DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 75 
The sovereign of that country, we are assured, on 
learning the first voyage of Diego Cam along his 
coast, was inflamed with such pious zeal, that he sent 
an embassy to Mina, requesting missionaries to in- 
struct him and his court in the Christian religion. 
This request, if it really was made, did not appear 
one to be slighted. The king sent an expedition un- 
der Fernando del Po, who explored the coast of Be- 
nin, and gave his name to the large island at the 
mouth of the Rio Formosa. He was well received 
by the king, established a factory at Gatton, and 
built a church, which was attended by more than 
a thousand of the natives. Here the following in- 
telligence was obtained : Twenty moo?is, which, 
according to their rate of travelling, might be 
two hundred and fifty leagues to the east of the 
kingdom, there was a powerful king called Qgane> 
who was held, by the Pagan chiefs around Benin* 
in the same veneration that the sovereign pontiff 
was held in Europe. According to a long esta- 
blished custom, at the death of any king of Be- 
nin, the successor sent ambassadors to him with a 
large present, entreating to be confirmed in the 
territory of which he was now the rightful heir. The 
Prince Ogane then gave them a staff^ and a co- 
vering for the head, similar to a Spanish helmet, 
all of glittering brass, to represent a sceptre and a 
crown. He sent also a cross of the same brass 
