Four of our religious suffer from the violence of the rebellious Indians of Caragha

It has been said that the Caraghas Indians are fierce and warlike, and can ill endure to be subject to the Spaniards. Having seen the little or no reputation that had been gained with the Indians of the island of Jolo—who, although they were paying tribute, rebelled; and whose many depredations our soldiers could not check—the Caraghas were emboldened to rise because of that rebellion and they did so. That insurrection was begun in the year 1629, in which occurred many murders, thefts, and insolences. It is not our purpose to enumerate them in detail; but it does concern us to touch upon the many calamities that some of our convents suffered, and the religious who governed them.

Captain Pedro Bautista went to the fort of Caragha, and, the land being in great revolt, thought only of attending to his business and of making raids. In the first raid he comported himself so badly toward the Indians that they were very dissatisfied. Having arranged a second raid in the year 1631, he left the fort on the fourth of July, taking with him ten soldiers, the best that he had. The names of the latter were Alferez Maldonado, Sergeant Gandaya, Sergeant Juan Rodriguez, Sergeant Reyes, Sergeant Negrete, Luis de AlarcÒn, Juan de Aguirre, Juan Dominguez, Francisco de la Paz, and one other. Father Fray Jacinto de Jesus Maria, prior vicar of the convent of Tago (whom the rebellious Indians tried to kill in his cell at the convent of Cagaiang, as has been related) went as chaplain of that fleet. One Spaniard having been stationed in each ship, they reached Bapangano, accompanied by all the chief people of that coast. They captured sixteen slaves, and Dumblag, one of the Indian chiefs, seeing the little advantage that could fall to him from that prize, freed seven of them.4 The fleet returned and, on arriving at Cheta, Captain Pedro Bautista and father Fray Jacinto disembarked. It was learned there that Dumblag had freed the seven slaves, whereupon the captain resolved to arrest him. The chief resisted, and laid his hand on his varalao to oppose the captain. The latter, angered, struck Dumblag (who was a very great rogue, and had done many things for which he deserved punishment) with his lance; the chief was placed in irons, and his cause was put in writing. On the arrival of the other boats, his relative Valintos landed, and went to visit the prisoner, who complained because the former did not avenge him. Valintos was ashamed, and resolved to kill the captain and father Fray Jacinto.

At that time the Spaniards were without their arms. Valintos went up to the captain deceitfully, and treacherously stabbed him twice so that he died. He asked for confession, and father Fray Jacinto set about confessing him; but scarcely had he absolved him, when many Indians, coming up, found father Fray Jacinto—who was now on his knees with hands raised and eyes lifted toward the heavens, praying and asking pardon of God for their sins, in payment of which he offered his life; and he asked pardon for the aggressors of so many misdeeds. The Indians gave him a lance thrust that passed through his body. He never moved, and when the barbarians saw that, they wounded him again and again, in the belief that he was not dead. But when they became aware that he was no more, and saw that his eyes were opened and his hands raised, they conceived so great fear that they did not dare go up to him. Thus remained that blessed body until the tide came in and carried it away, the sea giving him a more pious burial than those inhuman wretches had given him death. It was God’s plan to make the venerable father terrible to the Indians at his death, so that they should not ill-treat his remains. It is an indication that he enjoys reward in heaven for having bravely given his life for God on the earth.

Then the Indians killed the Spaniards there. Father Fray Jacinto could have escaped, but in order not to fail in charity he did not care to preserve his life, and offered it to God, for whom he gave it willingly—an action wondered at by the Indians, and still recounted today with the same wonder. Father Fray Jacinto was a native of the port of Cadiz in Andaluzia, his parents being Pedro de Molino and DoÑa Isabel Lopez. He took the habit and professed in the convent of San NicolÀs of Manila.5 Having been ordained a priest, obedience employed him in the instruction of the coast of Caragha. Giving an excellent account of what was in his charge, he was appointed prior vicar of the convent of Tago, where he comported himself to the great satisfaction of all, until he gave his life for the service of God, as has been related. His happy death occurred on the thirteenth of July of that year.

