our tents, and our church pitched close by, we said mass every day. On
the vigil of Christmas, already midday or more, Prester John sent to
call me, and asked me what festival we made next day. I told him how
we celebrated the birth of Christ, and he asked me what solemnity we
observed. I told him the manner which we followed with respect to that,
and how we said three masses. He said that they did all as we did,
but that they did not say more than one mass, and of the three masses
that we were used to say, he asked me to say one for him, whichever I
wished. I replied that I would say whichever His Highness commanded.
Then he told me to say the mass of tierce, that he would be very glad
to hear it, and also the office we were accustomed to use. He ordered
that our church tent should at once be brought close to his tent. It
was brought and he ordered two tents to be taken away from his tent,
and our church to be pitched at the principal entrance of his tent,
so that there would not be more than two fathoms between the church
and the tent: he also said that at cock-crow he would send to call us
to come to the church, that so his priests chaunted, and that we were
to do everything as we were accustomed to do in our country, as he
wished to hear us. When our church tent was thus pitched we at once
sung in it vespers and compline, which the Prester heard inside his
tent, and I say that he heard them, because we saw him there, as it was
so close as has been said. Then we went to our tents, and as soon as
the cocks crew, he summoned us, and we went six of us who understood
church matters and could sing well: these were, Manuel de Mares, a
servant of the Marquis of Vilareal, and player on the organ, Lazaro
d’Andrade, painter, a native of Lisbon,[175] Joan Escolar the clerk of
the embassy, mestre Joam, Nicolas Catelam, and mestre Pedro a Genoese.
I took there as many books as I had got, although they were apart from
the feast, but only to make up a number, because they are much given to
asking for books; and I opened them all upon the altar, and we began
our matins as well as we were able, and certainly it appeared that our
Lord assisted us and gave us grace. At the commencement Prester John
sent twenty candles, as he thought we had few, for we had not got more
than four candles. We prolonged these matins a good deal with prose,
hymns and canticles which we introduced, for we could not do anything
else, as we had nothing prepared and marked out, and we sought what
could be best chaunted or intoned. I continued the matins in their
order whilst the others sung, and in all this office as long as it
lasted, Prester John never moved from the edge of his tent, which as I
have said was close to the church. Two messengers never ceased coming
and going to ask what we were singing, whenever they heard a change in
the sound of psalms, hymns, responses, prose, or canticles. I feigned
what I did not know, and told them they were books of Jeremiah, which
spoke of the birth of Christ; and so of the psalms of David, and other
prophets. He was pleased and praised the books. When our service, which
was rather long, was finished, there came an old priest who had been
and they say still is the master of Prester John, and asked us if we
had finished, or why we were silent. I told him we had finished. He
replied that he would have rejoiced if the service had reached to next
morning, and it had seemed to him that he had been in paradise with the
angels. I told him that until mass we had no other office, and that I
wanted to hear the confessions of some who wished to receive the Lord’s
body. Then there came another message to ask where confession was to
be made: when it came I was already hearing confessions upon a drum
which they had sent to strike for matins, and this old priest having
come with this message, and finding me already seated and hearing
confessions, lit a blazing torch and placed it in front of me as if
for them to see me from the tent; and he sat down on the ground close
to me with his elbow on my knees, and the penitent on the other side;
and he did not rise from that place until I had heard two persons in
confession, and the morning became altogether light. At the end of
this, this honourable priest said: would that God were pleased that the
Neguz should give me leave to remain with you for all my life, for you
are holy men and do things completely. This priest went away and soon
returned, saying that Prester John desired me to hear confessions, that
he wished to see our mode, which they had related to him, for hearing
confessions. I sent word that it was getting late for saying mass at
the hour which His Highness had ordered. He sent to tell me to go on
confessing, and to say mass when I chose or was able to do so, for he
would not hear any other mass this day than ours. I returned again
to hear confessions on the drum where he could well see me sitting
dressed in my surplice, and the penitent with his hat on his head,
kneeling, with as much decorum as was possible. When this confession
was finished, I sent to tell him that we would say mass as it was
getting late. He said that whenever we pleased, for he was not weary
with seeing and hearing, and was ready to hear mass. We got ready for
our procession with the cross raised up, and a picture of our Lady
in our hands, and all with lighted tapers and two torches near the
cross. And as we made or began our procession inside the circuit of our
church tent, the Prester sent to say that he saw the procession well,
but that we should make it outside the _mandilates_ of his tent,
that is to say, the curtains which surround his tents, so that all the
people might see it, and he sent fully four hundred tapers of white wax
from his tents for us to carry lighted in our hands, beginning with
the Portuguese and white men, and going on with his people as far as
the tapers went. Thus we did it with as much decorum as we were able.
