Chapter 2

up the double task; these two were the father rector, Antonio Sedeño, and Father Raymundo de Prado. They took turns in doing this work, one remaining a week in Manila while the other went to Taitai. This sort of life could not last long; and so our Lord, who aids the greatest necessities, inspired the good father to inform me of the difficulties in which they were, and order me to return to Manila. There we could plan our course of life in accordance with the advices which might come to us in the ships, which were expected soon--either uniting the four of us who remained, to do what we could in the city; or, if a reënforcement should come to us, extending our labors in securing conversions, according to the number of our men.

I reached Manila in May of the year fifteen hundred and ninety-five, leaving in Tigbauan and its vicinity, and in the town of Arevalo, not a few persons sorrowing at my departure. The general, Doctor Antonio de Morga, arrived in the following June, having come to serve as lieutenant of the governor and captain-general of the islands. He brought with him two fine vessels, and eight priests [63] of our Society. The joy of the communities of Manila and Sebu, and of Ours, was beyond belief upon learning that these fathers had arrived. From both places, requests came in to us for priests: from Manila, for instruction and schools, of which its sons were in great want; from Sebu, for a college which they desired in their city. On the other hand, the lieutenant governor of his Catholic Majesty urged that the Society should take charge of a province of Indians as did the other religious orders; and the Indians themselves, with several encomenderos, supported this request. Finally an effort was made to satisfy everyone, in the way which I shall relate. Four of us priests went to the island of Leite which we reached on the day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross, the sixteenth of July of the same year. Two of us remained at Carigara in the house of Christoval de Trujillo, the owner of that encomienda, a man of eminent piety, and our benefactor. He straightway built for us there the first house that we possessed in that island. The other two of us went along the coast of that island and those of Ibabao and Samar, observing what peoples and posts were best adapted at that time for our settlement. We returned to Carigara at the end of July, where, thanks to the incredible haste and large number of the Indians, we found our house finished and the two fathers established in it. Early in August, I had information from the father vice-provincial, Antonio Sedeño, that he had arrived at Sebu with two other priests, and summoned me thither. Father Juan del Campo and Father Cosme de Flores remained in Carigara, and undertook the study of the Bissaya language with great fervor. Father Antonio Pereira and I, with another brother, went on to Sebu in conformity with the order of the father vice-provincial. Father Antonio Pereira had remained with Ours in these islands from the time of his arrival, as I said, with the king of Siao, waiting for the conclusion of business which the king and. Father Antonio Marta could not wait for--the latter, because he could not longer absent himself from his province and subordinates: the former, because he could not remain longer away from his kingdom and his vassals. This good father was so eager and zealous for the welfare of souls that, although a guest, he did not permit himself one moment of idleness, but always busied himself in the pulpit and confessional and in other ministries for the welfare of souls. We reached Sebu in the middle of August, where we found our good father and superior sick, in the house of a regidor of the city; and with him were Father Alonso Humanes, who had gone as superior during the journey from Nueva España, and Father Mateo Sanchez. He presently sent these two fathers to Leite, with orders to divide it into two stations, two fathers in each--one pair taking Carigara (where the two fathers had remained whom I have already mentioned); the other, Dulac, which is about sixty miles further on. These are both maritime villages with a situation and territory well adapted for undertaking the conversion of that new people, until then untaught. The aforementioned Father Alonso Humanes was appointed superior of both stations. In Sebu Ours had already fixed upon the site which we now possess, partly purchased with offerings from the citizens, and partly bestowed by the city and private persons. Accompanying the land was a goodly house of wood, which with little work could be made to accommodate the church and our dwelling. Father Ramon de Prado had remained in Manila as rector, with the other four fathers, two of whom were sent to Taitai to aid Father Francisco Almerique: of the two who remained in Manila, Father Tomas de Montoya [64] began to teach Latin, and Father Juan de Ribera attended to matters of conscience.

The death of Father Antonio Sedeño, first rector of the college of Manila, and first vice-provincial of the Society of Jesus in the Filipinas. Chapter XIII.

The first thing which the father vice-provincial, Antonio Sedeño, enjoined upon me on his arrival at Sebu was that I should at all events hasten the completion of the house, and carry him to it, for it was his wish to die in the house of the Society. This I did, having him conveyed on men's shoulders in a covered bed, for he was so ill that he could not go in any other way. I was greatly rejoiced at this, and he was extremely relieved at finding himself in his new home. His illness was increased by the hardships of the toilsome journey from Manila, one hundred and fifty leagues away, in the season of the vendavals and the rains, which in the bay of Manila, and as far as the entrance into the province of Pintados, is the most difficult and dangerous of the whole year. In this case, the burden of these hardships and torments fell upon a person so feeble, infirm, old, and exhausted that, although he arrived at Sebu in fair health, their effect was greatly aggravated by his immediately commencing work with two sermons, which were highly regarded in that community. But his efforts so prostrated him that he took to his bed with a fever, which so exhausted him that his holy life came to an end on the first of September of the same year, fifteen hundred and ninety-five. In life, and no less in his death, this holy man was a rare example of virtue; and so, in both, he was highly esteemed by all classes and ranks of people--especially by ecclesiastics and religious, who recognized in him an admirable virtue. When but a youth he left España in the service of the Duke of Feria. He was received into the Society at Loreto, studied in Padua, and had charge of the Germanic College in Rome. From this place blessed Father Francisco de Borja [65] sent him to Japon. Upon reaching Sevilla, however, he learned that the ships bound for the Indias had already left Lisboa. Waiting at this latter place for further instructions he was given the choice of embarking, at his pleasure, for either Piru or Florida. He chose Florida as a place which, in its poverty, offered greater opportunities of suffering there many hardships for the sake of Christ. In this he was not deceived; for in Florida, and later in Habana, he suffered greatly on sea and land, from hunger, cold, exhaustion, storms, hardships, exposure, and mortal perils. It often happened that he fell to the ground, while walking on the shore--sick, powerless to move, and among Indians most cruel in war, who had killed others of the Society; and yet he escaped, how, he knew not. Many a time did he eat no more than a handful of maize, planted and gathered by his own hands; for whatever else he might have must be given to poor soldiers. During a pestilence which had spread among those savages he became a physician, for he could baptize them if they should die; in this way he sent many of them to heaven. From Florida he was sent to Nueva España, and was the first of the Society to enter the City of Mexico, where by his virtuous life and teachings, he inspired the viceroy, the auditors of the Audiencia, and the citizens with such affection that they sought to bring over from España members of the Society, in order to found a college in Mexico. This was done and Father Antonio Sedeño was made rector: he laid the foundations and erected a building, which stands to this day. He went over to the Filipinas, as we have said, where his occupations were such as we have already related. While on the sea, he and his companions lived in their cabin in such modest retirement, and were so dignified in their bearing, that they spread tranquillity throughout the vessel, and accordingly their teaching was highly valued. He lived forty years in the Society, to its great edification, and preached for fifteen years in the Filipinas with admirable results. He suffered greatly from asthma, and consequently slept almost always in a chair. But he did not, on this account, allow himself any recreation, or cease to eat fish alone during Lent and fast days. It might be more accurately said that he but seldom ate at all, so great was his abstinence--which he, moreover, sought to conceal, feigning, with much dissimulation, that he ate of everything, when in reality it was a mere pretense of eating. He was very contrite; severe toward himself, but gentle to others; most exact in obedience, but very reserved and cautious in command; courteous and honorable in his dealings; liberal, generous, and devout. He gave or obtained aid for many needy persons, and all esteemed him for his labors. He was most zealous for the welfare of souls, and for the prosperity and preservation of the Filipinas, and for their settlement and aggrandizement. We have already related what he accomplished in building. He was the first to discover lime there, and made the first roof-tile, and erected the first building. He sought out Chinese artists, whom he kept in his house to paint images, not only for our churches but for others, both within and without Manila. He encouraged the encomenderos and the parish priests to provide their churches with these images, and made it most easy to procure them. Thus almost all the churches in the islands were adorned with images, nearly all of which were of the Mother of God. He took great interest in planting groves and in laying out gardens, and was anxious that silk should be produced in the islands, hoping thus to retain there for their benefit the money which was going to China, and thus to secure their prosperity. To this end he planted mulberry trees, and was active in other ways, even constructing a loom, and teaching the Indians to weave in the European fashion. He was accustomed to say that the highest form of prayer was that which most inclines one to self-mortification; and he so practiced this that his own life was a perpetual mortification. He taught this in the house and elsewhere; and in his own exercises he could not use any other method than mortification. His sermons were all on fear, judgment, and condemnation. He said that this was what the world needed; and he was not mistaken, for in truth he accomplished great results through this teaching. One of his hearers, who was once praising to me his instruction, repeated an expression which the father often used, and which had deeply impressed him: "There [_i.e.,_ "in the other world?"] you will understand it," he would say with wonderful truth and force. In our household intercourse with him, he would assert that he who aspires to perfection must be convinced that the pleasures of food, drink, the couch, idleness, and the like, are not for him. All this, however, he did not urge by force, but rather taught it in a kindly manner, and gently guiding each one according to the strength which God had given him--although he said that God gave strength to all in proportion to their courage in working and suffering for His love. He also said that one should die rather than commit the slightest venial sin; and in his own case he was so rigid in this respect that at times it seemed excess of scruple. His life was certainly most pure, and his death like unto his life. During his illness we all admired his great patience and resignation in the hands of God.

Father Antonio Pereira used to say that he often visited him in order that he might profit and be edified by so admirable an example. The day when he died, we had already noticed in the morning that extreme unction should not be any longer withheld from him; and so I prepared him to receive it, telling him that it seemed to be time. He raised his eyes and hands toward heaven with great devotion, exclaiming: "To pass to eternity!" With this he became lost in thought, spoke not another word, and, receiving with much devotion that holy sacrament, died in peace. He did not become rigid or discolored in death, but preserved his bright color, and his limbs remained soft and flexible, until he was buried. All the ecclesiastics and religious of the city of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus, all the regidors, and the honorable and prominent people, attended his funeral rites, which were celebrated with great solemnity, devotion and tenderness. [66] In Manila also, on account of the devotion of all classes for him, solemn funeral honors were held, and were attended not only with the tears and sorrow of all classes, but by the authority and concourse of all ranks and religious orders. This holy man was lost to us at a time when we were in great straits over the founding of that vice-province of the Society, which we had hoped would be successfully established through his energy and prudence. But there remained with us a great confidence that he would aid us no less in death than in life; and thus his influence was seen in the prosperous increase after his holy death of our ministries and other affairs, especially in the college of Sebu, which is indebted to his holy body as the foundation-stone of all its growth.

Of other and new members of the Society who went to the islands in the year fifteen hundred and ninety-six. Chapter XIV.

In the fleet of this year fifteen hundred and ninety-five, our very reverend father-general, Claudio Aquaviva, sent to the Filipinas Father Francisco de Vera, with twenty-four of the Society, at the request and expense of his Majesty the Catholic king, Don Felipe Second. With all these, he reached Nueva España in the same year; and, in the following, he embarked at the port of Acapulco for the Filipinas with fourteen members of the Society, with the governor, Don Francisco Tello. [67] In order that this voyage from Nueva España to the Filipinas may be successfully made, it should be undertaken by the middle of March, at the latest, so as to reach the Filipinas before the vendavals or southwest winds of June set in, which are very tempestuous--like the north winds in Nueva España which begin in September. As these vessels left the port of Acapulco so late, upon reaching the Filipinas they encountered vendavals which exposed them to great peril and hardship. It has happened that vessels, leaving late as did these, upon striking these vendavals in the Filipinas, have been obliged to turn back with these winds to the Ladrones Islands, and to return thence with the brisas from those islands to the Filipinas; then, reaching the latter, to encounter the vendavals, and again be driven by their force to the Ladrones. The hindrance and privation thus experienced can be imagined; nor can the ship land at either islands until the months of October and November when the vendavals cease.

Almost the same thing befell Ours that year. The vendavals and currents long drove them back, and, in consequence, their voyage was lengthened, and provisions ran short; the ship's stores gave out, and, that they might not lack water, they were allotted small rations, each being given but half a quartillo a day--a privation which at sea is keenly felt. Finally, relieved from all these hardships and torments, through the mercy of God they arrived safely at the college in Manila on the first day of August of the same year. This voyage is usually made in seventy days, but they, to their own greater merit, did not reach the islands before one hundred and thirty days; and afterward they journeyed more than one hundred leguas besides, by both sea and land, coasting the shore in large boats. They crossed by land the province of Camarines, all of which is occupied by the convents of the glorious father St. Francis, where they were received and cared for according to their dire necessities; even the father commissary of those provinces, heedless of entreaties or excuses, washed with his own hands the feet of six of Ours, who chanced to pass by his abode. The first words with which one of those servants of the Lord received them were the following, which he uttered with loving tears: "Would they were a thousand fathers, for they would all have a harvest in the Filipinas." The Indians, too, who had never seen Ours in this province, were greatly rejoiced at their arrival--not only those already baptized, but even the infidels; and they gave proof of their good will in the hospitality which they showed towards our fathers, in imitation of their own fathers and ministers.

This was indeed a valuable reënforcement; for, combined with that of the year before, they made a sufficient force to begin the extension of the Society throughout the islands which were assigned to it as a province, and to care for the humble souls who begged for bread and had no one to give it to them. Father Ramon de Prado, who had succeeded to the office of vice-provincial, thus obtained people to employ in this work, conformably to his great zeal for the salvation of souls. How he did this we shall see later, each subject in its proper place. First, I will say that the facility with which many ministers of the Lord in the four religious orders learned the languages used in their respective missions, even so as to preach and hear confessions in them, seems a gift from heaven. The most tardy student of them, if he apply himself moderately, spends no more than six months; and one of Ours, Father Cosme de Flores, learned and mastered this language, so that he could preach and hear confessions, in seventy-four days--to the astonishment of our people, as well as of the Indians themselves. The latter, seeing this facility, say that God, without doubt, bestows it upon us, recognizing their needs. In truth these languages are not very difficult, either to learn or to pronounce--and more especially now, since there is a grammar, a vocabulary, and many writings therein. The most difficult is the language of Manila (which they call Tagal)--which, I have already said, Father Martin Henriquez learned in three months; and in three more, he used it fluently. This was the first of the native languages that I learned, to which and to the others I shall profitably devote another chapter. [68]

Of the Languages of the Filipinas. Chapter XV.

There is no single or general language of the Filipinas extending throughout the islands; but all of them, though there are many and different tongues, are so much alike that they may be learned and spoken in a short time. Consequently if one is learned, all are almost known. They are to each other like the Tuscan, Lombard, and Sicilian dialects of Italia, or the Castilian, Portuguese, and Galician in España. Only the language of the Negrillos is very different from the rest, as, in España, is the Vizcayan [_i.e._, Basque]. There is not a different language for each of the islands, because some of them--as, for example, Manila, and even Panai, which is more than four hundred leguas smaller--contain several languages; and there are languages each of which prevails in several islands. In the island of Manila alone, there are six different tongues; in Panai, two; in some others, but one. The languages most used, and most widely spread, are the Tagal and the Bisayan; and in some regions of the Pintados another tongue is also prevalent, called Harayan. The Tagal embraces the greater part of the coast and interior of the islands of Manila, Mindoro, Luban, and some others. Bisaya is in use through all the islands of the Pintados, although in some of the villages therein the Harayan is spoken. Of all these languages, it was the Tagal which most pleased me and which I most admired. As I told the first bishop, and, afterwards, other persons of dignity in the islands and in Europe, I found in this language four qualities of the four greatest languages of the world, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Spanish: it has the abstruseness and obscurity of the Hebrew; the articles and distinctions in proper as well as in common nouns, of the Greek; the fulness and elegance of the Latin; and the refinement, polish, and courtesy of the Spanish. Examples of all these characteristics may be seen in the "Ave Maria" done into Tagal; and, as that is a short prayer, and more easily understood than the others, I will place it here with its explanation in our vernacular, and with word-for-word equivalents. In this way may be seen the idioms and characteristic expressions of this language which will please some readers, and furnish information, both useful and curious.

_The "Ave-Maria" in the Tagal language_

Aba Guinoo Maria matoa ca na. Hail Lady Mary, joyful thou now,

Napono ca nan gracia, full thou of grace;

An Panguinoon Dios na saio. the Lord God is with thee

Bucor can pinagpala sa babain lahat. especially, thou blessed among women all.

Pinagpàlà namàn ang iong anac si Jesus. Blessed also be thy son Jesus.

Santa Maria ina nang Dios Holy Mary, mother of God,

Ipana languin mo cami macasalanan Let us be interceded for by thee, us sinners

ñgayon at cum mamatai cami. Amen, Jesus. now and when shall die we.

The first word of this prayer _Aba_, is obscure, but apparently has the force of "salute," like the Latin _Ave. Bucor_ expresses diversity, distinction, and singularity. The article is _Si_ (Jesus), as _Ton_ in Greek. The richness of the language lies in its many synonyms and phrases; consequently this prayer, which, as it stands, is very elegant, could be formed with equal elegance in various other ways, without losing its original sense and meaning. The polish and courtesy consist in not saying, as in Latin, _Ave Maria_ (which would seem in this language abrupt and barbaric), without adding that polite word, _Guinoo_.

There is none or very little of this courtesy in the other two languages of the Bissayas, which are more rude and unpolished. I thought it good to present the same prayer in these languages, not only as a curiosity, but to give an idea of their similarity and differences--giving notice, however, that it is not my intention to offer an interpretation (which is unnecessary, since we all know the "Ave Maria"), but, as I said, to show the idioms of these languages. These idioms, moreover, ought not to displease or appear ignoble, for every tongue has its own beauty and elegance for those who are born in it, which the eyes of foreigners cannot discern. This point has been discussed by Jesus Sidrac in the prologue to his _Ecclesiasticus_, a holy and Catholic work; and it was proved at length, and with great erudition, by the most glorious doctor St. Jerome, in the hundred and first Epistle to Pamaquio.

_The "Ave Maria" in the Harayan tongue_

Maliag cao Maria nabota cao can gracia Rejoice thou Mary, full thou of grace.

An atun guinoon Dios dian canimo. He our Lord God is with thee,

Capin icao sa mañga babai ñga tanan, fortunate thou among women all;

ig capin naman ang imon bata ñga si Jesus _and fortunate also he thy son Jesus_.

Santa Maria inang can Dios [Holy Mary], mother of God,

igampo mo cami ñga macasasala let us be favored by thee, us the sinners,

caraon, ig cum mamatai cami. now and when shall die we.

Amen, Jesus.

_The "Ave Maria" in the Bissayan tongue_

Maghimaya ca Maria napono ca sa gracia Rejoice, thou Mary, full thou of grace;

An guinoon Dios anaa canimo. the Lord God is with thee.