Next day the rebels went to the river of Tago, in high spirits because they had killed all the Spaniards in the fleet, and spent three days in carousing. Mangabo ordered them to ring for a mass that he desired to say. “Come,” he said in derision, “to the mass of Father Mangabo.” The people assembled in the church of our convent. An Indian woman, called Maria Campan, esteemed as one of good life dressed herself and went through the aspersion, saying, when she sprinkled the water, “I am Father Jacinto.” Mangabo took a holy crucifix, and, breaking off the arms, said: “God of the Castilians, fight with me; come let us see whether you are as brave as I.” And drawing his varalao or cris,6 he struck it crosswise through the face, and cleft it. “That holy image,” says father Fray LorenÇo de San Facundo, whose relation this is, and who passed through that insurrection, in which he suffered many hardships and dangers, as we shall see hereafter, “is in my possession.” Then he threw down another holy crucifix of greater stature, and cut it into bits with an ax, defying it to fight. O Lord! what things dost Thou endure from men! Then the convent and church were given over to pillage, and a servant of the convent, named Diego Salingat, was killed.

Mangabo went to Tanda, and, reaching the convent on the nineteenth of the same month, attacked it at midnight. Dacxa, an Indian chief, who had refused to take part in that insurrection, hastened to the defense of the fathers who were in the convent; but he was unable to defend them, for father Fray Alonso de San Joseph, the prior’s associate, was attacked by the Indians and his head split by a blow of the campilan. It was discovered afterward that Dacxa was treacherous, and was taking part with Mangabo in the pillage. The blessed father was a native of Villa-CaÑas, although some make him a native of Villa-Tobas, in La Mancha the land of Toledo. He professed in the convent of Valencia, and went to Filipinas in the year 1622 with father Fray AndrÈs del Espiritu Santo. He was a religious of great humility and very observant, on account of which he was appointed by the superiors prior of the convent of Baldag in the province of Calamianes, where he gathered abundant fruit in the conversion of those people. But as he was very near sighted, he had scruples lest he could not perform his duty well, and finally conceived that he was incapable of administering it or any other office with the care of souls. Therefore he petitioned that he be allowed to resign, and did so. He was permitted to resign, but rather for his consolation than because he was judged incapable. He went to Manila, where he gave himself up to the exercise of virtue, without any hindrance. His superiors seeing that it was not expedient that so excellent a worker should be idle, sent him to the convent of Tanda, so that he might as an experienced associate, aid the prior.

The father teacher, Fray Juan de Santo TomÀs, was prior. Hearing the attack of the barbarians from his retreat, and going outside, he saw Dacxa, to whom he went and whom he asked for protection. The latter in pity embraced the father and endeavored to save his life, but an Indian came up and thrust the father through the body with a lance, and he died on his knees. Then the Indians went to the convent and sacked and profaned it as they had done to that of Tago, and finally burned it.

[The above father was born in San Pablo de los Montes in the archbishopric of Toledo. He took the Recollect habit in the convent of Valladolid, where he became a close student. He went to the Philippines in 1620 with Onofre de la Madre de Dios and other religious, where he was appointed to found the convent of Cuyo, of which he was made prior, being also made vicar-provincial of the other convents in the islands. He was later appointed prior of the convent of Tanda, where he was killed. His body, which was buried at some little distance from the church, was given decent burial after seven years—when it was disinterred for that purpose, being found to be wholly preserved except at the tip of the nose.]

On the twenty-first of the same month of July, father Fray Pedro de San Antonio, former prior of the convent of Bacoag, had left that convent. The rebellious Indians, having heard that he was in Surigao, a visita of the priorate, despatched MaÑan Galan and other Indians to kill him. They found him at the landing-place of Don Diego Amian, reciting the canonical hours. One of them went to father Fray Pedro dissemblingly, and told him that there were many enemies in the land and that he had come to advise him of it. The blessed father asked him certain questions in regard to it, to which the Indian replied maliciously and with lies; and, at the instant when father Fray Pedro turned his back, thrust him through with a lance. The father fell to the ground, invoking the names of Jesus and Mary, with the utterance of which he yielded up his spirit. Many Indians who were hidden came up, took the blessed body, and dragging it thither threw it into the river, with great joy and gladness.

