Book: A Voyage to Abyssinia

F >> Father Jerome Lobo >> A Voyage to Abyssinia




We had a dispute with our guides, who though they had bargained to
conduct us for an ounce of gold, yet when they saw us so entangled
in the intricacies of the wood that we could not possibly get out
without their direction, demanded seven ounces of gold, a mule, and
a little tent which we had; after a long dispute we were forced to
come to their terms. We continued to travel all night, and to hide
ourselves in the woods all day: and here it was that we met the
three hundred elephants I spoke of before. We made long marches,
travelling without any halt from four in the afternoon to eight in
the morning.

Arriving at a valley where travellers seldom escape being plundered,
we were obliged to double our pace, and were so happy as to pass it
without meeting with any misfortune, except that we heard a bird
sing on our left hand--a certain presage among these people of some
great calamity at hand. As there is no reasoning them out of
superstition, I knew no way of encouraging them to go forward but
what I had already made use of on the same occasion, assuring them
that I heard one at the same time on the right. They were happily
so credulous as to take my word, and we went on till we came to a
well, where we stayed awhile to refresh ourselves. Setting out
again in the evening, we passed so near a village where these
robbers had retreated that the dogs barked after us. Next morning
we joined the fathers, who waited for us. After we had rested
ourselves some time in that mountain, we resolved to separate and go
two and two, to seek for a more convenient place where we might hide
ourselves. We had not gone far before we were surrounded by a troop
of robbers, with whom, by the interest of some of the natives who
had joined themselves to our caravan, we came to a composition,
giving them part of our goods to permit us to carry away the rest;
and after this troublesome adventure arrived at a place something
more commodious than that which we had quitted, where we met with
bread, but of so pernicious a quality that, after having ate it, we
were intoxicated to so great a degree that one of my friends, seeing
me so disordered, congratulated my good fortune of having met with
such good wine, and was surprised when I gave him an account of the
whole affair. He then offered me some curdled milk, very sour, with
barley-meal, which we boiled, and thought it the best entertainment
we had met with a long time.



Chapter XIV



They are betrayed into the hands of the Turks; are detained awhile
at Mazna; are threatened by the Bassa of Suaquem. They agree for
their ransom, and are part of them dismissed.


Some time after, we received news that we should prepare ourselves
to serve the Turks--a message which filled us with surprise, it
having never been known that one of these lords had ever abandoned
any whom he had taken under his protection; and it is, on the
contrary, one of the highest points of honour amongst them to risk
their fortunes and their lives in the defence of their dependants
who have implored their protection. But neither law nor justice was
of any advantage to us, and the customs of the country were doomed
to be broken when they would have contributed to our security.

We were obliged to march in the extremity of the hot season, and had
certainly perished by the fatigue had we not entered the woods,
which shaded us from the scorching sun. The day before our arrival
at the place where we were to be delivered to the Turks, we met with
five elephants, that pursued us, and if they could have come to us
would have prevented the miseries we afterwards endured, but God had
decreed otherwise.

On the morrow we came to the banks of a river, where we found
fourscore Turks that waited for us, armed with muskets. They let us
rest awhile, and then put us into the hands of our new masters, who,
setting us upon camels, conducted us to Mazna. Their commander,
seeming to be touched with our misfortunes, treated us with much
gentleness and humanity; he offered us coffee, which we drank, but
with little relish. We came next day to Mazna, in so wretched a
condition that we were not surprised at being hooted by the boys,
but thought ourselves well used that they threw no stones at us.

As soon as we were brought hither, all we had was taken from us, and
we were carried to the governor, who is placed there by the Bassa of
Suaquem. Having been told by the Abyssins that we had carried all
the gold out of Aethiopia, they searched us with great exactness,
but found nothing except two chalices, and some relics of so little
value that we redeemed them for six sequins. As I had given them my
chalice upon their first demand, they did not search me, but gave us
to understand that they expected to find something of greater value,
which either we must have hidden or the Abyssins must have imposed
on them. They left us the rest of the day at a gentleman's house,
who was our friend, from whence the next day they fetched us to
transport us to the island, where they put us into a kind of prison,
with a view of terrifying us into a confession of the place where we
had hid our gold, in which, however, they found themselves deceived.

But I had here another affair upon my hands which was near costing
me dear. My servant had been taken from me and left at Mazna, to be
sold to the Arabs. Being advertised by him of the danger he was in,
I laid claim to him, without knowing the difficulties which this way
of proceeding would bring upon me. The governor sent me word that
my servant should be restored to me upon payment of sixty piastres;
and being answered by me that I had not a penny for myself, and
therefore could not pay sixty piastres to redeem my servant, he
informed me by a renegade Jew, who negotiated the whole affair, that
either I must produce the money or receive a hundred blows of the
battoon. Knowing that those orders are without appeal, and always
punctually executed, I prepared myself to receive the correction I
was threatened with, but unexpectedly found the people so charitable
as to lend me the money. By several other threats of the same kind
they drew from us about six hundred crowns.