Guirayeg ca uyamot sa babaihun tanan Exalted thou much among women all,

ug guirayeg man an imon anac Jesus. and exalted also he thy son Jesus.

Santa Maria inahan sa Dios, Holy Mary, mother of God,

iguiampo mo cami macasasala oñia let us be interceded for by thee, us sinners, now

ug sa amun camatai. Amen, Jesus. and in our death.

It has been my object in giving this slight illustration of the difference between these three languages--aside from its singularity and novelty, which may furnish some pleasure--to make evident the ease and clearness of the languages and their words and pronunciations, which render them very easy, or at least not difficult to learn. Some of their idioms and transpositions, which are different from our own, must be accepted as they stand, as Father Joseph de Acosta says very well when writing on this matter, (_De procur. sal_. lib. 4, cap. 9.); but if they are once acquired, and one is accustomed to the sound of them, they do not render the language difficult, but rather make it easy and graceful. But since I have mentioned the courtesy and politeness of the Tagalos, and of their tongue, it will be well, before proceeding further, to speak more at length concerning it, for it is so noble and pleasing a moral virtue.

Of the civilities, terms of courtesy, and good breeding among the Filipinos. Chapter XVI.

The Filipinos are not so ceremonious in their actions as are the Chinese and Japonese; yet they have their politeness and good breeding, especially the Tagalos, who are very civil and courteous in word and action. Upon meeting one another, they practice our custom of uncovering the head--not that they used hats, caps, or bonnets; but they wore a piece of cloth like a towel, some three or four palmos long, which they wound around the head in becoming fashion, like the ancient crowns or diadems. This they removed, as they now do the hat [_sombrero_]--which they have adopted, in imitation of us, abandoning the _potong_, as they called the towel or diadem which they formerly wore. As among them it is not courtesy to remain standing before a person whom they respect, they seat themselves upon the ground, or rather on their heel-bones. Seated in this way, with head uncovered and the potong thrown like a towel over the left shoulder, they talk with their superiors. The mode of salutation upon entering or meeting anyone is as follows: They draw the body together and make a low reverence, raising one or both hands to the face, and placing them upon the cheeks; they next sit down waiting for the question that may be put to them, for it is considered bad manners to speak before one is spoken to. Their greatest courtesy is in their form of address; for they never speak to one as "thou," or in the second person, whether singular or plural, but always use the third person, saying for example--"Does the lord, or the chief, wish for this or that?" There are many examples of this to be found in Holy Scripture or sacred language, and particularly in the Psalms. In the relations of man with woman, woman with man, or woman with woman, they are very careful--even when they are quite equals, and, too, among the middle class--to use, after every important word, nothing but "my Lord," or "my Lady;" as, "My Lord, as I was coming up the river, I saw, my Lord," etc. This term and pronoun are used as agreeable and even affectionate, even in the languages of much greater importance, as Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, which are the three most venerable tongues. In polite and affectionate intercourse they are very extravagant, addressing letters to each other in terms of elaborate and delicate expressions of affection, and neat turns of thought. As a result of this, they are much given to musical practice; and although the guitar that they use, called _cutyapi_, is not very ingenious or rich in tone, it is by no means disagreeable, and to them is most pleasing. They play it with such vivacity and skill that they seem to make human voices issue from its four metallic cords. We also have it on good authority that by merely playing these instruments they can, without opening their lips, communicate with one another, and make themselves perfectly understood--a thing unknown of any other nation. The Bissayans are more rustic and less civil in manners, just as their language is harsher and less polished. They have not so many terms of courtesy, as formerly they had no letters until, a very few years ago, they borrowed theirs from the Tagalos. As we have already treated of their languages, it would be advisable to make some mention of their letters.

Of the Letters of the Filipinos. Chapter XVII.

All these islanders are much given to reading and writing, and there is hardly a man, and much less a woman, who does not read and write in the letters used in the island of Manila--which are entirely different from those of China, Japon, and India. This will be seen from its alphabet, which is as follows:

The three vowels serve as five, and are:

A I O a e i o u

The consonants are only twelve, and in writing are used with the vowels in the following form.

The letter alone with no point above or below it, is pronounced with the vowel-sound A:

BA KA DA GA HA LA MA NA PA SA TA YA Ba ca da ga ha la ma na pa sa ta ya

By placing the point above, each is pronounced with the vowel-sound E or I:

BI KI DI GI HI LI MI NI PI SI TI YI Bi qui di gui hi li mi ni pi si ti yi Be que de gue he le me ne pe se te ye

By placing the point below, they are pronounced with the vowel-sound O or U:

BO KO DO GO HO LO MO NO PO SO TO YO Bo co do go ho lo mo no po so to yo Bu cu du gu hu lu mu nu pu su tu yu

Consequently, to pronounce _cama_, two letters without points are sufficient: KAMA _ca ma_.

If a point is placed above the KA we have KIMA or _que-ma._

If a point is placed below each character KOMO the word is _co-mo_.

Final consonants are suppressed in all forms of expression: accordingly _cantar_ is written KATA _ca ta_; _barba_, BABA _ba ba_.

By means of these characters they easily make themselves understood and convey their ideas marvelously, he who reads supplying, with much skill and facility, the consonants which are lacking. From us they have adopted the habit of writing from left to right. Formerly they wrote from the top to the bottom, placing the first line on the left (if I remember aright), and continuing the rest at the right, contrary to the custom of the Chinese and Japanese--who, although they write from top to bottom, begin from the right and continue the page to the left.

They used to write on reeds and palm-leaves, using as a pen an iron point; now they write their own letters, as well as ours, with a sharpened quill, and, as we do, on paper. They have learned our language and its pronunciation, and write it even better than we do, for they are so clever that they learn anything with the greatest ease. I have had letters written by themselves in very handsome and fluent style. In Tigbauan I had in my school a very young boy, who, using as a model letters written to me in a very good handwriting, learned in three months to write even better than I; and he copied for me important documents faithfully, exactly, and without errors. Let this, however, suffice for the matter of languages and letters, and let us return to our employment for souls.

Occurrences in Manila in the year fifteen hundred and ninety-six and fifteen hundred and ninety-seven. Chapter XVIII.

In the college we had begun, as I have said, to study the Latin grammar and moral theology. Each of these branches was begun in the usual way, with public academic exercises and learned discourses. [69] As it was the first event of that kind to take place in the islands, the exercises were received with great favor, and were attended and enjoyed by all the dignitaries, and prelates, and by a great concourse of other people. Divine worship, moreover, was notably increased upon the completion of the church--which, in its construction and unusual design, proved to be very beautiful. It was constructed on the model of the church of Jesus in our house of the professed at Rome, although considerably inferior to that. This church was dedicated to the glorious St. Anne, the ceremony taking place on her feast-day in the year fifteen hundred and ninety-six, when an image of her was piously set up, and the most holy sacrament brought from the old church with great solemnity and devotion. The chapel of our Lady was placed, as in the church at Rome, on the gospel side; and in it her image was set up with an elegant reredos, in the devout presence of many Spaniards and Indians. In the other chapel, on the epistle side which is on the side next the house, and joined to the sacristy, were placed the holy relics, which at the instance of the Catholic king our lord, and the urgent request of Father Alonso Sanchez, were donated by the Apostolic See and had arrived in the previous year. The tabernacle in which these relics now repose had already been constructed and finished; it embraces the whole width of the chapel. It is of an incorruptible wood which they call in those parts molave. [70] It is adorned by eight columns, four on a side, grouped in a square, with base and pedestals which sustain, higher up, its architrave, frieze, and cornice, with finials and handsome architectural designs. Between the columns there are five distinctly-marked compartments, two small ones on each side and a large one in the center--all of them of like design and exquisite proportion, with finely carved doors and inlaid work, with cavities in which the holy relics are preserved with great propriety and honor. The color of the whole work externally is black--partly natural, on account of the quantities of ebony that it contains, which is very abundant in those regions, and partly derived from the varnish which is used to imitate that wood. The mouldings, outlines, piñas, [71] and floriations are gilded, and there are other ornaments of gold and ivory. The altar is below, with its two steps at the height of the pedestals which support the columns. In the spaces between the columns, on both sides of the altar, were placed two images or statues of the glorious apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul; these are fastened in place by strong and curious locks and are covered with two pairs of curtains--one pair of gauze striped with silk and gold, the other of finest damask with embroidery and gold lace. Whenever these holy relics are exposed at their respective feast-days, the ceremony is conducted with great solemnity; and numbers of white candles are placed not only on the altar and steps, but all over the tabernacle from top to bottom, giving it dignity and distinction. On the twelfth of January of the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-seven, the holy relics were deposited there, with such rejoicings and festive show as had never been known before in the islands. In all this was seen how it was God who solicited hearts, and moved them to honor the glorious soldiers whom he had brought again for the defense and protection of the earth. They were borne in procession through the principal streets of the city, which, although handsome in themselves, were decorated so elegantly that their very elegance expressed the devotion of the people. They had erected at intervals arches (a dozen in all)--the greater number lofty, and with sculptured images; the others of silk and thin stuffs, so ingeniously knotted together and adorned with various compositions and characters that they presented a very pleasing sight. They constructed with great skill several fountains, some of which gave forth water and others wine; two, in particular, issuing from a window, gave forth milk and Castilian wine, which were highly prized at that time in the islands. The relics were borne on six platforms, no less splendid than costly, since they carried nearly all the gold, precious stones, and jewelry of the city, which had been offered with much readiness and good will. Our Lord rewarded them for this, for there was not one accident, or a single piece lacking, of which there had previously been some fear, on account of the great gathering of all classes of people. As for the decoration of the church, the edifice itself, recently completed, was so beautiful and pleasing that it sufficed for adornment, although not so elaborate as the tabernacle. Its beauty was increased by elegant hangings of tapestry, and by many inscriptions--written by Ours in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Castilian, and Tagalo--extending in three rows along the great nave, besides others, corresponding to these, in various places. As I have said, the holy relics were borne on six platforms, resting on the shoulders of men, most of whom were religious, and in fourteen reliquaries, which were carried by as many religious; and dignitaries of the cathedral, clothed in their official robes, accompanied these. Add to this the salutes from the forts, and the standards of the confraternities carried in the van, and the effect was highly imposing. The festivities lasted nine days, each order celebrating its special feast, preaching and saying mass with the greatest possible solemnity. The Augustinian fathers began the festivities, considering the occasion especially theirs on account of their long residence there. They assisted us by their good will and deeds, thereby showing themselves no less devoted to the holy relics than friendly to the Society. They conducted many kinds of music and dances, and besides these were many furnished by our Indians, and the Chinese and Japanese; all this variety produced most pleasing effects and greatly adorned and enlivened the festival. In this fashion the other religious orders celebrated their own days until the eighth, in succession, with great devotion, joy and edification on the part of the people. On the afternoon of the last day, as a conclusion to the fiesta, valuable prizes were distributed on the occasion of a literary contest, the announcement of which had been published some days before with much show and solemnity. In this contest many excellent and ingenious compositions of various kinds were delivered, to which prizes were awarded, after two exceedingly pleasing, dignified and impressive declamations had been recited in praise of the holy relics. Divine worship was also improved in the new church by the addition of some silver lamps, candlesticks, chalices, patines, wine-cruets, monstrances, and thuribles; many altar hangings and chasubles, made not only from the silk and embroideries of that country, but from damask, velvet, and brocade brought from España and Italia, with printed borders; hangings heavily embroidered with seed pearls and thin silver plates; and various draperies, some of velvet and damask, others of colored taffeta. Besides all these things, there was the chapel of the singers, who with voices and music of flutes and clarions, serve in the masses, vespers, and _Salves_, at least on the principal feast-days.

There was also begun at this time, through the devotion of Canon Diego de Leon (who was then attending the lectures in our schools), the practice of assembling in our church many men of all ranks to take the discipline, [72] three days in the week, especially during Lent--a practice which lasts to this very day. This same canon stimulated their piety on these occasions by a half hour's reading from some devout book. At the conclusion of the reading, the penance began, during which they repeated devoutly the _Miserere_. This holy exercise was a source of great edification to the Indians; and, in imitation of it, a great number of them took the discipline on those nights, in turn with the Spaniards.

Further proceedings at this time in Manila by the Indians and Spaniards. Chapter XIX.

At this time the Indians were very numerous, both within the city of Manila (where there are more than six thousand, scattered through the houses of the Spanish inhabitants) and in all the outlying districts. These people repair to our church for confession not only in Lent but on all other days of the year; consequently, there were not fathers enough acquainted with their language to care for them spiritually from morning to evening. I know of some who had waited for more than ten or even twelve days, without being able, for the press of people, to reach the feet of the confessor. Others remained a whole day in the church, waiting for their turn. This gives evidence of the ardor and perseverance with which they attended to the welfare of their souls. On Sundays and the afternoons of feast-days, when the sermons were preached in their own language, the church was crowded--above, below, in the choir and galleries, all which, although very spacious, were filled; and, besides, there were many of those people outside the doors (which are five in number).

In two ways they were equally enthusiastic in celebrating the deposit of the holy relics: first, in the great devotion that they displayed during the whole eight days while the festival lasted and the relics were exposed--men, women, and children attending it in such numbers, both morning and afternoon, that they could not enter the church. The Spaniards, astonished at this, said that those holy relics must have come to Manila for the Indians, judging from the way in which the latter attended and venerated them. To show appreciation of their great devotion, and to inspire them with more, a short discourse, in their own language, was delivered to them every afternoon, preceding the _Salve_ sung by the choir, and accompanied by the music of the wind-instruments. The second thing they did in the service of the holy relics was to institute a confraternity or congregation dedicated to those relics with the title and vocation of "all saints." Their object was, each beginning with himself and his own spiritual profit, to strive with all their might for the welfare of their neighbors, by performing works of mercy, in both temporal and spiritual affairs, as their opportunities permit--in which effort they exert themselves, by the grace of our Lord, with the advantages which we shall see later.

One of the best results is the modesty and virtue of the women, which we esteem in those regions, because it is but little practiced or valued among their heathen peoples. In many--I even believe, in all--of those islands there existed a doctrine, sowed by the devil, that a woman, whether married or single, could not be saved, who did not have some lover. They said that this man, in the other world, hastened to offer the woman his hand at the passage of a very perilous stream which had no other bridge than a very narrow beam, which must be traversed to reach the repose that they call _Calualhatian._ [73]

Consequently virginity was not recognized or esteemed among them; rather they considered it as a misfortune and humiliation. Married women, moreover, were not constrained by honor to remain faithful to their husbands, although the latter would resent the adultery, and hold it as a just cause for repudiating the wife. To illustrate this: Upon my arrival in the Filipinas, in the latter part of May in the year fifteen hundred and ninety, I had landed at the island of Marinduque (which is about twenty-eight or thirty leguas from Manila), at the time when an ensign with a squad of soldiers was going, through curiosity, to visit the interior of the island. Night overtaking him in this place, he was obliged to seek hospitality among the natives; there, one of the hospitalities which they bestowed on him and his companions was to offer him two women. These the good ensign ordered to be sent back, and he pointed out the offense that they were committing against God, the almighty Creator of heaven and earth, whom all men should know and serve. He told them that for this purpose alone the Spaniards had come from so great a distance; and that they must not offend God by their evil example. It was thus that the good ensign conducted himself on that occasion. There have been others, who, recklessly following their own evil inclination, not only do not resist such solicitations, but, to the great scandal of this nation, seek and encourage sin. But God, who from evil produces good, has brought some of those women to fear Him; and they, esteeming purity as a heavenly thing and vice as a vile and repulsive abomination, have conquered some most fiery temptations, as will be seen from two or three incidents that occur to me. There was a Spaniard who held a mother and daughter so under his control that he was on the way to seducing the latter (who was a mere girl) by his blandishments and supplications, combined with harshness and threats. The mother, who was an infernal old hag, he gained by offerings and bribes. But the good daughter after seven whole months of such infamous and continuous attack, would not yield; and finally that wretch, wearied by so long a siege and vanquished by the constancy of a weak girl, withdrew and left her in peace. Which is indeed a good deal when we consider the following: One woman for twelve long years resisted the tempter, fortified by holy confession and communion. Another, although she resisted for a shorter time, showed even greater constancy; for the base and cruel seducer went so far as to aim a dagger against her breast twice; the third time he went beyond threats, and fear did not restrain him, but he actually stabbed her. The wounded girl, who had first been stricken by the arrow of divine love, retained sufficient strength to leap down out of the house (as I have already said the dwelling is in the upper part), and thus her soul escaped injury.

For this very reason is the seminary for girls held in so high esteem which was founded in the islands by Governor Gomez Perez de las Mariñas, at the order of the Catholic king, at the instance of the first bishop, and through the zeal of Father Alonso Sanchez. It was established in the year fifteen hundred and ninety, when Captain Luis de Bivanco, factor of the royal exchequer, gave for this his houses. Later the seminary was transferred to the site which it now occupies, and a church was erected in honor of the virgin Saint Potenciana, patroness of Manila and of this holy seminary.

The good which has resulted to that colony from this institution is beyond exaggeration. Nearly a hundred young girls have retired to the protection of its walls, the greater part of them daughters of Spaniards--who, if they should go outside the seminary, would risk, and even achieve, setting the world on fire. The fathers of our college sometimes go to preach to them; and for my own part I can say that, whenever this duty fell to me, I did not fail to render praise to God at seeing there so many young women retired from the world, occupied in divine service and knowledge, and removed from the dangers and temptations without. Those among them who become established in matrimony give manifest token in their manners of the excellent education that they have received there, and the holy instruction upon which their superior has taught and reared them. This seminary for girls owes a great deal to the archdeacon of Manila, Don Francisco Gomez de Arellano--who, not content with expending his wealth in other works of great service to God, occupies himself and spends a large share of his means in the protection and maintenance of this institution. At his own expense he constructed some of the inner apartments in the seminary's house, which were greatly needed, and in the church a large and beautiful reredos, of elaborate architecture; but, even more important, he has with his ministrations and instruction carefully cultivated those souls.

But to return to the Indians: two of them were rescued at that time, for which they had reason to be thankful; for, as they were Christians, the greater would be their loss and peril. One of them, who was twenty years old, had learned with great thoroughness a certain device of witchcraft; and yet during all this time, through some special providence of our Lord, had practiced it to no profit. It is certain, too, that if he had been successful he would have ruined himself and harmed many others. But I say no more of this, to avoid prolixity. Another Indian had a book containing certain verses of poetry, which they call _Golo_ [74]--most pernicious, because they included an express compact with the devil; this its owner freely gave up, that it might be burned, which was done. Most of the prisoners in the jail are Indians, placed there for various crimes which they committed; and they also have their own separate hospital in the city (as also the Spaniards have one), where their sick are healed. Both hospitals are royal foundations, established by order and at the expense of his Majesty the Catholic king of blessed memory. To both Spaniards and natives Ours have ministered, in both these hospitals and in the prison, in order to aid all with the offices which, in such places, the Society is wont to exercise, for both bodies and souls.

