Cap. ciii.—How Pero de Covilham, Portuguese, is in the country of the Prester, and how he came there, and why he was sent.

I have sometimes spoken of Pero de Covilham, a Portuguese, who is in this country, and have quoted him, and will not desist from quoting him, as he is an honourable person of merit and credit, and it is reasonable that it should be told how he came to this country, and I will relate the cause of it, and what he told me of himself. Firstly, I say that he is my spiritual son, and he told me in confession, and out of it, how thirty-three years had passed that he had not confessed, because he said in this country they do not keep the secret of confession, and he only went to the church and there confessed his sins to God. Besides, he related to me the beginning of his life; first, that he was a native of the town of Covilham in the kingdoms of Portugal, and in his youth he had gone to Castile to live with Don Alfonso, Duke of Seville, and at the beginning of the wars between Portugal and Castile he had come with Juan de Guzman, brother of the said Duke of Seville, to Portugal. This Don Juan had given him to Don Afonzo, King of Portugal, as a groom,[194] and he soon took him as his squire, and he served in that capacity in the said wars, and went with the king to France. When king Don Afonzo died he remained with king Don Joan his son, whom he served as squire of the guard until the treasons, when the king sent him to go about Castile, because he could speak Castilian well, in order to learn who were the gentlemen who had gone there. On his return from Castile, the King Don Joan sent him to Barbary to buy woollen cloths[195] and to make peace with the King of Tremezen; and returning he was again sent to Barbary, to Muley Belagegi, he who sent the remains of the Infante Don Fernando.[196] In this journey he carried goods of the King Don Manuel, who was then Duke, to buy horses for him, because the King Don Joan intended to give him an establishment, and one Pero Afonso, a veterinary, an inhabitant of Tomar, was going to inspect the horses. On this arrival coming from Barbary, it was ordained that one Afonso de Payva, a native of Castel Branco, should come to these parts, and he waited for Pero de Covilham to come together. When he came, the King spoke to him in great secrecy, telling him that he expected a great service of him, because he had always found him a good and faithful servant, and fortunate in his acts and services; and this service was that he and another companion, who was named Afonso de Payva, should both go to discover and learn about Prester John, and where cinnamon is to be found, and the other spices which from those parts went to Venice through the countries of the Moors: and that already he had sent on this journey a man of the house of Monterio, and a friar named frey Antonio, a native of Lisbon, and that they both had arrived at Jerusalem, and that they had returned thence, saying that it was not possible to go to those countries without knowing Arabic, and therefore he requested Pero de Covilham to accept this journey and to do this service with the said Afonso de Payva. To which Pero de Covilham answered, that he regretted that his capacity was not greater, so great was his desire to serve His Highness, and that he accepted the journey with ready willingness. They were despatched from Santarem on the 7th of May of 1487; King Don Manuel, who was then Duke, was present, and gave them a map for navigating, taken from the map of the world, and it had been made by the Licentiate Calçadilha, who is Bishop of Viseu, and the doctor mestre Rodrigo, inhabitant of Pedras negras, and the doctor mestre Moyses, at that time a Jew, and this map was made in the house of Pero d’Alcaçova; and the King gave four hundred ducats[197] for the expenses of both of them, which he gave out of the chest of the expenses of the garden of Almeirim, the King Don Manuel, then Duke, being present at all this. The King Don Joan also gave him a letter of credence for all the countries and provinces in the world, so that in case he saw himself in danger or necessity, this letter of the King’s might succour him:[198] and in the presence of the Duke he gave them his blessing. Of the said four hundred ducats they took a part for their expenses, and the rest they placed in the hands of Bartolomeu, a Florentine, for it to be given to them in Valencia. Setting out, they travelled and arrived at Barcelona on the day of Corpus Domini: and they changed their route from Barcelona to Naples, and they arrived at Naples on St. John’s day, and their journey was given them by the sons of Cosmo de Medicis; and from there they passed to Rhodes; and he says that at this time there were not more than two Portuguese in Rhodes, one was named frey Gonzalo, and the other frey Fernando, and they lodged with these. From here they passed to Alexandria in a ship of Bartolomeu de Paredes: and in order to pass as merchants, they bought much honey, and they arrived at Alexandria. Here both the companions fell ill of fevers; and all their honey was taken by the Naib of Alexandria, thinking that they were dying, and God gave them health, and they paid them at their pleasure. Here they bought other merchandise and went to Cairo. Here they remained until they found some Moghreby Moors of Fez and Tremecem, who were going to Aden, and they went with them to Tor, and there they embarked and went to Suaquem, which is on the coast of Abyssinia; and thence they went to Aden, and because it was the time of the monsoon, the companions separated, and Afonso de Payva went to the country of Ethiopia, and Pero de Covilham to India, agreeing that at a certain time they should both meet in Cairo to come and give an account of what they had found to the King. And Pero de Covilham departed thence and came to Cananor, and thence to Calicut, and from there he turned back to Goa, and went to Ormuz, and returned to Tor and Cairo in search of his companion, and he found that he was dead. Whilst he was about to set out on the way to Portugal, he had news that there were there two Portuguese Jews who were going about in search of him; and by great cleverness they heard about each other, and when they had met, they gave him letters from the King of Portugal. These Jews were named, one, Rabbi Abraham, a native of Beja, the other, Josef, a native of Lamego, and he was a shoemaker. This shoemaker had been in Babilonia, and had heard news or information of the city of Ormuz, and had related it to King Don Joan, with which news, he said, the King had been much pleased. And Rabbi Abraham had sworn to the King that he would not return to Portugal without seeing Ormuz with his own eyes. When the letters had been given and read, their contents were, that if all the things for which they had come were seen, discovered, and learned, that they should return and welcome, and they should receive great favours: and if all were not found and discovered, they were to send word of what they had found, and to labour to learn the rest; and chiefly they were to go and see and learn about the great King Prester John, and to show the city of Ormuz to the Rabbi Abraham. Besides the letters, these Jews made requisitions to Pero de Covilham that he should go and learn about Prester John, and show the city of Ormuz to Rabbi Abraham. Here he at once wrote by the shoemaker of Lamego, how he had discovered cinnamon and pepper in the city of Calicut, and that cloves came from beyond, but that all could be had there; and that he had been in the cities of Cananor, Calicut, and Goa, all on the coast, and to this they could navigate by their coast and the seas of Guinea, coming to make the coast of Sofala, to which he had also gone, or a great island which the Moors call the island of the moon; they say that it has three hundred leagues of coast, and that from each of these lands one can fetch the coast of Calicut. Having sent this message to the King by the Jew of Lamego, Pero de Covilham went with the other Jew of Beja to Aden, and thence to Ormuz, and left him there, and returned thence and came to Jiddah and Mekkah and El Medina, where lies buried the Zancarron,[199] and from thence to Mount Sinai. Having seen all well he again embarked at Tor and went as far as outside the strait to the city of Zeila, and thence travelled by land until he reached Prester John, who is very near to Zeila; and he came to the Court, and gave his letters to the King Alexander, who then reigned, and he said that he received them with much pleasure and joy, and said that he would send him to his country with much honour. About this time he died, and his brother Nahum reigned, who also received him with much favour, and when he asked leave to go he would not give it. And Nahum died, and his son David reigned, who now reigns; and he says he also asked him for leave and he would not give it, saying that he had not come in his time, and his predecessors had given him lands and lordships to rule and enjoy, and that leave he could not give him, and so the matter remained. This Pero de Covilham is a man who knows all the languages that can be spoken, both of Christians, Moors, and Gentiles, and who knows all the things for which he was sent; moreover he gives an account of them as if they were present before him.

