The journey made by the father provincial Fray Alonso Ximenez to
Camboxa
[After father Fray Alonso Ximenez had completed his provincialate,
he went to Camboxa to preach the gospel there. Circumstances seemed
to make this absolutely necessary. In 1595 there came to the city
of Manila as ambassadors from the king of Camboxa two soldiers--a
Portuguese, named Diego Velloso; and a Castilian, a native of La
Mancha, named Blas Ruiz de Fernan Goncales. The kingdom of Camboxa
is on the mainland, like China and like Spain. The king asked the
governor of Manila for soldiers to assist in the defense of his kingdom
against the king of Siam, his neighbor; and also for Dominican friars,
to preach the law of God in his kingdom. The people of Camboja have
special knowledge of our order because of some religious, from the
India of Portugal, who lived there a long time. [10] One of them, named
Fray Silvestre, was so highly esteemed by the king that he had him
about his person continually. The Portuguese, however, were unwilling
to attempt the conversion of this region, because they thought,
and quite properly, that they could not carry it on to advantage
from India. The governor, in spite of the small force of soldiers
which he had, and the religious order, although likewise they had
but few laborers, decided to do what they could to fulfil the wishes
of the king. The order accordingly appointed the father provincial,
who was within a few months of the end of his term. The governor gave
him the title of ambassador, associating with him in the embassy
the commander of the forces, Captain Juan Xuarez Gallinato. Great
difficulty was found in providing an ecclesiastical companion for the
father provincial, as those who were at first suggested could not be
spared from their duties. Finally I was appointed, accepting this duty
in accordance with my vow of obedience. Three vessels were prepared
for the expedition, one of them of Spanish build, the other two of
the sort used in this country which are known as juncos. These are
large boats, and carry a great deal of freight; but they are weakly
built to meet the storms, and have very little rigging on their
masts, and accordingly are easily lost in bad weather. A hundred and
thirty soldiers were collected, most of them without permission of
the governor, who had given his license for only forty. There were
also some Japanese, who are too much given to rashness in war; and
some Indians of this country, who on occasions of honor are very
good auxiliaries. The leader of the expedition [i.e., Gallinato]
commanded the frigate; Diego Velloso, the smaller junk, in which we
religious went; and Blas Ruiz de Fernan Gonçalez, the larger, which
contained most of the forces. [11] January 18, 1596, we set sail
from the harbor of Manila, badly equipped and worse accommodated,
as usually happens on such occasions. We went to the island of Luban,
[12] fourteen leguas from the fort, to finish our preparations for the
voyage, which, though it is but a short one (only two hundred leguas in
length), is across a treacherous sea; for the best-fitted vessels often
suffer severely upon it, much more so those which are poorly equipped,
as were ours. The frigate and the smaller junk made port that night;
but the larger junk was unable to enter, and was not to be seen in
the morning. We assumed, as was true, that it had taken advantage of
the favorable wind and proceeded with its journey. We were, however,
anxious; because it was not well supplied with food or water, though
it was better supplied than the other vessels. Two days afterward,
we set sail; but on a calm sea, and with the wind fair, our mainmast
snapped as if it had been made of candy. It was all rotten; and we
were left like a cart on the water, with nothing but our foresail,
and that very small. The flagship took us in tow and we towed a
small boat with four Chinese sailors, which was the cause of no
little trouble. We sailed in this way for eight days, the sea being
calm. One night at the end of this time, the boat cable broke. The
sailors that were in the boat called out for us to wait for them;
and the flagship hove to, and began to sound while we were waiting
for the boat. Finding bottom in forty brazas, they perceived that we
were near the country of Camboja. In order to reach port early on the
following day, they left us, thinking that in spite of the smallness
of our sail we could reach there on the same day. The result, however,
was not as was expected; for by bad navigation we had gone many leguas
to leeward of the port. To make our way back there we had to sail
against the wind. A storm arose soon after, and the flagship was
obliged to run before the wind; it made port in Malaca, more than
two hundred leguas to leeward of its destination, and was unable to
return for three months. Our vessel could not make sail against the
sea, being entirely unequipped, and good for nothing but to ask for
the mercy of God. Under these circumstances fell the night between