At that time we began the religious exercises which those of our Society are wont to conduct in the plazas for the benefit of those, who through hindrances, carelessness, or impiety, fail to attend the sermons. The discourses were delivered in the Castilian language, in the principal plaza of Manila, beneath some of the principal buildings, which were then occupied (while the royal edifices were being finished) by the governor, Don Francisco Tello, his Majesty's representative. So much did he enjoy hearing the discourses, and the clever answers of some Spanish boys who before the preaching were catechized, as usual, in the Christian doctrine, that he threw down, from the balcony where he stood listening, to the boys a number of stamped images to reward them. This encouraged the boys to learn thoroughly, and become adept in these exercises, and inspired Ours to continue this holy practice, thus favored with such sincerity and benevolence; and those who beheld it were edified, and held us in greater esteem. Through these discourses and exercises the children, and even some adults, obtained a knowledge and understanding of the Christian doctrine; moreover, some were induced to lead better lives, flee from temptation, and examine their own souls, and even some to enter the religious life.

What was accomplished in the villages of the encomienda of Taitai up to the year fifteen hundred and ninety-seven. Chapter XX.

We have already seen how the village called Taitai, the chief one of that encomienda, improved its location by removing from the marshes and overflow of the lagoon shore. This village had formerly dedicated its church to the glorious St. John the Baptist, and, upon its removal to the new site, in devotion to him the name San Juan del Monte ["St. John of the Mountain"] was given to it. It is a general custom, in all the mission villages in the Filipinas, for all the people to repair on Sundays and days of obligation to the church for the mass and sermon, before which the doctrine and catechism are recited. As a result of this, they not only have a thorough knowledge of the prayers, but even excel many peoples of Europe in their comprehension of the mysteries of our holy faith. To lighten the burdens of these people, that they might not weary of their constant attendance at church, for the doctrine, catechism, mass, and sermon--not to mention the frequent publication of the marriage banns, and the fact that mass is solemnly celebrated with music and the accompaniment of the organ, in which they spend many hours--we thought it best to reserve the doctrine and the catechism for Sundays in the afternoon, and even then not all the people were obliged to be present--part of them attending on one Sunday, part on another, and thus in rotation until the turn of the first ones came again. By such an arrangement this exercise is rendered easier, and is even more profitable to the people, serving them upon such days as legitimate diversion, to which they all repair with greater inclination and pleasure. To this end a bell is rung at the hour of vespers, and the children go forth through the streets of the place, bearing the cross, and singing the doctrine, and then, followed by their elders, they return to the church. The adults, in the presence of the father, recite the prayers and catechism with great devotion and satisfaction, spending in all about half an hour. This done, they return to their homes. Mondays and Saturdays are likewise solemnized with masses, respectively for the deceased and in honor of our Lady, and are always attended by a certain number of people. The young men are especially directed to attend these services that they may continue to practice Christian habits; upon these occasions some short sermon is preached them in their own language. The children and old men are those who are under the strictest obligation to come to the church each day, at a certain hour, to learn the Christian doctrine--the children, always; the old men, until they have learned the doctrine. To each old man is assigned a boy, who instructs him and is careful to report how much the old man is learning; then, if the old man gives a good account of himself, he is privileged to cease his attendance, except with the rest of the people on Sundays. The bell tolls the "Ave Maria" at dawn, at noon, and at night; and, besides this, some one is careful to go through the streets at night, sounding a little bell, and in a loud voice admonishing the people to offer prayers for the souls in purgatory and for those who are in a state of sin. These, as well as other pious and devout customs, had been introduced into those villages. Three handsome churches were erected, and adorned with images, tapestry, and beautiful ornaments. We gained the good-will of those Indians to such a degree that, their opinion of us extending to their neighbors, even the savages who were hidden among the mountains came to us; and consequently those villages received much increase, as we shall soon see. There was one of these newcomers in particular, very appropriately named Sayor, which means "robber" (and truly he was such in his deeds), who was a savage in his mode of life; without house or dwelling, he lived among the mountains and in caves--even using as food, when he found no other game, the serpents that he killed. Although somewhat advanced in years, he possessed incredible agility in running and leaping, the natural disposition and propensity of savage wild beasts. The neighboring villages held this man in so great fear that, whenever he entered one of them, all the people fled from him as from a wild beast, believing him to be a violent madman; and by such compulsion he took, without any resistance, all that he desired from the houses. I saw this man, who unexpectedly came toward me of his own accord; he was naked, his only covering being a wretched breech-cloth; he wore in his girdle a dagger, and carried in his hands his bow and arrows. I caressed him, and tried to soften him with presents and gentle treatment, and this intercourse we continued for five or six years, with increasing confidence and satisfaction on his part. Consequently he maintained with us very intimate relations until, finally, Father Diego Garcia, who as we shall later see went to those regions as visitor in the year fifteen hundred and ninety-seven, decided that it was time to grant him holy baptism. The father visitor himself bestowed this grace upon him, baptizing him with his own hands with great solemnity, and with demonstration of the grace and efficacy of this most divine sacrament. The name of Pablo was given to him, which from that time on he so highly prized that if at any time he was inadvertently called by his former nickname, he showed (although with a gracious and Christian spirit) regret and disdain equal to his pleasure and pride in the name of Christian. Accordingly he would answer to those who called him Sayor: "Not Sayor, but Pablo." After his baptism we married him; and he now dwells in his own home as the father of a family, with great discretion and tranquillity. He has become so tamed that we can say that he is one of the gentlest and most useful of all our Indians, and aids in our affairs with much fidelity and love. I spoke to him occasionally, with no small satisfaction, of his former savage life. He told me of the places in which he took refuge and spent the night, and of his hunting serpents--which, according to his statement (which was verified there), are of so great a size that they swallow men, deer, and other animals. [75] Before his baptism, when our acquaintance was but recent, he more than once offered to accompany me upon my journeys, carrying his dagger, bow, and arrows. We two journeyed alone through the mountains, he with great satisfaction in serving me, I with equal security and confidence in his good fellowship.

In this way, at the time when Father Francisco Almerique was here, not one man, as this one, but entire villages came in--the good father choosing their location, and helping them to erect the houses. In the village of Antipolo, in one year alone (either ninety-four or ninety-five), nearly a thousand souls arrived at the mission, more than five hundred of whom were baptized in that same year. They had come down from some very rugged mountains, far from there, where they had their houses and cultivated fields; but they neglected all these, out of love and esteem for our holy faith. No one remained in the mountains but a few catolones, for thus the priests of their idols are styled. As soon as this was ascertained, efforts were made that a person able to do so should remove them from that place, to suppress this cause of offense to those who were weak. This was done with much gentleness, and they were brought to us. Thereupon the good father, with his holy prudence and with the example of his righteous life, subdued their leader, whom the rest obeyed, and baptized them all. This leader said that the father's anito (thus they style their deities) was greater than those of other men, and for that reason they recognized him as superior. This pagan priest, while offering his infamous sacrifices, was possessed by the Devil who caused him to make most ugly grimaces; and he braided his hair, which for his particular calling he wore long, like that of a woman. But he, beginning (like the Magdalen) with his hair, cut it off publicly, and with it the power of the Devil, who held him captive; and receiving baptism, constrained the others by his example to do the same, consigning his idols to the fire where they were consumed.

In this baptism of five hundred people, there were two old women whose conversion showed the special and admirable providence of our Lord. One of them, at least, showed an age of more than one hundred years; and both came down with the rest from the mountains, desiring holy baptism. Hardly had they received it when, leaving this mortal life (for they could no longer sustain the burden of so many years), they were renewed and bettered by the eternal life for which our Lord in his infinite mercy had preserved them during so many years.

The Tagalos, which is the name of the whitest and most civilized race of Manila, were not the only ones who descended from the mountains and from afar to range themselves alongside the sons of the new Jerusalem, that is, the holy church [76]--which multiplying in numbers, augmenting the joy at the sight of the vineyard of the Lord, and producing new plants, extends its shoots until it penetrates the sea and embraces and incorporates all its islands. After the men came the beasts of burden (namely, the Negrillos, who are more fierce, and dwell in the mountains) who came with outstretched hands to place themselves in those of their swift Angels, sent to succor this abject and ruined people. By this I mean that the Negrillos, of whom I have already spoken--who are the ancient inhabitants of some of these islands, including Manila, in which there are many of that race who live, as I said, in the mountains, merely like wild beasts--impressed by the example of the others, began to be peaceable and tame, and to prepare themselves for holy baptism. This, for those who are acquainted with their savageness and brutality, is wonderful beyond exaggeration. But this very brutal and barbarous nature renders them (a marvelous thing!) less incapable of our holy faith, and less averse to it--because in their state of pure savagery they have not, as I know from observation, any idolatries or superstitions, neither are they greatly averse to the gospel and baptism. The others--who to their own detriment and misfortune, are more civilized--abandon more regretfully their idols, ceremonies, priests, sacrifices, and superstitions; and, although they renounce them in holy baptism and are converted (vanquished by the light of Catholic truth), the vestiges of the evil which they have sucked from their mothers' breasts are not so easily forgotten as to unburden us, their teachers, of many cares. This was clearly seen that year in that very village of San Juan del Monte, where, although all the inhabitants had been baptized and included many good Christians, those same good Christians informed us of a fire of idolatry which in its great fury was burning up our harvests. In order that this may be better understood, it will be well first to give some account of their idolatries and superstitions in a separate chapter; and then we will relate what happened in Taitai and how it was remedied.

Concerning the false heathen religion, idolatries, and superstitions of the Filipinos. Chapter XXI.

Although upon entering into the dark abyss of such blind idolatry I find a disorderly confusion of the vilest and most abominable things [77] worthy of its inventor, although in examining the walls within this infernal cave, I discover an infinitude of loathsome creatures, foul, obscene, truly damnable, it is my task, aided by the light of truth, to reduce them to order--so that we who upon opening our eyes find ourselves within the light of truth may offer praise to Almighty God, and have compassion for those who, blinded by their ignorance, love and prize these things of darkness, and cannot open their eyes to any light beyond. I shall speak first concerning the false belief that they hold concerning the divinity of their idols; second, of their priests and priestesses; third, and last, of their sacrifices and superstitions. Their art of writing was of no service to them in any one of these three things, or in matters of government and civilization (of which I shall perhaps later tell the little that I know); for they never used their writing except to exchange letters, as we have said. All their government and religion is founded on tradition, and on custom introduced by the Devil himself, who spoke to them through their idols and the ministers of these. They preserve it in songs, which they know by heart and learn when children, by hearing these sung when they are sailing or tilling their fields, when they are rejoicing and holding feasts, and especially, when they are mourning their dead. In these barbarous songs they relate the fabulous genealogies and vain deeds of their gods--among whom they set up one as the chief and superior of them all. This deity the Tagalos call _Bathala Mei capal_, which means "God the creator or maker;" the Bissayans call him _Laon_, which denotes antiquity. These songs relate the creation of the world, the origin of the human race, the deluge, paradise, punishment, and other invisible things, relating a thousand absurdities, and varying much the form, some telling it in one way, others in another. To show better what lies and fables these all are, there is one story that the first man and the first woman came from the knot of a cane which burst off from its plant. After that, certain disputes resulted concerning the marriage of these two, on account of the difficulties arising from the first degree of blood-relationship, which among them is inviolable, and thought to be allowed only that first time from the necessity of propagating mankind. [78] In short they recognized invisible spirits, and another life; also demons, the enemies of men, of whom they were in abject fear from the evils and dread which these caused them. Accordingly one of Ours converted many of them by means of a well-painted picture of hell. Their idolatry is, in a word (as with many other nations), an adoration and deification of their ancestors--especially of those who distinguished themselves through valiant deeds, or cruelties, or obscene and lewd acts. It was a general practice for anyone who could successfully do so to attribute divinity to his old father when the latter died. The old men themselves died with this illusion and deception, imputing to their illness and death and to all their actions a seriousness and import, in their estimation, divine. Consequently they chose as a sepulchre some celebrated spot, like one which I saw on the shore of the sea between Dulac and Abuyo, in the island of Leite. This man directed that he should be placed there in his coffin (which was done), in a solitary house remote from any village, in order to be recognized as the god of sailors, who would offer worship and commend themselves to him. There was another, who had caused himself to be buried in a certain place among the mountains of Antipolo; and out of reverence to him no one dared to cultivate them, fearing that he who should go thither might meet his death. This lasted until Father Almerique relieved them of their fear, and now those lands are cultivated without harm or dread. In memory of these departed ones, they keep their little idols--some of stone, wood, bone, ivory, or a cayman's teeth; others of gold. They call these _Larauan_, which signifies, "idol," "image," or "statue;" and in their necessities they have recourse to these, offering to them barbarous sacrifices.

They also worshiped, like the Egyptians, animals and birds; and, like the Assyrians, the sun and moon; they attributed moreover, a sort of divinity to the rainbow. The Tagalos adored a blue bird, as large as a thrush, and called it _Bathala_, which was among them a term of divinity. [79] They also worshiped the crow (as the ancients worshiped the god Pan and the goddess Ceres). It bore the name _Mei lupa_, which signifies "master of the soil." They held the cayman in the utmost veneration; and, whenever they made any statement about it, when they descried it in the water, they called it _Nono_, which means "grandfather." They softly and tenderly besought it not to harm them; and to this end offered it a part of what they carried in their boats, casting the offering into the water. There was no old tree to which they did not attribute divinity; and it was a sacrilege to cut such a tree for any purpose. What more did they adore? the very stones, cliffs, and reefs, and the headlands of the shores of the sea or the rivers; and they made some offering when they passed by these, going to the stone or rock, and placing the offering upon it. I saw many times in the river of Manila a rock which for many years was an idol of that wretched people. This scandal, which occasioned great evils, lasted until the fathers of St. Augustine (who dwell near by) with holy zeal broke it to pieces, and erected in its place a cross. While sailing along the island of Panai I beheld on the promontory called Nasso, near Potol, plates and other pieces of earthenware, laid upon a rock, the offering of voyagers. [80] In the island of Mindanao between La Canela and the river [_i.e._, Rio Grande], a great promontory projects from a rugged and steep coast; [81] always at these points there is a heavy sea, making it both difficult and dangerous to double them. When passing by this headland, the natives, as it was so steep, offered their arrows, discharging them with such force that they penetrated the rock itself. This they did as a sacrifice, that a safe passage might be accorded them. I saw with my own eyes that although the Spaniards, in hatred of so accursed a superstition, had set a great many of these arrows on fire and burned them, those still remaining and those recently planted in the rock numbered, in less than a year, more than four thousand arrows; they certainly seemed as many as that, to all of us who passed that point. [82]

Besides these, they had a thousand other superstitions. If they beheld a serpent or lizard, or heard anyone sneeze, they would always retrace their steps, and on no account go further at that time, for such an occurrence would be an evil omen. The ministers of the Devil also cast lots for them; this was another fraud and deceit which I must not describe for fear of being too prolix. Nor can one express the blindness in which they were, ignorant of their Creator: let what has already been said suffice. In regard to the first point, they had no places set aside for worship, or public days for general festivities. Not until we went to Taitai did I learn that in many of the houses there was another one, but smaller, made of cane, as it were a little tower, fashioned somewhat curiously, to which they passed from the main house by a short bridge, also made of cane. In these were kept their needlework and other sorts of handicraft, by means of which they concealed the mystery of the little house. From information that I received from some of the faithful, it was in reality dedicated to the anito, although they offered no sacrifice in it, nor did it serve for other use than as it was dedicated to him--perhaps that he might rest there when on a journey, as Elias said to the other priests. [83] I had all these houses demolished, so that not one remained. I also found in some little hamlets of the Pintados a small house at the entrance of the village with only the roof and ground floor, which served as a place where sacrifices are performed. But, after all, it was not the general practice to have any common place of worship, as did the ancient Pagans, or to come together to any one place for solemn rites, or to have public and general sacrifices offered in the name of the community. Individuals, however, made offerings, each one for his own intention or need, and in his own house or other private place; but they chose jointly their own priest, male or female (of whom there were many), according to their own devotion and taste. In Mindanao I saw many houses furnished on the outside with small platforms made not unskilfully, of cane, and on these stood some little wooden idols very poorly carved; and in front of the idols was an earthen pot containing some hot coals and a little of some disagreeable aromatic, which must have been a sacrifice to the idols. But although those people had no temples, they had, in the second place, priests and priestesses, whom the Tagalos call _Catolonan_, and the Bissayans _Babailan_. They vied with each who could best contrive with the Devil (who deceived them) to take advantage of the blindness of the people, to deceive them by a thousand frauds and artifices. Father Antonio Sedeño related how, at the time when he was living in Florida, he undeceived the Indians concerning one of these impostors of their own nation. This man pretended to heal diseases by applying a tube to that part where the sick man felt most pain, and then with his mouth at the other end sucking the air from within: after this operation, he spat from his mouth three small pebbles, which he claimed to have extracted from the body of the patient. [84] The father, by a very efficient means, once made him spit the pebbles out of his mouth before applying the tube, and thus his deception was revealed. In like manner these priests practice many deceptions upon those blinded infidels--especially in cases of sickness with which the latter are afflicted, which so oppress them that they seek at once a remedy, and whomsoever gives or promises it to them they revere and worship, and give him their all. Indeed there are some of these priests who have a special compact with the Devil, who lends them signal aid and assistance, Almighty God permitting this for his own hidden purposes. The Devil communicates with them through their idols or anitos, playing the rôle of the dead man whom they are adoring; and often he enters into the person of the priest himself, for the short space of the sacrifice, and makes him say and do things which overwhelm and terrify the onlookers. This divine fervor is also attained (the duties of the office being taught) through special friendship, or kinship, or as a legacy. This inheritance is highly esteemed by them, in their blindness--and through cupidity, for, besides the renown and honor with which all look up to them, those infernal ministers obtain rich offerings (that is, the third part), all of which are for them. For no one will be present at the sacrifice who does not make an offering--gold, cotton, a fowl, or other things.

These things, added to the principal offering, that made by the person for whom the sacrifice was offered, which was a rich one--and, moreover, additional to the sacrifice itself, which most often was a fine fat hog--amounted to a large quantity of goods, of much value and profit. Consequently, those ministers usually went about in handsome garments, and adorned with jewels and valuable ornaments. The house is the usual place for the sacrifice, and the victim is, as I have said, a fine hog, or a cock. The mode of sacrifice is to slay the victim with certain ceremonies, and with dance movements which are performed by the priest to the accompaniment of a bell or kettle-drum. It is at this time that the devil takes possession of them, or they pretend that he does. They now make their strange grimaces, and fall into a state of ecstasy; after that has passed, they announce what they have seen and heard. On this day a grand feast is prepared; they eat, drink, and become intoxicated, the priest or priestess more than the rest. [85] Consequently, among them all is drunkenness, excess, and blindness--a pitiful sight for those who see it and can appreciate it in the light of truth.