That venerable father was a native of Granada in Andaluzia and went to Filipinas with father Fray Rodrigo de San Miguel (of whom we have already written at length). He greatly admired the exemplary conduct of our religious, and asked for the habit in the convent of Manila, where he professed. Behaving in a religious manner, he was assigned to some missions, and enlightened the Bisayas with the light of the evangelical word. He had assumed the dignity of the priorate of Bacoag, at the time of the insurrection of the Caraghas, and at the time of the events which we have related.

Year 1631

Mention of some dangers suffered by Ours in the insurrection of the Caraghas Indians

The above were not the only dangers suffered by Ours in that insurrection of Caragha; for the Indian chiefs, dividing into different bands, went to various districts, not only to make those who were quiet revolt, but to wipe out the Spaniards, to kill the religious, and to destroy the convents, in their hatred for our holy faith.

July 22, the day of the Magdalene, the father teacher, Fray LorenÇo de San Facundo, was saying mass in the convent of Bacoag, which was attended by the Spaniards, and the traitor ZancalÀn (one of the leaders of the revolt), and his wife DoÑa Geronima Moag, and a dozen Indians. The father was disturbed at seeing them, and having asked who those Indians were, and being answered that they were the son and daughter-in-law of Mangabo, he calmed himself. In their carousals the Indians had determined upon the murder, one after another, of the three Spaniards there, and the two religious, father Fray LorenÇo de San Facundo, and his associate, a brother, Fray Francisco de San Fulgencio; for these seemed many to them. They killed the three Spaniards treacherously; and at the hour of vespers, ZancalÀn put in an appearance with seven Indians. ZancalÀn went to kiss the hand of father Fray LorenÇo, who was just finishing the burial of a dead woman. With other like courtesies the Indians went up to see the convent, accompanied by the father teacher, when one Indian seized him by the shoulders crying out to another: “Strike him!” The father boldly wrenched himself loose, and shoved the Indian against a post. Then he ran to jump through a window, where they pushed him so that he fell on his back upon a piece of timber, from which he sustained severe injuries. The house was in confusion; various weapons were seized; father Fray LorenÇo arose as well as he was able, and fled to the landing-place. Three Indians followed him with lances. An Indian went to him and said: “Father, take this machete, that they may not kill thee.” One of the three threw his lance at the father. The lance passed through his tunic near his right thigh, the father escaping that blow by jumping aside. He seized the lance, and, with it and the machete, retired to the convent. When he arrived, ZancalÀn went out with lance and cuirass to kill father Fray LorenÇo. The latter defended himself skilfully, and entered the convent, where brother Fray Francisco was defending himself with a musket from the multitude who were attacking him.

Some feats of arms were performed, but we shall omit mention of them for the sake of brevity. The two religious were taken prisoners, and expected instant death in their captivity. ZancalÀn gave them a pledge to take them to his father Mangabo, although other Indians wrangled with him demanding that he surrender to them the fathers, in order that they might be sacrificed to their idols. The religious heard all that with great fear, the peculiar effect of our natural weakness. But after commending themselves very earnestly to God, they became so brave that (as the said father teacher testifies in his relation) already they were sorry that ZancalÀn was defending them, for they wished to offer their lives for our holy faith.

Thus imprisoned, they reached Tago on Monday, the twenty-eighth of the same month of July, where they expected to be sacrificed—joyful, for they were preparing to go to enjoy God. But (as father Fray LorenÇo remarks) the fruit could not have been ripe enough to present it at the table of heaven. Mangabo was a huge man, of enormous strength, and of a terrible temper—on account of which he was called “the Crocodile of Tago.” The fathers were quite sure that, as soon as they reached his presence, they would be killed; but our good God, who can draw water from the hard rock, changed the heart of the barbarian so that he threw himself at the feet of father Fray LorenÇo, kissing them and his hands with great show of affection. He gave various excuses for the murders of the fathers and the Spaniards which he had committed, although all of them were frivolous, and said that the fathers should have no fear, for they were under his protection, and that he would defend them with his life. As assurance of that promise, he took an oath in the following manner.

