Xavier left Japan in November 1551, and reached Cochin at the end of January 1552. He thus spent three months in India; during which period he wrote no less than twenty-one voluminous letters, some from Cochin, but the greater part from Goa, where his last two months were spent.

In a former chapter we contemplated the character of Xavier as the Director of the Jesuit Missions in India. Upon his departure for Japan he had assigned to each Missionary his sphere of labour, and an exact schedule of his duties. He had clearly defined their respective jurisdictions, and had earnestly enjoined upon all the duty of perfect harmony and mutual support. But his arrangements completely broke down. A letter from Cochin to Paul Camerte, at Goa, reveals his bitter disappointment at the state in which he found the Mission upon his return from Japan.

“I had hoped, on my return from Japan, to enjoy some repose after all the fatigues I had undergone. But no! There was no comfort for me. Far from that, I found only grief upon grief, and each in succession more poignant than the preceding. I found law-suits arising from a quarrelsome temper. Nothing is stirring around me but squabbles, disputes, divisions, to the great scandal of the people. Alas! this was not the work I so earnestly enjoined at my departure for Japan. What do I find? Insubordination; little or no obedience! Oh, my God! may thy holy name be always praised!” (IV. 4. Fr. 96.)