Of the idolatries which were secretly practiced in San Juan del Monte and how they were abolished Chapter XXII.

The devil was gradually introducing into the village of San Juan del Monte [_i.e._, Taytay] a great plague of idolatry (nourished by some ancient remains of heathenism which had clung to certain persons in that village), in the form which I shall relate.

In the town there was a band of worthless women, of the Catolonas [_i.e._, priestesses] as we have said. These in secret maintained a tyrannical hold upon the village by various means and plots compelling many to repair to them upon every occasion, as they formerly did before they became Christians. Among these women, one who was a leader claimed that her anito was a very close friend of the anito of the Christians and had descended to the earth from heaven. This woman most stirred up the fire on account of the power that she wielded, not only on account of the sagacity which she certainly possessed, but by her influence and reputation in the village. Not only was she herself of high family, but she was very well connected; and had several sons who were married, and thus related to the most prominent families of the village. By these means she was, on the one hand, powerful enough to draw to her the weak, and on the other, to compel the more influential to dissemble with her, and to refrain from betraying her for fear of exposing themselves to risk. Nevertheless, this woman and her following proceeded with great caution and secrecy and rigorously enjoined those who had relations with them to do the same. If any of those women died, she appointed an heir, and successor--to whom, after she had been accepted and received, her idol was brought in great silence by some chiefs, from the house of the dead person, in the middle of the night. Then they celebrated a feast during three continuous days, with banqueting and abundance of wine, which is their greatest solemnity. The idol of the chief priestess was made of gold, and she kept it in concealment, through the contrivance of the Devil (who through it held close communication with her), in a part of her house where it was most difficult to find it. It is estimated that for two years this secret pestilence had been going on, tyrannizing over the inhabitants to such a degree that there was hardly a sick person whom they did not attend with all diligence--persuading each one to demand urgently that they should cast lots to ascertain whether the sick man were to live or die, and, consequently, whether sacrifice should be offered to the anito for his health. We have already explained the manner of sacrifices and offerings they made, and the profit and gain which these infernal furies derived from them. There was one woman among them who cleared, in the short time that I have mentioned, almost three hundred escudos; but she did not enjoy them long, for God would not allow the conflagration to spread further. His Divine Majesty influenced some of his faithful ones, who, all aflame with the greater conflagration of His honor and service, hastened to give account of what they heard and saw and knew of this matter. With the help of this information, beginning among the weaker members of the band, in a short time they succeeded in discovering those of secondary rank--and thus, step by step, they reached the chief priestess herself. Their second care (which they put into execution) was to take away from these people the idols, a great number of which were seized. Some of these were of clay, others of wood; and two, in particular, were made from two great teeth of the cayman, set in gold, in which metal the head of the anito was shaped at the point of the tooth. In neither the residence nor the country house of the head priestess, however, could her idol be found; nor could it be discovered by means of her, or by rummaging through her furniture and utensils, and searching often and most diligently; nor would she reveal it. This idol had promised her, so she said, that they should never find it, even if they should tear down and destroy the house; consequently, it enjoined her not to fear the father who was conducting this search, or any of his agents or helpers; for it was more powerful than any of them. But, as God is indeed more powerful, He influenced the faithful and zealous heart of Father Diego de Santiago--who was then instructing that village, and made these investigations at the instance and orders of the vicar-general and provisor of Manila--to decide that he would not relax or give up the search for this demon until he should find it. Being quite certain that it was in the house (although he had already searched there for it several times), he returned for the last time with the determination to demolish the house, and to examine every part of it, piece by piece, to see if by chance he might find the idol hidden in some hole. Before setting about this task, his glance fell upon a cane prop--old, weather-beaten, and stained by smoke--which from a joist of the house, supported the ridge-pole of the roof: this is the mode of construction used for strengthening the houses. I do not know what he saw in that prop, but he immediately ordered it to be cut down and its contents to be examined. This time, "he who was more powerful than all others" was overcome; for, being found like all the rest, and the gold being removed for the service of the church, this idol went, with the others, into the fire.

The demon was so insulted and hurt at this trick that, not being able to wreak any other vengeance, he began (accompanied by many others) the following night to torment the poor Catolona with visions and cruel threats. Already undeceived as to the weakness of her idol, she sought for conversion, and, hating the demon, begged for mercy. With the help of a cross which was given her as a defense, although the terror continued, the threats were not put in execution; and finally the demon abandoned her as she had him. On one of the feast-days, all their errors were publicly refuted in the church, and the priestesses remained convinced, repentant and reconciled--by the authority of the ordinary, as I have stated. They all betook themselves to a place where, removed from temptations, they could not relapse into their evil ways [_bolver al bomito_]. They were placed in charge of devout and Christian persons, in whose company they lead Christian and exemplary lives. The people were so thoroughly undeceived by this event that for several days they not only brought in their idols, garments, vessels, and other belongings of their ancestors, so that not a trace of that lineage remained; but there was the utmost religious fervor, and a great number of general confessions, by means of which their consciences were purified. Into many good souls there entered such fear and awe, and such distrust and scrupulosity regarding this evil, that the, hearing of these general and oft-repeated confessions (made even by those who had no share in it) lasted months, and even years. I can affirm, as one who has seen it all and touched it with my very hands, that of this wound which the devil tried to inflict upon that tender part, the entire body of that mission and encomienda not only remained sound, through the great mercy of God, but much stronger than ever before, as will be seen in the rest of this narrative. But as a conclusion to this incident I must not neglect what befell Don Francisco Amandao, chief of that village--an aged man, of excellent judgment, and a devoted friend of ours. Upon the occasion of a certain illness, he allowed himself to be persuaded to make a similar sacrifice to the devil, induced by the suggestion that he should at least give half of his body to the anito to see if he could heal it. That half of his body at once became paralyzed, so that he could not move it at all, and thus he lived several years, giving public testimony of his infidelity. In great repentance for his sin he came to die a Christian death, at the time when the above events took place.

What the Society accomplished in Sebu until the year 1597. Chapter XXIII.

As soon as Father Antonio Sedeño passed away in Sebu (as we have said), Father Antonio Pereira returned to Maluco, his own province, whence he had come. I was therefore compelled to remain alone in that college with one brother, not a little disconsolate at the loss of so valued a companion and brother, with whom I had passed a very pleasant year in Tigbauan, Leite, and Sebu; and whose help was so efficacious in our duties that through the gracious and thorough manner in which he performed them, we were all greatly esteemed and sought for in the province of Pintados, and especially in the city of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus. Here this father had previously remained alone during almost another year, in the convent of San Agustin, where those most godly fathers received him into their house as if he were one of their own order. He, in turn, served them and the whole city with such edifying results as contributed not a little to win their affection; and greatly influenced them to demand our fathers, and receive us in their city--which was done, as we have said. Don Rodrigo Ronquillo de Peñalosa, alcalde-mayor of the city--a son of Don Gonçalo Ronquillo, who died while governor and lieutenant in these islands for the Catholic king, Don Felipe Second--aided us much with his authority, as also did his cousin Don Gonçalo Ronquillo de Vallesteros, who was leaving the same office. All of those gentlemen have ever professed great devotion to our humble Society.

Considering that we were alone, our ministrations in our church to both Spaniards and Indians were sufficiently frequent, and I often preached in the cathedral. Moreover, ascertaining that in the Chinese quarter of the city there were more than two hundred souls, and only one of them a Christian, and that they had no one to minister to them, although they were well disposed to receive our holy faith if there were any one to teach it to them, I applied myself to studying and learning their language--at which they were much rejoiced, and many came to me every day at an appointed hour to give me instruction. In this way I acquired sufficient knowledge to begin instructing them--in which undertaking I received much help from Governor Don Luis de las Mariñas, who sent me from Manila a very bright young Christian lad of that nation, who helped me to instruct those who were to be baptized. It was thus that I spent Advent in the year fifteen hundred and ninety-five. We celebrated Christmas Eve and the feast of the Nativity with solemnity and joy, preparing in the meantime to celebrate our first feast of the Circumcision, for which we had decorated the church and invited father Fray Bartolomeo Garcia--at that time the preacher in the Sebu convent of the glorious doctor St. Augustine; and now associate of the right reverend bishop of Sebu, and commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in that bishopric--to preach for me. At this time I fell ill, exhausted by my labors, which, although not excessive, were too much for me, as having little strength. It was upon this occasion that the fathers of that holy order gave proof of their great charity and the great affection and fraternal feeling which they profess toward Ours; for all of them on that day, leaving their own church (which also is named Santissimo Nombre de Jesus, out of respect for the holy Child, which is deposited therein), came with their singers to our church, where they celebrated on the day before most solemn vespers, and on the day of the feast officiated and sang solemn high mass and preached a sermon--all of which I could not attend, on account of being, as I have said, ill. To grant me a further favor and charity, they chose to be my guests and partake of our poverty. It pleased God, in His mercy, to give me health, so that I might acquit myself in part of this obligation and the many others which we owe to them. Thirteen days later, which was the day on which they celebrate their feast of the most holy name of Jesus, I visited them and preached for them, and ate with them. Some days afterward, there arrived from Manila two discalced religious of the holy Order of St. Francis, who had come to embark in a vessel which was fitting out in that port for Nueva España. They disembarked near our house, which stands at the edge of the water; and, in acknowledgment of the debt that we also owe to that holy order and its blessed fathers--who, in so great self-abnegation and aversion to worldly things, in all seek only the things of Jesus Christ--I begged them to accept the use of our house. During their stay with me they displayed toward me the most signal charity; and I, on my part, was equally consoled and edified, until last Pentecost of the year fifteen hundred and ninety-six. At this festival they assisted me, before their departure, in the solemn baptism of two prominent Chinese, and of I know not how many others; we baptized them, with their Bissayan wives, celebrating their marriages and conferring the nuptial veils, with great solemnity and rejoicing, the whole city assembling to witness the ceremonies. The two chief men were Don Lorenço Ungac and Don Salvador Tuigam. The Chinese are not accustomed to cut their hair, which they comb and make ready every morning, and wear it fastened on the head in pleasing and graceful fashion; but when we baptize them we are in the habit of cutting it off, so that in this way we may have more certainty of their faith and perseverance. These two, before baptism, had entreated and supplicated me not to cut off their hair; and in this they were not without reason, for, as one of the suppliants himself explained to me, to wear their hair was honorable among them, and a custom of their nation, as with us the wearing of mustaches or beard. But as I did not dare to act in opposition to what the prelates and other judicious ministers and religious are accustomed to do in this matter, I announced to them my decision that, unless their hair was cut, I would not baptize them. With this they submitted and obeyed, and in token of greater submission to my intentions, Tuigam came to me on the morning of the baptism, accompanied by others of his nation, and placing in my hands some scissors, asked me to cut the first handful of his hair. This I did, and another finished the task. From that time on none of them made any objection to the rule; in fact, without our speaking of it, they came to baptism with their hair cut like ours.

Father Diego de Aragon, of the holy Order of Preachers, had also come to embark in the vessel. This truly spiritual, virtuous, and exemplary man had been waiting during an entire year for the departure of the vessel; and, on account of its inability to leave at that time, was glad to live and remain with me in our house, for his own order has none in that city. I received him very gladly, and with gratitude to God our Lord, for the opportunity thus afforded me of serving a person and order whom I so highly esteemed, and to which our own Society is so much indebted, and which it recognizes here, there, and in every region. He was a source of great edification to me--and to many others of our Society who had come to me from Manila and who were afterward my guests--by his great piety, austerity, eloquence, penitence, and blameless and exemplary life. In this way time passed until September of the year fifteen hundred and ninety-six, when, the division and allotment of the fourteen fathers who had arrived in the previous August having been made, I began to have guests and companions--with whom I could not only maintain our ministries in better condition, but also go to ascertain the condition of our affairs in Mindanao, which upon the death of Father Juan del Campo, were left, as we shall see, without a master. This college was finally occupied by six of the Society, who were soon busied in ministering to the Spaniards, Portuguese, Chinese, Bissayans, Tagalos, and many other nations who resort to that city for trading and other affairs. Two of us exercised the Chinese language, besides the Bissayan and Tagalo tongues, which are usually employed for preaching, confessions, and the other Sacraments. One of the brethren, who was a skilful scribe, continued the children's school gathered by Father Antonio Pereira, where reading, writing, and numbers were taught, together with Christian doctrine and customs.

Of the island of Leite, and those who were baptized there. Chapter XXIV.

The circuit of the island of Leite is about a hundred leguas--its length stretching from east to west for forty leguas, and its extent from north to south being narrow. It is divided almost in the middle by a large mountain ridge called Carigara, which occasions a remarkable inequality and variety in its temperature and seasons. For example, when in its northern part there is winter (which is the period of the winter months in España), in the south there is summer; and in the other half of the year the contrary occurs. Consequently, when half of the island's inhabitants are sowing, the other half are gathering in their harvests; in this way they have two harvests in one year, both very abundant. This island is surrounded by very many adjacent islands, inhabited and uninhabited. It abounds in fish from the sea and its many rivers, in cows from China, in fowl, deer, wild and domestic hogs, fruits, vegetables, and roots of many species. It is inhabited by a very numerous people, whose villages therefore are not far apart; and there is not one of them which does not possess a large grove of palm-trees and a fine, full-flowing river. Those palms, as well as other trees which the whole island produces in abundance, shade the roads to a great extent--providing a comfort and refreshing coolness indispensable for those of us who must travel on foot for lack of any other convenience; throughout the island the roads traverse groves and forests, with foliage so cool and abundant that even at high noon the sun caused us no annoyance. Many of the trees have trunks more than twelve brazas in circumference, which are sawed into excellent planks. The temperature is not so hot as that of Manila, although the island is two degrees nearer the equinoctial line--a common condition in that entire province of the Pintados. The inhabitants are honest, simple, and intelligent, and possess among other good and laudable customs two in particular, which are common to all the neighboring islands. The first is, that they have no need, in journeys upon land or sea, of stores or wallets; to whatever place they come, they are sure of being welcomed, sheltered, and offered food. The second is that, whether their harvests be good or bad, they never raise or lower the price of rice among themselves, which they always sell to one another at a fixed rate. They practice these two customs through the friendly relation that exists among them, such as the apostle sought from his Corinthians. [86] To the two residences that were in that island (one in Dulac, and the other in Carigara) there were added, with the new reënforcement of laborers, three others--in Paloc, Alangalan, and Ogmuc. As each one of these is still new, we shall not have as much to say about them at present as later on; for as the number of Christians increased so did the number of notable facts and events worthy of record. Nevertheless, I shall not omit to mention here each one of those stations separately; in general, however, I may say that during the first two years a great number of Christians were made throughout the island, considering that Ours were preparing them very gradually, as being so new a people, for the faith, and for acquaintance and intercourse with us.

What was accomplished in Dulac and its territory. Chapter XXV.

Father Alonso de Humanes and Father Juan del Campo were the first to instruct the dwellers in and about Dulac. Father Alonso de Humanes was sent to Sebu, by Father Antonio Sedeño, as superior of our Society in the island of Leite; and arriving at Carigara (which is the first of the missions), he left there as superior his companion, Father Mateo Sanchez, and taking with him Father Juan del Campo, who had been superior in Carigara, proceeded with him to Dulac. Father Alonso de Humanes held Father Juan del Campo in the highest estimation as a spiritual and eloquent man, fervent, learned, and talented, and very sagacious in practical affairs; for these reasons he laid hold of him for greater help and companionship. He remained with him, however, only for a short time; for they soon sent him to Mindanao, as we shall later see. In the time that they spent together, they erected the first church in Dulac; established a school for children, many of whom they baptized; and formed a long list of catechumens, whom they prepared and baptized, with great solemnity and rejoicing, to the increase of reverence for this holy sacrament. Besides this, Father Juan del Campo, traveling throughout that district, gained the good-will of all those villages and marvelously influenced them to receive our holy faith. They went forth from his hands such model Christians that those who before baptism were fierce, rude, and intractable, you would see today, after baptism, tractable, gentle, pliant, and loving; they are now wholly freed from error, and feel a horror of their idols and former vices, and extreme love and affection for Jesus Christ our Lord, and for His mysteries. Children so small that they could hardly yet speak, gave such a good account of the Christian doctrine that they seemed to have been born instructed. Those who two days before had not known or heard of Him now repeated with pleasure and gentleness, "May Jesus Christ be praised;" and, indeed, it all seemed to be His work, and wrought through His instrumentality.

What took place in Carigara in those early days. Chapter XXVI.

As we have already said, the post at Carigara was the first where the Society began the mission villages of this province; and it was there that we said the first mass, and celebrated the first feast with great solemnity in honor of the holy cross. There, too, occurred the first baptism, when with my own hands (although unworthy); as a beginning to this new Christian community, I baptized a goodly number of children already capable of reason. At all the services of this feast there was a great concourse from the whole district who solemnized it, beginning the night before, with mirth, rejoicing, and games. Afterward, Father Juan del Campo and Father Cosme de Flores began to instruct some of the older persons in the Christian faith. At that time, and through that exercise, those two fathers learned the language of the natives in a very short time--especially Father Cosme, who spoke it with masterly skill. Father Juan del Campo departed from Dulac, and leaving in his stead, Father Mateo, both pursued their task of winning souls for Jesus Christ, His Divine Majesty so attracting the people that soon in Carigara a very flourishing Christian church began to appear. Although there are many notable things which might be related about it, I shall refer only to two baptisms which seemed, to us who were there, worthy of consideration.

The first was that of a child of five years, who filled with the fervor of heaven came to us from his village for the sole purpose of asking baptism. His infidel mother and stepfather, upon learning this, at the instigation of the Devil (who unwillingly relinquished that booty) came after him with an infernal fury, to carry him back with them--by force, if necessary. But as they could not do this, out of respect to the fathers, they tried to impede him through others--their relatives, friends and acquaintances; and, adding persuasion to threats (and, for a child so tender in years, but little effort sufficed), they used all their energies to divert and dissuade him from his holy purpose. But God our Lord, who gave him a man's strength--and, in giving it to him, made him all the stronger by adding a gentle force to his own tender will, caused him to persevere with such constancy that he finally overcame these influences, saying that he desired to be a son of God, since those who were not Christians were slaves of the Devil. He offered other arguments, so ingenious that they compelled those who were present to defend and aid him; and earnestly reproving those who unreasonably opposed him, he constrained them to leave him in peace. Thus he departed with his request granted, and with holy baptism, with a satisfaction that words cannot express, and greater than might be expected from a much older person and a more developed reason. Again, a woman of rank had refused and fled from baptism against the influences of God and our own persuasions--solely concerned with the indissolubility of matrimony taught by our holy law; for she maintained that it was hard that she could not abandon a husband who displeased her, as was the custom among them. Finally one of her brothers, who was seeking holy baptism, persuaded her to accompany him, and so she did; but, when on the point of receiving the sacrament, she withdrew without it, although her brother was baptized. This weakness was a source to her of great confusion and remorse, and consequently of renewed energy and effort (as it was with the pope St. Marcellinus [87]); for on the following day she returned to the church pierced with remorse for the wrong that she had done, confessing herself to be foolish and lacking in sense, and admitting that her withdrawal had been caused by silly fear. She told the father that she was deeply grieved at what she had done, and besought him, that, since now she had returned meek and submissive to all the mandates of the holy gospel law, she might be granted holy baptism--which she ardently desired, knowing that without being a Christian she could not be saved. Finally, after giving us satisfactory pledges as to her desire and perseverance, she was accorded holy baptism, which she received with great devotion and joy.

