from his Spanish suzerain's representative,
who sent two armed boats to support him.

When Tindig, on his return from Manila, arrived within sight of Sulu,
his anxious subjects rallied round him, and prepared for battle. The
two armed boats furnished by the Spaniards were on the way, but, as
yet, too far off to render help, so Adasaolan immediately fell upon
Tindig's party and completely routed them. Tindig himself died bravely,
fighting to the last moment, and the Spaniards, having no one to
fight for when they arrived, returned to Manila with their armed boats.

Adasaolan, however, did not annex the territory of his defeated
cousin. Rajah Bongso succeeded Tindig in the Government of Sulu,
and when old age enfeebled him, he was wont to show with pride the
scars inflicted on him during the war of independence.

Adasaolan then made alliances with Mindanao and Borneo people,
and introduced the Mahometan religion into Sulu. Since then, Sulu
(called "Jolo," by the Spaniards) has become the Mecca of the Southern
Archipelago. [57]

The earliest records relating to Mindanao Island, since the Spanish
annexation of the Philippines, show that about the year 1594 a
rich Portuguese cavalier of noble birth, named Estevan Rodriguez,
who had acquired a large fortune in the Philippines, and who had a
wealthy brother in Mexico, proposed to the Governor Perez Dasmarinas
the conquest of this island. For this purpose he offered his person
and all his means, but having long waited in vain to obtain the
royal sanction to his project, he prepared to leave for Mexico,
disgusted and disappointed. He was on the point of starting for
New Spain; he had his ship laden and his family on board, when the
royal confirmation arrived with the new Governor, Dr. Antonio Morga
(1595-96). Therefore he changed his plans, but despatched the laden
ship to Mexico with the cargo, intending to employ the profits of
the venture in the prosecution of his Mindanao enterprise. With the
title of General, he and his family, together with three chaplain
priests, started in another vessel for the south. They put in at
Otong (Panay Is.) on the way, and left there in April, 1596. Having
reached the great Mindanao River (Rio Grande), the ship went up it
as far as Buhayen, in the territory of the chief Silongan. A party
under Juan de la Jara, the _Maestre de Campo_, was sent ashore to
reconnoitre the environs. Their delay in returning caused alarm, so the
General buc