84« DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
much disposition to embrace their doctrine ; on 
the contrary, their preaching, their foreign aspect, 
and their ignorance of the country, afforded often 
subjects of merriment to the rustic inhabitants. 
A favourite entertainment seems to have been, to 
call to them that wild beasts were approaching, 
which could only be escaped by flying to the tops 
of trees, and to observe the vain attempts of the 
missionaries to perform that feat of agility. It 
was only by producing the orders of the duke that 
they were able to command a temporary submis- 
sion. On their return to Batta they found a dis- 
mal change. The duke, taking advantage of their 
absence, had re-established his seraglio, on an aug- 
mented scale, and all the chiefs were hastening to 
follow his example. This relapse proved much 
more obstinate than the original malady ; and be- 
fore there could be time for effecting any reform, 
he was sent for to the court of Congo. All the 
men in a condition to travel followed him, and the 
women shut themselves up during the absence of 
their husbands. Batta became a desert ; so that 
the missionaries had nothing left but to return to 
San Salvador, which terminated this mission. 
Pango is a district, the situation of which has 
been very variously reported ; but D'Anville, who 
proceeded usually upon sure information, extends 
it upwards, along the banks of the Congo, from 
the province in which the capital is situated, to 
