On the news of his arrival, the whole city rose to greet him, for the fame of his sanctity and heroism had reached Portugal long before. The king, whose page he had been, the infanta Isabella Louisa, the ministers of state and the grandees, the people and the religious orders, all showed him a thousand marks of respect and honour.
He maintained in Portugal the same mortified habits which he had formed in India, wore the same dress, used the same food, and slept on the bare ground. He set about the work upon which he had been sent home with great diligence; and in the college of the Jesuits which he visited, he awoke an extraordinary enthusiasm among the young men; even old priests were seized with the same fervour. Of the volunteers, Father de Britto selected six, and to that number he added several who had been missionaries, but were now occupying chairs in different universities, and whom he wanted to argue with the Brahmins.
Having once selected his band, he commenced instructing them in the details of their work; and when all things were ready, and he had obtained larger funds for the support of this increase to his mission, from the king, they set sail for India in 1690; but not without great opposition; for the King of Portugal would have retained him at home, first to superintend the education of his son, and then to promote him to a bishopric--both of which _persecutions_, however, as he called them, he happily surmounted. They started with a favourable wind, and the voyage was at first prosperous; but presently they were detained by a calm, when their provisions became tainted, and a fever broke out. The holy father fell ill, and two of his missionaries died. De Britto, writing home, gave a horrible account of that voyage, and the miseries they endured from the sickness of the crew, the stench of the vessel, the heat and cold, the contrary winds, the incessant fatigues which they all had to suffer. In his great humility he attributed them all to his own sins.
On their arrival at Goa, his return was celebrated by the whole college of Santa Fé and the Christians there with rejoicings. After a short stay, he passed on to see the Provincial at the pearl fishery, with whom he held a council on the plan of his future campaign. In consequence of the maturity of judgment, which the father displayed on this occasion, he was nominated Visitor of the mission, and immediately after Easter he set out for Madura on his new charge. Then he visited in succession all the stations, encouraged the missionaries, confirmed the faithful, and converted a great number of idolaters to the faith of Christ. But his chief longings were in the direction of Marava, where he hoped to find that palm and crown of martyrdom which five years before had fallen from his grasp. Thither accordingly he bent his steps.