Having no skill in the learning of languages, and never able to master
one foreign tongue completely, Xavier began work with the aid of an
interpreter. The jealousy of the daimi[=o], because his rivals had been
supplied with fire-arms by the Portuguese merchants, and the plots and
warnings of those Buddhist priests (who were later crushed by the
Satsuma clansmen as traitors), compelled Xavier to leave this province.
He went first to Hirado,[5] next to Nagat[=o], and then to Bungo, where
he was well received. Preaching and teaching through his Japanese
interpreter, he formed Christian congregations, especially at
Yamaguchi.[6] Thus, within a year, the great apostle to the Indies had
seen the quick sprouting of the seed which he had planted. His ambition
was now to go to the imperial capital, Ki[=o]to, and there advocate the
claims of Christ, of Mary and of the Pope.
Thus far, however, Xavier had seen only a few seaports of comparatively
successful daimi[=o]s. Though he had heard of the unsettled state of the
country because of the long-continued intestine strife, he evidently
expected to find the capital a splendid city. Despite the armed bands of
roving robbers and soldiers, he reached Ki[=o]to safely, only to find
streets covered with ruins, rubbish and unburied corpses, and a general
situation of wretchedness.
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