NARRATIVE OF MEROLLA. 1Q,J 
indeed, Father Benedict, applied himself most di- 
ligently to the task of reducing strayed souls to 
matrimony." Accordingly, he succeeded with 
no less than six hundred ; but it was *' laborious 
" work and he fell, in consequence, into an 
illness, which soon proved fatal. After so unfor- 
tunate an issue, no future missionary seems ever 
to have embarked in the cause with the same ar- 
dent and effectual zeal. 
After a considerable residence in Sogno, our 
author made an excursion into the territory of 
Cacongo, situated on the northern side of the 
Congo. This was an expedition attended with 
considerable danger, as the sovereign and chief 
men of that country still adhered to their ancient 
idolatry. One of the ancestors of the present 
king had fallen a sacrifice to an attem.pt to intro- 
duce the Christian religion into his dominions. 
It was only a very imperfect and perilous tolera- 
tion, therefore, which the missionaries and their 
converts enjoyed. As the prince, however, had 
married a daughter of the Count of Sogno, hopes 
were entertained that he might either be gained 
over, or might at least allow the missionaries to 
reside and carry on their operations unmolested, 
Merolla crossed the Congo, and went first to 
Capinda (Cabenda), in the province of Angou. 
Greatly as he had been scandalized by the con- 
duct of professing Christians on the south of the 
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