d endangering the existence of the
Christian communities formed there by the Jesuit missionaries. A letter
from the cabildo of the cathedral (December 11) informs the king of the
revolt of the Chinese, and the subsequent conflagration in Manila. The
Dominican provincial complains (December 15) that the colony is going
to destruction because the royal decrees have not been observed,
especially those restricting Chinese immigration, and calls for a
rigorous investigation of the conduct of the colonial authorities--to
be made preferably by an ecclesiastic. Bishop Benavides writes, at
the same time, a brief letter to the king, similar in tenor to that of
the provincial. With his commendation of Fray Diego de Guevara to the
king go other credentials for that envoy. Letters relating the events
of the Chinese insurrection are sent to Spain by the governor and the
Audiencia (December 12 and 18, 1603). The fortifications of Manila are
being pushed forward, and an envoy has been sent to China to explain
the recent revolt and its punishment. Acuna has also endeavored to
procure military supplies from that country to supply the present
deficiency; he dreads lest the trade with China may be cut off, which
would ruin the Philippine colony. Acuna has enlisted several military
companies among the Indians, who have done good service in quelling the
Sangley insurrection. He recounts his difficulties in equipping a small
fleet for the defense of the islands. The Mindanao pirates have again
raided the islands; but the Chinese insurrection made it necessary
to recall the troops who had been sent to check the pirates. Acuna
relates the chief events of the past year in the Mindanao campaign,
and the present state of affairs there. He complains of the lack of
funds, and entreats that money be promptly sent from Nueva Espana. A
postscript to this letter, dated December 23, asks that the conduct of
the royal officials at Manila be investigated, as they had illegally
allowed so many Chinese to take up residence there.

The chronological order of our narrative is here interrupted to
survey the course of the Jesuit missions as related by Pedro Chirino
in his _Relacion de las Islas Filipinas_. After a brief prefatory
note, he begins by describing the location of the islands and their
discovery and settlement by Spaniards. The finding of the Santo
Nino in Cebu in 1565 is related at length, with an account of the
miracles and the veneration connected