He asked for a varalao, and clutching it in his hands, he loosened some breeches which he had made from an embroidered crimson damask altar-cloth that he had stolen from the convent of Tanda. He wounded himself twice below the stomach, drawing blood, which he ordered his son ZancalÀn to catch in a dish which contained wine.7 He began to swear and to invoke his divatas, with howlings so extravagant that he was terrifying. He cursed himself in all ways8 if he should be found wanting in friendship to us, or in our defense, even did he die for it. He drank some of the wine, and then put the dish on his head, crying out in a terrible voice. He embraced father Fray LorenÇo, and placed his own turban on his head. Thus did he finish his execrable and ridiculous oath, which they call sandugo, and which they consider as inviolable. That oath was of no little use in defending the religious, for when some of the other Indians once asked Mangabo to sacrifice them, he replied that he would not discuss the matter, that he would first fight anyone who tried to offend them. And he did so, even driving the other chiefs from the place.

He took father Fray LorenÇo to his house, and brought out Castilian wine so that he and his associate might drink it, and two chalices, one from the convent of Tanda, and the other from that of Bacoag. When father Fray LorenÇo saw these, much affected and weeping, he covered them with the cloth wrapped about them, and said: “Father Mangabo, since you have given me life, I beseech you not to use those chalices, and that neither you nor any woman go near them, for I shall burst with grief.” Mangabo replied: “As you say, son,” and ordered that they be not uncovered, but that they be kept with veneration.

Then Mangabo arose and took a holy bronze crucifix which ZangalÀn had taken from father Fray LorenÇo, under the impression that it was gold, saying, “I am keeping this your God until the time when we two go to Manila.” “Keep it,” the father said to him, “for He will preserve you if you respect Him; but if you do not respect Him He will confound you, for He is God of Heaven and earth.” Then Mangabo brought out another holy crucifix, with its arms cut off and its head split in twain, as above said, and father Fray LorenÇo, falling on his knees before it, kissed it, weeping and sighing, and kept it for his own consolation.

Then Maria Campan (mentioned above) went out and brought back in a small casket the chrismatories of the convent of Tago; and father Fray LorenÇo, opening it, saw that nothing was lacking. He wrapped them in a cloth and charged her to keep them and not to open them, saying that he would give her six pesos for them, although they did not have so much money. Father Fray LorenÇo could ransom none of it, for he was without money.

[The holy chrismatories finally render Maria contrite; for, fleeing from the Spaniards up a river, and having the phials with her, a huge crocodile thrusts its head into the boat, seizes the phials and makes off without committing other damage, which so works upon the mind of the woman that she lives afterward as a good Christian.]

Finally, Mangabo said to father Fray LorenÇo: “Son, I see that you are sick” (he had been seriously injured by the fall of which we have made mention above). “If you wish to go to be treated at the fort of the Spaniards, I will have you taken there, and you shall leave Brother Francisco here, so that he may protect us, if the Castillas (so they call the Spaniards) come. Remember your father, and aid him when you are able.” Father Fray LorenÇo thanked him, and was taken in a boat to the fort of Caragha. Thus did God preserve the life of that religious, to whom, if the crown of martyrdom was not conceded, at least he was quick to suffer for the faith; and in fact he endured great hardships for the love of the Lord. His associate, Fray Francisco, was ransomed afterward. He rendered excellent service while he was a prisoner, in the pacification of the rebellious Indians.

Year 1631

Continuation of the matter of the last chapter, with some cases by way of example

Valintos (the same one who had killed Captain Pedro Bautista) went to the river of Butuan with an order to kill father Fray Juan de San Augustin, prior of the convent of Ilaya in the village of Linao. He carried many letters to the chiefs, urging them in the name of Corralat (of whom we have spoken before, and of whom there will be more to say) to have the fathers killed. An influential Indian woman heard of the matter, and since she was the petty queen of that river and very devoted to father Fray Juan de San Augustin, who was a holy religious, she had so much authority that it sufficed to keep those of the village faithful, and they resisted the letters brought by Valintos. In order to assure the life of the said father prior, Fray Juan de San Augustin, she made him take boat and go to Butuan to join the fathers in the convent there. Thus was he delivered from the danger of losing his life.

