Xavier into his barque by night, and to land him
before day on some part of the coast, where no houses were in view; and
if this way was thought uncertain, he engaged to hide the Father in his
own house, and four days after to conduct him, early in the morning, to
the gates of Canton. But he would have Xavier oblige himself also, on his
side, to go immediately to the Mandarin, with the letters which the
viceroy of the Indies, and the bishop of Goa, had written to the emperor;
for the Father had still reserved by him those letters which related to
the embassy, though the design had been ruined by the governor of
Malacca. The Chinese also exacted an oath of secrecy from the saint, that
no torments, however cruel, should bring him to confess either the name
or the house of him who had set him on shore.

[Footnote 1: A pardo (says Tavernier) is of the value of twenty-seven
sous, French money; ten of which make about a shilling English.]

Xavier made as solemn an engagement as he could desire, not without
knowledge of the hazard which he ran, as himself related to one of his
dearest friends. "I perceive," said he, "two dangers, which are almost
inevitable in this affair; on the one side, there is great cause of
apprehension, lest the idolatrous merchant, having received the price
of my passage, should throw me overboard, or leave me on some desart
isle; on the other side, lest the governor of Canton should discharge his
fury upon me, and make me an example to all strangers, by putting me to a
cruel death, or condemning me to perpetual imprisonment. But in case I
follow the voice which calls me, and obey my Lord, I count my life and
liberty at nothing."

When the voyage of China was on these terms, and that all things seemed
to favour it, the Portuguese of Sancian put an obstacle in the way, of
which Xavier had never thought. The appetite of gain made them apprehend,
lest his zeal should bring them into trouble; and they said to one
another, that the Mandarin governor of Canton would certainly revenge on
them the boldness of their countryman: That he would commission his
officers to pillage their ships, and confiscate their effects, and that
their lives were not in safety. In this general affrightment, which was
not ill grounded, and which increased daily, the wealthier sort addressed
themselves to Father Xavier, and desired him to take compassion on them,
and on their wives and children, if he would have no compassion on