What took place in Paloc and its coast. Chapter XXVII.

Until September or October of the year fifteen hundred and ninety-six, when Father Christoval Ximenez went to reside in Paloc--where he learned the language well, and gathered much fruit, as we shall later see--that village possessed not one permanent priest; only Father Mateo Sanchez, accompanied by a brother, rendered them timely aid in some journeys which he made from Carigara. This station lies between Carigara and Dulac, on the banks of a beautiful river, and is distant from the sea about a half a league inland. It is surrounded by many villages, having a large population; and all those natives are very good people. Here I received a most cordial welcome when I visited those stations, the year before, with Father Antonio Pereira; the people entertained me by their friendly conversation were delighted in hearing the things of God, and asked me many intelligent questions about them. But there must have been some ministers of the Devil among them, who (as they lose through our holy faith their prestige and vile gains) had perverted this people, as I believe, in such a way that the next time Ours visited them they were not only churlishly received, but there was hardly one person to greet them, to speak either good or evil. For they found that the people had fled inland, and the few who remained in their houses looked upon the fathers with such coldness and aversion that they were compelled to turn their eyes toward God, and await from His divine hand consolation for being thus afflicted and deserted. This His divine clemency soon accorded them, changing the aspect of affairs, and causing us to know that only His power can conquer hearts; and He so subdued theirs that the very persons who had fled desired us again, in a few days, and complained that we visited them but seldom. When our fathers did repair to them, they would not let them depart at once, maintaining that they did not tarry long enough. Some of them sought with great earnestness and fervor holy baptism, and the Christians adopted the Christian mode of life with love, ardor, and satisfaction. Accordingly, they could be seen at prayer, both morning and evening, repeating the sermons, and chanting the doctrine in their houses and fields and boats (when they are traveling in these, they carry a little bell to ring for the Ave Marias). They were very careful in attending church, and devout in confessing, especially during that first Lent; and showed great fervor in disciplining themselves, particularly during Holy Week; in the procession on that occasion there were many who scourged themselves until the blood came, and still others accompanied them, bearing four hundred lights, all preserving great silence and order. It was learned in many individual cases, that God our Lord chose very opportunely to influence them through various means to receive His holy faith, and afterward to confirm them in it, by marvelous and supernatural visions, of things both good and bad, and causing both joy and terror--miraculously healing, for example, many who lay at the point of death, and bestowing special inward inspirations. One of these Christians passed in front of a house where a minister of the Devil was offering to the demon his abominable sacrifice; and this very demon told him to prevent that Christian from entering; "for," he said, "I am afraid of those Christians." How could those who heard this refrain from following that powerful God, when they saw that he whom they considered as such feared not only Him, but also, on account of their being Christians, those who formerly feared and worshiped him? A sick woman, in an exhausted condition, offered herself to God, in her desire for health, and leaving her bed was carried near some images. God our Lord cooperated with her faith in such a way that soon she was healed; and she made it public that the holy images had cured her. In a village near that one, there was a sick woman, very aged, who was so obstinate in her infidelity that she would not be softened by the persuasions of the father who visited her. A child who accompanied him took her hand, and described to her in vivid language the torments of hell, and so impressed her that she asked him: "Dost thou know this?" The child responded: "Yes, for God has said it, and so I believe it." With this he subdued her, and prepared her so that, after she better understood the catechism, she could receive after it holy baptism, and, at the same time, health of body and soul.

Of the Residence of Alangalang. Chapter XXVIII.

This station lies in the interior of the island of Leite, five leguas distant from Carigara. Its district is well inhabited, and has the advantage of a good soil. Its distance, however, was so great that it could not well be visited from Carigara, especially considering the number of its population. On this account, and as, in the allotment of the fourteen [new laborers], only one was assigned to Carigara (namely, Father Francisco de Enzinas), the latter was obliged to remain there in company with Father Mateo Sanchez; and Father Cosme de Flores had to go to establish the Christian faith in Alangalang, on account of his knowledge of the language, and the esteem and affection in which he was held by the Indians. The first care of this blessed father was to bring together, with great gentleness and kindness, the inhabitants of all those villages, especially those who were most remote and could be less easily assisted to reaching that station--so that a large colony might be formed there, as was done. He was establishing his church, his house, and his school among them, and beginning a Christian community, when it pleased our Lord to take him unto Himself, leaving his Indians orphans, disconsolate, and alone. Thus they remained for several months, for there was at the time no one who could supply their need except a brother who had accompanied the father; and he consoled them by teaching them--but without administering the sacraments, as he was a lay-brother. The fathers at Carigara could not help them, being prevented by their own occupations.

Of the entrance into Ogmuc. Chapter XXIX.

The station of Ogmuc lies on the shore of the sea, in the southern part of the island of Leite, on the coast almost directly opposite to Carigara, which is in the northern part. It has in the same island a very good vicinity, as well as three smaller islands adjacent, which they call Polo. All those people are friendly and docile and received Ours with much affection and pleasure. This post was assigned to Father Alonso Rodriguez with another companion; and it seems that the gentleness and kindness of this father had its influence upon the Indians even before they saw him as also later when they met and knew him. Their governor and other persons came out to sea to receive him, with much joy; and the chief, without delay, made arrangements on the spot for his conversion, and wrote out the prayers, that he might learn them. The rest followed his example, and not only in this matter, but in at once offering all their children, with whom the father formed a very promising school. Some of the youngest children were exceedingly bright; and it was indeed a marvel to see the mass served, with grace and address, by a child who was scarce able to move the missal. Many of these children also helped us greatly in catechizing and instructing their elders and in preparing them, and even urging them, to receive holy baptism. This was done by a little child of only four years, who seeing his father somewhat lukewarm in this respect, urged and incited him with such energy that he aroused the father, and caused him to entreat us urgently for baptism. They not only fulfilled this office with their parents but even interceded with us in their behalf, urging that we should not delay granting this favor. An incident befell one of these children which in its very childishness gave token of the esteem with which our holy gospel faith takes root in these tender little hearts. He found himself among some heathens who were eating meat on a Friday, and, without thought of wrong, began to eat with them. Upon taking the first mouthful he was reminded of the day; and, spitting it out, descended from the house and came in haste to Ours in great sorrow at having committed a sin. Our fathers reassured him and sent him away consoled; and were themselves greatly edified and pleased at such a specimen of Christian faith, although so young and so recently planted. Nearly all of those people were converted to Christianity without much difficulty; but there was one man who was much troubled on account of having three wives--all, like himself of high rank. Although the thought of renouncing two of them was painful to him, his greatest consideration was the dowry which he must thus lose. The good father saw his predicament, and was greatly concerned lest this man, for at slight temporal interest, might lose eternal gain. Inspired by God our Lord, he formed a plan, and went to talk with the woman who was most beloved by the man, hoping to persuade her to receive baptism. Much persuasion, however, was not necessary; for she herself desired it, and expressed herself to that effect--adding that, even though it should displease her husband, she would begin the task; and that, instead of returning to his house, she would go directly to that of a Christian woman, who should instruct and prepare her for baptism. These sentiments she expressed privately not only to the father, but even to her husband, before many other persons. As she said, so she acted; and her solemn baptism was celebrated with many feasts, dances, and rejoicings. The husband seeing this, put away the other two wives, giving them the amounts of their dowry; and, freed from this obstacle, received baptism and was married in Christian fashion. On the feast-day of the glorious resurrection of Christ our Lord, we celebrated the baptism of this man and eleven other chiefs, who were also baptized amid great festivities and rejoicing, and with the concourse of many people.

I have thus given an account of what took place in the five stations in that island of Leite. Before we pass on to the rest, it will be fitting to explain, as far as we can, their usages in marriage and divorce--as well to make more intelligible what we have already related as to have a better understanding of a topic which in the course of our remaining narrative must frequently arise.

Of marriages, dowries, and divorces among the Filipinos. Chapter XXX.

I had lived in the Filipinas for almost ten years before I learned that there was any man who had married several wives; and I did not know it until I went to the islands of Ibabao and Leite, for in Manila, Mindoro, Marinduque, and Panai, I had not observed the practice of such a custom. I had, however, been once told by a Spaniard that in a certain part of Mindanao, toward Dapitan, it was the custom for the Bissayan women (the inhabitants of Mindanao also are Bissayans) to marry two husbands; the practice of having several wives I had understood to belong only to the Mahometans who dwell in Mindanao and Burnei. It is certainly, however, not a general custom in the Filipinas to marry more than one wife; and even in the districts where this is done the practice is by no means general. The most common and general usage is to marry one woman. The Bissayans always try to procure a wife from their own class, and closely connected with them in relationship. The Tagalos do not insist so much on this latter point: they are satisfied if the wife be not of inferior rank. As I have already stated, in neither race is any other impediment considered than the first degree of kindred. Uncle and niece marry as readily as do first cousins; but brother and sister, grandfather and granddaughter, or father and daughter, can in no case marry. There is a marked distinction between concubinage and wedlock; because the latter, besides consent, has its own ceremonies, as we shall later see. For marriage, moreover, they have distinct formalities of betrothal, which are accompanied by conventional penalties, most rigorously executed. Here is an example: Si Apai promises to marry Cai Polosin; these married persons make an agreement with another married pair, while the wives are with child, that if the wombs of their respective wives should bear a male and a female those two children shall be joined in marriage, under a penalty of ten gold taes. This compact is solemnized by a feast, where they eat, drink, and become intoxicated; and he who later is the occasion of breaking the compact must pay the penalty. This is betrothal. In the marriage there figures a dowry, and the surrender of the woman, with consent for the present, but not perpetual. It is not the wife, but the husband, who gives her the dowry--an amount agreed upon, and fixed in accordance with his means. This is what some authors [88] relate of various nations, which were accustomed to purchase women as their wives. In addition to the dowry the husband is wont to make some presents to the parents and relatives--more or less, according to his means. While I was in Tigbauan the chief of the island of Cuyo came to marry his son to the daughter of Tarabucon, chief of Oton, which is close by the town of Arebalo and a mission-village under the fathers of St. Augustine They were married by a minister of high standing in that order, named Father Pedro de Lara, [89] who was then vicar of that convent. From him and from another religious of the same house I learned that besides the dowry (which was very large), and a generous offering sent to the convent, the husband bestowed, in his grandeur and munificence, presents upon the parents of the bride, her brothers and relations, and even upon the numerous slaves. The marriage lasted no longer than did peace between them; for they are divorced on the slightest occasion. If the cause of the divorce is unjust, and the man parts from his wife, he loses the dowry; if it is she who leaves him, she must restore the dowry to him. But if the man has just cause for divorce, and leaves her, his dowry must be restored to him; if in such case the wife leaves him, she retains the dowry. For the husband, the adultery of his wife is sufficient ground for divorce; for the woman, just cause for divorce is more limited. In case of divorce, the children are divided equally between the two, without distinction of sex; thus, if they are two in number, one falls to the father and one to the mother; and in a state of slavery the same thing occurs when husband and wife belong to different masters. If two persons own one slave, the same division is made; for half belongs to each, and his services belong to both alike. These same modes of marriage and divorce are in use among those who marry two or three wives. The man is not obliged to marry them all in one day; and, even after having one wife for many years, he may take another, and yet another--indeed, like the Mahometans as many as he can support. I believe that this evil custom in the islands of Mindanao and Leite has been derived from that sect; for they are increasing throughout the world, propagating their cursed doctrine with as much zeal and concern as we do our holy faith. It had taken root in Burnei before we took possession of the Filipinas; and from that island they had come to preach it in Manila, where they had begun to teach it publicly when our people arrived and tore it up by the roots. Less than fourteen years ago it was introduced into Mindanao, on this side of the island, which is no small reason for sorrow and regret. While the marriage-bond lasts, the husband is, as with us, the lord of all; or, at least, all the wealth is kept together, and both parties endeavor to increase it as much as they can--although they are wont to steal from each other for their own purposes.

Of the island of Ibabao, and how the Society entered it. Chapter XXXI.

It is this island which first gives joy to the vessels which sail hence for the Filipinas; for it is the first land descried in our passage westward. A headland on its coast is the celebrated cape of Espiritu Santo, which we sight on arriving at the islands, and for which we sought. With this island on the left, and the great island of Manila on the right, we enter directly the Filipinas Islands, leaving the islands of the Ladrones three hundred leguas behind. It also forms with the island of Leite, which lies south of it, a very narrow strait, through which a few ships have penetrated--especially those which under stress of weather, and driven back by the force of the storms, have been compelled to take refuge in the port of Cebu. The island is large and populous, and all around it are many adjacent islands, also inhabited. All its people are generally regarded as very peaceable, and they have made an excellent beginning in receiving the gospel, the chiefs being most distinguished in this regard--which is a matter of considerable importance, as they open the way for the others by their example. The first one of the Society to enter that island for instruction was Father Francisco de Otaço, who went thither with two companions. Although in the beginning hardships did not fail them, through their lack of material resources, they were so well provided with those that were spiritual that one could well recompense the other. They arrived on the western side of the island, which is eastward of the archipelago, at a village called Tinagon, [90] without any fixed or chosen post, and arrived there very opportunely for their purpose since at that time a plague, communicated from other districts, prevailed in that part of the island, causing the death of many people. Accordingly, they at once set about their task, and labored diligently, going from house to house, and from one sick person to another, teaching and baptizing. But the unexpected results lightened their toil; for the number of those who were thoroughly prepared for and received baptism was very great, and the number of baptized persons who died from the disease reached a thousand souls. Besides the church of this central station which was recently built, six other churches were erected in that district, not far distant from it. In each one of them was a school with a goodly number of children, and a master to instruct them; and the pupils were so devoted to it that the threat that had most effect on them was to say their teacher would leave them. Our fathers went through those villages, visiting the sick and aiding them, as well as they could, with remedies for both body and soul. In the course of these visitations an incident occurred which well exhibits the forbearance with which God awaits our conversion, the ease with which we find Him when we seek Him, and the patience and perseverance which a minister of the gospel needs in teaching, convincing, entreating, urging, and waiting for the conversion of a soul. One of the fathers had been visiting the sick of a certain village, and was on his way homeward, some distance away, to partake of a little nourishment and obtain repose, as night was closing in. Turning his eyes to one side he descried a wretched house which he did not remember to have visited that day. To satisfy himself of this he mounted a few steps of the ladder, and looking from the door into the interior of the house beheld a man stretched upon the floor. Upon approaching he found him motionless and almost dead, but with enough consciousness to answer "No" to the father's query if he desired baptism. The father remained with him a long time, seeking to convince him. Finally, seeing how little this availed, and that the hour was late, he concluded to leave him. But grief at seeing that soul lost, and the secret strength which our Lord gave him, constrained him to wait, and to persist in urging the sick man--an action so opportune that the latter at last said "Yes," and listened to the short instruction which is wont to be given upon such occasions. Thus, in sorrow for his sins he expired immediately after baptism, with an "Oh, God!" on his lips, torn from his very heart.

One of the islands adjacent to Ibabao is Maripipi, whose inhabitants were all baptized in one day in the following fashion. This island is three leguas distant by sea from Ibabao, for which reason our fathers could not visit it as often as the people desired. Seeing this, its inhabitants all resolved to embark in their boats and come themselves to seek holy baptism. The chiefs disembarked at Tinagon, and, after them, all their followers with their wives and children, all of them eagerly seeking the sacrament; but the father told them, through a chief who acted as spokesman, that they must first learn the doctrine, and that when they understood it he would baptize them. The chief's only answer was to recite the doctrine, after which he said that he had learned it from the others. With the evidence of such faith and good disposition, the father baptized them all; and, satisfied and joyful, they embarked again for their island.

Some months later, Father Miguel Gomez was sent from the college of Sebu in order to ascertain the disposition of the inhabitants of the eastern part of the island for receiving our holy faith; he found them so well inclined that, erecting a church in a village called Catubig, not far from the cape of Espiritu Santo, he converted many of that district to Christianity; indeed, whole villages of that island came to him, and even many from islands lying adjacent to it in that broad sea. He was particularly astonished at one of the chiefs of Catubig, a man who lived, under the natural law, without blame and had good principles, one of which was to abominate polygamy. This chief was exceedingly pleased at hearing the catechism, and, requesting holy baptism, for this purpose cut off his own hair, which is esteemed as much among those people as among the Chinese. There was another, a sick old man, who, before he saw our fathers, learning that they were in that place, sent to request holy baptism, which he afterward most devoutly received. In this mission many special incidents occurred which gave evidence that this harvest was fully ripe to be gathered for Christ; but, as it was not quite ready for the reaping, [91] and the father was needed in his own college whence he had departed, he was obliged to return to it, with this good news of his journey. These villages, with their new Christians, were assigned to the fathers of Tinagon, who ministered to them so far as they could, until more suitable provision could be made for them by sending a father who could more readily assist them; this has not yet been done, through lack of workers.

Of the island of Bohol, and the entry of the Society therein. Chapter XXXII.

Bohol is one of the smaller islands of the Filipinas, but is actually large and populous, inhabited by a people of lighter complexion, and generally more comely, than are the other Bissayans. They are a race of such spirit and valor that they have spread through many neighboring islands, where their descendants still preserve the name of Boholans of which they are very proud--just as we, when in foreign kingdoms, are proud of the name of Spaniards. The island is rich in mines and placers of gold, and abundantly provided with game, fish, rice, sugar-cane, palms, and other kinds of food. In the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-four, the adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived there with his fleet--entering through the channel which they call El Frayle ["The Friar"]--when, as we have stated, he set out from Nueva España in quest of those islands. A chief of that island, named Catunao--whom our fathers have now baptized, as we shall soon relate--gave information to Miguel Lopez of Sebu (which is six leguas distant from Bohol), and, accompanying him thither as a guide, was of great assistance to him in the reduction of the island. It was the good fortune of Father Juan de Torres and Father Gabriel Sanchez to instruct this people, for they were the first preachers of Jesus Christ in Bohol. They entered the island with much confidence and consolation, on learning that its people, like those in the neighboring island of Sebu, did not practice polygamy--an affliction which to the fathers in Ibabao and Leite was a source of great sorrow, since they found in this evil custom a serious impediment to the conversion of many who were not otherwise hindered from receiving holy baptism. Not only were the Boholans free from this, but none of their immoral practices (for they had others) could hinder their conversion; for all at once they abandoned all of these, together with their idolatry. Those fathers wrote to us concerning two in particular, of which--although they are not peculiar to the people of that island, but are general among all the others--I desire to give an account for the better understanding and greater clearness of this narrative; one relates to their dead, and their mode of shrouding and burying them; the other, to their feasts, festivals, and drunken revels. I shall speak of the general practices in both, beginning with the first.

