Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 3.5.2

3.5.2

There seemed to me something extremely base and wicked in these proceedings, on the part of a Christian ambassador, acting in the name of a Christian King. They afforded but too satisfactory a confirmation of the account I had received at Moka of the low ebb to which Christianity is reduced in the kingdom of Ethiopia. Indeed, all the measures of its government, and the character of the people, savour strongly of Mahometanism, and it cannot be doubted that the number, even of nominal Christians, has been on the decline since the death of the King, who was maintained on the throne by the troops from Goa. Soon after that event, the Portuguese, in consequence of the intrigues of the Queen-mother, were either killed or driven out of the country. The Jesuit Patriarch, whom his countrymen had brought from Goa, was compelled to fly for his life. During the stay of the ambassadors at Dehli, my Agah, ever eager in search of knowledge, invited them frequently to his house. He asked many questions concerning the condition of their country and the nature of its government; but his principal object was to obtain information respecting the source of the Nile, which they call Abbahile, and concerning which they talked to us as so well ascertained that no one need question it. Murat and a Mogol, who travelled with him from Ethiopia, have visited the source, and the particulars given by them both are substantially the same as those I had learnt at Moka.