The election as provincial of father Fray Bernardo de Sancta Catharina
or Navarro, and the churches which were incorporated in the province
On the fifteenth of June, 1596, the fathers assembled in the convent
of Manila to elect a provincial, because father Fray Alonso Ximenez
had finished his term. The definitors (who, as they afterward were
to confirm the provincial, were elected first) were: father Fray
Diego de Soria, second time prior of the said convent; father Fray
Bartholome de Nieva, a religious of very superior virtue, as will be
narrated in due time; father Fray Juan de Sancto Thomas, or Ormaca;
and father Fray Juan Garcia--all persons of conspicuous devotion to
their religious duties, and of noble example. Several times they
cast votes for the provincial without result. Because there were
many who deserved the office, and because the votes were divided
among them, no one had the number necessary for election. Those who
had the largest number of votes were father Fray Diego de Soria and
father Fray Juan de Sancto Thomas. These same persons endeavored to
persuade everyone to vote for father Fray Bernardo de Sancta Catharina,
who was accordingly elected. The election was a very satisfactory
one, for, in addition to being a very holy man, he was very wise
and learned, and most devoted to the ministry and preaching of the
holy gospel--in which, and in patience, and in the endurance of the
most severe hardships which befell him for this cause, no one ever
surpassed him, and he surpassed many. During his time he had seen
the province greatly favored by the Lord, by a very great spread of
the Christian faith among the Indians who were under his care. Many
of them in the villages where there were religious were baptized;
and, where there were no religious, they were desirous and eager
to receive baptism. Accordingly, at this chapter not only were new
churches admitted which had been built in the towns where there were
already religious--as, among the Chinese, the church of San Gabriel
at Minondoc; and, in Bataan, the church in the village of Samal,
besides others--but it also seemed good to admit heathen villages,
although they had no religious, and there were none in the province so
that teachers could be provided for them. Yet in this way they strove
to comfort those who asked and desired them, and raised in them the
hope that in this way they would receive religious when they came from
España. Thus were received the church of San Vicente of the village
of Buguey, afterward called Sancta Anna; Sancta Catarina of Nasiping,
afterward called San Miguel; and others like them--to which, in the
course of time, religious were sent when they came to the islands.
Soon after this provincial chapter had come to an end, another
shipload of religious arrived from España. They had been gathered
with great care and diligence by the new bishop of Nueva Segovia,
Don Fray Miguel de Venavides, whose new dignity had not sufficed to
diminish the love which he felt for his associates. He gave to this
matter more than ordinary attention, because he knew how greatly
needed were good workmen to aid in the great harvest which the Lord
had placed in their hands, ready to be gathered by the means of
baptism into this church militant, that the faithful might pass from
it to the church triumphant. The Indians themselves asked to have
preachers sent to their villages, and were grieved that these could
not be given to them. This not a little afflicted the religious, who
desired to satisfy them by the fulfilment of their just desires, but
were unable to do so on account of their own small number--too small
even for that which they had undertaken, and much more to go to the
aid of new regions. Besides this, the careful bishop was influenced
by the need of his own sheep; for nearly everything to which we
ministered fell within the bishopric of Nueva Segovia, which was
under his direction. Accordingly, taking advantage of his authority
as a bishop, and of the reputation which he had as a learned and holy
religious, he gathered the second shipload, and afterward the third
(with which he came). Father Fray Pedro de Ledesma [17] happened
to be in Castilla when the shipload which the good bishop sent was
about to sail. His presence was very convenient for his superior,
because he was an old and venerable father who had been many years
in the Indias in the very religious province of Guatimala, and who
therefore knew what was needed for the voyage. He was also of a very
gentle disposition, which is of great importance for such purposes
as his. The bishop laid upon this father the charge of conducting
the religious who had been gathered for this province; and he, being
inclined to all good, readily accepted the office, although he knew
that it was a very troublesome one. It not only required him to go
on business to the office of accounts--and, to him who knows what
that is, it is not necessary to say anything more--but he had also
to keep in contentment many religious who, as it was the first time
when they were at sea, were seasick, miserable, and very much in need
of someone to comfort them, bear with them, and encourage them. For
all this father Fray Pedro was very well suited, and conducted them
as comfortably as possible through the two long voyages which have
to be made on the way from España here. He did not shrink from the
great labor which this duty brought with it, that he might serve the
Lord, and aid in the preaching of His gospel and in the conversion of
these heathen. They arrived in the month of July in this year of 1596,
and were received with great joy; and with them those missions which
were in need of religious were strengthened.