The manner which the Filipinas had of shrouding and burying their dead. Chapter XXXIII.

The first and last concern of the Filipinos in cases of sickness was, as we have stated, to offer some sacrifice to their anitos, or divatas, which were their gods. These sacrifices were offered, as we have said, with dancing to the sound of a bell; and it would happen, as I have sometimes heard, that in the most furious part of the dance and the bell-ringing, when the catolona or bailana was exerting most force, all at once she stopped at the death of the sick person. After the death there followed new music, the dirges and lamentations, which were also sung, accompanied by weeping, not only by the mourners but by others--the former on account of their sorrow and grief; the latter for their wages and profit, for they were hired for this purpose, as is and has been the custom among other nations of greater reputation. To the sound of this sad music they washed the body of the dead person, perfuming it with the gum of the storax-tree and other aromatics which they are wont to use, and clothing it in the best garments which the dead man possessed; then, after having kept and mourned over it for three days, they buried it. Others anointed the body with aromatic balsams which prevent corruption, especially with the juice of a sort of ivy which grows there abundantly, and is truly a very valuable drug, which they call _buyo_. [92] It is very pungent, and for the living is a notable stimulant, also strengthening the teeth, hardening the gums, and sweetening the breath. Consequently both Spaniards and Indians make much use of it, and always carry it in their mouth, as they use the coca in Piru. With the juice of this plant, then, they anointed the dead body, and so injected it through the mouth that it penetrated the whole body. Thus prepared, many bodies have been found uncorrupted after a lapse of many years; but they did not place the corpses in the earth, but in their dwellings, enclosed in coffins of the hardest wood, incorruptible, and with the cover so fitted that it was impossible for the air to enter. Moreover, they placed gold in the mouths of the corpses, and laid with them many articles of value; and thus they buried them, under the house, richly adorned, and with the corpse another chest, containing garments. Besides this, they usually were careful to carry to the burial various viands, which they left there for the dead person. In former times, they would not let them depart to the other world alone, but gave male and female slaves to accompany the dead. These slaves, having first eaten a hearty meal, were then immediately killed, that they might go with the dead man. It once happened that they buried with a chief a vessel manned by many rowers, who were to serve him in his voyages in the other world. The usual place of burial was the dead man's own house, at least in the lower part--where a great pit was dug, in which the coffin was placed. A small railing was constructed about the pit, and, leaving it open, they placed inside the food which they brought. Others buried their bodies in the open field, and for several days burned fires beneath their houses and set guards, so that the dead man might not return and carry away with him those whom he had left.

After the burial the mourning ceased, but not the feasting and intoxication, which lasted more or less time according to the rank of the deceased. The widow or widower, and the orphans and other relatives who felt most keenly their grief, expressed their sorrow by fasting, abstaining from meat, fish, and other viands--eating during this period only vegetables, and those in very small quantities. Among the Tagalos the color for mourning is black, and among the Bissayans white. The latter also tear out their hair and eyebrows, which makes them ugly indeed. Upon the death of a chief, silence must be observed in the village during the period of mourning, until the interdict was raised--a longer or shorter time, according to his rank; and during that time no sound of a blow or other noise might be heard in any house under penalty of some misfortune. In order to secure this quiet, the villages on the coast placed a sign on the banks of the river, giving notice that no one might travel on that stream, or enter or leave it, under penalty of death--which they forcibly inflicted, with the utmost cruelty, upon whomsoever should break this silence. Those who died in war were extolled in their dirges, and in the obsequies which were celebrated the sacrifices made to or for them lasted for a long time, accompanied by much feasting and intoxication. If the deceased had met death by violence, whether in war or in peace, by treachery, or in some other way, the mourning habits were not removed, or the interdict lifted, until the sons, brothers, or relatives had killed many others--not only of the enemies and murderers, but also other persons, strangers, whoever they might be, who were not their friends. As robbers and pirates, they scoured the land and sea, going to hunt man and killing all whom they could, until they had satiated their fury. When this was done, they made a great feast for invited guests, raised the interdict, and, in due time, abandoned their mourning.

In all these practices may be clearly seen traces of the paganism and of those ancient rites and usages so magnified and recorded by noted writers, by which many other nations more civilized--and, perchance, some more barbarous than this one--made themselves famous and deserving of mention. Certainly balsams, and the perfumes, not only of ointments and fragrant spices, but of herbs and odoriferous flowers, are all known to have been in most ancient use among the Greeks and Romans, and in the Hebrew commonwealth--derived, perhaps, from intercourse with pagan peoples, as we read of it in the grave and burial of King Asa. [93] The bathing of the dead and of those who touched them is also found in Holy Writ; and in accounts of the commonwealths of the Egyptians and Persians, and is practiced at the present day, among many nations; also the custom of placing food in their sepulchres, which is rebuked by St. Augustine. [94]

Who does not know that the men and women hired as mourners are the mourners and singers whom the sacred authors so repeatedly mention? and that, even before the commonwealth of the Hebrews was established by God our Lord, the holy Job called upon those who were ready to fulfil this office and to raise their voices in wailing and lamentation for anyone who would hire them, to lament the day of his birth as if it had been the day of his death? [95] This practice extended later to an infinite number of nations, especially to the Canaanites, who formed their troop of singers and musicians, and, with much skill and effect, mourned the deceased, as they did at Sifara--the mother beginning to intone a chant, which was then taken up by those most learned and skilled in that office." [96]

The preservation of bodies, as far as possible, from corruption is a common practice among all those nations who desired and attempted to perpetuate the memory of their dead by burning the bodies and preserving their ashes; by erecting sumptuous mausoleums or pyramids (in their estimation, eternal); or by engraving in bronze or hard stone the names and deeds of their dead.

Burial in the house of the deceased was a custom of the Ethiopians; and burial at their gates, of the Persians. The adornment of the corpse with jewels and rich garments was practiced by the Hebrews, Persians, and Indians, and, before their time, by all the eastern Arabs of the age and country of holy Job; they filled their houses (which were rather their sepulchres than their abodes) with treasures of gold and silver." [97] The custom of placing in the mouth of the corpse gold or other means for the purchase of necessities and, in particular, of a safe passage, is much ridiculed by Lucian, in those ancients of theirs negotiating for the boat and ferry of Charon; and indeed it served no other end than to excite the covetousness of those who, to profit by the gold, opened the sepulchres and disinterred the dead--as Hyrcanus and Herod desecrated the grave of David, and the Ternates did in Bohol, as we shall later see." [98]

As for the banquets, they were precisely those which occurred at the ancient festivals and funeral feasts practiced by all countries and nations, sacred and profane. [99]

The observance of silence seems to be what not only the profane writers meant by summoning mortals to the shades and darkness, mute and silent; but what the sacred writers intended in calling death and dead men mute.

In the sacred tongue they called the sepulchre itself "silence," [100] or "the place of silence"--on account both of the dumbness of the deceased, who was no longer able to have intercourse with the living, and of the silence and wonder in which the living remained, their grief for the dead, and the solitude in which they sat, depriving them of voice and speech; even more effectual for this was the consideration of the wretchedness, insignificance, and transientness of their own species, which they saw in their neighbor, friend or relative, when in so evil a plight, a threat and warning to them of a like fate. [101] In short, since all these usages arose, partly from some confused perception or conjecture of the natural reason, partly (and more probably) from the blindness and madness into which the devil plunged them, those islanders practiced rites and customs similar to those of former times and nations, for they too were men, subject to the same deception. Truly in this, as in a thousand other things, is verified that grave saying and query of the Wise Man: "What is it that is now happening?" and he answers himself, saying, "That which happened in the past." Again he asks himself: "What were the customs of our ancestors?" and again he replies, "Those which will be, and which those who are yet unborn will practice." [102] The same I would say of the following.

Of feasting and intoxication among the Filipinos. Chapter XXXIV.

The time for their feasts, wherein they ate and drank to excess (and they drank, too, much more than they ate), was, as we have said, upon occasions of illness, death, and mourning. Such was also their custom at betrothals, weddings, and sacrifices, and with guests and visitors. Upon all these occasions there was not a door closed against anyone who might desire to go to drink with them--for they designate a feast by the term "drinking," not "eating." In the feasts which they held upon occasions of sacrifice, they were wont to place at one side of the table a plate, upon which he who chose would throw, by way of religious ceremony, some mouthful of food, which he refrained from eating out of respect to the anito. They eat, sitting in a low position; and their tables are small, low, and round or square in shape, without covering or napkins, the plates containing the victuals being placed on the table itself. They eat in groups of sufficient number to surround the table; and it may happen that a house is filled from one end to another with tables, and guests drinking. The food is placed all together upon various plates, and they have no hesitation in putting the hands of all into the same dish, or in drinking out of the same vessel. They eat but little, drink often, and spend much time in the feast. When they are satiated with food and intoxicated with the drink, they remove the tables and clear the house; and, if the feast is not one of mourning, they sing, play musical instruments, dance, and in this way, spend days and nights, with great uproar and shouting--until finally they fall, exhausted and drowsy. But they are never seen to become, in their intoxication, so frenzied or crazed that they commit excesses; on the contrary, they preserve, in the main, their ordinary conduct, and even under the influence of wine, act with as much respect and prudence as before, although they are naturally more lively and talkative, and utter witty remarks. It is proverbial among us that none of them, upon leaving the feast late at night in a state of intoxication, fails to reach his home. Moreover, if they have occasion to buy or sell anything, they not only make no mistake in the bargaining, but if it be necessary to weigh the gold or silver for the price (which is the common usage among those nations, each person carrying for that purpose a small pair of scales in his wallet), they do it with such accuracy that the hand never trembles, nor is there any error in the weight.

Of the labors of Father Juan de Torres and Father Gabriel Sanchez in the island of Bohol. Chapter XXXV.

All these evils and excesses were abandoned when our fathers entered that island, for after their arrival there God our Lord brought it about that the wonted songs and noises were no longer heard, the natives abstaining from them in order not to displease the fathers. The greatest difficulty which one encounters among those peoples is to teach the prayers to the adults, who are naturally lazy and negligent; and to the old men, who are hindered by their age. The plan and method which is followed in this matter is, not to constrain them too much. In this regard the Boholans acted with such liberality that our fathers, upon arriving at some villages, found the old men learning, of their own free will, the prayers from their children. When asked if they wished to become Christians, they answered that they were already preparing themselves, and that after they had learned what was needful, they would receive holy baptism. So well were they inclined toward the good. They have excellent dispositions; and whenever any good habit or civilized custom is taught to them, they do not fail to practice it--which is no small pleasure and comfort for those who teach them. In the church they conduct themselves devoutly and reverently, kneeling on both knees with hands clasped across their breasts. They attend baptismal services, at the conclusion of which they embrace the newly-baptized and, kneeling, recite with these a "Salve," as a token of thanksgiving. A pestilence, attended by pains in the stomach and head, had attacked this people, and was so fatal that entire villages of the island were being depopulated. But our Christians, in the ardor of their faith, took holy water as a medicine and were healed, so that not one of them died. An instance of this occurred, which I shall relate. An infidel woman was reduced by this sickness to such a pass that they did not expect her to live throughout the night. They summoned the father, and representing to him the woman's danger, besought him urgently to baptize her at once. The father did not think that such haste was necessary, or, at least, that the sick woman was entirely prepared for holy baptism, and so contented himself with repeating to her some of the catechism appropriate to the occasion, to wait until morning came. As a further kindness, in order to cure her body, he asked her if she believed that the holy water, by virtue of Almighty God, our Creator, could heal the sick. Upon her answering "Yes," he gave her some to drink, and with that left her. In the morning they came to tell him that she whom they had regarded as half dead was already healed. A little girl had been reduced by the same disease to the last extremity, and they were already bewailing her as dead; the father hastened to the spot and grieving lest she should die without the sacraments, asked for holy water, that he might give her a possible remedy for body as well as soul. Seeing that the child was unable to drink it, he asked those who were present if they believed that God our Lord, and not their idols, could by means of that water give health to the sick one, and all answered "Yes." The water was then applied to that part where they said the child felt the greatest pain; and, consoling her parents with good hopes, he left her; and within a few hours they sent to tell him that the child was well. Accordingly, they use this holy medicine frequently in all their sicknesses, and it has become a general practice throughout all these islands. I have often seen an Indian woman approach the basin of holy water with her babe in arms, and taking some in her hands, give it to the little one to drink, so ordinary and universal is this devotion.

In Bohol, within only eight months, they gained the village of Baclayun with its hamlets (which was the first station that our Society maintained in that island), besides the villages of Lobo (which is a river of much volume), where more than three thousand souls were instructed and catechized, as well as many in the villages of two other islands adjacent to Bohol. In all those places were baptized a large number of those best prepared and able to receive the sacrament, among them the good old Catunao (whom we mentioned above) with his wife. Between the two, they surely had lived two hundred and thirty years, and the woman was younger than he, Our Lord did not see fit to take him away until He had repaid him for his good services in having been the guide who introduced Christian people into the Filipinas. He was always seated, for he could no longer walk. So satisfied was he at being baptized that during the remainder of his life (which was little more than a year) he was continually repeating, with much delight, "Jesus, Mary."

Of the Island of Mindanao. Chapter XXXVI.

Mindanao is closer to the equinoctial line than the islands of Ibabao, Leite, Sebu, and Bohol, and is larger than almost all those four together. I shall say no more of its richness and fertility than that it is not inferior to the most fertile of all of them. Besides that, it is this island only that abounds in civet and cinnamon. The cinnamon grows among the mountains, and the civet is obtained in large quantities from the many civet-cats which only this island breeds. The natives in nearly all of the island are friendly; but in the southern part along the river of Mindanao (which they call, and is, another Nile in its grandeur and breadth), the people, with those of some adjoining districts, are rebellious and turbulent, and are enticed by the Ternatans, who have introduced there the doctrine of Mahoma. As a result, both of those peoples are enemies, not only to us, but to our friends in the same island. An incident occurred there which I shall not fail to relate, to show the valor of those islanders. While the Spaniards had their camps and garrisons stationed on this river, together with some vessels anchored in the water, there was celebrated the marriage of a friendly chief with the daughter, or the sister, of another chief who dwelt farther up the river; and the commander of that camp, as a token of friendship, undertook to honor this event by despatching two galliots up the stream to convey the bride. The Mahometan enemy, Silongan, who dwelt in the district through which they must pass, upon learning that our people had gone by, and when they were to return, made no attempt to hinder their passage with the bride, although they were actually at open war with us; but he went unprotected to the bank of the river with dignified pace and sober garb, carrying a fan, and gazing with much interest on the galliots and their passengers. Recognizing him, our soldiers in the arrogance of youth, and in hatred to the enemy, applied their matches, and fired a few shots. The bullets, which were generously aimed at his feet, did not touch him, although they fell near by; nor did they cause in him any more agitation or anger than if the matter were some jest which he disregarded. This was the courage of an enemy--one of the dwellers in the southern part of the island; I will relate an instance of valor in a friendly native, an inhabitant of the northern region of Mindanao. A man went out from Botuan to fish upon the sea, embarking with his wife and children in two separate boats. On returning to land when the fishing was over, the man with his boat was somewhat farther from the shore; and the wife, with their children in her boat, made more haste to reach the land, on account of some vessels of Ternatans, which were coasting from point to point--their enemies and ours, as I have said. These invaders, seeing their prey alone and defenseless, were not willing to lose it; accordingly, some of them went in a little skiff, and seized the woman and the children, carrying them away captive. The poor wretch who had been thus despoiled, reached the shore some distance behind them; and seeing that he could not overtake them, began to shout to them, standing on the beach, and was able to utter such insults to the robber--calling him a coward, who laid his hands on women and children alone--that he compelled the other to take up the challenge. He added, that if he himself should be overcome, his wife and children would not be unjustly plundered from him, but fairly won as spoils by dint of a valiant arm. The Ternatan (who was no less spirited than valiant) came to land, at this provocation, with the woman and the children. Having placed the latter at one side, they furiously began their combat; but as the native of Botuan was not only courageous, but fought with justice on his side, that circumstance so aided him that, after some attempts, he killed his adversary with two spear-thrusts, and departed in contentment with his wife and children, whom he had gained anew.

The southern part of the island fell to the lot of Father Valerio de Ledesma and Father Manuel Martinez, who went there early in November of the year fifteen hundred and ninety-six. There not only did the demons, upon their arrival, offer them visible opposition, trying to affright and terrify them at night with horrible sights and sounds--such as they are wont to display when God our Lord permits them--but they found the inhabitants by no means tractable, on account of their fierce and violent natures. But this was a sort of test to which our Lord subjected them in order that He might soon console them by the conversion of many chiefs--especially that of one whom they had least expected to yield on account of his fierce and warlike character and the terror which he inspired throughout the region. This conversion was most edifying, and occurred in the following manner. On a certain Sunday the fathers invited the people to come to the church on the following Sunday, enjoining them not to fail to be present; they heeded this injunction faithfully, repairing to the church in great numbers. There they formed a class of all the children, and under the guidance of one of the fathers, who bore a cross, they marched in good order to a spot where were explained to them some of the mysteries of our holy faith; thence they returned to the church, where, before an assemblage of all the people, Father Manuel Martinez preached a sermon. Our Lord inspired his words with such force that he subdued their hearts, so hard and obstinate; and in the very middle of the sermon Elian (for such was his name) fell upon his knees, and eagerly and strenuously sought baptism. This sight greatly affected many Spaniards who were present, as well as the Indians who beheld this great change in their chief (whom they greatly respected), and they were all moved to tears. This emotion was increased by the action of the superior, Father Valerio de Ledesma, who, having remained among the others to hear the sermon, arose, while the audience were overcome by such emotion and wonder, drew forth a crucifix, and, holding it in his hands, showed the great obligations which we are under to that Lord who gave up his life for our deliverance. By this means he enkindled even more the fire, and aroused the force of heroic determination for right in Elian, who at last approached the holy crucifix and kissed its feet with profound reverence; and after him Osol and others performed the same pious act. Thereupon Elian, desirous that he might not lose time in a matter which so deeply concerned him, publicly announced that anyone whom he owed, or to whom he might be under any obligation, might come to him and be paid therefor. He divorced all but one of his wives, and returning to each one the gold that was due for her dowry, sent them all back to their homes. He himself remained in our house to learn the prayers and catechism, in order to receive baptism sooner. This conversion was a great help to the others, who followed his example, saying: "If the father of us all is becoming a Christian, what else is left for us to do?" A few days after that, our fathers, having found this method and plan of converting these peoples successful, gained another chief, from a different district, by practically the same measures. The conversion of this chief, and the condition of the Christian community there, are told by Father Valerio de Ledesma in a clause of one of his letters, thus: "Thanks to God, all the river is now seeking baptism, and one may hear nothing else but the chanting of the doctrine throughout the village and in the houses, whether the people labor, or row, or walk about. I have visited all the houses, without exception, and have so allotted the children who know the doctrine that while working they may sing it and teach it to the others. As there are not enough boys for every nouse, I have made arrangements that those who live in neighboring houses should assemble in the chief of these, and respond to the boy who sings. In those houses of prominent persons the singing does not cease, day or night. All this our Lord has accomplished, by subduing their headmen--especially Silongan, who by his many wives (six in number), and the large _buguei_ (that is, the dowry) which he had given them, was held back as if by fetters: and yet he freed himself from his bonds, by divorcing the five wives, and keeping only his first one. Then, after a sermon by Father Manuel Martinez, he fell upon his knees in public, and sought baptism; thereupon I embraced him and drew forth a crucifix, which he adored. I encouraged him to persevere, and those who were looking on to imitate him; and at that it seemed as if all were conquered. On that day arrived a rich cargo of silk and gold; we baptized a son of his, and he himself will receive the sacrament when he shall learn the doctrine." Here the letter ends.

