The governors of
other provinces maintained themselves in their respective jurisdictions
by force of arms, and shook of the yoke as well as he; insomuch, that the
monarchy came to be suddenly divided into sixty-six cantons, which all
assumed the names of kingdoms.

Since these revolutions, the king of Meaco took the title of Cubo Sama,
and he who had been deprived of it still retained the name of Dairy; and,
excepting only the power, there was still left him all the privilege of
royalty, in consideration of the blood of the Camis. His descendants have
had always the same title, and enjoyed the same advantages. This, in
general, was the face of the government, in the time of St Francis
Xavier. For some years afterwards, Nabunanga, one of the neighbour kings
to him of Meaco, defeated the Cubo Sama in a pitched battle, and followed
his blow with so much success, that, having destroyed all those petty
princes, he re-united the whole empire of Japan under his sole obedience.

As to what concerns religion, all the Japonians, excepting some few who
make profession of atheism, and believe the soul mortal, are idolaters,
and hold the transmigration of souls, after the doctrine of Pythagoras.
Some of them pay divine worship to the sun and moon; others to the Camis,
those ancient kings of whom we have made mention; and to the Potoques,
the gods of China. There are divers of them who adore some kinds of
beasts, and many who adore the devil under dreadful figures. Besides
these, they have a certain mysterious deity, whom they call Amida; and
say, this god has built a paradise of such distance from the earth, that
the souls cannot reach it under a voyage of three years. But the god Xaca
is he of whom they report the greatest wonders, who seems to be a
counterfeit of the true Messiah, set up by the devil himself, or by his
ministers. For if one would give credit to them, Xaca being born of a
queen, who never had the carnal knowledge of man, retired into the
deserts of Siam, and there underwent severe penances, to expiate the sins
of men: that coming out of his wilderness, he assembled some disciples,
and preached an heavenly doctrine in divers countries.

It is incredible how many temples have been built to the honour of Amida
and Xaca; all the cities are full of them, and their magnificence is
equal to their number. Nor is it easy to imagine how far their
superstition carries the worshippers of these two deities. They throw
themse