Almost the same thing happened in the village of Butuan, where the letters of Valintos were received urging the inhabitants to rise and kill the religious. But the Butuans were so faithful that they would not consent to the evil. On the contrary, reading the letters in public, they cried with one voice that they would die before they would permit one hair of the fathers to be harmed. Then forming in a procession, men, women, and children went to the convent in tears, and bewailing the troubles that they were all suffering. The religious said: “Children, here we are at your disposition. Do what you will with us, for God our Lord so orders it.” At this all the people cried out and said with tears in their eyes: “Fathers, be of good cheer, for we will all die before anyone offends you.” They said that with emphatic oaths, whereby they showed the great love and respect that they held for the fathers. The chiefs remained in the convent with their families and possessions. Endeavor was made to advise ZibÙ, so that help might be brought; and the father prior, Fray Jacinto de San Fulgencio, went [for that purpose].

Valintos, having seen the bad outcome to his treacherous plans in Butuan, returned in a rage, and the religious were safe. However, although so many of them were good, some restless Indians (especially the fiscal of the village) rebelled, and without having any occasion therefor, killed the porter of the convent and another Indian. Had not the chiefs hastened to their defense, father Fray Diego de Santa Ana, the associate of the father prior, would have been in danger.

The other revolted villages, taking umbrage at the faithfulness of the Butuans, tried to find means to kill the religious, so that thus the Butuans might be obliged to conform to their rebellion. He who tried hardest was ManÀn GalÀn, an Indian chief of the village of Albucay, who went to Sampongan to discuss the matter with the Samponganos. An Indian, who was intimate with the fathers, one Sumulay, was chosen [for that mission]. He was well instructed, but, his wiles having been perceived, the Butuans quickly seized their arms to fight any and all enemies who should appear. The fathers were taken to the mountains for greater security, and the traitor Sumulay tried to finish the affair personally. He went, under pretense of friendship, to seek the fathers in the mountains; but, his evil design being recognized, he was seized, and confessing his guilt was placed under surveillance, and finally deprived of life. Following the example of the Butuans, other villages maintained the faith, and defended their fathers who sowed the seed of the gospel in so rude a land, amid so many dangers to their quiet and life, opposing themselves to the sowing of tares that the common enemy always endeavors to introduce into the harvests of the Church.

The father prior of Butuan, Fray Jacinto de San Fulgencio, when sailing to ZibÙ to solicit aid, passed by the island of Camigi, a visita of the district of Cagaiang. He stopped there and was in great danger of being murdered by the insurgents, who were going about in bands committing piracies and watching the sea, so that the fort of Tanda might not be aided. Although that fort was in great danger, the valor of its garrison defended it. The father prior advised the fathers of Cagaiang and Baiug so that they might take precautions, and [told them] that he was going to get aid. That advice was very important for the restraining of the Indians of Baiug and Cagaiang, since they knew that the negotiations which they had with the Caraghas and Mindanaos were known.

The said father prior having arrived at ZibÙ, the aid was prepared, and was sent under Captain Juan de Chaves as commander of the fleet, who was accompanied by good infantry. The father prior also went with that fleet. They reached Bacoag, where the convent above mentioned was situated, which was one of the best on that coast. Their hearts were pierced to see so many dead and half-decayed bodies, and they buried them. Entering the church, they saw the images profaned and cut into bits. The latter were gathered together by father Fray Jacinto.

The fleet proceeded on its way, and reached the fort of Tanda, whose occupants congratulated themselves again and again at being freed from danger. The pacification of the insurgents was negotiated, in which father Fray Jacinto worked mightily. The latter was overjoyed at having aided the land which was so afflicted. That was a great service which he rendered to God and to our Catholic monarch, who have been able to employ our Recollects in this to advantage. With that aid and some more which was sent from Manila, the insurrection which had caused so much noise and wrought so much ruin was put down. Our convents were restored and other religious no less zealous and earnest succeeded those who had died so gloriously for the faith.

[The Recollects, worthy of their great master St. Augustine, do not waver in their spiritual conflict, but ever keep the sword of the faith turned toward the enemy. “Various incidents occur during that insurrection,” one of them being that the Indian who had killed father Fray Alonso de San Joseph has the arm that had struck that fatal blow bitten off by a crocodile; but he afterward repents and becomes a good Christian. Likewise the Indian who had killed father Fray Pedro de San Antonio dies repentant, having given himself up to justice. A chief in Bacoag orders his rice to be cooked with portions of a demolished crucifix, which in burning emits a different colored flame than ordinary wood, without being consumed. “Four Indians ate of the rice,” but immediately burst. Another crucifix thrown into the fire does not burn, and is rescued by a devout Indian woman after one of the arms has been broken off, and is preserved as a precious relic by the father to whom she gives it.]