In the month of April of the same year, Father Juan del Campo, with the brother Gaspar Gomez, had gone to the northern part of the island to the great river of Mindanao, accompanying Captain Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa, governor of that island, who went with a well-equipped fleet to pacify the rebels and expel the cursed sect of Mahoma. The brother was soon obliged to return, for the purpose of conveying to Manila the body of the governor, who unfortunately died on the same day when he reached Mindanao. Father Juan del Campo was left alone with the army, enduring many hardships with the soldiers, and accomplishing good results among them, as well as among the friendly Indians, about which he wrote a copious narrative. While so engaged death found him, and carried him away--as I believe, when he was certain of enjoying life--three months and a half after his arrival at Mindanao. Although he died alone and without the sacraments, as there was no one to administer them, he met death with great edification, leaving in that camp a sweet odor of sanctity, and the title of a true servant of God. He was a native of Sevilla, thirty-three years of age and had spent eight years in the religious life; he was overflowing with fervor, and so zealous for the good of souls that all--whether Indians, Negroes, Spaniards, Chinese, or other peoples--ever found him disposed to consider himself their debtor, and to succor them with the utmost willingness and alacrity, for which reason he was burdened with many toils and painful nights. He never lay down for the purpose of slumber, but only when sleep seized him unawares in the midst of his occupations. He possessed the gift of languages, by which I mean that he learned many with great facility. He also had the gift of ministering to various peoples and those of different classes at the same time, thoroughly satisfying them all. At times he delivered three discourses or sermons to the Spaniards in one day, because the occasion demanded it. At the same time he did not neglect the Indians with all their variety of tribes and tongues. It was a providence of our Lord that he remained alive after the decease of the governor; for with his good judgment and kindly disposition he not only consoled and animated the army, but was of great service to them, and gave them wise advice, in matters of importance which required careful management. He scourged himself every morning when he arose for prayer, and almost always wore a hair-cloth shirt. He never ate supper, that he might be better prepared for his prolonged vigils, study, and prayers. In fine, he employed so well the short time that he spent in the religious life that I am sure that it was equivalent to a service of many years. He lectured on rhetoric in our college of Avila and was able to give instruction in theology. He fulfilled this office most satisfactorily and profitably to his students, for his intellect and erudition were very profound. On holidays and feast-days he rested by going from village to village, preaching each day two, three, or four sermons. His manner of treating persons was very gracious, and consequently he aroused all Avila to fervor, ecclesiastics as well as laymen. All regarded him as their apostle and teacher, and so treated him, whether present or absent. Leaving that employment, he went forth to the Filipinas, where he arrived, as we have said, in June of the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-five. During the voyage he was not idle, but rather kindled the fervor of all on the ship with discourses and sermons, as I was told in his praise by the commander of the fleet, and by the father commissary of the Holy Office in the province of Pintados, the associate of the right reverend bishop of Sebu. I conducted him to Leite where I left him with Father Cosme de Flores as foundation-stones of Christianity in that region, where they accomplished the fruitful results that I have described. In Mindanao his greatest affliction was to find himself alone, foreseeing, from his great labors and little strength, that he had not long to live, and knowing that at his death he had no one who might aid and console him. He thus expressed himself a very few days before he died, to a soldier to whom he had just administered extreme unction: "Render thanks to God that you have had some one to administer to you at this hour the holy sacraments; unhappy wretch am I, who have no one to do as much for me." But God our Lord, who is a faithful friend, supplied this want, according him a glorious death, with abundant consolation from heaven. A few of his pious and devout followers received his body, burying it in the very chapel where he celebrated mass--without funeral rites, but with grief and tears, and concern that his bones should be preserved until borne to a more worthy resting place. This was done as soon as his death was made known; his remains were carried to Sebu, and laid in our church, and solemn obsequies were celebrated. It fell to me to make this journey, accompanied by Father Juan de Sanlucar, who went as superior. The latter seeing that there was but little inclination among those Indians for conversion as long as the Mahometan rebels remained unsubdued, and that we were being occupied, not with them, but with the soldiers of the camp, ministering to them as curas (the office of a secular priest rather than ours), although he continued these labors for almost a year (for I had returned immediately with the remains), was finally obliged to retire from the field. The camp was also withdrawn, and their fort there was dismantled.

(_To be concluded_.)

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA

_Relacion de las Filipinas_, by Pedro Chirino, S.J.--This is translated in full from the original printed work, from the copies owned by Harvard University, and Edward E. Ayer, of Chicago.

All the rest of the matter contained in this volume is obtained from the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla. "Principal points in regard to the trade of the Filipinas" is a rare printed pamphlet therein; all the remaining documents are from the original MSS. in that collection, their press-marks being thus indicated:

1. _Expedition to the Malucas Islands_.--"Simancas--Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes del presidente y oidores de dicha Audiencia vistos en el Consejo; años de 1600 á 1612; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 19."

2. _Documents relating to commerce_.--"Simancas--Secular; cartas y espedientes de personas seculares de dicha Audiencia; años de 1569-; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 34."

3. _Letter from Morga_.--The same as No. 1.

4. _Chinese mandarins at Manila_.--The same as No. 1.

5. _Resignation by bishop_.--"Simancas--Eclesiastico; cartas y espedientes del arzobispo de Manila vistos en el Consejo; años de 1579 á 1679; est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 32."

6. _Letters from Benavides_.--The same as No. 5.

7. _Letters from the Audiencia and fiscal_, July, 1603.--The same as No. 1.

8. _Letter from Acuña_, July 20, 1603.--"Simancas--Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y espedientes del gobernador de Filipinas vistos en el Consejo; años de 1600 á 1628; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 7."

9. _Letters from ecclesiastics_, December, 1603.--"Simancas--Eclesiástico; cartas y espedientes de personas eclesiasticas vistos en el Consejo; años 1570 á 1608; est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 42."

10. _Uprising of the Sangleys_--(a) Letter from the Audiencia: the same as No. 1. (b) Letter from Santa Catalina: the same as No. 9. (c) Letter from Benavides: the same as No. 5. (d) Letters from Acuña: the same as No. 8.

NOTES

[1] The viceroy of India from May, 1591 to May, 1597 was Matias de Albuquerque; he was succeeded by Francisco da Gama, Conde de Vidiguera, a grandson of the noted Vasco da Gama. On December 25, 1600, Ayres de Saldanha became viceroy, holding that office a little more than four years. "During the 'captivity' or subjection to Spain (1580-1640) India was governed entirely through the _Casa da India_ at Lisbon, and altogether in the interests of Portugal and the Portuguese officials, who, as will be seen in vol. ii, jealously excluded Spanish interference."--Gray and Bell, note in _Voyage of Francis Pyrard_ (Hakluyt Society's publication no. 76, London, 1887), i, p. 439.

[2] _Galagala_: the name of a coniferous tree (also known as _piayo_ and _damar; Agathis orantifolia_), which produces a resin that is used for burning, for lighting, and for calking vessels. See Blanco's _Flora_, p. 528; and U.S. Philippine Commission's _Report_, 1900, iii, p. 282.

[3] Montero y Vidal recounts (_Hist. de la piratería_, i, pp. 146-150) the piratical raids made about this time by the Joloans and Mindanaos. When they saw that the fort at La Caldera was abandoned, they collected a force of three thousand men, in fifty caracoas, and (July, 1599) invaded the coasts of Cebú, Negros, and Panay, ravaging with fire and sword, and carrying away eight hundred captives. In the following year these Moros came against the Spanish settlement of Arévalo (now Iloilo), in Panay, with eight thousand men; but they were repulsed by a handful of Spaniards, aided by a thousand Indian allies. Gallinato led an expedition (February, 1602) against the Joloans, inflicting considerable loss on them, but was unable to reduce their forts; and he was compelled, by lack of supplies, to return to Manila. In the summer of 1602 another Moro expedition sallied out from Mindanao and harried all the northern islands, even attacking Luzon; they carried away much booty and many captives. A partial punishment was inflicted upon them by Spanish expeditions, but they were not subdued; and the Moro pirates were a constant source of terror and danger until recent times.

[4] Each paragraph is accompanied in the original MS. by a marginal note summarizing its contents; this is here omitted, as containing no additional information.

[5] This decree was issued at Lisbon, March 31, 1582, by Felipe II; a copy of it (addressed to Peñalosa) appears in the MS. from which we have obtained this group of documents on the Maluco expedition.

A royal decree dated June 22, 1599, orders that all military expeditions in the islands thereafter must be sanctioned by the council of war, the cabildo of Manila, and the Audiencia.

[6] In 1526, the cabildo of the City of Mexico gave permission for the citizens "to have their tepuzque gold converted at the smelting works" into coin. "For two years oro tepuzque was exclusively used, and the intrinsic value fluctuated so much that a standard was demanded. In September, 1528 the cabildo adopted the resolution that all such money should be examined and stamped." See Bancroft's _Hist. Mexico_, iii, p. 669.

[7] Spanish, _quando lo que se mãda es cosa muy conueniente a la República._ The context would apparently require _inconueniente_, "injurious to the commonwealth;" there is apparently this typographical error of omission in the original printed text.

[8] The president and members of a tribunal of commerce, appointed to try and decide causes which concern navigation and trade.

[9] Children resulting from the unions between Chinese and Indians are known as zambaigos.

[10] In 1603 Monterey, then viceroy of Nueva España, was promoted to the viceroyalty of Peru. The salaries of these offices were respectively twenty thousand and thirty thousand ducats (Bancroft's _Hist. Mexico_, iii, p. 2).

[11] The "piece of eight" was a coin having the weight and value of eight reals of silver; the "piece of four," one of half that value.

[12] Reference is apparently made here to the preceding document, "Principal points in regard to the trade of the Filipinas."

[13] See La Concepcion's account of the result of this expedition (_Hist. de Philipinas_, iv, pp. 16-18). The Spanish troops joined the Portuguese at Tidore, and together they besieged the Malay fort at Terrenate; but after ten days the Portuguese refused to continue the siege, and retreated; this compelled Gallinato, the Spanish commander, to return with his troops to Manila.

[14] _Daifu-sama_: the official title of Iyeyasu, then the chief secular ruler (Shôgun) in Japan, which power he gained by his victory at the great battle of Sekigahara (October, 1600). With him began the Shôgunate of the Tokugawa family, which lasted for two hundred and fifty years. Iyeyasu labored to secure the peace of the empire, both internal and external, and to this end undertook to eradicate the Christian religion in Japan; and formed a code of laws for his people. He was a man of high character and ability, and was deified after his death. This event occurred in 1616, when he was seventy-four years old. See Rein's _Japan_, pp. 293-303.

[15] La Concepcion describes this fire (_Hist. de Philipinas_, iv, pp. 30-32); he states that the loss therein was estimated at a million of pesos, "a loss which indicates how opulent was then the city of Manila."

[16] The emperor of China at this time was Wanleh (see _Vol_. III, p. 228); he died in 1620. See account of his reign (begun in 1572) in Boulger's _Hist. China_, ii, pp. 153-204.

[17] _Garbanzo_: the chick-pea, a sort of pulse commonly used in Spain.

[18] The name of the Moro pirates who inhabit the little islands of the Sulu group east of Tawi-tawi, and the islands between these and Borneo.

[19] These names are corrupt Spanish renderings of the Chinese names Nanking and Peking. For accounts of the "Middle Kingdom," or China proper, and its provinces, and the origin and meaning of their various appellations, see W. Winterbotham's _Chinese Empire_ (London, 1796), i, pp. 40 _et seq_.; and S. Wells Williams's _Middle Kingdom_ (New York, 1871), i, pp. 3 _et seq_.

[20] In the official transcript of this document furnished us from the Sevilla archives, this word is written _teatinos_ ("Theatins")--apparently the copyist's conjecture for an illegible or badly-written word in the original MS. But the Theatins had no establishments in the Philippines; and the mention of Chirino in the second of these letters (next following this one) of Benavides proves that he referred to the Jesuits (Spanish _iesuitas_), not to the Theatins.

[21] "The see being vacant"--for Benavides had but just arrived at Manila, and an interregnum of nearly five years had elapsed since the death of his predecessor, Santibañez.

[22] Referring to a ceremony performed at mass, also known as the "kiss of peace." This was given at mass from the earliest times, in the various Catholic branches of the Church. In the Western churches, "it was only at the end of the thirteenth century that it gave way to the use of the 'osculatorium'--called also 'instrumentum' or 'tabella pacis,' 'pax,' etc.--a plate with a figure of Christ on the cross stamped upon it, kissed first by the priest, then by the clerics and congregation. Usually now the pax is not given at all in low masses, and in high mass an embrace is substituted for the old kiss, and given only to those in the sanctuary" (Addis and Arnold's _Catholic Dictionary_, p. 497).

[23] Pérez (p. 63) gives but little information regarding this friar. He seems to have been in the islands as early as 1591, and from 1594 to 1603, engaged in various official duties. In the last-named year he went to Spain and Rome, afterward going to Mexico, where he acted as procurator in 1608.

[24] In this paragraph, as in one in the preceding letter of Benavides, the official transcription of the text has _teatinos_, where "Jesuits" occurs in the translation; but the mention of Chirinos shows that the latter reading is correct. See note 20, _ante_, on p. 109.

[25] Spanish _hermita_ (sometimes meaning "hermitage"); a reference to what is now a suburb of Manila, situated on the shore of the bay, and called Hermita or Ermita. "In its parish church is venerated, with great devotion, the image of its tutelar saint, Our Lady of Guidance--to which holy image were especially commended, in former days, the ships from Nueva España" (Buzeta and Bravo's _Diccionario_, ii, p. 77).

[26] This was the eldest daughter of Felipe III--Anna Maria, generally known as Anne of Austria. Born in 1601, she was married at the age of fourteen to Louis XIII of France; and after his death was regent during the minority of her son, Louis XIV. She died on January 20, 1666.

[27] Diego de Guevara, belonging to a noble family in Spain, entered in early youth the Augustinian order, at Salamanca. In 1593 he came to the Philippines with a company of twenty-four missionaries, and held various official positions in his order. In 1602 he founded a convent in Bungo, in Japan. Sent to Spain in 1603, with news of the Chinese insurrection, he did not reach the court until three years later; he remained there until 1610, when he returned to the Philippines as visitor for his order. From 1616 until his death in 1621, he was bishop of Nueva Cáceres.

[28] Spanish, _reformados_; literally "reformed," but referring to those who belong to religious houses of strict discipline.

[29] A royal decree dated at Barcelona, June 13, 1599, orders the governor and Audiencia of the Filipinas to take suitable measures for restricting the number of Chinese allowed to live in Manila, or in other parts of the islands. The copy of this decree preserved in the Sevilla archives contains also an extract from a letter to Acuña (dated November 29, 1603) in which he is thus directed by the king: "You have been informed by other despatches of the difficulties (which had been pointed out to the said Don Francisco [Tello] and other persons) arising from the number of Sangleys who have remained in the Parian of that city and its outskirts, so that you might be watchful for the security of the country. The said Don Francisco writes at present, that having examined into the matter, and conferred upon it, he finds (as at that time appeared best) that the most expedient way was to continue the measure that has been taken since he entered upon that governorship--namely, that the ships which bring the said Chinese be sent back [to China] each year full of people. In this way they can be removed and the country cleared of them, with more gentleness and kind treatment, as has already been done with many of them. He thinks that if the captains of the ships are not allowed to carry more than a hundred Sangleys, including sailors and merchants, the desired object will be attained--that is, that there should not be in the country more than three thousand Sangleys, including craftsmen, gardeners, and workers in all trades. What seems best to us, and I accordingly so charge you, is to make use of this means, or of others which may appear to you expedient, so that the country may be secure, and have only the Sangleys necessary for its service."

[30] This Silonga was one of the most noted of the Moro chiefs; he was afterward converted by a Jesuit missionary. See account of the raid made by Buhisan (Buyçan), and of Acuña's efforts to suppress piracy, in Montero y Vidal's _Hist. Piratería_, i, pp. 148-152.

[31] Pedro Chirino was born in 1557 in Osuna of Andalucía. He graduated in both civil and canon law at Sevilla, and entered the Society of Jesus at the age of twenty-three. Having been appointed to the mission in the Filipinas in place of Father Alonso Sanchez, he arrived there in 1590 with the new governor, Gomez Perez Dasmariñas. He acted as missionary to the Tagalos and the Pintados, and was superior of the Jesuit colleges at Manila and Cebú. He cultivated the friendship of Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, whom he advised to found the college of San Ignacio and the seminary of San José in Manila. On July 7, 1602, he left Cavite for Acapulco by the vessel "San Antonio" with appointment by Visitor Diego Garcia as procurator of the mission, in order to take immediate action in the affairs of the mission at both the royal and pontifical courts. He obtained a decree from Father General Claudius Aquaviva, by which the mission in the Filipinas was elevated to a vice-province, independent of the province of Mexico. His relation was written in 1603, and passed the censorship of vice-provincial Luis de la Puente in Valladolid. On July 17, 1606, he returned to Manila. The village of Taitai was removed to its present site by him. His death occurred September 16, 1635. His biography was written by Father Juan de Bueras in the annals of the province of Filipinas for 1634-35, signed by the author in Manila, May 26, 1636; and by Father Pedro Murillo Velarde in part ii, book ii, chap, i, of _Historia de la Provincia de Philipinas de la Compañía de Jesús._

Of the many manuscripts left by Father Chirino, I possess the most important. It is the original manuscript, and is entitled _Primera Parte de la Historia de la Provincia de Philipinas de la Compañía de Jesus_.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[32] Referring to Morga's _Sucesos de las Islas Philipinas_ (Mexico, 1609). I have seen the only copy of the new edition of this work published in Madrid, by Justo Zaragoza, in 1880--the only copy, because the balance of the edition was sold as waste-paper, as its sale was anticipated by the edition of Dr. Rizal published in Paris in 1890.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[33] His death occurred in Mactan, on the morning of April 28, 1521.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[34] Chirino writes here somewhat inaccurately. Magalhães and Loaisa sailed directly from Spain, and went through the Strait of Magellan; Saavedra was the first who went to the Philippines from Nueva España (1527), and was followed in this route by Villalobos in 1542. See accounts of these voyages in _Vols_. I and II of this series.

