[Footnote 150: The submission of the Abyssinian church to the Roman pontiff was a mere pretence, which afterwards produced long and bloody civil wars, and ended in the expulsion of the Portuguese from the country.--E.] The kingdom of _Prester John_, now first visited by Sylveira, is mostly known by this appellation but improperly, as its right name is the empire of Abyssinia, Abassia, Habesh, or the higher Ethiopia. It received the former appellation from the great king _Jovarus_, who came to it from the Christians of Tartary, having a cross carried before him like our bishops, and carrying a cross in his hand, with the title of _Defender of the Faith_, as being a Jacobite Christian[151]. The dominions of this prince are situated between the rivers _Nile, Astabora_, and _Astapus_. To the east they border on the Red Sea for 120 leagues, this being the smallest side, as their whole extent is 670 leagues. On the west it borders on those Negroes who possess the great mines of gold, and who pay tribute to the sovereign of Abyssinia. On the north it is divided from the Moors by a line drawn from the city of _Suakem_ to the isle of _Meroe_ in _Nubia_. On the south it borders on the kingdom of _Adel_, from the mountains of which country the river _Obi_ descends, and falls into the sea at the town of _Quilimane_ in the kingdom of _Melinda_. [Footnote 151: It is not worth while to inquire whence this ridiculous legend of king or Saint Jovarus has been derived. The origin of Christianity in Abyssinia will be considered on an after occasion, when we come to the particular travels in that country.--E.]