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

allow him to fulfil this desire, on account of which
he deferred holy baptism until he paid for the delay
by an untimely death. Besides dying as he did, in his
heathenism, and very hastily, the character of his
death was violent and horrible; for he was carried
away by a poison which caused the flesh to fall from
his body in pieces. Another man was continually
ill, and, fearing that any day he might die, he asked
me to baptize him. Upon summoning him one day
for instruction, he failed to appear, having abandoned his purpose. Soon afterward he embarked
for a neighboring island, where he died in his paganism. One day, the children of a village came together to be baptized, but one of the pagans refused
to allow her child to receive the sacrament; neither
entreaties nor arguments availing to soften her. Accordingly, we had to give her up - our Lord taking
charge of this obdurate one, as He did, suddenly deprived her one night of life."
But the event which caused among these Indians
the greatest surprise and terror, was the death of two
of their most esteemed and respected chiefs. The
first was an Indian who in former days had married
six wives. He was so arrogant and cruel that whenever he made a journey he sent Indians ahead of
him to cut the branches of the trees, in order that he
might pass without bending his body; and if any of
his followers neglected to clear away a branch he
paid for his carelessness with his life. This chief
became sick, and a father entreated him with much
earnestness to receive baptism. This he refused, and,
having no fear of death, said: " Father, as yet I
have sufficient strength in my eyes to see, in my hands
to work, and in my feet to walk. Leave me for the