Captains Blas Ruiz de Fernan Goncalez and Diego Velloso, who (as
has been stated in the preceding chapter) went from Cochinchina to
the kingdom of the Laos to look for the king of Camboja, met with
success. They found his son (for the king was already dead), and
told him all that the Spaniards had already done to help him, and how
they had slain the tyrant who had undertaken to establish himself in
the kingdom and had usurped it. They told him that they had come to
seek him that they might put him in quiet possession of his kingdom,
and other things of this kind, and roused his courage so that he put
himself in their hands. Depending upon them, he returned to Camboja
with a tolerably large army, which the king of the Laos gave him; and
the Spaniards fulfilled their word and established him in his royal
throne and palace, causing the largest and best part of the kingdom
to be obedient to him. The king in reward of services so faithful
and useful gave them lands and vassals in his kingdom. To Blas Ruiz
he gave the province of Tran; to Diego Velloso that of Bapano, with
titles very honorable in this kingdom. The two captains in their
new favor did not forget God, to whom they had so especial reasons
to be thankful; or their natural king and lord, from whom also they
had received rewards. They informed the king of Camboja of the great
good that it would be to his kingdom to know and reverence God by
entering into His service through holy baptism, and to have the king
of España for his friend. For the first purpose, father Fray Alonso
Ximenez and myself were proposed. They urged the great devotion,
virtue, and prudence of the holy old man, and the many sufferings
which we had both undergone from favoring the king's own cause; and
they said that, if he sent to call us back, we would very readily
come to preach the holy gospel. As for the second purpose they said
that he ought to send an embassy to the governor of Manila; and, as
a sign of the beginning of this friendship, that he ought to ask for
some soldiers, by whose aid he might easily complete the pacification
of his country. The king assented to all this, and sent his embassy
with letters to the governor, telling him that his principal reason
for asking for soldiers was that his vassals might be baptized with
greater certainty and less difficulty. To father Fray Alonso Ximenez
he wrote another letter, in the language and characters which those
people use, and sealed with his royal seal, of a red color. In the
Castilian language its tenor was as follows: ["Prauncar, king of
Camboja, to father Fray Alonso Ximenez of the Order of St. Dominic:
Greeting. From what I have heard from the captain Chofa Don Blas
Ruiz of Castilla, and from the captain Chofa Don Diego of Portugal,
with regard to the conduct of father Fray Alonso Ximenez when the
Spaniards slew Anacaparan, I have conceived a great affection for
father Fray Alonso Ximenez. Now that I am in my kingdom I beg father
Fray Alonso Ximenez to come to it, and to bring with him father Fray
Diego. I promise to build them churches and convents, and to give
permission to all in my kingdom to become Christians. Though I have
shown the two chofas [18] great favor and wish to keep them in my
kingdom, they are unwilling to stay, because there are no religious
here." The two captains wrote in the same strain to the fathers,
begging them to come and reunite this kingdom with the Church.
The governor of Manila saw how much could be done for the service of
the king by sending the soldiers for whom the king of Camboja asked;
but they were in such need of men and money that they could not well
meet his desires. For this reason, a knight of the Habit of Calatraba
who had been governor of these islands, by name Don Luis Perez das
Mariñas, promised to pay the expenses of the expedition from his own
fortune. The enterprise thus being made possible, we two religious
of the order for whom the king of Camboja asked were obliged to go;
and with us some religious of the Order of St. Francis, who were
much beloved by Don Luis. There were equipped for the expedition two
vessels of Spanish build, of moderate tonnage, and a galleot. The
preparations were made (as preparations usually are made by the
hand of servants of the king) slowly and faultily, as was seen by
the results. We did not set out for some months, and our ships were
so badly equipped and so weak that they began to leak as soon as the
voyage began--a forewarning of the evils that we afterwards suffered,
in which the poor knight Don Luis was disappointed, while all of us
who accompanied him paid for the inadequacy of the preparation. [19]
Since we were so late, the pilots decided to follow the course by
the gulf of Haynau to go round the shoals by the end in latitude
seventeen, because in that way the wind would be favorable; while if
they rounded the end in latitude nine, which was the regular course,
the wind would be adverse. They left Manila September 17 [1598], with
one hundred and fifty soldiers and sailors. In the flagship Don Luis,
who went as commander, took with him father Fray Alonso Ximenez and
the two Franciscan fathers. He directed me to go in the ship of the
second in command, [20] giving that officer orders to govern himself
by my advice. Within six days the vessels were scattered in the storm
and were all lost, no one knowing anything of the rest, and each one
supposing that the others were continuing their voyage in safety. The
galleot met with the best fortune, for, although damaged, it reached a
friendly port, was repaired, and continued its journey. The flagship
was obliged to cut away the mainmast, and sailing under its foresail,
ran aground in China on the eve of St. Francis. All who were on board
had to save themselves by swimming, and lost even their clothes. In
the ship of the second in command, in which I was, the mainmast broke
close to the deck, fortunately falling over the side so as not to
injure the vessel or to kill any of the men. The mizzenmast, being
badly wedged, began to topple, and had to be cut away. We sailed
on under the foresail, hoping to reach a port. But the fury of the
tempest and the force of the waves were such as to break the gudgeons
of the rudder. Some of our men flung themselves into the sea after
it and brought it back, but it was lost again; and we steered the
vessel with two long spars fastened to the side of the boat with a
cable. The ship was so strained that the boards on the sides began to
play up and down like organ-keys; but we threw cables about her, and
