The fleet which went from the province of Oton to punish Jolo has arrived at this very moment. I shall relate here a very fortunate result that our Lord gave them. It is as follows. The island of Jolo is next to that of Mindanao. The fleet left here, as I said, on the first of April. At dawn of Holy Saturday it reached the mouth of the river of Jolo, and entering it and attacking the village, the enemy fled as a single man to the mountain, so that the energy of all our men was directed to pillaging. The sack amounted to thirty thousand pesos. What was pillaged from the house of the king amounted to six thousand pesos in silk, cloth, wax, huge quantities of wax, innumerable weapons, and other things of great value. It was all divided among the villagers. That news was one of the best which this country has heard, as that enemy was the one who does us most harm. Father Fabricio Sersali, who was with the fleet, preceded them all with an image of St. Francis Xavier raised on a spear. In this manner did the aged saint enter the mosque, and leap for joy. Now boats are being prepared in this town of Arebalo to complete the uprooting from these islands of those nations who disturb them. They burned the town, and the house of the king, the mosque, and the rice which they could not carry away. They felled the palm trees, so that they might deprive those people of support. They did all that in one day. They burned one hundred and forty ships—forty large ones and the others of less burden. Such and such people were captured; and then they set out on their return in high spirits, in order to go out another time, for which they are preparing. Oton, May 30, 628.
Hernando Estrada[3]
Will your Reverence aid me with your holy sacrifices and prayers, so that I may imitate many apostolic laborers whom we have had here, and of whom we have at present many, who have come from all those provinces of España; they have made and are making gardens pleasant to the sight of God, from the obscure forests which the devil has possessed so many thousands of years and still possesses in these islands. For, as we have been told, there are eleven thousand islands, of which that of Manila is the largest and most important. It has more Christians [than the others], and yet even in it there are many infidels, who make war on us. Among the other islands there are very few [with Christians] because of the many which are so full of infidel people who profess the devilish worship of Mahoma. I cannot depict to your Reverence how surrounded we are by that canaille on all sides, and the wars that they so frequently make upon us—so that, in the summer especially, no one can be safe in his house. Daily do they enter our villages, burn them and their churches, break into bits the saints and images, and capture the poor Indians.
I left Manila in a champan, which is a boat used by the Chinese, and in which they come from their country here. We were four of the Society who embarked in it, and God was pleased to give it so favorable a wind that by means of it we escaped from the hands of the enemy, who were in ambush, watching for an opportune moment. The father-provincial[4] took the same route in a caracoa—a boat used in this country; but that craft was knocked to pieces before reaching the place where the enemy had established themselves. Hence it was necessary for him and his associate to come overland, suffering extraordinary hardships, over mountains and through rivers, for more than one hundred leguas. Thus does it seem that they escaped as by a miracle, as well as did the champan.
Soon thirty or more boatloads of Camuzones Indians arrived here. They were naked, having only a bit of cloth with which they cover, etc. Their weapons are certain pointed bamboos, but those bamboos are very strong. They entered a village which was under my charge, and burned it, together with its house and church. They broke the saints into pieces, although the ornaments were saved. Nine persons were captured here.
Another brother and I were going to another village, without thought of enemies. We entered the bar of a river at about one in the afternoon. That afternoon the enemy entered the same river. The next day, while we were giving thanks, they made a sudden attack on the village, whereupon all the people fled. We two went to the mountains, where we remained eleven days. Thence the enemy took their way toward another village, where the father-provincial was, together with Father Juan Lopez,[5] his associate, and other fathers. Before the enemy arrived, they received the warning which I sent them. Consequently, all took to the mountains, and the father-provincial and the other fathers were among the mountains for a number of days, where they suffered hardships. But our Lord was pleased to order that the enemy should not reach that village nor the village where I was staying, for fear of the narrowness of the rivers, lest they could not get through them when they departed. But they went thence to another town located on the seashore, and burned it entirely. The enemy also went to other villages of our missions and burned them, and the fathers escaped as by a miracle from their hands. When the enemy capture the fathers they cut off their heads, as they did two years ago with a father whom they captured. They treat the Spaniards whom they capture in the same way. Consequently, we all go about as if we were soldiers; our ships are laden with arms; and forts have been built in the chief villages and fortified with firearms, with which to defend ourselves; while forts are being built in the other villages.
All those coasts of this sea have been crowded with sentinels this year, for it was rumored that many Dutch ships were to come, and they always come to sight land at the cape of Espiritu Santo.
When we go from some villages to others, we cross many deep rivers, which are all generally full of caymans or crocodiles. These [reptiles] swallow a bull, a cow, or a deer even to their horns, thus causing great loss. They also catch and eat the Indians daily.
There is a most abundant quantity of snakes, almost all of which cause death when they sting. There is but one remedy for the wounds, namely, if they happen to have a little of the earth from San Pablo. By having it blessed, they are infallibly cured; and he who is treated with this remedy does not die. There are other snakes which are not poisonous. They are so large that they can swallow a large wild boar, or a large deer, horns and all. A father and some Indians killed one which was eating a hog; they ran up on hearing the grunts of the hog, and speared and killed the snake.
There is great abundance of material products, and the country is very fertile. The grain of these regions is rice, and as a rule each fanega of grain sowed yields one hundred fanegas, and many yield two hundred fanegas, especially if it is irrigated and transplanted. There are oranges of many varieties, some of them resembling large melons. Honey and wax is found in the trees, where the bees make it. The wax is worth sixteen or twenty reals an arroba, and a jar of honey one real. I saw a tree which had many honeycombs hanging on the branches. The mountains are fuller of wild boars than are the commons of España of swine and cattle in acorn time. One of those swine, if it is fat, is worth two reals, but only one if not fat; and a deer is worth the same sum. There are almost no fruits of España. There are melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, and radishes of the country, and quantities of cabbages and lettuce. There are many native fruits, some of which are excellent, but they are not so many or so good as those of España, while the food does not have the same nourishment as in España. The swine here are excellent, and better and more healthful than those of España; for they are eaten like mutton, and are given to the sick as mutton is in España.