16. At ten o’clock at night we ascended the river of Baccò, which is the chief town of that island. The rain fell so heavily that the village was under water. I remained there twenty-four hours. There is a very lofty mountain within sight of the village, down which falls a river which, when viewed from below, appears like a crystal mountain. The water passes near the village, and, as it seethes so mightily, and is overhung by a quantity of sarsaparilla, it is a wonderful sight. That island has some peculiarities. First, it has a great number of civet cats, from which much civet can be obtained for trade. There is the greatest quantity of wax in all those mountains; no account is taken of the honey. There are potatoes, sweet potatoes, grapes, yams, and fruits, in the greatest abundance; an infinite number of cedars,[4] whose flower, which I saw often, exhales the sweetest odor and is very large; and cocoa-palms in great abundance. There is another kind of palm from which they get honey, wine, vinegar, tuba, and sugar. There are also innumerable trees, resembling bananas, from which a black fiber is obtained for the rigging and cables of ships, of which there are so many that one is surprised. There is another species of white fiber which comes from another tree called abaaca. There are more of that kind in another part. It is excellent for ship cables, for the more it is wet the stronger it becomes. There is another tree on which a certain bark grows, as white as snow. It is soft as soft can be to the touch, and the Indians use it for their beds and for clothing—although they are not without cotton, of which they make excellent clothing.[5]
17. Rivers and sea abound with fine fish. The fish called pexemulier[6] is found there. Very valuable rosaries are made of its bones, because of the great virtue residing in them against hemorrhages; one which has been tested by experience is worth many ducados. Licentiate Francisco Roca, the cura of that place, related to me what happened in his district—a very notable case. An Indian who went to fish every day found near the water a pexemulier, which is said to resemble a woman from the breasts down. He had regular intercourse with this creature, and continued that bestial concubinage daily for more than six months without losing a single day in that communication. After that time God touched his heart, and constrained him to confess. He confessed, and was ordered not to go to that place any more; he obeyed, and ceased that abomination. I avow that if I myself had not heard it from the above [cura], I would have doubted its truth exceedingly.
18. On the afternoon of the next day, we (the cura, the alcalde-mayor, and I) set out in three boats for another curacy, namely, the one to which I was going. All three had to be reconciled, because of some slight differences that had preceded, and for that reason the voyage was made. The cura entertained us royally and we embraced and became good friends, and the feast was ended with a grand banquet which he gave us. It is not going to excess to add somewhat more than usual in such great occasions and feasts.... The truth is there was no wine, but only plenty of good water. In a few days I went out to the visitas, which were numerous and distant one from another. Having passed the first, I turned inland in order to cut off a large cape which extended far into the sea from a mountain. The crossing was thickly overgrown with trees, so high that one could not see the sky at all for two leguas. The leeches were so numerous that we could not estimate them. On reaching the sea I crossed a rivulet on the shoulders of an Indian, who carried his spear in his hand. Half-way over he descried a fine ray-fish; he threw his spear, and nailed it to the sand. When he had carried me over, he returned and got that fish, dragging it along through the water. The Indian told me what fine food its liver was, and they cooked it for me, and truly it is a fine delicacy. I mentioned that in Roma in the year 73, and it so struck the fancy [of those who heard me] that some of them were anxious to secure that dainty. I did not know at that time the great virtue of the spine or claw at the point of the tail of that fish. It is an admirable remedy against toothache, and if the teeth be merely rubbed with that claw the pain leaves them; however, it must be cut off while the fish is alive.
19. I went to celebrate Holy Week in a small village whose little church was located in the most pleasant and agreeable place that can be found anywhere. It lay three leguas from the sea, and one ascended thither by a fine and full-flowing river, which has a bed one legua wide during the rainy season. Near that river is a low-lying mountain which resembles a pleasant garden. At the south it has the most beautiful cocoa-palms; on the east and north it is covered with cacasuchiles full of flowers, which are beguiling to the sight and smell; to the east one sees very lofty mountains, which are very sightly. Round about it was a hedge of tall maguey,[7] and in the middle of that stood the house and church. The village site, on the north side, and on the south, where the river flowed, was very steep, and had a fine spring at the foot. The means of approach to the village were suitably hidden, for safety from the hostile Camucones. Indians of other villages assembled there; all confessed and communed, and some were baptized. Two things in especial happened to me there. One was a confession that covered thirty years. Truly that Indian confessed remarkably well, and had a very fine understanding. The other was that of a woman already of marriageable age and of excellent mind. She said to me: “Father, I went to the mountain with a youth, and we lived there as if we were married for six years.” (There is no lack of food in the mountains without any work.) “One night, as often before, we went to sleep upon the grass. At dawn I awoke, raised myself up to look at him, and beheld him dead at my side. So great was my fear on beholding that that I immediately descended to the village with the determination to confess and change my life. I have found an occasion when the father is here, and I wish to make use of it.” I counseled her as to what she would better do, and told her to be ever mindful of the mercy that God had shown her. Literally was the remark of God verified in this case, namely, that “two shall be sleeping, and one shall be taken and the other left.”[8] The poor wretched youth suddenly attacked by death would run enough risk if one thought of the time and occasion when he was summoned.
