ion of that office in 1618,
being elected procurator, he went to Spain for new missionaries,
of whom he obtained a fine band, returning to Manila in 1622. The
following year he was elected vicar-provincial for the third time,
and in 1624 first definitor. The highest office of the province,
namely, that of provincial, came to him in 1626 and at the end of
his provincialate he asked permission to go to Japan, but in vain; he
therefore continued the work among the Philippine missions until 1632,
when he was again elected provincial. In 1635 he was again definitor,
and at the expiration of that office he was appointed prior of the
Manila convent; thence he retired to the Cavite convent where he
worked with the most vigorous men, although worn out by his excessive
toil. He finally retired to the Manila convent, where he died at the
end of 1657 or the beginning of 1658, at the age of 78.]

[Chapter viii records the death, in 1659, of Nicolas de la Madre de
Dios, who had labored in Cagayan, where he had accomplished most in
quieting an insurrection that had broken out under a native heathen
priest called Salur.]

[Chapter x contains a bull promulgated by Alexander VII, dated August
5, 1660, confirming a decree of the congregation Propaganda fide of
June 28, 1660 (inserted in the bull) forbidding Recollect religious
who had been sent to the Philippines from turning aside on the way
or unnecessarily delaying their journey. The penalty imposed by the
decree is that such fugitives are to be deprived of all active and
passive vote, and can never hold any dignity or honorary charge in the
order. That same year of 1660, a mission left Spain for the islands
but did not arrive there until 1664.]

DESCRIPTION OF FILIPINAS ISLANDS

[After a prolonged address to Fray Diego Zapata, a high official of
the Franciscan order and of the Inquisition, Fray Letona proceeds with
a description of the Philippines in numbered sections. No. 1 states
that it is written for Zapata's information; no. 2, that the voyage
from Acapulco to Manila is more than 2,500 leguas in length. The
course of the ships in that voyage is given in no. 3. Such parts of
this description as are useful for our purpose are here presented
in full; other parts are omitted, in each case stating the nature of
such matter.]

3. Acapulco, in Mexico, which is the eastern port for the South Sea
and for navigations from Nueva Espana to Filipinas, is in sixteen and
one-