On the 24th of June we embarked in two galleys for Suaquem, where
the bassa resided. His brother, who was his deputy at Mazna, made
us promise before we went that we would not mention the money he had
squeezed from us. The season was not very proper for sailing, and
our provisions were but short. In a little time we began to feel
the want of better stores, and thought ourselves happy in meeting
with a gelve, which, though small, was a much better sailer than our
vessel, in which I was sent to Suaquem to procure camels and
provisions. I was not much at my ease, alone among six Mahometans,
and could not help apprehending that some zealous pilgrim of Mecca
might lay hold on this opportunity, in the heat of his devotion, of
sacrificing me to his prophet.

These apprehensions were without ground. I contracted an
acquaintance, which was soon improved into a friendship, with these
people; they offered me part of their provisions, and I gave them
some of mine. As we were in a place abounding with oysters--some of
which were large and good to eat, others more smooth and shining, in
which pearls are found--they gave me some of those they gathered;
but whether it happened by trifling our time away in oyster-
catching, or whether the wind was not favourable, we came to Suaquem
later than the vessel I had left, in which were seven of my
companions.

As they had first landed, they had suffered the first transports of
the bassa's passion, who was a violent, tyrannical man, and would
have killed his own brother for the least advantage--a temper which
made him fly into the utmost rage at seeing us poor, tattered, and
almost naked; he treated us with the most opprobrious language, and
threatened to cut off our heads. We comforted ourselves in this
condition, hoping that all our sufferings would end in shedding our
blood for the name of Jesus Christ. We knew that the bassa had
often made a public declaration before our arrival that he should
die contented if he could have the pleasure of killing us all with
his own hand. This violent resolution was not lasting; his zeal
gave way to his avarice, and he could not think of losing so large a
sum as he knew he might expect for our ransom: he therefore sent us
word that it was in our choice either to die, or to pay him thirty
thousand crowns, and demanded to know our determination.

We knew that his ardent thirst of our blood was now cold, that time
and calm reflection and the advice of his friends had all conspired
to bring him to a milder temper, and therefore willingly began to
treat with him. I told the messenger, being deputed by the rest to
manage the affair, that he could not but observe the wretched
condition we were in, that we had neither money nor revenues, that
what little we had was already taken from us, and that therefore all
we could promise was to set a collection on foot, not much doubting
but that our brethren would afford us such assistance as might
enable us to make him a handsome present according to custom.

This answer was not at all agreeable to the bassa, who returned an
answer that he would be satisfied with twenty thousand crowns,
provided we paid them on the spot, or gave him good securities for
the payment. To this we could only repeat what we had said before:
he then proposed to abate five thousand of his last demand, assuring
us that unless we came to some agreement, there was no torment so
cruel but we should suffer it, and talked of nothing but impaling
and flaying us alive; the terror of these threatenings was much
increased by his domestics, who told us of many of his cruelties.
This is certain, that some time before, he had used some poor pagan
merchants in that manner, and had caused the executioner to begin to
flay them, when some Brahmin, touched with compassion, generously
contributed the sum demanded for their ransom. We had no reason to
hope for so much kindness, and, having nothing of our own, could
promise no certain sum.

At length some of his favourites whom he most confided in, knowing
his cruelty and our inability to pay what he demanded, and
apprehending that, if he should put us to the death he threatened,
they should soon see the fleets of Portugal in the Red Sea, laying
their towns in ashes to revenge it, endeavoured to soften his
passion and preserve our lives, offering to advance the sum we
should agree for, without any other security than our words. By
this assistance, after many interviews with the bassa's agents, we
agreed to pay four thousand three hundred crowns, which were
accepted on condition that they should be paid down, and we should
go on board within two hours: but, changing his resolution on a
sudden, he sent us word by his treasurer that two of the most
considerable among us should stay behind for security, while the
rest went to procure the money they promised. They kept the
patriarch and two more fathers, one of which was above fourscore
years old, in whose place I chose to remain prisoner, and
represented to the bassa that, being worn out with age, he perhaps
might die in his hands, which would lose the part of the ransom
which was due on his account; that therefore it would be better to
choose a younger in his place, offering to stay myself with him,
that the good old man might be set at liberty.

The bassa agreed to another Jesuit, and it pleased Heaven that the
lot fell upon Father Francis Marquez. I imagined that I might with
the same ease get the patriarch out of his hand, but no sooner had I
begun to speak but the anger flashed in his eyes, and his look was
sufficient to make me stop and despair of success. We parted
immediately, leaving the patriarch and two fathers in prison, whom
we embraced with tears, and went to take up our lodging on board the
vessel.