We practiced all the ceremonies of the church from Palm Sunday to the day of the Resurrection. They had their altar; the chief of the village gave all the wax that was used on it. I remember that, when the mandato[9] was being preached, the good old man was softened, and suddenly kneeled down, weeping and sobbing. That devotion drew tears from me and the rest, and with them was the sermon finished.
20. All of those people are, as villagers of the mountain regions, sincere, and without a bit of malice. They attend church with great devotion, and no word is spoken to them that does not fructify; therefore the gospel will continually spread among them. But there they are held by a mass every two or three years; those who die remain dead; and immediately the cura takes great care in collecting the tribute from them, and the personal services and fees.
21. One of the great conveniences for the Indians in having religious in their districts is that, since the latter are changed every little while, if the Indian who is cowardly is afraid to confess to one, or has had a quarrel with him, he unbosoms himself to the other, and confesses well and freely to him. But if he once exhibits fear of the cura, or the cura gets angry at him, it is very difficult for him to show clearly what is in his breast when he goes to confess. He who made the confession to me that covered the thirty years had been silent about some matters, through fear and terror. This point is worthy of consideration. The fathers of the Society had been in that island in previous years; and they had four missionaries there, who labored very earnestly. The seculars to whom it belonged before went to law with them. It was returned to the seculars, and only one cura is stationed there to administer what was administered by the four religious. Already one can see what must become of it. This is to seek Quæ sua sunt, non quæ Jesu Christi.[10] There were visitas where the cura had not set foot for fourteen years.
22. On the day of the Resurrection, after the mass, and after the mystery had been explained to the people, and some rice, potatoes, eggs, and fruit had been distributed among some poor people who had come to me, I went overland to another village. I slept on the way in the shade of some trees. There I encountered an infidel from the mountains, who had an excellent disposition. I showed him many kindnesses, but since no inclinations [toward the faith] had preceded, they availed but little. Next day I lodged in the house of another infidel, who treated me very well. These Indians and thousands of others do not become baptized because they fear the tribute and personal services, as I have already observed in another place.
23. We arrived at the village of Santiago, which has a very poor climate, and is much exposed to the attacks of the hostile Camucones. The year before, some of them had been captured; and one of them said to me: “Father, my wife was giving birth to a child in this house, when the enemies arrived. I jumped through that window and some followed me. The others, especially the women who were in my house, were captured. They were taken along that path, and my wife, being weak and exhausted, could not walk. To make her go forward they kept striking her with clubs, and I watched it from behind here, quite powerless to aid her. She was carrying the newborn infant on one arm, and while there those men cleft it in twain from its head down with a catan and left it there.” O barbarous cruelty! All that saddened my heart, and fear would not allow me to sleep, and daily I found my health getting worse. I said to the Indians that we should go to another place which was more healthful and safe, and they agreed to it. In a short time they built a chapel there and a little house for me. They built huts in their own manner for themselves, which are sufficient to protect them from the air and the rains. Cold there is not, but the heat is excessive.
24. One of the Chinese boats which was en route to Manila by way of that island stopped there. The Chinaman, named Gote, told me how he had outwitted six hostile boats by a trick and his boldness. His boat carried a father of the Society, and one Spaniard. Seeing that the enemy were about to attack him, he anticipated them. He ran up his flag, sounded his gongs, summoning and inviting them to fight and made for them. The enemy got together to take counsel, and the result was that they fled. The Chinaman told me, in his broken Spanish: “Those people neither saw nor knew what I was carrying in my boat. They also fear death. Had I fled, without doubt I would have been killed. Was it not better then to attack? They must have thought or suspected that I had arms; for who would risk his own life?” On the day of St. Philip and St. James I was in great tribulation. I was confessing in the chapel. I noticed that the seat in which I was seated, which was of bamboo, was shaking. I imagined that some dog was under it, and asked the Indian to drive it away from there. He answered: “No, Father, it is not a dog, but an earthquake.” It increased in violence so much that, abandoning my penitent, I knelt down and begged God for mercy. I thought that surely the end of the world was come. I have seen many earthquakes, but none so severe as that. At the close I said: “If that earthquake has been as violent in Manila, not one stone has remained upon another.” I learned afterward that it had caused some damage, although it was not great. The distance thence to Manila is very nearly one hundred leguas and there is a goodly stretch of water in between.