There were many wild and barbarous people in the mountains of Bacoag and Bolor, who lived by theft and murder. Many efforts had been made to reach those Indians in order to reduce and punish them, but all failed. They were ruled by an Indian named Salimbong, a man of considerable wisdom, prudence, and understanding, who kept them very well in hand. The insurrection occurred, and while the ministers of the gospel were wandering about abandoned and afflicted, God consoled them with the conversion of that Indian. It happened as follows: the father teacher, father Fray LorenÇo de San Facundo—freed now, as above related, from his prison—left Bacoag in order to bury the dead, and get together the possessions that had remained in the convent. On the following day when the father reached the convent, the Indian Salimbong appeared to him with one hundred companions, and said that he was disabused of his errors and wished to become a Christian. The religious, who knew his good understanding and wisdom, was surprised. He asked him many different questions in order to prove his spirit. He found Salimbong ready, and baptized him and all his men. That conversion was cried far and wide and was of great use in the pacification of many villages, which with the protection of that Indian will furnish much room for further work.

[On June 22, 1632, a report is made before the archbishop ad interim, Pedro de Arce, of the murders of the Recollect missionaries, and their other trials. Two authorized copies are made of the report “one of which was presented to the royal Council of the Indias in the year 1635, and the other is preserved in the archives of the congregation of our convent at Madrid.”]

[The following section (vii) is an account of the life and death of the first vicar-general of the order, Geronimo de la Resurreccion. Chapter second is concerned with the order in Japan and the martyrdoms of some of the workers there. In section ii occurs the following:]

The blessed father Fray Francisco [de Jesus] was not satisfied with giving spiritual life to those whom he was converting and baptizing [in Japon], but he also gave them the girdle of our father St. Augustine, making them confriars and religious of the fourth order (as the confriars of the said girdle are),9 so that enlisted under the banner of so great a captain and doctor they might be armed to fight and to suffer even to the point of giving their lives to the Lord who gave them rebirth in baptism. And from this circumstance it happened that the blessed father could write from the prison of BomurÀ in a letter to the father provincial of Filipinas under date of October six, 1630, that more than three hundred confriars of the girdle had suffered, besides many others whom the Observantine fathers have.

The venerable father Fray Francisco de Jesus also makes mention, in his letter written from Nagay, of the island of Hermosa, urging and entreating the father provincial to send religious there to found a convent in the island, by which to facilitate the road to Japon, and help to those [missionaries] in that country. He was moved to ask that, because he had heard that the governor had gained possession of the island.

We shall relate what happened in that particular now that we have the opportunity. The governor of Filipinas, Don Alonso Faxardo de TenÇa, was considering that the Dutch were infesting those seas and hindering the trade and commerce of Manila and China. He thought that it would be expedient to seize the island of Hermosa and fortify it, in order to check the depredations that the enemy were committing; for one can reach China from that island in one night. It was a good resolution, but Don Alonso Faxardo died soon afterward, and the whole plan came to naught.

The following year Don Fernando de Silva went to govern the Filipinas Islands. He knew and approved the design of his predecessor, and prepared a fleet. In short, tracing out a plan on the ground, he established a city and a fort, with a garrison of three hundred Spaniards. Sites were assigned to the orders in Manila, so that they could found convents. Captain CarreÑo took possession of ours. Afterward, Don Juan NiÑo de Tabora began to govern, and as he considered the enterprise a good one, he tried to complete it. He prepared a fleet, and took religious so that they might establish their houses. Two of Ours went in company with Admiral Don AndrÈs Esqueta, namely, father Fray Antonio de la Madre de Dios, and his associate. But God did not choose that the enterprise should be carried out; for on the cape of Boxeador a norther scattered the fleet, and the voyage ceased. Then the Dutch took the said island, to the sorrow of all, both as it was so important and because it was the first island of that archipelago that the Spaniards have lost.

[Chapters iii, iv, and a portion of v, treat of Recollect affairs in Spain and America. Chapter v contains the following in regard to the Philippines:]

Our religious enter the islands of RomblÒn to preach the holy gospel. Some of our rules are reformed by apostolic authority.

