We are indebted to Pedro Mendes for an account of the history of Kongo from the death of D. Antonio in 1666 to the beginning of the eighteenth century.[374] During that time, according to this authority, there were fourteen Kings of Kongo, of whom four were beheaded (or killed) by the Musurongo, five by the Ezikongo, three died a natural death, and two were survivors when he wrote, namely, D. Pedro IV, at Salvador, and D. João at Mbula.[375] At one time there were actually three kings in the field. ALVARO VII, a royal prince who had passed his early life in retirement, but who, on being raised to the throne, turned out a monster of iniquity, was killed by his own subjects, abetted by the Count of Sonyo (1666), under whose auspices took place the election of his successor, D. ALVARO VIII (1666-70), who was in turn removed by the Marquis of Mpemba. Alvaro VIII[376] had allowed the Portuguese to search for gold, but this search turned out as fruitless as the search for silver at Kambambe. Meanwhile D. AFFONSO III AFFONSO had been proclaimed at Kibangu, the new capital (1667), whilst D. PEDRO III _nsukia ntamba_ was put up as an opposition King in Mbula. The latter defeated his rival, who fled beyond the Mbiriji (Ambriz), and died there (of poison?). His widow, D. Anna, a daughter of a former King, Garcia, retired to Nkondo (Mucondo), and survived her husband until 1680. The people proclaimed D. GARCIA III _nenganga mbemba_[377] his successor, whilst the opposition, at the old capital (S. Salvador), declared D. DANIEL DE GUZMAN, descendant of Mpanzu (Alvaro I), to be the rightful King. D. Daniel took the field against D. Garcia III, but, before he reached the residence of that King, he was overtaken by D. Pedro of Mbula; his army was dispersed, and himself beheaded. His children sought refuge with the Count of Sonyo, and by treachery they succeeded in getting D. Pedro into their power, and killed him. The people of Mbula thereupon raised his brother, D. JOÃO, to the throne, who survived until after 1710. S. Salvador, after D. Daniel had deserted it, became the haunt of wild beasts. Meanwhile D. RAFAEL, Marquis of Mpemba, who had been proclaimed King some time anterior to this, had been obliged to seek refuge among the Portuguese, and his reinstatement was one of the objects of the disastrous expedition of 1670,[378] by which it was sought to punish Count Estevão da Silva of Sonyo for his desecration of Christian churches and the ill-treatment of Portuguese traders: or, rather, his dealings with heretic competitors.