He who labored most in the conversion of those people was father Fray Augustin de San Pedro, a son of the convent of Valladolid, and a Portuguese by nationality. He not only took care of the teaching of the faith, but also instructed the Indians in civilized ways. Thus did they seem to have been transferred from wild beasts into men. It happened in a memorable assault that some nearby Indians made at dawn on the village of Cagaiang, with the intention of killing the fathers (that was an attempt of the devil, and he instigated the Indians to do it, in order to break the friendship which those villages had made) that father Fray Jacinto de Jesus Maria was alone in his cell. The barbarians entering the house killed eight persons who were guarding it. Making themselves masters of the door, they fought with their campilans and other weapons, aiming thrusts, cuts, and strokes in all directions, so that in the darkness Ours might not hide from them. But the said father, trusting in God, went out through the midst of them all, without receiving the slightest blow. It is not difficult for the divine omnipotence to work those miracles, and He is wont to perform them often in order to defend His ministers. The father hid in a thicket, until after the fury had subsided, when he could place himself in safety.
§ XI
Foundation of the convents of the above-mentioned provinces
We cannot excuse ourselves, for the glory and honor of God, from referring to the souls whom Ours drew from the darkness of heathenism into the light of the Christian religion, in the provinces of Caragha, Butuan, Calamianes, and Cagaiang—for whose conservation it was thought necessary to found convents, whence the religious set out to overrun the country, administering sacraments, consoling some, subduing others, and always gaining souls for the Lord. We have not been able to ascertain with certainty in what year they were established, but that amounts to but little. The order in which they are mentioned in the records of the provincial chapter held at Manila in the year one thousand six hundred and fifty is as follows:
Tandag
1. The convent of Tandag, head of those in the province of Caragha, where there is a presidio of Spaniards, is one hundred and fifty leguas distant from Manila. It has to its account seven hundred Christian families. It was founded by father Fray Miguel de Santa Maria. At first it was more than one legua up the river but was afterward removed to the seashore for certain reasons of convenience. It has a devout confraternity of the most holy Virgin, and another of the girdle of our father St. Augustine, which has been already established in the other convents.
A captain (whose name is carefully suppressed) having been buried in the church of that house, the prior noted one day that his grave was higher than the others. Attributing it to the carelessness of the sacristan, he ordered the latter to level it. That was done; but on the following day, it was seen to be in the same shape as on the preceding day. It was leveled again, and a quantity of earth taken away, but still the grave did not discontinue rising. That novelty caused much talk, and at last the said prior ascertained that the said captain had died excommunicated. He ordered the body to be exposed, and then, absolving it in the manner that the holy Roman church orders, they buried it again without the earth after that making any more show of casting him out. By such demonstrations does God give us to understand the respect and fear that should be extended to the censures of the Church.
Butuan
2. The convent of Butuan is situated on the shore of the river. That village numbers one thousand five hundred Christians. The convent was founded by father Fray Francisco de San Nicolàs a native of Portillo, and a son of the house of Valladolid. He was a most zealous minister and preacher to those people.
Cuyo