When the procession was finished, which was very late on account of
the great circuit we made, we began our aspersions of holy water, and
went to sprinkle Prester John with it, which could be thrown upon him
without stirring from the church: there were with him, as they said,
the Queen his wife, the Queen his mother, who is Queen Helena, and the
Cabeata and other courtiers. Inside our church were all the great men
of the Court that there was room for, and those that could not find
room stood outside, because from the altar as far as the Prester’s
tent all was clear down the middle in order that His Highness might
see the office of the mass. All remained thus until the end, and we
gave the communion to those that had confessed, with great reverence
(according to our custom) they on their knees with their napkins in
their hands divided in two rows, so that they might be seen from the
Prester’s tent. On ending, with the cross uplifted, we returned to
sprinkle holy water on Prester John, because it is the custom of the
two churches which are nearest his tents, that is the churches of our
Lady and Holy Cross, to sprinkle him with holy water every day at the
end of mass: and they cast this water from a distance of more than two
games of ball; and they threw it in this manner. One like a deacon goes
with the priest who says the mass, and carries a pitcher in his hand,
and pours water into the priest’s hand, and the priest only makes a
sign with his hand and the water towards the tent. We sprinkled it with
hyssop in his face. The Franks and interpreters, and chiefly Pero de
Covilham, who now was with us, and all who understood the language of
the country, said that the people very much praised our customs and
offices, and said that we did them with great devotion, and principally
the communion, which was administered with great purity. The Prester
also sent to say that our services seemed to him very good and very
complete.
CAP. XC.--_How the Prester gave leave to go to the ambassador
and the others, and ordered me to remain alone with the
interpreter, and of the questions about Church matters, and how
we all sang compline, and how Prester John departed that night._
When all was concluded, that is to say procession, mass, and communion,
the Prester desired the ambassador and all the Franks to go and dine,
and that I should remain alone with one interpreter. Remaining alone,
the old priest came and said that Prester John said that we observed
Church matters very well, but what reason had we for allowing laymen to
come into the church the same as the clergy, and that also he had heard
tell that women entered it? I answered that the church of God was not
closed to any Christian, and that Christ was always with arms open for
every Christian who approached and came to him, and since he received
them in glory in Paradise, how should we not receive them in church,
which is the road to the church of Paradise. With respect to women,
although in former time they did not enter into the Sanctuary,[176]
the deserts of Our Lady were and are so great, that they had sufficed
to make the feminine gender deserving to enter into the house of God.
