THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 33^ 



the miilionary and the ambaffador, was ftill hefitating whe- 

 ther to allow them to proceed, when Manquer,, who fled; 

 from Amelmal, arrived. Aliko, hearing from this in- 

 cendiary, that the father's errand was to bring Portu- 

 guefe that way from India to deflroy the Mahometan faith, 

 as in former times, burflr into fuch violent rage as to 

 threaten the father, and all with him; with death, which 

 nothing but the reality of the king's letters, of which he had 

 got affurance from Baharo, and fome regard to the law of 

 nations, on account of the ambaffador Fecur Egzie, could; 

 have prevented. In the mean time, he put them all in clofe 

 prifon, where feveral of the Portuguefe died. At laft, after 

 a council held, in which Manquer gave his voice for put- 

 ting them to death, a man of fuperior character in that 

 country advifed.the fending them back to ■ Amelmal, the- 

 way that they came ; and this meafure.was accordingly adop- 

 ted. 



They returned, therefore, from Cambat, and thence to • 

 Gorgora, without any fort of advantage to themfelves or to 

 us, only what arifes from that .-opportunity of' rectifying the 

 geography of the country through which they, palled ; and 

 even for this they have, furnifhed but very fcanty materials,, 

 in comparifon of what we might reafonably have expected,,. 

 without having; occafioned any additional, fatigue to them-r- 

 felves. 



We have already faid,' that though Socinios had noc: 

 openly declared his refolution of embracing the Catholic 

 faith, yet he had gone fo far as to declare, uppn the ■ dis- 

 pute -held between the Catholic and fchimiatic clergy, hv 

 his own prefence and that of the Abuna, that the Abymniasi* 



2_ difpiuants-.w 



