The impatience of Father Xavier to visit the tomb of the apostle St Thomas, caused him to make his pilgrimage by land; and he travelled with so much ardour, through the rough and uncouth ways, that in few days he arrived at Meliapor.

That city is now commonly known by the name of St Thomas; because that blessed apostle lived so long in it, and there suffered martyrdom.  If we will give credit to the inhabitants, it was once almost swallowed by the sea; and for proof of this tradition, there are yet to be seen under water, the ruins of great buildings.  The new town of Meliapor was built by the Portuguese; near the walls there is a hill, which they called the Little Mount, and in it a grotto, wherein they say St Thomas hid himself during the persecution.  At the entry of this cave there is a cross cut in the rock; and at the foot of the mountain there arises a spring, the waters of which are of such virtue, that sick people drinking of them are ordinarily cured.

From this small ascent you pass to a higher and much larger mountain, which seems formed by nature for a lonely contemplative life; for on one side it looks upon the sea, and on the other is covered with old trees, always green, which at once make a fruitful and a pleasing object.  Hither St Thomas retired to pray with his disciples; and here it was also that he was slain by a Brachman with the thrust of a spear.

The Portuguese, who rebuilt Meliapor, found on the top of the mountain a little chapel, of stonework, all in ruins.  They were desirous to repair it, in memory of the holy apostle; and, as they were rummaging all about, even to the foundations of it, they drew out a white marble, whereon was a cross, with characters graved round about it, which declared, “That God was born of the Virgin Mary; that this God was eternal; that the same God taught his law to his twelve apostles; and that one of them came to Meliapor with a palmer’s staff in his hand; that he built a church there; that the kings of Malabar, Coromandel, and Pandi, with many other nations, submitted themselves to the law preached by St Thomas, a man holy and penitent.”

This marble, of which we make mention, having on it divers stains of blood, the common opinion is, that the apostle suffered martyrdom upon it.  Howsoever it be, the marble was placed upon the altar when the chapel was rebuilt; and the first time that a solemn mass was said there, the cross distilled some drops of blood, in the sight of all the people; which also happened many times in the following years, on the day whereon his martyrdom is celebrated.

When Xavier was come into the town, the vicar of Meliapor, who had heard speak of him as a successor of the apostles, and a man sent from God, for the conversion of the Indies, came to offer him a lodging in his house.  The father accepted of it, because it was adjoining to the church, wherein were kept the relicks of St Thomas; and that he could easily step from thence by night, to consult the will of God concerning his intended voyage to Macassar.