the eighth and ninth of February. We all supposed that this was the
last of our days, and no man expected to see the next morning. The
force of the wind drove us aground more than two leguas from shore; we
had to cut away the stump of the mainmast, which was still standing,
and to throw into the sea the rudder and everything there was in
the ship. The boat, which might have saved us, was swamped; and the
sailors who were in it got aboard the ship. The waves broke over the
vessel, but could not sink it because it was already fast aground.] I
sat all that night in the waist (for it was impossible to stand),
confessing the Christians and catechizing the heathen. I baptized
twenty-two of them, feeling that the great danger in which we were,
authorized the act. When they had all received the sacraments,
I encouraged them to the work which was necessary to keep us from
perishing. Several times I went into the poop to confess myself,
and to receive the confession of the holy old man, my provincial,
who was there waiting for death--at the point of which we now were,
with the rope, as they say, about our necks. We could do nothing but
put up supplications and appeal from the justice to the mercy of God,
by whom sentence of death seemed to have been issued upon us. It was,
however, only a sentence of warning; and He accepted our prayer for
the time, giving us hope that with His aid we might atone for our
transgressions. The efficacy of God's mercy we almost felt with our
hands on this occasion; for death appeared to be actually upon us,
making execution upon the lives of those who were there. We were
somewhat encouraged by the hope of reaching the land which was so
near to us; but we did not know what it was, and what we were to
expect from it. If we had known, we would have preferred to die in
the sea; for our sufferings in this way would have been less than
those which we underwent by reaching the land. We were like those
of whom Jeremiah speaks in his Lamentations, for whom it would have
been better to have the lot of those who died with the sword at one
stroke than of those whose lives were brought to an end by hunger;
for the latter died a prolonged and painful death, being destroyed
by the barrenness of the land. The barrenness of this coast was such
that it greatly exceeded that of which Jeremiah speaks. It was such
that no one would go to it, even to escape death, unless, like us,
he was not acquainted with it. Finally those waves which were on their
way to burst upon the shore pushed on the ship, which was practically
empty, and went along as if it had been a dry stick. This was a result
of the coming in of the tide, and when the tide ebbed afterwards,
we were left aground, a cannon-shot from the sea; and we saw in the
mud (of which all this coast is composed) the track of the ship like
a trench, for the force of the sea as it rose had pushed it along,
breaking a road in the very ground. On this same day the tide came in
again with such fury, because it was a spring-tide, that it carried
the ship up to the trees and even buffeted it about there with such
violence that we were obliged to disembark for fear of perishing
in it. When we were on shore, exploring parties went off in various
directions. After they had made an arduous march, they brought back
the news that it was a wilderness inhabited only by wild beasts,
without any trace of a river or a spring, at least near the coast;
and that the country within proved to be inaccessible because it was
overflowed and very thickly overgrown. This news made us feel that
the sea was less evil for us than such a land, and that the tortures
which we had endured were slight compared with those to which we were
exposed by this desired but unhappy landing. Since eating and drinking
are a necessary and a daily obligation, and as our supply of food
and drink was very small, while we were more than a hundred persons,
we put forth all our energies to search for some remedy. As thirst
was that from which we suffered most, we dug wells in the dryest
parts we found, and when we met water, it was more salty than that
of the sea. I declare, as one who has found out by experience, that
the very dew which appeared in the morning on the leaves of the wild
trees there, was salt. Hence since the land denied us the sustenance
which we required, we determined to return to the sea, which had at
least granted us our lives, and which now gave us greater hopes than
the land of being able to preserve them. For this it was necessary to
help ourselves by means of the unlucky ship which was stranded on the
shore, for it had remained there after the spring tide was over. It
had no masts, or sails, or rudder, or anything that could be used,
because between losing them and perishing there had been no choice. To
supply these, it was necessary to put our hands to the work, until
it was finished. The most necessary thing to be done to the ship was
to cut it down and fit it so that it would draw but little water, and
