ABSTRACT
Father Antonio Fernandez wished to continue his journey so much that, once he had the governor’s permission, he set off straight away with the {[f. 511]} ambassador for the place where the captain who was to give him guards was, which was a day’s journey away. He received them well, expecting to receive plenty of goods from them, and when he saw that what they gave him was not as much as he had hoped, he made them wait for eight days and then passed them on to another captain, who was subject to him, and this one gave them eighty men to accompany them, and they journeyed eastwards for four days in the greatest haste through deserted lands and on a very rough road. On the last day they went in great fear and with a good lookout ahead, since it was the pass of the Gâlas. Having slept that night on the borders of the kingdom of Nareâ, those eighty men rose before dawn and told the father and ambassador to go in peace, because they had been commanded to accompany them as far as that, and then they ran back because they were so afraid. They were left no less frightened, but they put themselves in God’s hands. When dawn came they marched on, keeping someone in front all the time to spy out the land so that if he found anything they could hide in the bush. After midday they began to descend a very long mountain, from which they could see vast plains, which they call Beterât, a land of Boxâ, where the Gâlas usually pasture their cattle, and it was the pass that the governor of Nareâ had said he greatly feared. They took counsel as to what to do, and the king of Zenyerô’s servant said that before they finished descending the mountain they should take to the bush and afterwards cross the plain by night in absolute silence, because if they happened to be seen or heard they would not be able to escape.
