conjecture of the size of the lake at four leagues. When the Court left this plain in which we were, we travelled two days and a half until we reached the foot of the hill, and having approached near, it seemed much higher and more fruitful, as it was said to be. There come forth from it many streams, which contain much fish. We travelled across the foot of this hill a day and a half, and then left the hill and kingdom of Fatiguar, and entered that of Xoa; where we presented the pepper and the letters translated into Abyssinian, and we got no answer whatever. Prester John was going this road to make some partition of lands between himself and his sisters, that is to say, two who were sisters both of father and mother, because his father had five wives. And these partitions were of the lands and property which had remained after the death of his mother. Here we remained four days, and in these they sorted the lands, which were divided into three parts, which Pero de Covilham said were lands of more than ten days’ journey. And the Prester gave to each of his sisters her share, and one part for himself, and he then ordered his part to be divided into two, and he gave them to his two infant daughters; and cows, mares, sheep, and goats which covered the hills and fields and valleys, all were in the same partition, and they were divided in the same way as the lands. The Prester would not travel from this place and go to other partitions, as the lands were many and far apart, and he gave orders that they should be divided like these, and that his share should be divided between his daughters. We heard say that the gold and silk of this division was uncounted; and as to the silks, they said that the Prester ordered that his share should be given to the churches and monasteries which were situated in the lands which had belonged to his mother. We travelled to the town of Dara, where Pero de Covilham showed me the thickets in which the friars led a rigid life, and the white man died in the grotto which they found walled up.[223]