drew them taut with arquebuses. Then the bow began to work loose, from
the weight of the foremast and bowsprit, and we were forced to bind it
firmly with cables to the poop. All that we could do against the storm
and the wind was like the strength of a child exerted to restrain the
fury of a mad bull. In fear of another storm, we took refuge upon an
island which we encountered, one of the group called the Babuyanes. We
found a harbor, ran the bow ashore, and dropped two anchors from the
poop. We put the ammunition and the provisions that we had on shore;
and had hardly begun to dry our clothes, on the eve of St. Francis,
when the storm broke upon us with such violence that it seemed to me to
try to swallow us. The ship was broken in pieces; but the keel, and the
artillery which was carried as ballast, being too heavy for the deck,
were buried in the sand. We protected ourselves from the storm--which
lasted two days, and was one of both wind and rain--in some huts, which
we built on the beach of branches.] After the storm was over we dug up
the artillery, which consisted of four medium-sized cannon, mounted,
and set them up in a little fort which we made of logs, because there
were many Indians on the islands, and we did not know whether they
were friends or enemies. In a short time many of them appeared in a
troop on the shore, with their weapons. These consisted of two lances,
one for hurling, and the other large like a pike, with iron points;
both were made of ebony, of which there is much here. For defensive
armor they had sheets of the bark of trees, resembling cork. We sent
to them a man as a hostage and mark of peace, and they made signs to
him from a distance to put down his arms. He laid them at one side
and went to the Indians; and then they sent to us one of their own
number, whom we treated kindly, and after giving him some trinkets,
sent him back to his comrades; agreeing with him that they should
bring us provisions at a just price. They did this for two days,
although very scantily; and on the third day they broke the peace
by killing one of our Japanese, and badly wounding another who had
come in our company. He came back with his arm pierced, and with a
wound a span long above the pit of his stomach, but not entering it;
but he was very well satisfied because, by throwing himself forward
by the pike, he had killed the Indian who had wounded him--so proud
is that race. Now that our supplies were cut off, we were obliged,
since food is necessary, to take it by force, where we could find it,
since they would not sell it willingly; so for several mornings a
troop of our Indians went out under escort of our soldiers, gathered
what they could from the fields, and brought it back as food for
all. At one time when they were engaged in this, they thought that
they had discovered a great treasure; for they found some jars of
moderate size covered by others of similar size. Inside they found
some dead bodies dried, and nothing else. In that shipwreck we had
had the good luck to bring the boat ashore, and thus to save it. This
we intended to make use of by sending it to ask for aid from Nueva
Segovia, which was only twenty leguas distant. In order to do this,
it was necessary to lengthen the keel a braza, and to raise the sides
about half a vara. Both these things were done, though there was no
one among us who understood more carpentry than that best teacher,
Necessity, had taught them. We all thought that it was best that the
pilot and two men and I should go in it, because they believed that,
if I went, more effectual aid would be sent. We did so, and then,
when we sailed around the island we gave thanks to the Lord for His
kindness in having brought us to this little bay; for on any of the
other sides of the island we should certainly have been drowned in
the ocean, or, if any of us had escaped, should have perished at
the hands of the Indians. The Lord gave us a favorable wind, which
was needed by our tiny boat in that rough ocean, and we reached the
river of Nueva Segovia, which is very large; the distance from the
mouth to the city is three leguas. The alcalde-mayor immediately set
about the rescue, appropriated two fragatas, and had them prepared
to go to our people who were in the islands. At the same time I wrote
to Manila to the agents of Don Luys to send a ship, ship-stores, and
everything else required for continuing the voyage. I also wrote to my
superior, giving him an account of what had happened. The answer to my
letters was made plain, both on the island and in Manila. The governor
commanded that the voyage should be continued, all of the expenditure
being made anew, while my superior directed me to return to Manila;
and so I did, although my companions were greatly grieved. In truth,
by failing to go with them I caused their destruction; because, as they
were sailing toward the coast of China, they saw a Chinese ship, and,
against the will of the pilot and some few others, the rest determined
to pursue and plunder it. The ship fled, turning toward the coast of
its own country, which was all sown with shallows, well known to them
but not to our men. So eagerly did the Spaniards chase after them
in their greed for the prize, which they now regarded as certain,
that our ship ran aground and broke into two parts. The men were all
thrown into the sea, where some of them were drowned immediately,
and others, who took refuge on shoals, were drowned when the tide came
in. Some few only escaped, with the pilot, in a raft which they made of
planks from the ship. Even of those few some died of the cold, which
was very great, and was still more severe for them because they were
all wet. At last those who escaped reached the coast, with difficulty
enough. They were seized by the Chinese, and carried about for many
leguas from one judge to another. In this way they learned that Don
Luis was on the same coast, and that he had been wrecked on the same
day of St. Francis, and at the same time with us. They learned that
he was twenty leguas from there, on an island called Lampacao. They
received permission to join him; and in spite of their miseries they
forgot their ills in their pity for the poor knight and his men,
who kept themselves alive with shellfish, which they found there
and ate in small quantities. They all suffered patiently, because
of the example of their commander--who, that he might not offend
[the people of] the land, never allowed his men to ask for anything,
even what necessity almost compelled them to request.