Chapter XV



Their treatment on board the vessel. Their reception at Diou. The
author applies to the viceroy for assistance, but without success;
he is sent to solicit in Europe.


Our condition here was not much better than that of the illustrious
captives whom we left behind. We were in an Arabian ship, with a
crew of pilgrims of Mecca, with whom it was a point of religion to
insult us. We were lodged upon the deck, exposed to all the
injuries of the weather, nor was there the meanest workman or sailor
who did not either kick or strike us. When we went first on board,
I perceived a humour in my finger, which I neglected at first, till
it spread over my hand and swelled up my arm, afflicting me with the
most horrid torture. There was neither surgeon nor medicines to be
had, nor could I procure anything to ease my pain but a little oil,
with which I anointed my arm, and in time found some relief. The
weather was very bad, and the wind almost always against us, and, to
increase our perplexity, the whole crew, though Moors, were in the
greatest apprehension of meeting any of those vessels which the
Turks maintain in the strait of Babelmandel; the ground of their
fear was that the captain had neglected the last year to touch at
Moca, though he had promised. Thus we were in danger of falling
into a captivity perhaps more severe than that we had just escaped
from. While we were wholly engaged with these apprehensions, we
discovered a Turkish ship and galley were come upon us. It was
almost calm--at least, there was not wind enough to give us any
prospect of escaping--so that when the galley came up to us, we
thought ourselves lost without remedy, and had probably fallen into
their hands had not a breeze sprung up just in the instant of
danger, which carried us down the channel between the mainland and
the isle of Babelmandel. I have already said that this passage is
difficult and dangerous, which, nevertheless, we passed in the
night, without knowing what course we held, and were transported at
finding ourselves next morning out of the Red Sea and half a league
from Babelmandel. The currents are here so violent that they
carried us against our will to Cape Guardafui, where we sent our
boats ashore for fresh water, which we began to be in great want of.
The captain refused to give us any when we desired some, and treated
us with great insolence, till, coming near the land, I spoke to him
in a tone more lofty and resolute than I had ever done, and gave him
to understand that when he touched at Diou he might have occasion
for our interest. This had some effect upon him, and procured us a
greater degree of civility than we had met with before.

At length after forty days' sailing we landed at Diou, where we were
met by the whole city, it being reported that the patriarch was one
of our number; for there was not a gentleman who was not impatient
to have the pleasure of beholding that good man, now made famous by
his labours and sufferings. It is not in my power to represent the
different passions they were affected with at seeing us pale,
meagre, without clothes--in a word, almost naked and almost dead
with fatigue and ill-usage. They could not behold us in that
miserable condition without reflecting on the hardships we had
undergone, and our brethren then underwent, in Suaquem and
Abyssinia. Amidst their thanks to God for our deliverance, they
could not help lamenting the condition of the patriarch and the
other missionaries who were in chains, or, at least, in the hands of
professed enemies to our holy religion. All this did not hinder
them from testifying in the most obliging manner their joy for our
deliverance, and paying such honours as surprised the Moors, and
made them repent in a moment of the ill-treatment they had shown us
on board. One who had discovered somewhat more humanity than the
rest thought himself sufficiently honoured when I took him by the
hand and presented him to the chief officer of the custom house, who
promised to do all the favours that were in his power.

When we passed by in sight of the fort, they gave us three salutes
with their cannon, an honour only paid to generals. The chief men
of the city, who waited for us on the shore, accompanied us through
a crowd of people, whom curiosity had drawn from all parts of our
college. Though our place of residence at Diou is one of the most
beautiful in all the Indies, we stayed there only a few days, and as
soon as we had recovered our fatigues went on board the ships that
were appointed to convoy the northern fleet. I was in the
admiral's. We arrived at Goa in some vessels bound for Camberia:
here we lost a good old Abyssin convert, a man much valued in his
order, and who was actually prior of his convent when he left
Abyssinia, choosing rather to forsake all for religion than to leave
the way of salvation, which God had so mercifully favoured him with
the knowledge of.

