Different from this man was another heathen who when he saw the
image of the saint sneered at it, and pointing to it with the spear he
had in his hand, said to those who accompanied him, as if in contempt:
"Look at what these whites are deceiving us wi~t,  - this what they
call
the Portuguese. But the Saint, or God on his behalf, took care to
punish the man because within a few days he died, drowned in the sea.
)
To some extent I am not surprised that a man without faith, one who is
governed only by exterior things, should scorn that image, which is
painted on a patched cloth without a frame and is faded and very old,
(and which we only use) for lack of others which we could put on the
altars; for it is particularly befitting that among the heathen all
church adornment should be perfect.
Amusing but worth recounting is what occurred when the wife of
a very important heathen was about to give birth. The man declared
that if his wife bore ason, he must be called Xere, the name of the
most noble family/people of that land. But because many days passed
without the woman giving birth and her life was at risk, hc2 husband,
fearing that the son would die as well as the mother, went in to where
she lay and said with great fervour, in front of other heatnens,
"Name of the padre, name of the padre"'. And he declared if his
son
were born alive, he would not give him a heathen name but a Christian
(r.31s4)
one. /It was amazing, but as soon as these words were spoken, the
woman gave birth to a son. They immediately called him and now call
him 'Padre';  and she (is called) 'mother of the Padre.'  Then it seems
they declared that they must bring the bur. (to the padre) so that they
can become Christians with him, since the padre has written to me that
be is expecting them. These people belongai to the kingdom of Fatema,
about whom we have previously written several times )(describing him)
as one who has shown a desire to become a Christian. Now the cadre