The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; [Vol. 1, no. 13]

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. I3

priest. The people were most eager to have some
father to instruct them; and when they knew that
Brother Francisco Martin and I were going to them,
they made a great feast, and adorned with branches
of trees the streets of the village, and the shore as far
as the church. The boys and girls came forth, singing the doctrine and bearing a cross, which was to
me a most gratifying reception. Afterward, in the
church, I thanked them with tears for the affection
which they showed us. From the time of our arrival
until we departed from those islands, they were continually bringing us gifts from the products of the
land, such as wax, rice, and bananas, and other
articles of more value. When I undertook to make
a list of those who sought baptism, they asked me not
to do so, since all those who were not converted (who
were very few) desired to become Christians; so I
did as they wished. The old men, who elsewhere
are usually obdurate and stubborn, and answer that
they are now too old to learn the doctrine and begin
a new manner of life, here used this very same argument to induce me to baptize them, saying: ' Father,
consider that we are already old, and soon shall end
our lives; do not let us die without baptism, since we
are so anxious to be Christians.' With this good
'disposition on their part, I began to preach to them,
and our Lord was pleased that they should all become Christians. They not only learned the doctrine, but discussed together the sermons and instructions in the church and in their houses; indeed,
so concerned were they about this matter that they
seemed to pay no attention to anything else.
" We were greatly aided in facilitating their instruction by the method of [learning by] decuries