480 MOCHA. 
cularly in the reign of Sertza Denghil, the Galla became very 
formidable from their incursions into the southern provinces, and 
about the same time the Turks took possession of Massowa and 
the sea-coast ; in consequence of which, the country was ren- 
dered extremely difficult of access.* At length, in 1599, an 
/adventurous monk named Belchior de Sylva, gained admittance 
in the disguise of a faquier, and continued there alone, till the 
arrival of Peter Paez. The latter, who proved to be a far more 
able man than any other who had been sent into the country, 
entered Abyssinia in 1603,t and in the following year pro- 
ceeded to court, where he shortly gained so complete an ascen- 
dancy over the mind of the reigning prince, as to induce him to 
send letters to Europe with offers of submission to the Roman 
See ; and in a subsequent reign, obtained the grand object for 
which the Jesuits had so long contended ; th^ Emperor Soci- 
nius, his brother, Ras Sela Christos, and all the nobles of the 
court publicly and solemnly proclaiming their adhesion to the 
Roman Catholic Faith. Peter Paez, however, who by his extra- 
ordinary abilities seems to have accomplished this important 
change in the religion of the country, did not long survive to 
witness its effects ; for in the same year he died at Gorgora, 
* One of the fathers belonging to tlie last mission, F. Francis Lopez, is said to have 
survived his companions until so late as 15 97* 
t Mr. Bruce (vide Vol. III. p. 264,) has by mistake attributed the coming of Father 
Paez to the year 1600, and hence has given him great praise for keeping so long from 
Court ; but Father Tellez, who enters minutely into the transactions of these times, posi- 
tively states, that he set out from Mazua on the 5th of May, 1603, giving other parti- 
culars which make the fact indubitable. Vide Lib. IIL Chap. XIIL p. 239. Mr. Bruce 
has also made a similar mistake respecting Belchior da Sylva, whom he calls Melchior 
Sylvanus, whose arrival he fixes to 159^, and return to 1600; whereas he arrived in 
March, 1599, and stayed six years. Vide Tellez, Lib, IIL Chap. XL p. 234. Port, edit. 
