He said that the Portuguese were all dead, who not far from that place
had built a town of stone houses, where they worshipped the cross, on
the foot or pedestal of which were unknown characters. He drew
representations of all these things on the sand, and demanded a high
reward for his intelligence. Some of his people wore crosses, and
informed the Portuguese that there were two ships belonging to the
Hollanders in port _St Lucia_ or _Mangascafe_. In a small island at this
place there was found a _square stone fort_[14], and at the foot of it
the arms of Portugal were carved on a piece of marble, with this
inscription

REX PORTUGALENSIS O S.

[Footnote 14: This is unintelligible as it stands in the text. It may
possibly have been a square stone pedestal for one of the crosses of
discovery, that used to be set up by the Portuguese navigators as marks
of possession.--E.]

Many conjectures were formed to account for the signification of the
circle between the two last letters of this inscription, but nothing
satisfactory could be discovered. King _Chembanga_ requested that a
Portuguese might be sent along with him to his residence, to treat upon
some important affairs, and left his nephew as an hostage for his safe
return. Accordingly the master, Antonio Gonzales, and one of the priests
named Pedro Freyre, were sent; who, at twelve leagues distance, came to
his residence called _Fansaria_, a very populous and magnificent place.
At first he treated them with much kindness, after which he grew cold
towards them, but on making him a considerable present he became
friendly, and even delivered to them his eldest son to be carried to
Goa, desiring that the two Jesuits and four other Portuguese might be