58 
DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
maintained their importance in this quarter, were 
respected, and even courted by the neighbouring 
princes. But when, in their indefatigable search 
after Prester John, they ventured deeper into the 
interior, they did not always experience equal 
courtesy. From the fortress of Mina, on the 
Gold Coast, a message was sent to a very power- 
ful Moorish prince called Mohammed, sovereign 
of a country which is not named, but which is 
said to lie in the parallel of Cape Palmas, about a 
hundred and forty leagues in the interior. This 
prince, in reply to the compliments of the Portu- 
guese monarch, replied, that he had never heard 
of any powerful kings in the world except four ; 
which were, the King of Cairo, the King of Ali- 
maem, the King of Baldac, and the King of Tu- 
curol. He added, that of the four thousand, four 
hundred, and four kings, of which he was the lineal 
descendant, not one^ had ever received or sent an 
embassy to any Christian prince ; and that he had 
no intention to introduce any innovation in that 
respect. The ambassadors, upon receiving this 
answer, lost no time in taking their departure. 
Nothing, however, could damp the zeal of the 
Portuguese monarch, to discover the habitation of 
Prester John. He sent a body into the interior 
from Arguin to form a factory at Huadem (Ho- 
dem), distant about seventy leagues from the coast. 
They were directed to make diligent inquiry of 
