s, and has its awning, which is
called cayanes. Those awnings are made from the leaves of a small
palm which grows in the water. That is the quarters for the fighters
and the chiefs, for those vessels do not have any stern-cabin; it is,
at the same time, the little castle from which they fight. All that
structure finds its support and staunchness in what they call the
cates, which are the buoys of which we have spoken. They are made of
three or four bamboos as thick as the arm, and even larger, and reach
from stem to stern. They are so adjusted that they drag through the
water about one and one-half brazas away from the vessel. Consequently,
they do not allow it to toss about, however violent the waves, but
are the arms that keep the boat safe. They are used in general by
all the craft of these islands, and by those of Burney and Maluco;
for, since their ships are of no account without this security, they
have no safety in the sea nor do the Indians dare to embark. From
this circumstance Molina, who represented to the Council that buoys
ought to be fastened to the ships so that they could sail or float
with a support made of certain bags blown up and thrown alongside,
derived his argument. He thought that that would assure the fleets,
as they could not then sink, as he had experienced, even if they
filled with water. It might have proved successful indeed, and in
favor of his discourse, if some heavy sea raised by the hurricanes
would not prove sufficient to burst the bags and drag them away from
the sides; for hurricanes have more than sufficient violence to break
up the stern and destroy the ship. That has been well known by actual
experience here; for a few hours of a severe storm are sufficient to
destroy the fastenings; and those ships would be wrecked daily if the
voyages were not so short, and the vessels of so small burden that they
can find shelter in any port. When necessity arises, the men in them
beach the vessels themselves, and do so more easily when they go in
a fleet, as then they unite their forces. The crossings are so short,
because of the multiplicity of islands, that the weather never catches
them in such a way that they can not soon escape by drawing near to
one land or another. For fair weather this appliance is very useful,
so that they take comfort in them freely.

In regard to their weapons, the Lutao nation is the most curious in
these islands; for all glory in having the most precious and the