We continued our voyage, and almost without stopping sailed by
Surate and Damam, where the rector of the college came to see us,
but so sea-sick that the interview was without any satisfaction on
either side. Then landing at Bazaim we were received by our fathers
with their accustomed charity, and nothing was thought of but how to
put the unpleasing remembrance of our past labours out of our minds.
Finding here an order of the Father Provineta to forbid those who
returned from the missions to go any farther, it was thought
necessary to send an agent to Goa with an account of the revolutions
that had happened in Abyssinia and of the imprisonment of the
patriarch. For this commission I was made choice of; and, I know
not by what hidden degree of Providence, almost all affairs,
whatever the success of them was, were transacted by me. All the
coasts were beset by Dutch cruisers, which made it difficult to sail
without running the hazard of being taken. I went therefore by land
from Bazaim to Tana, where we had another college, and from thence
to our house of Chaul. Here I hired a narrow light vessel, and,
placing eighteen oars on a side, went close by the shore from Chaul
to Goa, almost eighty leagues. We were often in danger of being
taken, and particularly when we touched at Dabal, where a cruiser
blocked up one of the channels through which ships usually sail; but
our vessel requiring no great depth of water, and the sea running
high, we went through the little channel, and fortunately escaped
the cruiser. Though we were yet far from Goa, we expected to arrive
there on the next morning, and rowed forward with all the diligence
we could. The sea was calm and delightful, and our minds were at
ease, for we imagined ourselves past danger; but soon found we had
flattered ourselves too soon with security, for we came within sight
of several barks of Malabar, which had been hid behind a point of
land which we were going to double. Here we had been inevitably
taken had not a man called to us from the shore and informed us that
among those fishing-boats there, some crusiers would make us a
prize. We rewarded our kind informer for the service he had done
us, and lay by till night came to shelter us from our enemies. Then
putting out our oars we landed at Goa next morning about ten, and
were received at our college. It being there a festival day, each
had something extraordinary allowed him; the choicest part of our
entertainments was two pilchers, which were admired because they
came from Portugal.

The quiet I began to enjoy did not make me lose the remembrance of
my brethren whom I had left languishing among the rocks of
Abyssinia, or groaning in the prisons of Suaquem, whom since I could
not set at liberty without the viceroy's assistance, I went to
implore it, and did not fail to make use of every motive which could
have any influence.

I described in the most pathetic manner I could the miserable state
to which the Catholic religion was reduced in a country where it had
lately flourished so much by the labours of the Portuguese; I gave
him in the strongest terms a representation of all that we had
suffered since the death of Sultan Segued, how we had been driven
out of Abyssinia, how many times they had attempted to take away our
lives, in what manner we had been betrayed and given up to the
Turks, the menaces we had been terrified with, the insults we had
endured; I laid before him the danger the patriarch was in of being
either impaled or flayed alive; the cruelty, insolence and avarice
of the Bassa of Suaquem, and the persecution that the Catholics
suffered in Aethiopia. I exhorted, I implored him by everything I
thought might move him, to make some attempt for the preservation of
those who had voluntarily sacrificed their lives for the sake of
God. I made it appear with how much ease the Turks might be driven
out of the Red Sea, and the Portuguese enjoy all the trade of those
countries. I informed him of the navigation of that sea, and the
situation of its ports; told him which it would be necessary to make
ourselves masters of first, that we might upon any unfortunate
encounter retreat to them. I cannot deny that some degree of
resentment might appear in my discourse; for, though revenge be
prohibited to Christians, I should not have been displeased to have
had the Bassa of Suaquem and his brother in my hands, that I might
have reproached them with the ill-treatment we had met with from
them. This was the reason of my advising to make the first attack
upon Mazna, to drive the Turks from thence, to build a citadel, and
garrison it with Portuguese.

The viceroy listened with great attention to all I had to say, gave
me a long audience, and asked me many questions. He was well
pleased with the design of sending a fleet into that sea, and, to
give a greater reputation to the enterprise, proposed making his son
commander-in-chief, but could by no means be brought to think of
fixing garrisons and building fortresses there; all he intended was
to plunder all they could, and lay the towns in ashes.

I left no art of persuasion untried to convince him that such a
resolution would injure the interests of Christianity, that to enter
the Red Sea only to ravage the coasts would so enrage the Turks that
they would certainly massacre all the Christian captives, and for
ever shut the passage into Abyssinia, and hinder all communication
with that empire. It was my opinion that the Portuguese should
first establish themselves at Mazna, and that a hundred of them
would be sufficient to keep the fort that should be built. He made
an offer of only fifty, and proposed that we should collect those
few Portuguese who were scattered over Abyssinia. These measures I
could not approve.

At length, when it appeared that the viceroy had neither forces nor
authority sufficient for this undertaking, it was agreed that I
should go immediately into Europe, and represent at Rome and Madrid
the miserable condition of the missions of Abyssinia. The viceroy
promised that if I could procure any assistance, he would command in
person the fleet and forces raised for the expedition, assuring that
he thought he could not employ his life better than in a war so
holy, and of so great an importance, to the propagation of the
Catholic faith.

Encouraged by this discourse of the viceroy, I immediately prepared
myself for a voyage to Lisbon, not doubting to obtain upon the least
solicitation everything that was necessary to re-establish our
mission.

Never had any man a voyage so troublesome as mine, or interrupted
with such variety of unhappy accidents; I was shipwrecked on the
coast of Natal, I was taken by the Hollanders, and it is not easy to
mention the danger which I was exposed to both by land and sea
before I arrived at Portugal.

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