might be rowed along the coast. Our relief was to be sought on land,
but he who should find it had to seek for it by sea. We were not now
planning for conquests or embassies, but for getting water--for which
we would have given all that has been yielded by the hill of Potosi,
if it had been ours. We spent ten days in getting the ship ready. We
cast overboard all the upper works and a good part of the under
works. We fitted to it twelve oars. In this way it was like a badly
made galliot; rudder, masts, and sails we replaced by rowing. While
some of us were at this work, others went to explore the country,
doing their utmost in the search for water. Some of these came back
very joyful, with good news, saying that about four leguas up the
coast from there a great river ran up into the land; that where it
flowed into the sea the water was salt, but that it must be fresh
above. They also said that they had seen the footprints of men on the
shore. The work was hurried on in the hope of satisfying our thirst,
which was increased by it, and still more by the heat of that region;
for we were in the most torrid part of the torrid zone, and had
practically no defense or covering against the heat. The vessel,
being of so light a draught, was easily launched; and embarking in
it all that we had left of provisions and clothes, which was very
little, we put forth one evening and entered the bight of the river
of which we have spoken, reaching its mouth in the morning by hard
rowing. We entered it with great delight, which was increased by the
sight of a hut on the bank not far from the ocean. Though there was
no one in it, we promised ourselves large towns when we saw it, and
even assured ourselves of certain news of our companions, of whom as
yet we knew nothing, nor they of us. But within a few days we found
out the deceit and lost our joy in it. After going for three days up
the river, we constantly found the water salt like that of the sea,
whose arm it was, and not a river. Upon its banks on either side
there was nothing but impassable undergrowth. At last we reached a
point from which we could not go further up, because the seeming river
divided into so many little creeks that the ship had not room in any
of them. The change from the false hope of water and of towns, which
had possessed our minds, served to redouble our misery; since now, as
it seemed to us, we had lost the hope of relief by land or by sea. Our
necessity had now reached such an extreme that the food was distributed
by ounces, and the drink almost by drops--though the labor of rowing,
each man in his turn (from which no one was excused), was such as to
require much food; and the heat was so excessive that even if we had
been in idleness we should have needed much to drink. But at last,
having confidence in the Father of mercies--who, though He distresses,
does not overwhelm; and, though He chastises, does not slay--we
returned to the sea by which we had come. At sight of it we left the
vessel, in order to rest a little from the labor which we had endured
to attain that for which we were hoping; and I went on land with my
four Chinese (with whom I was very intimate), and had them build a
little boat of four planks--fastened together by some twigs, so to
speak, for we had no nails; and calked with clay, for we had no tow,
or any other thing better than the clay. This made a sort of canoe. If
awkwardly handled, it filled with water. But, such as it was, I had
two of the soldiers get into it--for if they kept close to shore they
would run no risk--and told them to go up to the hut that we had seen
to discover whether there were any people there; because perhaps they
had hidden themselves, from fear of our vessel, when they saw it on
the way up the river. They did so, and at nightfall they discovered
two grown Indians and a boy. They made their way up to them, little by
little; and when they got near them they found that they were asleep
on the shore, not expecting anything to happen to them. They caught
the Indians, and bound them. When the rest of us came by soon after
in our ship, they called out from the land, telling us what they had
done. Our joy was so great that to render thanks the holy old man
and I sang a Te Deum laudamus; and at this hour, which was midnight,
half a cuartillo [i.e., pint] of water was served out to the troops
in token of joy. The soldiers came on board with their captives,
treating them gently and showing them all sorts of kindness. It
seemed to us that God had sent them to us as angels to guide us,
as He sent St. Raphael to Tobias. We began to put questions to them
by an interpreter, asking what country this was, what population it
had; and where they had come from, and where they ate and drank. They
answered that they were from Camboxa, and that the country along this
coast, and inland for many leguas, was uninhabited; and that to go
to the towns we should have to enter a large river and to sail up
for eighty leguas. They said that large vessels went up the river,
