bove-mentioned bishop; but later, through the
force of various circumstances that occurred, the natives of the said
island went to the curacy of Bantayan, and the convent remained free
and without any obligation so far as they were concerned. At present
the religious of the community labor as far as possible in the welfare
of the souls of those near by, moved only by reasons of charity,
and by the greater glory of God, which they seek in its entirety.

[The Recollect villages in this province are as follows: Danao, with
2,797 1/2 tributes, and 13,012 souls; Mandaue, with 2,408 tributes,
and 11,034 souls; Liloan, with 1,385 1/2 tributes, and 6,962 souls;
Consolacion, with 982 1/2 tributes, and 4,277 souls; Compostela,
with 3,830 tributes, and 4,856 souls; Catmon, with 965 1/2 tributes,
and 4,988 souls; Carmen, with 4,259 1/2 tributes, and 5,588 souls;
Camotes Islands, with 1,158 tributes, and 5,660 souls; Pilar, with
1,145 1/2 tributes, and 5,600 souls; and San Francisco, with 1,304
tributes, and 5,831 souls.]

Island of Bohol

Situated in the center of the Visayas Islands, and bordered on
its eastern part by the island of Leyte, having the great island of
Mindanao on its southern side, and being very near the island of Cebu
on the north, Bohol formed an integral part of the territory of that
province until the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four,
when a royal order dated July twenty-two was received in which the
creation of the new province of Bohol was decreed.

The true beliefs of our holy order were received in that territory from
the first time of the preaching of the gospel in this archipelago. The
people of Bohol believed in the God of the Christians as quickly as He
was announced to them, and became docile sons of the Catholic church
without opposing that obstinate resistance to the good news which
was experienced in the other islands, and which cost the life of one
of its first apostles. If they remained in their first heathendom,
it had not come to take the gross forms of a corrupted idolatry,
applying the great idea of the divinity to despicable objects. Free
of this inconvenience, when the majesty and grandeur of our God was
manifest to them, they revered His adorable perfections. Even though
there were perverse inclinations in the hearts of those natives,
they were not given to polygamy; and when the holy law of God was
explained to them, and the respect that the sanctity of marriage
(whi