96 DISCOVERIES 01!' THE PORTUGUESE. 
was with extreme reluctance, and only from ne- 
cessity, that she followed the barbarous customs 
of the Giagas ; that she was still a Christian at 
heart, and would prove herself to be so whenever 
circumstances permitted. She shewed extreme 
pleasure in hearing them speak Poi;tuguese, of 
which language she was perfectly mistress. These 
impressions, however, did not produce any fruit 
in the mind of the queen, till she had arrived at 
the mature age of sixty-eight. At that time, the 
accidental sight of a cross is said to have rekind- 
led, in all their energy, the sentiments by which 
she was formerly attached to the Catholic faith. 
She therefore transmitted an application to the 
church of Rome, for missionaries to instruct her- 
self and her subjects in its doctrines. Such was 
the zeal, or such the obedience of the fathers, 
that no dread of this demon in female form pro- 
duced any difficulty in finding men who were 
willing to undertake so formidable a mission. 
Fourteen were accordingly selected, who set sail 
from Cadiz on the 18th July 1654, and arrived 
at Angola on the 18th November. They imme- 
diately began to ascend the Coanza, a deep and 
rapid river, nearly of the magnitude of the Po. 
With difficulty they reached the town of Mas- 
signano, about a hundred miles from its mouth. 
Here the natives shewed the usual readiness, and 
even zeal, to be baptized, and to adopt the out- 
