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. 13

of service at other stations, the greater needs of Catubig compelled us to leave them [for the present].
Well did our Lord exercise them in their journey, so
that upon arriving they might enjoy the pleasant fruit
which they afterward gathered; for besides the
rivers and swamps - through which they journeyed
with the water, in some places, and the mud in others,
to their knees-the slopes and mountains were so
rugged that it was impossible to advance except by
using their hands as feet. But consolation was not
long delayed; even before they reached Catubig, on
their very way, our Lord aided them, as the father
himself describes in the following words: " One.night three villages met together, rejoicing at our arrival, and, thinking that it would be appropriate,
I told them about the things of the other life, the immortality of the soul, and the existence of God; and
of the reward for Christians, and the torment for
those who are not. I am sure, my father, that among
the many people who were there you would not
think that there was one who had not faith, to judge
by what they said and the questions they asked, and
the way in which they encouraged one another to receive baptism. They soon made arrangements to
build a large church, and gave me a list of all the inhabitants, including the children, of whom there are
an infinite number. God knows what my grief was
at seeing them in the arms of their mothers; for they
appeared to me like unto the ripe fruit hanging
from the bough, which, if the gardener neglects it,
is either stolen or decays, and thus is lost."
Refreshed by such consolation, the father continued on his way, crossing the entire island of
Ibabao, as far as the river of Catubig, where