hey hold it
in such high esteem that the father hides it from the son, and unless
they receive a great profit they refuse to communicate any secret of
it. The famous sorcerers are feared, although there is no one who is
not ashamed of being called thus, and the word "sorcerer" is one of
the insulting words of these natives. My judgment from seeing these
[sorceries], so alike, is that they are implicit compacts made with
their ancestors. For it also seems impossible that there are herbs
of so powerful poison that they can kill so instantly that some
persons kill, with only the breath alone by chewing those herbs;
and others, by burying those herbs where one has to pass. They also
use figures, which they dedicate to him whom they wish to harm, and
these accordingly torment him; the figure continues to aggravate the
evil upon the sorcerer's enemy. Others work by letters, and that is
peculiar to the Moro Kasis [caciques], although the most of all this
is fabulous; but as they imagine that it is true, for any accident
for which they find no remedy, and of whose cause they are ignorant,
they throw the blame on the sorcerer. It is recounted of the king
of Burney that, on learning the name of one, he can kill him if he
chooses. Sargento-mayor Pedro Duran Monforte having made war in his
land, the king was informed of his name, and said that since he knew
his name, therefore Monforte could not live much longer, and with that
he consoled his people. But thanks to God, the sargento-mayor has been
living for three years since that threat. Thus are all their affairs.

He who unites the excellency of a powerful sorcerer to Mahometan
ardor is King Corralat. He causes the fish to enter his boat. While
one of our fathers was in his boat, a fish leaped in; the king
picked it up and, giving it to the father, said: "This is for the
father." It is also related that he makes a piece of artillery float
on the surface of the water by placing an oar in its mouth. He has a
saker, which according to report, when fired, serves him as a good
or evil augury. The fact is, that he talks very familiarly with
the devil. According to the tale of a Spaniard (and one for which
he vouched to me), when he was going from Samboangan on a certain
embassy, just as he entered the river the favorite of Corralat told
him that, the night previous, his king had asked him whether any
ship were to be seen. To his negative answer the king said to him:
"Then take note th