nd barren, and, excepting only
for the aoes which is there produced, and is indeed the best which grows
in those eastern parts, even the name of Socotora would not be mentioned.
It is not certainly known what religion they profess, so monstrous is
their belief. They hold from the Saracens the worship of Mahomet, from
the Jews the use of circumcision and sacrifices, and yet give themselves
the name of Christians. The males bear the name of some or other of the
apostles, the most part of the women are called Mary, and yet they have
no knowledge of baptism. They adore the cross, and hang it in little
about their necks. They chiefly venerate St Thomas; and it is an ancient
tradition amongst them, that this holy apostle, in going to the Indies,
was cast by a tempest on their coast; that being come ashore, he preached
Jesus Christ to those of Socotora; and that from the wreck of that ship
which brought him thither, they built a chapel in the middle of their
island.

The condition of these islanders sensibly afflicted Father Xavier; yet he
despaired not of reducing them to a right understanding of the faith,
because, as barbarous as they were, they still preserved some footsteps
of Christianity amongst them. Having no knowledge of their tongue, which
bears not the least resemblance to any of our European languages, and is
also wholly different from the Ethiopian and Arabic, at the first he was
constrained to testify his sorrow to them by dumb signs, for their
ignorance and errors. Afterwards, whether it were that some one amongst
them understood the Portuguese, and served as interpreter to all the
rest, or that counting from this very time he began to receive from
above, the first fruits of the gift of tongues, which was so abundantly
bestowed on him in the Indies on sundry occasions, he spoke to them
concerning the necessity of baptism, and let them know, that there was no
possibility of salvation without a sincere belief in Jesus Christ: but
that the faith allowed of no mixture, and that to become Christians, they
must of necessity cease to be Jews or Mahometans.

His words made a wonderful impression on the souls and hearts of those
barbarians: some of them made him presents of their wild fruits, in token
of their good will; others offered him their children to be baptised; all
promised him to receive baptism themselves, and to lead the life of true
Christians, on condition he would remain with them. But when they beheld
t