And as to ministering at the altar, that men in orders ministered. They
came to say that my reasons seemed good to him, but he wished to know
why, as I was the only priest, and he who carried the thurible was not
a priest, how it was he carried it, because the incense ought to go
in the hand of a priest, and of no other person? I answered that the
person who served as a deacon was a _zagonay_, what they call of
the gospel, and that his office was to carry the thurible. There came
another message asking if we had that in a book, as our books were
better than theirs, because our books contained all things. I answered
that our books were very perfect, because since the time of the
apostles we had always had learned men and doctors in the holy mother
Church, who never did, nor now do, anything else but compile and bring
together those things which are scattered about in the Holy Scriptures,
both by the prophets, apostles, or evangelists, and by Jesus Christ our
Saviour. They again told me that they had eighty-one books of the Old
and New Testaments, had we any more? I told them we had the eighty-one
books, and more than ten times eighty-one drawn from those, with many
declarations and perfections. They said they well knew that we had more
books than they had, on this account they desired that I should tell
them of books not seen by or known to them. Thus they kept questioning
me, without the two messengers ever ceasing to go and come, nor I able
to sit down, but only to lean upon a staff until the hour of vespers;
and if these questions and answers had to be written down, two hands of
paper would not suffice, neither could memory retain them for the haste
they made. Some answers went and other questions came, each in their
own fashion, and in much disorder, because they were not all questions
from Prester John, for some were from his mother, and others from his
wife, and also from Queen Helena. I answered as God helped me, I was
in such a state of weakness and hunger that I could not endure it,
and instead of an answer, I sent to ask His Highness to have pity for
an old man, who had neither eat nor drunk since yesterday at midday,
nor had slept, and could not stand for weakness. He sent to say, that
since he rejoiced to converse with me, why did not I rejoice too. I
replied that old age, hunger, and weakness, did not allow of it. He
sent to say that if I wished to eat he would send it to me, that he had
already sent a great deal to eat to our tent, and if I wished to eat
there I might go, or if I wished to eat here he would order food to
be given me. I told him I wished to eat at our tent, to rest myself:
then they gave me leave. While I was on the road, a page reached me
half dead with running; when I heard him come, I thought it was my sins
come to make me turn back. He told me the Prester sent him to beg me
to send back the hat I had on my head, and to pardon him, and not be
angry at having been so long without eating, and as soon as I had eaten
to come back at once, as he wished to learn more things from me. On
reaching our tent I was seized with a giddiness, that the sight left
my eyes, and I became quite cold. An hour and a half had not passed
before he sent to call me, and as it was already late, those who knew
church matters went with me, and we sung compline, only because there
was no place at our tent, and when compline was finished, there came a
message to strike our church tent, because Prester John was going away
that night, as in effect he did do, in order to pass the bad passages
without anyone knowing of it. While we were lying sleeping in our tent,
a little more or less than midnight, we heard a great tramping of mules
and people passing close to us, and then we heard say that the Neguz
was travelling; and as it seemed to us that we should be left without
people, we made ready quickly; and when we arrived at the first pass,
there was no remedy for it, and our people made way for us with their
lances, and we travelled thus that day with lances in front and lances
behind, and we in the middle, not allowing anyone to come among us;
because otherwise we should never have got together again. We went and
found the King’s tent pitched in the middle of the ravines in sight
between the meadows, where I before related that the friar ordered the
beans to be pulled out, and there slept all the people who were able to
pass, and we did not sleep much, for before midnight we heard say that
the Negus was travelling, and we went after him at once: and we got out
of the bad passes before morning. We heard say that in this night there
died in these passes, men, women and many mules, asses, ponies, and
pack oxen; we found many dead. This is the pass which is named Aquia
fagi, which means death to asses, by which we passed in coming. It was
certain that a great lady died this night, and with her a man who led
her mule by the halter, and two who went close to her, and the mule,
all of them went over a rock, and were dashed to pieces before they
reached the bottom: it could not be otherwise, because the cliffs are,
as I before said, something incredible: and whoever sees them, they
appear to him more like hell than anything else. So we made our journey
without observing the octaves of Christmas, which they do not observe
in this country. And I before said that the Court did not finish moving
in four or five days; here they spent more than three weeks in getting
through these gates, and the baggage of the Prester was more than a
month passing every day.
CAP. XCI.--_How the Prester went to lodge at the church of; St.
