ABSTRACT
I stayed in Goa for a little more than a year finishing my theological studies. At that time letters came from Ethiopia in which the Fathers of that mission asked for many Jesuits because of the conversion of Emperor Seltan Segued, who had received Communion and had professed himself a Roman Catholic. 1 Because of this and because of the many new converts to our holy faith, more labourers were needed to carry forward the good beginnings set in motion by that Christian mission. Although the Father of the mission, as I say, asked for many, it was not possible at the time to send them more than eight, for entering and leaving Ethiopia was necessarily by way of the Red Sea and the island of Ma~ua, which were in the hands of the Turks, and there was the obvious danger that they would not allow them to pass and would capture them all.2 And there was even doubt that as many as eight would be sent, so we made good use of a letter written by the converted Emperor to the Father Provincial of India asking him for many Fathers and informing him that they could go through the kingdom of Dancali, whose inhabitants, although Muslim, were his vassals and friends. 3 The secretary, however, had erroneously written Zeila instead of Dancali, little dreaming how much this word was to cost two Jesuit Fathers, my companions, for it was the cause of their losing their lives, and the same would have happened to the other two, of whom I was one, as I shall presently relate. Of the eight chosen for this mission and undertaking, four were ordered to enter Ethiopia by the ordinary way via Macua. 4 These soon left and successfully entered
theempireeventhoughtheBaxaoftheTurks,takingadvantageof theopportunity,refusedtoletthempassunlesstheEmperorfirstsent himawildassofaspeciescalledzebra,aslargeasagoodmule,the mostbeautifulanimalIhaveseenandofwhichIshallmakefurther mention. 1Whenthezebrawasbroughtanddelivered,theFathersleft. Theotherfour,ofwhomIwasone,weretoenterbywayofZeila, anewandriskyway,vouchedforonlybytheEmperor'sletter,and weweretotallyunawarethattheinformationcontainedinitwasin errorand,ofcourse,wereunabletoforeseethedireoutcome.Since wewantedtofindanew,safewaytoenterthatempireinorderto avoidthetyrannyoftheTurkswhichwealwaysexperiencedupon enteringtheirportsandfallingintotheirhands,therebegantobea rumourthatbywayofthecoastofMelinde,penetratingthatinterior, onecouldfindaneasy,safeway.Therewereevenpeoplewhogave newsofsuchaway,indicatingariverthatcouldbenavigatedandlands andpeoplestodealwithandtocivilize;andasthiswaywasnewand risky,eventhoughtherewasagreatdesiretodiscoverit,thesuperiors wereunwillingtoriskindividualsexceptwhentherewerevolunteers. Andastherewerealreadyfourofuswhohadvolunteeredforasimilar taskviaZeila,althoughthereweremoreoftheselater,andsinceIwas oftheopinionthattherewasverylittledifferencebetweenthetwo asfarasriskwasconcerned,anotherFatherandIdecidedtobethe pioneersinthisundertakingofdiscovery.2Sothefourofusdivided, twotogoviaZeila,andtwotoenterviathecoastofMelinde.
