Supplement to the fourth, fifth and sixth editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 1

ABYSSINIA.
Abyssinia, was well acquainted with thecorflmerce of the Red Sea.
'^V^/ The bishop died during his journey , but Mendoza pene¬
trated into Abyssinia, delivered his letter, and carried
back one from the Emperor to Philip. In consequence
of his success, Mendoza was sent on a second mission,
and sailed from Goa in February 1589, accompanied
Peter Paez, by Antonio de Montserrato, a Catalonian, and Peter
15S9. paeZ) a Spaniard. In their voyage they were ship¬
wrecked, and taken prisoners. This circumstance
proved of great advantage to Paez, who, being a man
of considerable talents, and of great activity of mind,
as well as zeal, spent the seven years of his captivity
in making himself a perfect master of the Arabian
language. In consequence of the intelligence of their
misfortune reaching Goa, two other missionaries were
dispatched for Abyssinia; Abraham de Georgiis, a
man of great learning and courage, and a thorough
master of all the Eastern languages, and Belchior de
Sylva, by birth an Indian : only the latter, however,
arrived in Abyssinia, the former having been taken
and beheaded by the Mahommedans. In the mean
time, Peter Paez having been ransomed, found means
to penetrate into Abyssinia, where he soon gained an
ascendancy over the mind of the Emperor. He is the
first European who visited what the Abyssinians deem
the sources of the Nile. He died in that country, in
the year 1622 ; and his manuscript, detailing the af¬
fairs of Abyssinia from the year 1556 to his death,
was transmitted to Rome, where it is said to be still
preserved. The only extract which has been printed
from it relates to his journey to the sources of the
Nile, and is given by Kircher in his (Edipus Egyptia-
D'Almeyda, cus. Paez was succeeded, in 1623, by Father Ema-
1623. nuel D’Almeyda, who travelled from Massowa, by
Adejada, across the plain of Serawe, and partly
along the course of the Mareb, till he arrived at the
monastery of Fremona, the usual residence of the
missionaries. He was succeeded by another of the
society of Jesuits called Antonio de Angelis, who was
famous for his skill in the Amharic language. In
Mendez, 1624*, Alphonso Mendez was sent patriarch into Abys-
sinia. He arrived at Fremona on the 21st of June in
that year ; but on account of the dangerous travel¬
ling through Tigre at that season, he was obliged to
stay there till the October following, when he went
to the residence of the Emperor, by whom he was re¬
ceived with great pomp. His behaviour, however, was
not such as to render him long a favourite; and he was
ordered to retire to Fremona. Scarcely had he ar¬
rived here, before he received a fresh order to leave
the kingdom ; and, not immediately complying, he was
conducted to Massowa. He wrote the history of
Abyssinia in Latin, a French translation of which was
printed at Lisle in 1633. * During the residence of
liiferHey* Menclez in this kingdom, Peter Heyling of Lubeck,
a Lutheran, well versed in the Arabic, ingratiated,
himself into the favour of the Abunciy or metropolitan
bishop of Abyssinia at Alexandria, and visited that
11
country along with him; and he continued for se- Abyssinia,
veral years, being highly esteemed by the court and's-*^V-^'^
the clergy, both on account of his skill and success in
medicine, and his knowledge of the oriental languages,
and of polemic divinity. Respecting the cause and
period of his return, there is some obscurity. Mendez
asserts that he was ordered to leave the kingdom ;
whereas Ludolphus asserts that the Emperor was very
unwilling to part with him. He did not live to revisit
Europe, having been put to death on his return, either
by the Arabs or by the Bashaw of Suakem. An ac¬
count of his life, and the few particulars which he tran¬
smitted to his friends respecting Abyssinia, were pub¬
lished, in German, in the year 1724-, along with an epi¬
tome, in the same language, of Geddes’s Ecclesiastical
History of Ethiopia. From the character and attain¬
ments of Heyling, in connection with the opportunities
of observation and information which he enjoyed, there
is no doubt that, had he lived to return to Europe,
he would have added considerably to the stock of
knowledge at that time possessed regarding this coun¬
try.
In the suite of Alphonso Mendez was Father Lobo, LoW-
who, during the greatest part of the nine years
that he resided in Abyssinia, was rector of the col¬
lege of Fremona. His description of that country,
and history of his travels, though simple and suc¬
cinct, is much superior, in clearness and accuracy, to
the relations of any of the travellers who had pre¬
ceded him. Lobo resided for some time in the pro¬
vince of Dambt, near the sources of the Nile. It has
been supposed, though, we imagine, erroneously, that
A short Relation of the River Nile, of its Source, and
Current, by an Eye-witness, which was first pub¬
lished in 1668, and afterwards republished by Dr
Rotheram, in 1791, was procured at Lisbon from
Lobo himself. This account of the sources of the
Nile differs in some respects from the account given
in Le Grand’s translation of Lobo* His work was
originally published in Portuguese, but it is much
better known in the French translation of Le Grand,
and in the English translation by Dr Johnson.
In 1660, Father Tellez, at the requef t of the so¬
ciety of Jesuits, published his General History of
Abyssinia under the following title: Historia General
de Ethiopia, alia o' Preste Joan, Szc. Counbra, fol.
1660. f In compiling this work, he had the advan¬
tage of consulting all the relations which the mis¬
sionaries had drawn up, as well as the annual letters
which they had sent to the college of Jesuits at Lis¬
bon ; and, as is noticed in the title-page, the relation
of Emanuel d’Almeyda is here abridged.
The Portuguese having lost their credit and influ¬
ence in Abyssinia, by the haughty behaviour of
Mendez, the French resolved to use their endeavours
to establish themselves in that country; and for this
purpose Louis XIV. wrote a letter to the father of
the Emperor, who was then on the throne, which
* Relation du Reverendissime Patriarche d’ Ethiopie, Dom. Alphonze Mendez touchant la conversion des
ames qui s’est faite en cet Empire.
t An abridged translation of this work, entitled, “ Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia,” was published in
the second volume of Knapton’s “ New Collection of Voyages and Travels,” Lond. 1711.