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. 24]

I46

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 24

was burned, though we saved the silver and whatever
was possible. The Holy Child willed to allow His
house and most of the city to be burned, although
no two houses had ever before been burned in that
city at the same time. This happened on Saturday,
the eve of Passion Sunday. I gathered together all
that escaped from the convent of San Nicolas, and
set about going to Manila, to repair that loss as far
as possible.
While on the way to the island of Panay, my boat
was overturned by a heavy storm, and it was a
miracle that I escaped with my life-which happened, through God's mercy, by the efforts of my
Sugbu Indians. Finally when the storm was appeased, I reached the convent of Salog, without
shoes, naked, and perishing of hunger, on the
fifteenth of the said month of April. The father of
that convent, called father Fray Francisco de
Oliva,71 and all the others of that island, aided both
the convent, and me especially, with the greatest
charity. Thus I obtained there two very large contributions of all necessary for the convent. I found
father Fray Esteban de Peralta, definitor of the
province, there visiting the island. I went to Manila
with him, where I tried to go from Manila to
Espana. The superior did not impose obedience in
regard to it, so that I turned all my efforts to caring
for my house, for which many religious aided from
their stores with great charity.
At this juncture the ships came from Espafia.
I* ~ They brought the governor's wife, Doina Magdalena
71 Fray Francisco de Santa Maria Oliva took his vows in the
Toledo convent in 1581. He was minister of Dumaguete in I599,
and later of Potol, Ibabay, Mambusao, and Jaro, until I628, when
he died. See Perez's Catdlogo, p. 38.