ee months in a fort; whence the pirate escapes
by dint of great effort. Chapter VII.

When the governor of the islands and the citizens of Manila heard
that the pirate Limahon was asserting, wherever he went, that he had
killed and defeated the Spaniards; considering that if this were not
checked speedily, great harm might result from it, which could not
be remedied so easily afterward as it could at the present time;
and that their allies and vassals throughout all those islands,
placing credence in the pirate's assertion, might rise against them,
and kill them with ease, because of the great number of the natives
and the fewness of the Spaniards, who until the present had sustained
themselves solely by the report of their invincibility--they took
counsel together, and determined that as large a force as possible
should be raised, and sent in military array in pursuit of the
pirate. They knew that he must, of necessity, have stationed himself
near Manila; and that he would not dare return to China, because he
was afraid. They thought that, by the use of the same artifice and
strategy employed by Limahon, they might come upon him unawares,
as he had caught them. They believed that, although they could not
destroy him totally, they could, at the very least, take vengeance
for the damage wrought by him, so that the lie would be given to
the report spread abroad by the said pirate. Thus the Spaniards' old
security would remain, and they would be held in greater estimation
by the natives near them, who knew them; and would even attain the
friendship of the king of China, against whom Limahon was a traitor,
and whom he had offended. This resolve they set about executing
immediately, as such an undertaking required. Meanwhile they heard,
as certain, that the pirate was stationed on the Pangasinan River,
where he had made a strong settlement. Upon obtaining this news--which
was most agreeable to the Spaniards--the governor summoned all the
people dwelling thereabout, ordering them to come to the city where
he resided. At this same time, he sent word to all the encomenderos
or seigniors of the villages of those islands called Pintados,
ordering them to assemble at the same place with as many ships and
men as possible, both Spaniards and natives. All this was done and
completed quickly and gladly; and the natives, especially those of
the said Pintados Islands, came willingly. All these, together with
the other people who live