Today, May 20, at two o’clock, quite without our expecting it, and without the fires in Maribelez having announced it, the galleon “San Juan Baptista”—which had taken fifty days to come from Macan, a voyage which the patache made in nine—arrived. God delivered them from a great danger on some shoals, to which the currents were taking them swiftly during a calm. The fathers assert that they invoked the holy father Marcelo, the martyr of Jesus Christ, with great faith in the greatest danger. Thanks to the Lord, who has allowed them all to arrive safe and happy! Father Bartolome Roboredo has told us glorious things of the Christendom of Tumquin—where, this year alone, nine thousand have been baptized. He says that there are some fathers and a bishop even in Etiopa; and that the rulers do not molest the Catholics. The fathers of Jentafee, Tibet, and the kingdoms of Potente and Siranagar, have suffered various fortunes. In the court of the Megor [i.e., Mogul], the church was destroyed, and the fathers seized by those Moros, because they were confirming in the faith those Christians who had been taken captive from Bengala. But now affairs have begun to brighten; they have been granted liberty, and are aiding the Christians. By that means it is to be hoped that there will be at some other time a gateway into Tibet and Siranagar, the way to which must necessarily lie through [the country of] the Megor. It has been learned from Japon, from the very ones who are in power, that they are now tired and weary of killing Christians; and that they are not well satisfied with the Dutch and their trade. He adds that, because of what the holy father Marcelo declared to them in his martyrdom—namely, that they were rendering their nation infamous and obscuring their fame by the tortures that they were inflicting upon the private parts of Christians—the Japanese are generally angry, and do not wish that to be done. All the priests in Japon at present are three of the Society of Jesus, all Japanese. It is not known where they are wandering, and no letters have been received from them, because of the severity of the persecution. There is one other father, a European, named Juan Baptista Porro. They do not say that he is alive, for, although his death is not known, it is presumed that he is dead; for he was very old and worn out with labors, and it is several years since letters have been received from him. It is also said that there are hopes that that persecution will soon cease. Would to God that it might be so!
Yesterday, May 23, the day of the Holy Ghost, Don Sebastian arrived at this port, having left Tanaguan that morning—a distance of ten mortal leguas. He came in the Terrenate galleons, which, as the weather was bad, he left at the landing at Mindoro. He, as well as Father Juan de Barrios, was fatigued, which we could see was from the hardships that they have suffered; but, thanks to God, these have been well recompensed in service to God and to the general welfare of these islands. The chaplain Don Pedro de Francia died of fever in the ship, and, six days later, Captain Don Lope de Barahona, of the same sickness. Upon the arrival of Don Sebastian, the bells in our house were rung for a long time, as a mark of rejoicing. Later the bells were rung in the cathedral church, and that night there were illuminations in all the houses and convents.
Yesterday, May 27, the galleons of the Terrenate relief expedition anchored at this port. Father Hernando de Estrada says that twenty persons of various nations (for the galleons carried Joloans, Basilans, and the Bisayans who were freed from the captivity of Xolo) have died in the flagship since their departure from Sanboangan, and that sickness was caused by their close quarters; and that a goodly number have died in the almiranta and the patache; but it is a cause for great consolation that no Moro, male or female, has died without baptism.
Yesterday, May 31, Don Sebastian made his triumphant entrance into Manila, in the same manner as he had done, the year preceding, upon his arrival from Mindanao. I wrote concerning it, by the patache; and will only state here the number of pieces—namely, eleven of cast iron and one bronze culverin, these being large pieces. Among the medium-sized pieces and falcons there were fifteen. The best falcon had the arms and name of King Don Sebastian [of Portugal]. There were eleven smaller versos. The crowd of people in the windows and streets, the illuminations of the night, and the masquerades of the city, were the same as I wrote last year.
June 3, Corpus Christi day, the procession of thanks for the victory was united with that of the most holy sacrament, as I wrote last year. That same day the xalea which had been left in Xolo arrived. It brings news that the king and queen, who had fled from the stronghold with the other Joloans, have sent to say that they desire to settle in whatever place may be assigned to them, and to pay tribute to his Majesty. They promise to obey the conditions imposed on them by Don Sebastian.
Monday, June 7, the honors for those killed in war were performed in the soldiers’ church with the same solemnity as those of the past year. The father rector, Francisco Colin, preached to a generally appreciative audience.
Friday, June eleven, the flagship galley entered this port with a round sail, but no bastard; for a flash of lightning, which struck it, had torn it from top to bottom and killed two men. It brought some bronze artillery of the pieces captured at Jolo, in addition to what I mentioned in the triumph—as was told me by a man who comes from there, and who is well versed regarding artillery. The pieces with ladles mounted in the stronghold numbered in all eleven of cast iron, and eleven of bronze; also eleven other large falcons, besides the ordinary versos.
He says of Dato Ache, who is the greatest pirate, and the one who has done most damage to the Christians of all those of Jolo—and who is the one who persuaded the king and the others to fortify themselves, and to refuse to surrender to the Spaniards—that a mine which exploded and killed fifty Joloans, also caught him, so that he was completely buried. With only power to move one hand, he beckoned imploringly for help; his men hurried to his assistance, and got him out, much hurt. He recovered afterward, and when the others descended from the stronghold, he, with some other Malays, who were steadfastly of the opinion that they should not surrender, escaped, and left the island in great dudgeon at the king.
Sunday, June 20, when we celebrated the feast of the most holy sacrament, Father Francisco Rangel chanted his first mass in this college. He was one of the six who came from Macan to be ordained, and since his residence here has told us some remarkable things that happened four or five years ago, and, as I believe that very few there have any knowledge regarding them, I shall relate them here.
First, he says that the island of Ainao is as large as the island of Çicilia; and that it has its own natives, who are white-complexioned, and have a different aspect from that of the Chinese. The latter conquered the seacoast many years ago, and the natives retired to the mountains, whence it is their custom to descend to harry the Chinese—who are scattered, and have never subjected the natives to the payment of tribute. While Father Bento de Matos was in that island, two remarkable things occurred to him. In a city of the Chinese, where no means have yet been found whereby to make an entrance to instruct the natives—both because the language is special, and because they are always at war—it happened that the father, having no lodging, learned that there was a good unoccupied house, for, because of fear at I know not what noises that had been heard in it, no one would live in it. The father determined to enter and to live in that house, although his friends dissuaded him and told him their fears. He lived there quite a number of days, at the end of which, in the darkness of the night, a dead man appeared to him in the habit of a mandarin. The dead man told the father to look well at him, and note well his marks, and to go to the mandarin So-and-so, who was his brother, and tell him to disinter his body, which was buried in such and such a place near the altar; for it was the will of God that there should not be the body of a condemned heathen in a place where the holy body of His son Jesus Christ was offered to Him in acceptable sacrifice. The father gave the marks to the mandarin, who recognized that it was his brother. They dug in the place noted, and found the body entire in a casket and preserved with precious spices, with which it had been embalmed, and carried it to a separate place.