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 died in 1577. During his stay, particularly in the reign of Sertza Denghil, the Galla became very formidable from their incursions into the southern provinces, and about the same time the Turks took possession of Massowa and the sea-coast; in consequence of which, the country was rendered extremely difficult of access. At length, in 1599, an adventurous monk named Belchior da Sylva, gained admittance in the disguise of a faquier, and continued there alone, till the arrival of Peter Paez. The latter, who proved to be a far more able man than any other who had been sent into the country, entered Abyssinia in 1603; and in the following year proceeded to court, where he shortly gained so complete an ascendency over the mind of the reigning prince, as to induce him to send letters to Europe with offers of submission to the Roman See; and in a subsequent reign, obtained the grand object for which the Jesuits had so long contended; the Emperor Socinius, his brother, Ras Sela Christos, and all the nobles of the court publicly and solemnly proclaiming their adhesion to the Roman Catholic Faith. Peter Paez, however, who by his extraordinary abilities seems to have accomplished this important change in the religion of the country, did not long survive to witness its effects; for in the same year he died at Gorgora, universally lamented by the