[35] Cárlos V disapproved of Villalobos entering the Malucos, and on this account was on the point of depriving the viceroy of Nueva España, Don Antonio de Mendoza, of his office, as the latter had given instructions as to the manner of performing the expedition.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[36] Cosmo de Torres was born in 1510 at Valencia; he departed for India in 1538, and was admitted to the Jesuit order by St. Francis Xavier, on March 20, 1548. He was afterward sent to Japan, where he began the work of christianizing that people. He died on October 10, 1570, after a long and arduous missionary career. (Sommervogel's _Bibliothèque_, viii, p. 112.)

St. Francis Xavier's ministry in the Indias and Japan began in 1542, and lasted ten years; he died on December 2, 1552.

[37] The name "Philipinas" was given to the islands by Villalobos, and confirmed by Felipe II in a decree dated at Valladolid, and directed to the viceroy of Nueva España, Don Luis de Velasco, September 24, 1559.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[38] The others were Andres de Urdaneta, Andres de Aguirre, Diego de Herrara, Pedro de Gamboa. The sixth died at the port of Navidad. Father Rada also died at sea, while returning to Manila from an expedition to Borneo. Felipe II ordered his manuscripts to be collected and preserved in the archives.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[39] See description of this incident, and illustration presenting a view of the image (which is still in existence), in _Vol_. II of this series, pp. 120, 217.

[40] See Loraca's account of the beliefs of the Moros, _Vol_. V, pp. 171-175.

[41] An account of the festivities held in Manila in 1623 on the occasion of the accession of Philip IV to the Spanish crown, includes the mention of bull-fights. The festivities were attended by the entire town, civil and political. This account, which contains valuable social observations, is an extract from a manuscript owned by the Compañia general Tabacos de Filipinas, Barcelona, and was published privately (1903) in an edition of 25 copies by Señor Don José Sánchez Garrigós. It will be presented in this series, if space will permit.

[42] These winds are known as _baguios_ or _tifones_ (English "typhoons"). See full account of them, with diagrams, tables, etc. (prepared largely from data and reports furnished by the Jesuit fathers in the Manila observatory), in U.S. Philippine Commission's _Report_, 1901, iv, pp. 290-344.

[43] Diego Vazquez de Mercado, later archbishop of Manila.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[44] Regarding this sharpening of the teeth, see Virchow's "Peopling of the Philippines" (Mason's translation), in Smithsonian Institution's _Annual Report_, 1899, pp. 523, 524. Jagor says--_Travels in the Philippines_ (London, 1875), p. 256: "The further circumstance that the inhabitants of the Ladrones and the Bisayans possess the art of coloring their teeth black, seems to point to early intercourse between the Bisayans and the Polynesians." The Jesuit Delgado mentions--_Hist. de Filipinas_ (Manila, 1892), p. 328--the custom of adorning the teeth with gold. Cf. Sawyer's _Inhabitants of Philippines_, p. 342.

[45] In the margin (p. 9), are various references to authors. "Book 7, chap. 2 and 56; and book 16, chap. 36," probably refers to the _Naturalis historia_ of the elder Pliny. "Ludovic. Vartom. Nauigat. lib. 5. cap. 12," refers to book 5, chap. 12 of the _Itinerario_ of Lodovico Barthema (Roma, 1510). Another reference is to Thomas Malvenda's _De Antichristo_, book 3, chap. 12.

The word for "cane" here used is the Tagal name for several species of the bamboo (_Bambus_), the largest and most useful being _B. arundo_. Both this and the bejuco (_Calamus_) were commonly mentioned under the general term _cañas_ ("canes," or "reeds,"): and not only the bejuco, but one species of bamboo (_B. mitis_) yields clear water as a beverage for man's use. See Blanco's _Flora_, pp. 187-189.

[46] A marginal note (p. 9) opposite this line cites "book 13, chap. 11," presumably of the same work that is mentioned in the preceding note.

[47] The palmo was a measure of length used in Spain and Italy, varying from eight and one-third to ten and one-third inches.

[48] The first Franciscan religious arrived at Manila June 24, 1577. These were fathers Fray Pedro Alfaro, Fray Pedro de Jerez, Fray Pablo de Jesus, Fray Juan de Plasencia, Fray Juan Bautista Pesaro, Fray Alonso de Medina, Fray Sebastian de Baeza, Fray Francisco Mariano, Fray Diego de Oropesa, Fray Agustin de Tordesillas, Fray Antonio Barriales, and Fray Francisco Menor, and two choristers and lay brothers.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[49] Domingo de Salazar was born in Labastida (in Alavese Rioja) in 1512. He joined the Order of St. Dominic in 1546 at Salamanca; and at forty years of age he went to Mexico. In 1579 he was appointed first bishop of the Filipinas, and took possession of his seat in 1581. In virtue of the bull _Fulti proesidio_, promulgated by Gregory XIII, he erected the principal church of Manila into a cathedral church, December 21 of the same year. Immediately thereafter he held the first council, being assisted by both the secular and regular clergy. In 1591 he returned to Acapulco and Mexico, whence he went to España in 1593. He died in Madrid, December 4, 1594, and was buried in the church of Santo Tomás of his order.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[50] Don Gonzalo Ronquillo was born at Arévalo, of an illustrious family. His father was a military officer, his grandfather a civil magistrate, and his brother a distinguished warrior. From 1572 to 1575, Gonzalo Ronquillo served in the Audiencia of Mexico as chief constable; then returning to Spain, he made an offer to the king to conduct six hundred colonists to the Filipinas Islands. This was accepted, and he was appointed governor of the islands, for which he departed from Spain early in 1579. On the way he lost so many of his colonists, by desertion or death, that only three hundred and forty remained when he left Panama, February 24, 1580; they reached Manila on June 1 following. In 1581 he founded the town of Arevalo on the island of Panay. Ronquillo's death occurred at Manila, on February 14, 1583--caused, according to a letter written by his cousin Don Diego to the king, by his grief at the proceedings of Doctor Sande from Mexico in reprisal for the severe residencia which, by order of the king, Ronquillo had taken of Sande's government.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[51] These auditors received two thousand pesos of nugget gold (_oro de minas_) annually; and the president, four thousand pesos.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[52] _Dedo_: originally, a finger (cf. French _doigt_): by extension, a measure of length ("a finger's breadth"); see _Vol_. III, p. 201.

[53] Dr. Francisco de Sande, a native of Cáceres, left Acapulco to enter upon his governorship of the Filipinas, April 6, 1575, and arrived at Manila August 25, entering immediately upon his duties. Pedro de Chaves named in his honor the newly-founded city of Nueva Cáceres. Sande directed a personal expedition to Borneo, sailing from Manila for this purpose March 3, 1578, accompanied by forty-six native vessels. He took possession of that great island April 20, and reëntered Manila July 29 with twenty-one galleys and galleots, six ships, one hundred and seventy pieces of artillery, and other war material taken from the enemy. His governorship ended June 1, 1580.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[54] A small island between Sangir and Tagolanda (_Vol_. XI, p. 297).

[55] Sommervogel only mentions two priests of this name in the missions of India, but both of them were of later date.

[56] The supreme pontiff, Gregory XIII, erected the episcopal see of Manila December 21, 1581, with the publication of the bull _Fulti præsidio_. Clement VIII elevated it into a metropolitan church August 14, 1591, assigning to it as suffragan, the churches of Cebú, Nueva Segovia, and Nueva Cáceres. To these was added that of Santa Isabel de Paro in 1865, and lastly those of Lipa, Tuguegaras, Cápiz, and Zamboanga, in virtue of the apostolic decree _Quæ in mari sinico_, given by Leo XIII at St. Peter's in Roma, September 17, 1902.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[57] "The balete tree (_Ficus Urostigima_--Sp.) corresponds to our witch elm, and certainly at night has a most uncanny appearance. Each of these great trees has its guardian spirit, or Ticbalan" (Sawyer, _Inhabitants of Philippines_, pp. 214, 343). See also Blanco's _Flora_, art. "Ficus." Chirino speaks of this tree as having no fruit; he must have observed specimens which bore only sterile flowers.

[58] The _Erythrina_ (_indica_, Lam.; _carnea_, Bl.); see Blanco's _Flora_, pp. 393, 394, and Delgado's _Historia_, pp. 429, 430, for descriptions of this tree (named by them _dapdap_).

[59] _Anona_, of several species; one is commonly known as "custard-apple," another as "sour-sop." The species _A. squamota_ (Tagal, _Ates_) is regarded as producing the best fruit.

[60] A species of wild hog, _Sus scropha_. In all the large islands of the Asiatic archipelago may be found wild swine, of various species. "The flesh of the hog must have formed a principal part of the animal food of the nations and tribes of the archipelago before the conversion to Mohammedanism. It did so with the people of the Philippine Islands on the arrival of the Spaniards, and it does so still with all the rude tribes, and even with the Hindoos of Bali and Lomboc" (Crawfurd's _Dictionary_, pp. 152, 153). See Zúñiga's _Estadismo_ (Retana's ed.), ii, p. 438.*

[61] The Haraya is a Visayan dialect.

[62] That is, the most important things which happen to men in leaving this world--death, judgment, heaven, and hell; this subject is also included under the term "eschatology."

[63] They were Fathers Alonso de Humanes, superior, Juan del Campo, Mateo Sánchez, Juan de Ribera, Cosme de Flores, Tomás de Montoya, Juan Bosque, and Diego Sánchez. They left Acapulco March 22, and cast anchor at Cavite June 10. Dr. Morga, appointed by virtue of a royal decree, given at El Escorial, August 18, 1593, left Cádiz with his wife and six children in February, 1594, and Acapulco on the same date as the above-mentioned fathers. Under his charge was the aid for the islands, taken to Manila by the galleons "San Felipe" and "Santiago."--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[64] In _Menology of the English Province, S.J._ (Roehampton, 1874) is the following notice (July 14): "At Manila, in the Philippine Islands, in 1627, Father Thomas de Montoya, an Indian of Florida. After thirty years of indefatigable labor among those nations, he died by slow poison, given by the Bassians [Bisayans?] out of hatred to the Faith." The statement regarding his nativity is, however, erroneous. "Murillo Velarde states (_Historia_, lib. viii, cap. x, no. 57) that this father was born, not in Florida, but at Zacatecas (Mexico), in 1568. He entered the Society at the age of eighteen, in the Mexican province, and passed over to that of the Philippines in 1595 (the year when it was formed). There he filled successively the offices of Latin teacher at Manila, master of novices, and missionary to the Pintados. These Indians poisoned him, after which it seems that he returned to Manila, where his life was a continued martyrdom. To the sufferings from the effect of the poison were added those of a violent asthma. He possessed perfectly the Tagal language." (See _Woodstock Letters_, 1900, vol. 29, pp. 154, 155.) He is also mentioned by Colin (_Hist. misiones_, part ii, book iii, p. 334).--_E.I. Devitt, S.J._ (Georgetown College).

[65] Francisco de Borja (Borgia), Duke of Gandia (a city in Spain), entered the Jesuit order in 1551, becoming its general in 1565; he held this office until his death, September 30, 1572. He was beautified in 1624, and canonized in 1671.

[66] His remains are now entombed to the right of the transept of the Cebú cathedral.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[67] Don Francisco Tello entered Manila July 14. He had left Acapulco March 6, with Father Vera. The latter's companions were Fathers López de la Parra, Manuel Martinez, Valerio de Ledesma, Juan de Torres, Gabriel Sánchez, Miguel Gómez, Juan de San Lucar, Francisco de Otazo, Alonso Rodriguez, Cristobal Jiménez, Francisco de Encinas, Diego de Santiago, Leonardo Scelsi, and Bartolomé Martes.--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[68] Various Philippine languages were studied and systematized by the first missionaries to the islands, although none of these works were printed, so far as is known, before 1610. Probably the earliest of these was a vocabulary of the language of the Cebú islanders, by Martin de Rada (who died in 1580). Other early Augustinians composed linguistic works as follows: Agustín de Alburquerque (died 1580) an _Arte_, or grammar, of the Tagal language; Diego Ochoa (died 1585), an _Arte_ and vocabulary of the Pampango; Estéban Marin (died 1601), _Artes_ of Igorrote and Zambal.

[69] Spanish, _actos solenes, i liciones de erudicion_. At Manila, in Chirino's time, there was only what is called _collegium inchoatum_; but in ordinary colleges of the Society, with a complete order of classes, it was the custom, at the _solemnis instauratio studiorum_, for the prefect of studies or the professor of rhetoric to inaugurate the year's work by delivering a "learned discourse," before the whole academic body; and to this function the appreciative public was invited. Sometimes the students gave a public exhibition of their work and proficiency. This "solemn act" might be a dramatic representation--an original play written for the occasion--or it might consist of literary exercises on the part of the scholars, music being also introduced. The technical name for these purely literary exercises was an "academy," or "specimen;" and naturally they would take place during the course of the scholastic year Such was the custom of the age, in Spanish countries.--_Rev. E.I. Devitt, S.J._

[70] Molave is the name of a tree whose wood is very hard and highly valued for building purposes; it is called by the natives "the queen of woods." The name molave is applied to several species of _Vitex_. especially to _V. geniculata_, Bl.

[71] _Piña_: a silver design in the form of a pineapple.

[72] _i.e._, to scourge themselves, as a voluntary penance--a practice then common among religious devotees. It was probably a survival from the earlier practices of the associations of Flagellants, who publicly scourged themselves, in penitential processions through the streets; they appeared during the period 1260-1420.

[73] Cf. the belief of the Winnebago Indians regarding the fate of departed souls (_Wisconsin Historical Collections_, xiii, p. 467).

[74] _Golo_: "the name of a charm for lovers, used by the ancient Tagals" (Blumentritt, _Dicc. mitológico,_ p. 51). Regarding this book of charms, cf. Retana's _Libro de aniterías_ (Madrid, 1894), which reproduces a similar book, obtained from a Filipino native, with explanations of such words and phrases as are intelligible; it is preceded by extracts from the _Practica_ of Tomás Ortiz, O.S.A.

[75] Evidently a reference to the serpents of the genus _Python_, allied to the boa-constrictor. They attain enormous size in the forests, some specimens having been obtained over twenty-two feet long. Young ones are often kept by the natives in their houses to kill the rats; these snakes become tame and harmless.

[76] In the printed work, on the margin opposite this and the following sentences, are various references, thus: "Isaiah, 60; Isaiah, 9; Psalm 79; Isaiah, 66; Psalm 35, whereon 'B. Amb. Greg. II. moral. c. 2'"--the last apparently a reference to St. (and Pope) Gregory I's _Moralia in Jobum_ (Basle, 1468?).

[77] In the margin of the printed page is a reference to Ezekiel, 8.

[78] Cf. Loarca's version of this and other myths, and his account of the native beliefs and superstitious practices (_Vol_. V, pp. 121-141).

[79] The Tagals also called this bird _tigmamanukin_; its scientific name is _Irene cyanogastra_, Meyer (Blumentritt's _Dicc. mitológico_, pp. 34, 118). See Forbes's description of the "fairy bluebird" (_Irene turcosa_) in his _Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago_ (New York. 1885). p. 67.

[80] Naso (the native name for which is Siroan) and Potol are, respectively, the southwest and northwest extremities of Panay Island. Cf. the offerings made to rocks by the Huron Indians (_Jesuit Relations_, x, p. 165).

[81] Probably referring to Cape San Agustín, the southeastern extremity of Mindanao, at the eastern entrance of Sarangani Strait, where there is always a heavy sea.

[82] For this reason it is called Puntas Flechas--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[83] In the margin of the printed work is a reference to "3 Kings, 16"--_i.e._, the first Book of Kings in the Protestant version of the Old Testament.

[84] See accounts of the practices of medicine-men among the northern tribes of the North American Indians, in _Jesuit Relations, passim_.

[85] Among the infidels of Mindanao there are still four kinds of sacrifices: human, called _pag-huaga_, practiced by the Bagobos; that of swine, or _pag-balilig_; that of chickens, or _pag-talibong_; and the _pag-cayag_, which is a poured-out offering of rice. The _baylanas_ sacrifice the victim by thrusting into the heart or throat of the animal a _balarao_ or dagger, and suck the blood issuing from the wound. Then they dance about the sacrifice in innumerable attitudes, and sing, while trembling and making grimaces, the following stanza:

Miminsad miminsad si mansilatan Vpud si Badla ñga maga-dayao nañg dunia. Baylan managun-sayao, Baylan managun-liguid.

afterward Badla will descend, who will give health to the earth. Let the Baylanas [priests] dance, let the Baylanas dance about."--_Pablo Pastells, S.J._

[86] A marginal note in the printed work cites II Corinthians, 8.

[87] St. Marcellinus, the thirtieth of the Roman pontiffs, was elected in 296 A. D., and died in 304.

[88] The following references appear on the margin of the printed page: Boethius, _Topica_ (Tolentino, 1484), book 2. Andreas Tiraquellus, _Ex commentariis in Pictonum côsuetudines, sectio De legibus connubialibus_ (Parisis, 1513), law 4. Francisco Ribera, _In librum duodecim prophetarum commentarii_ (Salmanticae, 1587), Hosea, 3.

[89] Pérez (p. 44) only records the various churches served by this father, from 1596 to 1607, and his death in the latter year.

[90] Apparently at the point of Tinagoan, on Buad Island, off the western coast of Samar.

[91] In the margin is a reference to II Timothy, 4.

[92] _Piper betel_; the method of using it as a stimulant is described in _Vol_. IV, p. 22a. The _coca_ to which the betel-nut is here compared is the dried leaf of a Peruvian shrub (_Erythroxylon coca_). of stimulant and tonic qualities. From it is obtained the well-known anæsthetic cocaine.

[93] Marginal references (of which some throughout this page of Chirino are too indefinite to be verified): _II Paralipomenon_ (the appellation, in Roman Catholic versions of the Bible, of the books named "Chronicles" in the Protestant version), 16. Onuphrius, book 2.

[94] Marginal references: _Fastorum Plutarchi in Sylla_. Plinius,