130 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE, 
they never quitted their hold till they burst. At 
length he arrived at Bomaj a large and populous 
island in the Congo. He was received, not very 
courteously, by the Mani, who admitted him in- 
deed into his presence, but on condition that no 
contact should take place, lest it should destroy 
the virtue of the numerous enchanted brass and 
iron rings with which he was covered. The 
prince was also displeased with his refusal to bap- 
tize a female slave, with whom he lived on a very 
intimate footing. In the evening, Merolla was 
seized with violent pains in the bowels, which 
convinced him that he had been poisoned ; 
though there does not appear, in the symptoms 
and circumstances, very much to favour such a 
supposition. In a few days he was entirely re- 
covered, and sent to the Mani to request a boat. 
That officer replied, that if Merolla stood in need 
of a boat, he himself was in equal want of a cloak* 
In this remark there was nothing obscure to Me- 
rolla, who was aware that the prince knew him 
to be possessed of two handsome pieces of cotton 
cloth. He therefore sent one, stating, that the 
other was reserved for the service of God. The 
prince returned for answer, that the boat also 
was for the service of God ; so that our traveller 
had no resource, but to deliver up both the pieces. 
The accommodation for which he was compelled 
to pay thus liberally, consisted merely in ferrying 
