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]

16

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 24

order. To settle one of these, an envoy is sent to
Rome, Fray Pedro Garcia; but he dies before reaching Nueva Espaina. The archbishop of Manila is
carried away by a fever; Medina eulogizes his virtues and ability. He gives an account of the unsuccessful expedition against the Joloans, led by Olaso;
it " returned to Manila the laughing-stock of all the
islands." The burdens imposed on the Indians for
its equipment have occasioned much distress and
many deaths among them; and its failure causes
those of Cagayan to talk of revolt. The year I630
is unusually stormy, and all the ships on the Acapulco route suffer disasters and loss of life. Religious
are unwilling to risk their lives in crossing the
Pacific, and the missions in the islands suffer accordingly. A ship built at Cavite is so poorly constructed
that it partially capsizes at the time of setting sail,
by which great loss of property and life ensues.
Medina is so fortunate as to escape to shore - one of
many like deliverances, which he proceeds to recount, as also a miracle performed by the " Santo
Nifno" at Cebu.
The persecutions in Japan still continue, yet religious go thither in disguise, at the risk of death.
An expedition is sent out from Manila to capture
any Dutch vessels that may be encountered on the
coasts of Siam and Camboja. Their destruction of
a Japanese junk occasions various embassies between
the Philippines and Japan- the last of these in 1631,
desiring to resume trade between those countries.
This and some other occurrences in that year seem
to have been added later by Medina to his manuscript, which purports to have been written in I63o.
In I629 an expedition is fitte'd out by the religious