and that it was many leguas to windward of this place. They declared
that they were natives of that country, slaves of one of its chief
lords; and that, because of the ill treatment which they had received,
they had fled from him, and had come hither where no man had ever
landed. They said that they ate nothing except shell-fish, which
they caught with their hands, and wild cocoanuts, that grew there;
and that they had no other water except what fell from heaven. When
it rained they caught what they could and kept it in some large reeds
to drink afterward. They said that two years had passed since they
had come there. The effect of such sad news upon the hearts of men
who had suffered as we had may easily be imagined. They also told
us that some days' journey further there was a port; but that, if
we meant to go inland, where the king was, it would be necessary to
leave the vessel at the port, because there was no river that entered
inland. Since our desire was only not to die of thirst, any means by
which we could get water seemed easy and light to us. We accordingly
set out by sea in search of this port, taking these Indians with us,
not with the purpose of increasing consumers when we had so little
to consume, but to have guides. We went along the coast, running
up to it very often wherever we thought we saw any signs of water,
and sometimes digging wells, but always in vain, for the land could
not give what it did not have. On the day of St. Matthew the Apostle,
we discovered a high island in the sea, named Pulonubi. [13] It was
about six leguas from land. We laid our course toward it in search
of water, thinking that doubtless it would have some, being high and
mountainous, and having a sandy shore; but as the equipment of the
ship was fastened on with pins, as the saying is, our rudder broke,
when we had gone out a legua to sea. Being buffeted by the slight sea
which was running, we had to return to land, and even to run aground,
in order to mend the rudder. The Lord seemed to have declared that He
intended to bring death upon us, because the sustenance necessary for
our life was entirely consumed; for since we had no water, we were
not only without drink, but also without food, our provision being
rice, which cannot be eaten unless it is boiled in water. For lack
of water, some ate it parched, which dried their entrails. Others
ate it imperfectly boiled in the steam of salt water, putting it
in a little basket over a pot of this water on the fire, so that by
the steam thus sent out it might be softened. The water was so salt
that it made the rice like itself, and left it uneatable. There were
some who, even after this fine example of cookery, drank sea-water,
which increased the thirst they were so impatiently desiring to
remedy. Others distilled it over the fire and got some fresh water,
but very little, at the expense of much wood and with the necessity
of keeping up fire day and night, which dried them more than the
water that they got moistened them. All this taught us the great need
in which we live, with our life on a thread, and the Lord many times
threatening to cut it short. When we had mended the rudder as well as
we could at the time, we went on up the coast, being disillusioned,
so that we would not have thought of going out to sea even if the
ocean had been as smooth as milk. Three days later, the twenty-seventh
of February, which was Shrove Tuesday, we took our hands from the
oars and placed ourselves in those of God, despairing of life. The
remedy came to us as from God's own hand without our expecting it,
when we were overcome by labor, and dying of hunger and thirst, and
had given up ourselves to death. Thus it is most certain that the Lord
comes to the aid of him who calls upon Him when all things created
fail him--blessed be God's holy name. We had reached such an extremity
that of that sorry ration of water which we had now had about a month,
and which was less than half a cuartillo daily for each person, there
was only enough for two days. We were not now thinking of making
any effort to find any, but had our minds wholly turned to preparing
ourselves for death, when the Lord of life ordained that the waves
of the sea should drive us into a little inlet which the land formed
there, where we went on shore with the intention of never leaving the
place, but of ending in it our voyage and our lives. It happened that
one of the Indians in the ship went to bathe in the water, to relieve
the great heat from which he suffered, and somewhat to moderate the
thirst which was destroying us. He swam to land, and there right on the
shore (which was muddy, like all of that along which we had coasted),
his feet sank in at the foot of a wild palm-tree. Feeling that they
had gone into water, he drew them out, applied his lips to the hole
which he had made, and found that the water was fresh. The thirst
from which he suffered not permitting him to wait until it settled,
