nefit, are extremely rare.

CHAPTER III

Philippine Dependencies, Up To 1898
The Ladrones, Carolines and Pelew Islands

In 1521 Maghallanes cast anchor off the Ladrone Islands (situated
between 17 deg. and 20 deg. N. lat. by 146 deg. E. long.) on his way to the
discovery of those Islands afterwards denominated the Philippines. This
group was named by him Islas de las Velas. [18] Legaspi called them
the Ladrones. [19] Subsequently several navigators sighted or touched
at these Islands, and the indistinct demarcation which comprised them
acquired the name of Saint Lazarus' Archipelago.

In 1662 the Spanish vessel _San Damian_, on her course from Mexico
to Luzon, anchored here. On board was a missionary, Fray Diego Luis
de San Victores, who was so impressed with the dejected condition
of the natives, that on reaching Manila he made it his common theme
of conversation. In fact, so importunately did he pursue the subject
with his superiors that he had to be constrained to silence. In the
following year the Governor, Diego Salcedo, replied to his urgent
appeal for a mission there in terms which permitted no further
solicitation in that quarter. But the friar was persistent in his
project, and petitioned the Archbishop's aid. The prelate submitted
the matter to King Philip IV., and the friar himself wrote to his
father, who presented a memorial to His Majesty and another to the
Queen beseeching her influence. Consequently in 1666 a Royal Decree
was received in Manila sanctioning a mission to the Ladrones.

Fray Diego took his passage in the galleon _San Diego_, and having
arrived safely in the Viceregal Court of Mexico, he pressed his views
on the Viceroy, who declared that he had no orders. Then the priest
appealed to the Viceroy's wife, who, it is said, was entreating her
husband's help on bended knee, when an earthquake occurred which
considerably damaged the city. It was a manifestation from heaven,
the wily priest avowed, and the Viceroy, yielding to the superstition
of the age, complied with the friar's request.

Therefore, in March, 1668, Fray Diego started from Acapulco in charge
of a Jesuit mission for the Ladrones, where they subsequently received
a pension of P3,000 per annum from Queen Maria Ana, who, meanwhile,
had become a widow and Regent. To commemorate this royal munificence,
these Islands have since been called by the Spaniards "Islas Marianas,"
although the older name--Ladrones--is better know