Meanwhile the missionary objects of the Company were not neglected.

Xavier left Portugal in 1541 for that famous journey through India and China, the facts of which may be compared for their romantic interest with Cortes' or Pizarro's exploits.

Brazil, the transatlantic Portugal, was abandoned to the Jesuits, and they began to feel their way in Mexico.

In the year of Loyola's death, 1561, thirty-two members of the Society were resident in South America; one hundred in India, China, and Japan; and a mission was established in Ethiopia.

Even Ireland had been explored by a couple of fathers, who returned without success, after undergoing terrible hardships.