George, and ordered it to be shown to the people of the embassy,
and after certain questions ordered me to be shown some rich
umbrellas._
On the 28th of December of 1520, we came to a place on the road where
we saw a church which we had seen in coming, but did not go to it,
which is named St. George. They pitched the tent of the Prester below
the church, and we in our place, which was already assigned to us; and
next day, very early, they sent to call us, and tell us to go to the
said church. When we were there, he ordered it to be shown to us, and
we saw it very well. It is a large church, with all the walls painted
with pictures of subjects and very good stories, well proportioned,
made by a Venetian whom I mentioned before, named Nicolas Brancaliam,
and his name is on these pictures, and the people here call him
Marcoreos. This church has all its outer parts which are within the
covered circuit (which is like a covered cloister) hung with rich
curtains, pieces of brocade from top to bottom, plush, velvet, and
other rich cloths and stuffs. When we arrived within the gate of the
outer circuit which is uncovered, and intended to enter the covered
circuit, they ordered the curtains to be drawn, and the principal door
appeared, which is all plated with plates, which at first sight looked
like gold, and so they told us that it was: yet we saw that on the
contrary it was all leaves gilt and silvered, and the gilding was very
well applied, both to the doors and windows. In seeing these things,
the Cabeata, who is a great lord, went with us to show them; the
Prester was there within his curtains, and he saw us and we him when we
passed before his curtains. From thence he sent to ask what we thought
of that church and its paintings. We said we thought it beautiful, and
that it looked entirely like something belonging to a great sovereign
and king. He being pleased, sent to say that his grandfather had
ordered the building of this church and was buried there; he also asked
whether in our country we had churches lined with wood like that, or
with what wood were they made. Our answer was that this church was
very good as we had already said, but that our churches were of stone
vaults, and in those that were of wood, the wood was covered with
gilding and blue, and the pillars were of great pieces of marble and
other splendid and valuable things. He replied that he well knew that
our things were rich, great, and perfect, because we had good masters.
The covered circuit of this church is erected upon thirty-six wooden
pillars, very high, and as thick as the masts of galleys: they are
cased with wood, and on the wood are paintings like those on the walls:
so that it is a regal building, and the people of this country think
well of it and reckon it as very great.
This same day, in the afternoon, Prester John sent to call me, and
asked me what I thought of that church, and I gave him my opinion,
adding what all had said with truth: he asked me about more lives of
saints. I answered what I knew; he also asked me about our church
ceremonies, and I gave him answers according to my knowledge. When
these questions were ended, which took place near his tent, and I
was dismissed, they brought down from the church four large and very
splendid umbrellas, at which I wondered and was astonished, because I
had seen many large and splendid ones in India, but never had seen any
of this sort. They went to tell the Prester how I was astonished at the
umbrellas, for which reason he sent for me back again, and there were
before his door the Franks who from the first had been at his court,
and I went back to where they stood. Upon this the umbrellas came,
and they ordered them to be shewn to me, and told me to look at them
well, and to say what I thought of them. I said in answer that they
seemed to belong to a great king, and that in India there were many
large and splendid umbrellas, but that I had never seen such as these.
He then ordered that they should plant the umbrellas on the ground in
the sun, and to tell me that when he travelled, and wished to rest,
either he or the queen his wife, they set up one of these umbrellas,
and they rested under their shade, or ate if they required. I sent to
say that the umbrellas were such in greatness and splendour that His
Highness could well repose under the shade of any of them. Then there
came another message to ask if the King of Portugal had got any such
umbrellas. I said that the King of Portugal did not use umbrellas with
a pole, but that he used shades[177] of the fashion of that on my head,
trimmed with brocade or velvet, or satin or other silk, with cords and
tassels of gold, of the fashion that pleased him, and that if he wished
to repose when he travelled he had many palaces and great houses, and
shady places and gardens where he rested, with many infinite adornments
which dispensed with umbrellas, and that it seemed to me that these
umbrellas of the Prester were more for state than from the necessity
of shade. There came another message, that I spoke the truth, and that
these umbrellas had belonged to his grandfather, and had remained in
this church, and that he was ordering them to be sent as a loan to
another church to which we were going. These umbrellas were of so great
a circumference that ten men could very well be under the shade of
each of them. After I had given my answers to the best of my ability,
he sent to ask if I would like to drink wine of grapes or of honey,
or çauna, which is of barley. I sent to ask that they should serve
me with wine of grapes, and that the wine of honey was hot, and the
çauna cold, and not fit for old men; that it should be wine of grapes
or honey, whichever His Highness commanded. He sent a second time to
tell me to declare which I wished for: I sent word I wished for grape
wine. He sent me four jars of wine of honey, telling me to invite the
Franks of old standing who were near the tent, and present at all these
conversations. So he did not choose to send the grape wine which I
asked for. We drank several times, and the rest we sent to our tents.
