About this time, the Portuguese were extending their discoveries along the coast of Africa, and had al ready formed the project of opening a passage to India by doubling the Cape. A plan was likewise concerted tor penetrating through the interior of the African con tinent, that, if the former project should fail, the mer chandise of the East Indies might be conveyed to Por tugal by land. The success of such a scheme was ren dered probable by the report of some monks, who had been seen at Jerusalem and Alexandria, the subjects, as they said, of a Christian prince in Africa, whose domi nions extended from the eastern to the western ocean. Of the truth of their reports, the Portuguese navigators had been so strongly assured by Bemoy, a king of the Jaloffs,that Henry, the scientific and enterprising prince, under whose auspices these plans of discovery were conducted, resolved to send ambassadors to this unknown sovereign. Peter de Covillan, and Alphonso de Paiva, were appointed to this important embassy, with direc tions to explore the sources of the Indian trade, and the principal markets for spices; and, above all, to ascertain the possibility of reaching the East Indies by sailing round the southern exti emity of Africa. Thus instruct ed, they proceeded to Alexandria, thence to Cairo, next to Suez, and afterwards to Aden, a rich commercial town beyond the Straits of Babelmaudeb. They sailed from this city in separate directions; Covillan for India, and Dc Paiva for Suakem. De Paiva soon lost his life; but Covillan, after visiting Calicut and Goa, recrossed the Indian ocean, inspected the mines of Sofala, and re turned by Aden to Cairo, where he heard of the death of his companion. At Cairo he was met by two Jews with letters from the king of Abyssinia; one of whom he sent back wkh letters to that monarch in return, and, with the other, proceeded to the island of Ormus, in the Per sian gulf, Here the Jew left him; and Covillan return ed to Aden, whence he passed into the Abyssinian domi nions.
On his arrival in that country, he was kindly received by Alexander the reigning prince, and exalted to the most honourable offices in the state ; though, according to Abyssinian policy, lie was never allowed to return to Europe. Ile found means, however, to convey, from time to time, important intelligence to the king of Por tugal. He described the several ports in India which he had seen ; the disposition of the princes; the situation and riches of the mines of Saida. He exhorted the king to pursue, with unremitting diligence, the discove ry oIthe passage round Africa; declaring, that the Cape was well known in India, and that the voyage was at tended with little danger. To these descriptions he added a chart or map, which he had received from a Moor in India, and in which the Cape, and the cities round the coast, were accurately represented.
The reign of Alexander was disturbed by frequent rebellions. Called to the throne while a minor, he had displayed, from his earliest years, an ardent desire to make war against the king of Adel ; but that monarch, convinced, by the misfortunes of his predecessors, that he was unable to cope in the field with such a powerful adversary, endeavoured to gain over a party at the court of Abyssinia. Za-Saluce, the prime minister, with many of the principal nobility, were seduced by his intrigues ; and Saluce, being intrusted with the command of great part of the forces, abandoned his master in the heat of an engagement. This treachery seemed only to infuse fresh courage into Alexander, and the few brave troops who remained with him. Engaging in a narrow defile, the king was close pressed by a Moor, who bore the green standard of Mahomet, on whom he turned suddenly, and slew him with his javelin; then, wresting the colours from him as he fell, with the point of the spear that bore the ensign, he struck the king of Adcl's son to the ground; on which the Moors retreated from the field.
He then returned in pursuit of Za-Saluce., who had has tened, by forced marches, to Amhara, exciting the spi rit of revolt in the governors of the provinces through which he passed. Two days after his return to the capi tal, the young monarch fell a victim to the perfidy of his minister. The traitor soon met with the punishment due to his crimes; for, while attempting to excite a re volt in Amhara, he was attacked by the nobility of that province, and, being deserted by his troops, was taken prisoner without resistance : his eyes were pu, out; and, being mounted on an ass, he was carried through Am hara and Shea, amidst the curses and derision of the people.
On the death of Alexander's infant son, which hap pcned seven months after, Naad, his younger brother, was called, by the unanimous voice of the people, to the throne. His wisdom was coaspieuously disp:Av«1 in the first act of his reign. He published a pl,ciam :don, offering a general pardon to all w ho lead c: in the late rebellion ; and prohibiting, under pain of death, any one from upbraiding his neighbour with his former disloyalty. On assuming the get nYnt, he found himself engaged in a war wl i. ma. d his most vigorous exertions. Al2ffudi, pro of Arar, a -district in the neighbourhood of Adel, a man of a war like disposition, and an enthusiastic Alahometan, had made a vow to spend forty days every year, during the time of Lent, in some part of Abyssinia. The supersti tion of the people facilitated his progress ; for they ob served that last so rigidly as to exhaust their strength; insomuch that Maffudi had continued for thirty years to ravage the country, during that period, without opposiT tion, and was now regarded as invincible. Naad com manded his soldiers to continue their usual manner of living, without regarding the fast; and, when his enemy advanced with his wonted confidence of success, his army was entirely cut to pieces.
Having thus removed the terrors of invasion, Naad employed the ren:ainder of his days in reforming the manners of his subjects ; and, after reigning thirteen years, was succeeded by his son David I11. then only eleven vears of age. Early in this reign, the Turks, w ith a of sharing the profit4 of the ti ade carried on in Adel by merchants who had lied fi.oin their own op pressions in India, took possession of Zeyla, a small island in the Red Sea, where they erected a customhouse and oppressed and ruined, as usual, the commerce of the adjacent coasts. Both Adel and Abyssinia were thus menaced by a formidable enemy, who was prevented from overwhelming them only by his attempts to obtain possession of India. In this emergency, Helena, the queen-regent, wished to enter into an alliance with the Portuguese ; and, by the advice of Peter Covillan, an Armenian merchant named Matthew, with a young Abyssinian, were sent on an embassy for that purpose to the court of Lisbon. The merchant, though raised to the rank of ambassador, could not sustain the dignity of his new character. At Dabul, in the East Indies, he was seized as a spy ; and, though relieved by Albuquerque, viceroy of Goa, he was not allowed to depart for Portugal till 1513, three years after his arrival in India. Ile was insulted by the shipmasters with whom he sail ed for that country ; but, on his arrival at Lisbon, he was received with every mark of respect : the shipmasters were loaded with irons, and would probably have died in prison, had not Matthew interceded in their behalf.