This year [1635] our religious entered the islands of RomblÒn—or, as they are called, “Las Isletas” [i.e., “the Islets”]. That district belonged to the seculars who were subject to the bishopric of ZibÙ, and their beneficed incumbent was at that time Francisco Rodriguez the relator.10 He, becoming weary of going about daily with his possessions on his back; and fleeing from the enemy, entered into negotiations with the father provincial of Filipinas, Fray Joseph de la Anunciacion, saying that he would give him that district in exchange for a suitable chaplaincy. Those islands were a station and gateway, so to speak, for the visitas of the Bisayas which were in our charge, and also in the path of the navigation from Manila to ZibÙ. The documents having been made ready, the father provincial sent father Fray Pedro de San Joseph, alias de Roxas. The island of RomblÒn is the chief place of that district, and as visitas it has the islands of ZubuyÀn, Tablas, Simara, BantÒn and Bantoncillo. The people are honest, pacific, docile, and very intelligent. They trade in the products of the land—oil, goats, swine, wine, and bonete [i.e., bonote]. They have a great abundance of domestic animals. They construct ships, build houses, and make other things of wood with great skill, all of which they take to Manila, as well as to other places, to sell. Consequently, as a rule, those who apply themselves to work are prosperous. All these things have a serious counterweight, namely, the enemy; for there is scarcely a year in which the enemy are not seen in that district, where they commit many depredations, burn villages and churches, and capture a great number of Indians.

That was experienced by the said father prior, Fray Pedro de San Joseph, as soon as he took possession; for hearing that the enemy were coming, he had barely time to escape to the mountains, saving his person, but without time to save anything else. The enemy entered RomblÒn, sacked the village, burned the church and convent, captured a few persons, and then returned. Those disasters are experienced nearly every year. Amid such hardships do our religious administer the sacraments to the faithful, and subdue the infidels to the faith, exposing their lives valiantly for that purpose. [The remainder of this section concerns the change of rules allowed by Pope Urban VIII (December 15, 1635).]

[Chapters vi and vii are occupied with the captivity and deaths of the Recollect missionaries captured in 1636 by the Moros, who attack the islands of Cuyo and Calamianes—which has been already related in previous volumes. A few extracts from Luis de JesÚs’s account are added here, as containing further information.]

[Pages 285–286:] The enemy, delighted at the capture of the fathers (which was their principal aim), tried to capture the religious of Dinay under the pretense of peace, even commencing to treat for it. But their design having been discovered, the fathers retired to the mountain, and consequently, the enemy could capture no more than the things that could not be taken to the mountain with the fathers—a quantity of wax, a tribute paid by the natives to the encomenderos. They captured seven women and one man, and killed another from whom they learned that the fathers had retired. They went to look for them but did not find them. Thence they went to other islands where they did what damage they could.

At the end of six months, during which they were employed in pillaging considerable property, and in capturing more than six hundred and fifty persons, besides the old whom they killed because they were useless, the fleet returned quite at its leisure, committing all the depredations possible. The barbarians took the religious along naked and fed them on a trifle of dirty rice. Their bed was a wretched mat without any other shelter, and they were exposed to the inclemencies of the weather, and ill-treated by word and deed. Sometimes they were offered wealth and beautiful women to abandon the faith. Those were attacks by which the valor of the blessed fathers was proved, for their life was a continual martyrdom. But the soldiers of Christ were happy, for they employed their lives in suffering for love of Him. They preached the evangelical law to the barbarians and censured their vices and blindness. All that was the same as throwing wood on the fire of their fury, to make them devise means to conquer the strength of the invincible religious.

[In chapter eighth are recounted the holy deaths of the three Recollect fathers, Fray Juan de San Antonio, Fray Francisco de Santa Monica, and brother Fray Francisco de la Madre de Dios, which occur in the year 1638. The first, a native of Mexico who had professed in the Manila convent, had been seized by one Dato Achen, of Jolo, an adherent of Corralat. After four years of cruel captivity, during which temptations of the flesh are offered him in order to make him deny the faith and he is subjected to all sorts of abuse, the father dies triumphant. The second father is killed by the Moros in his convent of Divail of which he was prior. The third Recollect meets death from the Sangleys whom he has severely censured in the island of Cuyo.]