CAP. XCII.--_Of the travelling of Prester John, and the manner
of his state when he is on the road._
On the 29th day of the said month Prester John sent to say that we
were not to travel, but to go as we should be directed. So we did;
and his travelling was in this manner. In the days that had passed no
one knew where he was going, and the people took up their quarters
wherever they found the white tent pitched, and we settled down each
one in his place, according as it had been before ordained, that is to
say, on the right hand or on the left, far or near: and at the said
tent ceremony was observed as though His Highness was there, but not
so perfect as when he is there: for it is easy to know whether he is
there or not, and that by the service of the pages and other things.
Up to this time sometimes he remained behind us, sometimes he went
on before, as he pleased. Now he began to travel in this manner, that
is, bareheaded, with a crown on his head, surrounded by red curtains
behind and on the sides, in good quantity, full and high: he goes in
the bay,[178] and those who carry the curtain go outside, and carry it
raised up with poles. There go with him inside the curtain six pages
whom they call ‘legamonehos’, which means pages of the halter, and they
go in this manner. The mule carries a rich headstall over the bridle,
and this headstall has at the chin two ends with thick tassels[179] of
silk: and with these ends or tassels go two pages, each on one side,
who lead the mule as if by a halter; two others go, one on each side,
with their hands on the neck of the mule, and two others behind them in
a similar manner, with their hands on the mule’s haunches, or on the
hinder pummel of the saddle. In front of the Prester go twenty pages
on foot, of the principal ones, and in front of these pages go six
horses very handsome and richly caparisoned: with each of these horses
are four men, very smart and well dressed after their fashion. These
four men lead each horse, two at the headstall like the Prester’s mule,
and the other two with their hands on the saddle, one on each side. In
front of these horses go six mules saddled and very well furnished, and
with each one four men, as with the horses. In front of these mules
go twenty gentlemen of high rank dressed in their cloaks, and we the
Portuguese went in front of these gentlemen, for there they assigned
to us our place. No other people--horse, foot, or mule--approach for a
great distance; and if there are any going in front, there are always
runners galloping their horses as long as they do not tire; and if they
founder, they take others, and make the people go apart from the road
a long way off, so that no one shows. The Betudetes go with the men
of the guard a long way off from the road, one on one side, and the
other on the other: and they go at the distance of at least a musket
shot; where there are plains, at times, they go at a distance of half
a league or more, sometimes a league, according as the land lies. If
the road is rocky and shut in by cliffs, so that it is not possible to
pass except all by the same road, one of the Betudetes goes forward
half a league, and the other remains as far behind; the one that goes
forward is he of the right hand side, and he of the rear of the left
hand side. There go with each of these Betudetes more than six thousand
men. Also there go, as I have before said, four lions bound with strong
chains, led before and behind. So also travel the churches, with much
honour and reverence, as has been related. There is another thing
which the Prester always brings wherever he goes, and he does not move
without it--that is, a hundred jars of mead, and each jar contains six
canadas.[180] These jars are black, like jet, very well made, stoppered
with clay and sealed with a seal. Nobody, even though he should be
a great lord, approaches these to ask for or take anything without
leave from the Prester. There also they carry another hundred closed
painted baskets full of bread. These go behind the Prester at no great
distance; men carry these things on their heads. They go one in front
of the other--that is to say, one jar, then one basket; and behind them
come six men who go like officers of the King’s table. When they reach
the Prester’s tent they put it all inside, and he grants of it to whom
he pleases.
CAP. XCIII.--_How the Prester went to the church of Macham
Selasem, and of the procession and reception that they gave
him, and what passed between His Highness and me respecting the
reception._