Cap. civ.—How Prester John determined to write to the King and to the Captain-major, and how he behaved with the ambassador and with the Franks who were in his country, and of the decision as to departure.

I return to our journey, or history of us who were in the tent in which they gave us a banquet. From this time forward Prester John’s scribes did not cease from writing the letters which we were to carry for the King of Portugal and his captain-major: and they spent a long time over them, because their usage is not to write one to another, and their messages, communications, and embassages, are all by word of mouth. With us they began to acquire the manner of writing, and when they were writing, all the books of the epistles of St. Paul, of St. Peter, and St. James were present, and those that they esteemed as the most lettered studied them, and then began to write their letters in their Abyssinian language, and other letters in Arabic, and also others in our Portuguese language, which the friar who had guided us read in Abyssinian, and Pero de Covilham turned them into Portuguese, and Joam Escolar, the clerk of the embassy, wrote them, and I, who, by order of the Prester, assisted in arranging the language, and it is very laborious to translate the Abyssinian language into Portuguese: thus the letters were made for the King our Sovereign in three languages, Abyssinian, Arabic, and Portuguese; and likewise for the captain-major; and all of them in duplicate, that is to say, two in Abyssinian, two in Arabic, and two in Portuguese. And they go by two ways, that is to say, one in Abyssinian, one in Arabic, and one in Portuguese, in one bag of brocade, and three others of the same sort in another little bag: so also those for the captain-major go in two little bags. These letters are all written on sheets of parchment. On Monday, the 11th of February of the year 1521, Prester John sent to call the ambassador and all that were with him, and also the Franks who had come before. While we were a good space in front of the doors of his tent, the Prester sent to the first arrived Franks rich cloths of brocade and silk, that is to say, damask, of which three pieces came, and besides he sent thirty ounces of gold to be divided amongst all, and they were thirteen, so that each had two ounces and four to be divided amongst all. We, seeing how well they did for those Franks, who had come to them as runaways, thought that they would do better for us, and we made sure that they had prepared for us dresses of brocade. Messages were going and coming, and during this his great Betudete, who is the lord of the left hand wing, came and brought to me a cross of silver, and a crozier wrought with inlaid work, saying that the Prester sent it to me as the title and possession of the lordship which he had given me. Having received the cross and crozier we again sat down. As all the messages which went and came were about friendship between the ambassador and Jorge d’Abreu, again another time a message returned that the ambassador should be a friend to Jorge d’Abreu, and that we should all travel together as we had come. The ambassador replied that he was not going to be his friend, nor to travel where he was, but rather he begged of His Highness to keep him at his Court two months after his departure, because he sought to kill him. Upon this a message came that the Prester ordered thirty mules to carry our baggage, and that eight of these should be given for the baggage of Jorge d’Abreu, and those who were with him; and saying, besides, that he sent thirty ounces of gold for the ambassador, and fifty for those that accompanied him, and that Jorge d’Abreu, and those that were with him, were to have their share of it: and that he sent a hundred loads of flour, and as many horns of mead for the road; and that we were to be entrusted to certain captains, who would conduct us from one country to another as far as the sea; that is to say, each one through his own lands: and that they were not to annoy or injure the cultivators who were poor, for we had told him that when we came, they destroyed the people of the country: and these captains were to give us all that was necessary. Then we were entrusted to the sons of the Cabeata, because we had to travel a good deal through the lands of the Cabeata, which are of the church of the Trinity, to which the remains of the Prester’s father were removed. And this church had from its beginning four hundred canons, and a son of the Cabeata is “licanete”, which means the office which Caiaphas held when they brought Christ before him, that is to say, high priest or judge that year. And the Cabeata is head in this church, and in the other churches of this kingdom, which all belong to the kings, and his title and style means head over the heads. And this head remains over all like a bishopric.