[The ninth chapter is devoted to the conversion and Christian life of Clara CalimÀn, a native woman of the village of ButuÀn, who is given the rank of beata (beatas being women who live in religious retirement, although not known as nuns), by the Recollects.]

[The Recollect Juan de la ConcepciÓn relates the uprising of the Caragas (Hist. de Philipinas, v, pp. 163–179); but he follows Luis de JesÚs very closely, doing little more than rewrite the latter’s account. A few paragraphs from La ConcepciÓn are here added.]

10. Various councils were held in the fort of Tandag, in order to decide upon the means and method of subduing and pacifying these insurgents; it was decided that it was necessary to take arms and to punish them. But they did not have sufficient forces for it, for the province was so thoroughly in rebellion, and so committed thereto by the murders of the fathers and Spaniards. It was determined by unanimous vote to call on Zebu for help, and father Fray Jacinto de San Fulgencio went to obtain it. He informed the alcalde-mayor and commander of the fleet of Pintados of the condition of the province of Caraga—namely, that there were various squadrons of boats along the coasts to prevent help from being taken into the fort; and that the fort was now in the last extremity, and in danger of having to surrender because of hunger. The commander prepared a suitable fleet in quick order; he sent some excellent infantry, and gave the command of it to Captain Don Juan de Chaves. The above-mentioned father Fray Jazinto also embarked in the fleet. This armada was to keep the insurgents busy until more forces could be sent from Manila, and the matter was reported to the captain-general there.

11. That fleet reached Basuag, then a prominent coast village. The Spaniards experienced the keenest sorrow at seeing so many corpses, already half decomposed; they stopped there to bury these, and then proceeded on their voyage and arrived at Tandag. There they freed the presidio from its danger and those who were in it. Then for a time they tried to pacify the people by mild means; but as soon as a suitable reËnforcement arrived from Manila, they immediately meditated punishment—especially on the principal leaders of the revolt, but pardoning in his Majesty’s name all those of the common people who presented themselves in submission. Mangabo was included in that list and number; but the religious, bound to his cause, defended him with ardor, and interested themselves, as his children, so that their father should not be punished. The Spaniards consented to it and pardoned him, and that pardon was of great service to the province of Caraga. Mangabo, dissuaded from his errors, and thankful for such benefits, was converted to our holy faith and received baptism. As he was so greatly feared throughout the country, that was quite sufficient to pacify the entire province, and the fugitives returned to their respective villages, which they formed as before.

12. Noteworthy conversions followed at this juncture, the noise of arms. Most exemplary punishments were seen and experienced from heaven on the aggressors, and singular portents in the profaned and destroyed images. An idolatrous Indian, in sport of an image of the crucified Christ, threw it into the fire; he observed with wonder that the fire, respecting the image, did not burn it. The barbarian took it from the fire and, buffeting it about, threw it down with great violence so that one of its arms was broken. A devout Christian Indian woman took the holy image, and kept it with great care. After the pacification she gave it to father Fray Jacinto to whom she gave a minute description of the affair. The father made a solemn investigation of it and many witnesses confirmed it and confessed her declaration to be true. The father took that holy Christ to Manila, the following year, and presented it to Governor Don Juan NiÑo de Tavora. He received it with singular devotion and tenderness, and determined to replace it in its oratory with great ceremonies. Father Fray Jazinto tried to get the governor first to repair the image and supply the missing arm by another. That most Christian gentleman replied: “No, Father, it must remain as it is for my confusion, since my sins treated Him thus.” With such pious and kind reflections did he excuse the impiety of the barbarians in actions so sacrilegious. Presidios were erected and fortified, in order to keep the country pacified. Thus through their fear of the soldiers, and with the punishments so present before their eyes, those villages were kept, and remain even to the present, in entire quiet. However, they have become much diminished because of the many natives who have withdrawn because of the severities and persecutions practiced by the Moros, from which that province has suffered so much.

[La ConcepciÓn recounts (ut supra, pp. 360–391) the fortunes of the Recollect missions in northern Mindanao, especially in the region of Lake Lanao. His narrative is sufficiently different from that of Luis de JesÚs to be given in full.]