D. Alvaro I and the Ayaka, 1568-1574. 344
D. Alvaro, immediately on his accession, sent an embassy to Portugal, to apologise for the massacre of many Portuguese during the reigns of his predecessors, which he excused on the ground of the vices and abuses of the clergy. These excuses were apparently accepted in Portugal, fortunately for D. Alvaro, for the very next year the dreaded Ayaka345 invaded his kingdom by way of Mbata; and, being worsted, the King fled with his adherents to the Hippopotamus Island,346 on the lower Kongo, where they suffered many hardships, and whence he appealed piteously to the Portuguese for help. This help was not denied him. Francisco de Gouvea, corregedor of S. Thomé, in 1570, hastened to his aid with six hundred Portuguese, expelled the Ayaka, reinstated the King in his capital, and built a wall round S. Salvador for greater security. The King fully recognised the value of the service that had been rendered him, for Paulo Dias de Novaes told Garcia Mendes347 that he acknowledged himself a vassal of Portugal;348 and as neither gold or silver had been discovered in his country, he agreed to pay a tribute in njimbos, which he actually did for a few years.
No sooner was Alvaro once more seated securely upon his throne than he sent the Count of Sonyo against Ngola (1572). Several encounters took place in Musulu and Mbuila (Ambuila); but in the end Ngola was allowed to retain his father’s conquests, the river Dande being fixed upon as the boundary between the two kingdoms. Kongo, however, retained possession of the valuable island of Luandu.
Among other events of this reign we should mention a second visit of D. Gaspar Cão, the bishop, shortly before his death (in 1574); and the scandal caused by the burial of a notorious infídel, D. Francisco Mbula matadi, in the church of S. Cruz, the roof of which was taken off by night, and the body, carried away by the Devil!349
D. Alvaro only enjoyed his prosperity for a short time, for when Paulo Dias landed at Luandu, in 1575, he was already dead.350