Cap. cv.—How the Prester sent to the ambassador thirty ounces of gold and fifty for those that came with him, and a crown and letters for the King of Portugal, and letters for the Captain-major, and how we left the Court and of the road we took.

This day, in the afternoon, there came to our tent thirty ounces of gold for the ambassador and fifty for us: and with them came a large crown of gold and silver which belonged to Prester John; and its value is not so great as its size. It was brought in a round basket lined inside with cloth and outside with leather. This crown was presented by Abdenagus, page and captain of the pages, and it was stated by him that Prester John sent that crown to the King of Portugal, and to tell him that a crown was never removed except from father to son, and that he was his son, and he took it off his head and sent it to the King of Portugal, who was like his father, and that he sent it as a present; and as a crown was a precious thing, by it he presented and offered all favour and assistance and succour of men, gold, and provisions which might be necessary for his fortresses and fleets, and for the wars he might please to make against the Moors in these parts, from the Red Sea as far as the Holy House.[200] And because the dresses did not come which we knew were already made, some of our people murmured, and those who had brought these things heard it, and said that Prester John was much vexed with the ambassador because two days before he had ordered to strike and cudgel close to his tent a Portuguese who was named Magalhāes, and who had betaken himself to Jorge d’Abreu; and that he was also vexed because he would not be friends with Jorge d’Abreu, and that he was despatching us with much reserve, and that we were not to expect dresses, nor anything else, and that we should lose much for what has been related.

On Tuesday, the 12th of February, which was our Shrove Tuesday, the friar who had guided us came, and he brought the letters for the King and for the captain-major, for as yet they had not been delivered to the ambassador, nor did the Prester send an ambassador. The letters came in this manner; before those which were for the King were in two bags, and now they changed them into three, because there were three of each language, and they had separated one of each language, and had made three bags; and for the captain-major there were two bags, as there were before, and all were of brocade. All five came placed in a basket lined with cloth inside and with leather outside. Then he took out the bags and showed that they were closed and sealed, and having shown them, again put them into the basket, and sealed its fastenings, and said to the ambassador that we might go whenever we pleased as we were entirely despatched. The ambassador replied to the friar that he wished to speak again to the Prester John before his departure, if His Highness should be so pleased. The friar and those that came with him said that the Prester had gone away that morning early, which we knew was true, and they said that he was very discontented with the ambassador because he so ill-treated men, and because he would not be a friend of Jorge d’Abreu, and for other things which he kept to himself, and that we might depart in peace, and that mestre Joam and the painter should remain in the country; as in effect they did remain. Seeing that we were thus despatched, we began to make ready to start as soon as we could, and the friar came with the thirty mules they were giving us for the journey, and with many horns in which to carry wine for the journey. When they promised them we thought that they would give them full of wine, and they came empty, and they said that the Prester said that notwithstanding that they did not drink wine during Lent, since it was our custom to drink it, that the gentlemen who conducted us would give it to us, that so it had been ordered. With respect to the mules, they at once set aside eight for Jorge d’Abreu and his companions, and also his share of the horns. Upon this some of us went to the market to buy what they wanted for the road, and on this account we were giving up our departure till another day, as it was already late, when so great a wind fell upon us that it broke the tent ropes, and the whole of it came to the ground. When we saw this and how we were left in the open, all of us that were there began to call out: “Come, come, let us be going, since they send us, let us go in peace.” So we set out from the Court this day, which was our Shrove Tuesday, and went to sleep in a field a distance of a league from the Court. There came with us and in our company Pero de Covilham, with his wife and some of his sons, and the friar came with Jorge d’Abreu, almost like his guard, and they took up their quarters apart from us.