al disposition, that they have never discredited their position
with weaknesses. They were, so to speak, hermits of their religion, and
were held in high esteem. And in fact the constancy of their life and
modesty of their customs, obliged one to have respect for them. In a
nation so barbarous and who knew not God, it appears a prodigy worthy
of wonder that one of the special providences of His Divine Majesty,
to place such examples of virtue in a country where vice had absolute
control, so that the experience of the eyes causes them to esteem
what God's love did not obtain. I have known two of these men, and
one of them I baptized, to my especial consolation, while visiting
the coast of Siocon, which extends for twenty leguas from Samboangan
toward Dapitan. His reputation reached me in a different village, for
in his own they kept him closely concealed, whether it were for the
sake of their ancient observances I do not know. Like a holy man of his
law, or because of some fear, he also kept himself hidden; for, as he
afterward told me, they had terrified him by telling him that if the
Spaniards caught him they would put him in the galleys. By that means,
to him whom the pathway of salvation was most easy, they filled it
with such difficulties that they made it impossible for him. I knew
that they would refuse to let me see him for those same reasons,
and therefore made use of a trick and of a dangerous resolution,
to catch him. For near the village, which was located on the beach
in the shade of trees (the poverty of these barbarians not suffering
more shelter), and where in a few hours they would suffer from hunger,
having them all before me I told them that if the lavia [71] whom they
had hidden did not come, then the mass would not begin. Labia is the
name they give to those of this profession. The name of this one was
Tuto. I added that no one must return to his house until he arrived,
and that if he delayed too long, I would go to Samboangan with the
chief of the village and the Subanos of importance. That was the same
to them as if I were taking them to the galleys; so much does their
wretchedness grieve to leave the wretchedness in which they were born,
and their lack of intelligence to appear before reasonable people and
Spaniards. Without allowing them to talk, or to question whether he
was there or not, or where, but assuming that it was a well-known
thing, I turned to a relative of the governor, and said to him