316 The Slaver and the Missionary 
The baptism of D. Alvaro I. (1491), the found¬ 
ing of the cathedral at S. Salvador (1534), the ap¬ 
pointment of the Bishop and Chapter, and their 
transfer to Sao Paulo de Loanda (1627), have 
already been alluded to. 
According to Fathers Carli and Merolla, Pope 
Alexander VII. sent twelve to fifteen Capuchins 
and apostolic missioners, who baptized the King 
and Queen of Congo and the Count of Sonho. 
Between a.d. 1490 and 1690 were the palmy 
days of Christianity in Congo-land, and for two 
centuries it was more or less the state religion. 
After this great effort missionary zeal seems to 
have waxed cold, and disestablishment resulted, 
as happens in such cases, from unbelief within and 
violent assaults from without. Under the attacks 
of the Dutch and French the Church seems to 
have lost ground during the eighteenth century. 
In a.d. 1682 the number of propagandists in Sonho 
fell from a father superior and six missioners to 
two (Merolla). In a.d. 1700 James Barbot found 
at Sonho only two Portuguese friars of the Order 
of Bernardins. In a.d. 1768 the Loango Mission 
was established, and in a<d. 1777 the fathers were 
followed by four Italian priests sent by the Pro¬ 
paganda for the purpose of re-christianizing Sonho. 
Embarking at La Rochelle they entered the Nzadi, 
where one died of poison, and the survivors escaped 
only by stratagem. Christianity fell before the 
