me, has been given separate an alcalde-mayor, namely, that of
Iligan; and by that province is secured to our arms an opening for
the conquest of Mindanao and Jolo, as we have thereby had soldiers,
pilots, and most skilful sailors, who are better than all those who
sail in these islands. Their village remains as a stronghold opposed
to the petty rulers of those peoples.

They are a very prudent race, and are quite Hispanicized in their
customs, and by the modesty of their bearing naturally deserved
respectable. Thus they do not endure the outrages that the other
subdued nations endure, now from the boldness of the soldiers,
now from the exigencies of our necessities; for they attend
to all things willingly, considering it an honor to satisfy our
desires. Consequently, in respect and esteem they are the princes of
these islands.

In matters of the Christian faith they yield in no wise to the most
pious European nation or to the loyalty of the most distinguished. They
are the ones who guard religion. The minister who visits the ports
of their coast, with four Dapitans whom he takes as a guard goes as
safely as if he were taking an infantry regiment; and no misfortune
has ever happened to such an arrangement. For although misfortunes
have been experienced in the infidelity of the native Subanos, yet
they have been invited by the confidence of the father missionaries,
who have gone among them without that valiant guard, as will be seen
in the course of this history. Finally, the faith of this island and
those near by is owing to the Dapitans; and, to their fidelity and
valor, the glorious confidence of our arms.

CHAPTER XI

The settlers of these islands, and their origin

The owners of these islands are those who people the mountains. They,
enamored with their peaceful mode of living, and fed with the happy
returns of their cultivation, built their nests there and lost
their liking for the coast and love for its occupations. Thereupon,
as they were reared in so deep retirement, which is especially great
and unconquerable in these natives, because of their slothfulness and
because they are so dead to curiosity, by which they have grown old
in their gloomy retreats, they gradually became mountaineers; and,
their intercourse with other peoples ceasing, they became less alert
and more barbarous, allowing the foreign traders to seize the coasts,
harbor-bars, and rivers which they found deserted. Since by their