he drank mud and water until he was satisfied. He shouted to us to
tell us what he had discovered, but no one believed him. At last,
the Indian persisting in his affirmation, all hurried to the water
to look upon this marvel, which might be compared to that which God
performed in drawing water from a rock that His people might drink in
the desert; for no less miraculous appeared to us this fresh water
in a marsh so near the ocean. We gave God a thousand thanks, and
rejoicing in the feast, we forgot the labor and the fasting which
we had undergone in the long vigil. We easily dug a well, for the
whole soil was muddy, and on the next morning we filled all our casks
with the water, which had now settled. We set sail to look for food,
and even aspired to greater things. [In a few days we reached the
port, where there was a garrison of Indians against their neighbors,
the Siamese. All the news which we obtained about our comrades, and
about the country to which we had come, was bad. The flagship had
not been heard of, and the other ship was at Churdumuco, which is a
large town eight leguas from the port and eighty from the sea. [14]
We were told that the king who had sent for us from Manila, and
whose name was Langara, was not in the country; but that his place
in the kingdom had been taken by his chief vassal, because of the
following circumstances. The king of Sian had made war against the
king of Camboja, with eight hundred thousand men. This number should
not astonish anyone, because the kings could make war almost at no
expense, their vassals providing their own arms and food. The king
of Camboja did not dare to wait for so great a multitude of enemies,
and retreated up the river to another kingdom known as that of the
Laos. The king of Siam made himself master of the country, and after
burning it all returned to his own country, being harassed by hunger,
which made more war upon him than did the king his enemy. The army
being in disorder, one of the chiefs of Camboja, with those who had
retreated to the mountains (about thirty thousand men), attacked
his rearguard, thus obliging him to hasten his retreat. This chief,
having conquered him who had conquered his king, took possession of
the kingdom. The new king regarded those who had come at the request
of the previous king as allies of his enemy, and therefore as his own
enemies. This news alarmed us greatly, as we were without our comrades,
our commander-in-chief, and our ships. However, being obliged to
disembark, and to put ourselves into the hands of the rulers of the
country, we made an honest man of the thief, as the proverb goes,
and decided to send a soldier to him as an ambassador--offering to
him our aid and service, on the ground that we had come to help the
king of this country, and found no other king in it but him. The king
received him kindly, saying that he only held the kingdom as a regent,
and that he was ready to restore it to the lawful king when he should
return. He sent an order to the mandarin of the coast where we were,
to provide us with boats and carts. The soldier on his return met the
Spaniards of the other ship, and learned from them that all that the
king had said was false and that his purpose was to kill us at his
ease. They advised us to join them in their ship, dissimulating in
regard to our affairs, and keeping on our guard. The father provincial
sent me ahead to confess those in the ship, because it was Lent,
and they had sent to him to ask for a confessor. I was on foot and
suffered much, although some things that I saw on the journey afforded
me some alleviation of these hardships. I one day reached a village
where there was a monastery of religious of their sort, of whom there
are many in this kingdom. I went to it and talked to a venerable old
man, who was as it were the superior of it. He was seated on a little
platform about a palm's breadth in height, with a small mat on it,
and the others sat on the ground. Without saying anything, I sat down
next to the old man--at which they smiled, thinking that I had done
so because I did not understand the custom of the country, which did
not permit that. We both showed each other much courtesy by signs,
and I by using some words of their language which I knew, although,
because I did not put them together properly, they laughed much. They
gave me a collation of some fruits; and the sacristan immediately took
me to his temple, which was at some distance from the house. It had a
sort of cemetery about it, surrounded by some slightly raised stones
which divided it from the rest. The door to the temple was small, and
the temple itself was arched, round, and small. (Here follows a full
account of the appearance of the temple. Some description of their
prayers and of their religious customs is also given. Aduarte states,
upon the authority of the Portuguese religious, that these native monks
are vicious and licentious in the extreme.) I finally reached the ship
of our people, and on both sides we told each other what had happened.]