so DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
the obstacle which they had to encounter was real 
and almost insurmountable. From this cause, a 
violent persecution arose against thein in the 
states, both of the king and of the Count of Sogno. 
They succeeded, however, it does not exactly ap- 
pear how, in appeasing it, and in re-establishing 
themselves on a friendly footing with these po- 
tentates. Being now reinforced by a new body 
of Capuchins, they determined to undertake mis- 
sions into the interior, particularly to the countries 
extending upwards along the Congo. 
The Fathers Gabriel and Antony undertook the 
mission to Batta, the province nearest to the capi- 
tal. It is situated, not immediately upon the 
Congo, but with its frontier extending parallel to 
that river, at the distance of twenty or thirty miles 
from the southern shore. This is one of the most 
fertile and populous districts of the kingdom ; 
and the inhabitants, who are called Mosombos, 
are said to be the mildest and most humane of all 
its inhabitants. The duke, as he is termed, main- 
tains a court, the splendour of which almost rivals 
that of the king. His army is estimated at seven- 
ty or eighty thousand men ; and he is allowed, on 
account of the vicinity of barbarous nations to the 
east, to keep a company of musqueteers ; a privi- 
lege not indulged to any of the other dependencies 
of the throne of Congo. 
The missionaries, on their way, found the roads 
