te as from
fear and mistrust of them. It has already happened that Spaniards,
unaccompanied and straying from the road, have fallen into their
hands; but with a few presents and fair words they have been allowed
to go free. They also fear the priests as being Spaniards, making
no distinction between them. For this reason we could not undertake
their conversion, although they were near to the villages of Tigbauan;
on this account all our energy was directed towards the Bissayas alone.

They call the reed-grass _tigbao_, and, by derivation, the lands
which bear this grass are called Tigbauan; and because the site of
this village is close to a great expanse of reedy land on the bank
of a beautiful stream, it bears the above name. The village itself
was on the same shore, at the mouth of the river--which, as well as
the sea, yields various kinds of fish, excellent and plentiful, which
I myself have enjoyed in abundance. As they were continually fishing
on the beach, usually with three or four nets, they never made a haul
without devoutly regaling us with a part of it. Tigbauan has a very
beautiful district, with many villages extending more than six leguas
along the coast of the sea; the entire district is well supplied with
game, fruits, and vegetables, and fish from the sea. The people are
very industrious; consequently I always saw them occupied--the men,
with their fisheries and farming; the women, with their spinning
and weaving. What we accomplished in the two years spent among a
people so good and well-disposed towards the Gospel could be told in
less time than what we left undone; for, since we of the Society of
Jesus were then so few, and had little hope of increasing our number,
we did not dare to undertake more than we thought could probably be
maintained; and in this we were not mistaken, for at the present day,
when at least a dozen ministers are needed, there is actually but
one secular priest. For that reason we did not dare to baptize adults
or children, except in cases of extreme danger, outside of the chief
village (which is Tigbauan) and two or three other outlying hamlets,
distant two miles or less.

Nevertheless we preached the faith throughout that vicinity in the
Haraya language, and even translated into the same tongue and taught
the Christian doctrine and the catechism, which formerly they knew only
in the Bissaya, a language different from the one they speak. [61] Many
churches were erected, and