nt. Accordingly they set
sail at nightfall, and next day sighted another bay, which they named
San Pedro, as it was the eve of St. Peter's preaching in Antioch. At
that place one of the chief Indians, nephew of Tandayag, chief of
that island, came to see them. He came, on behalf of his uncle, to
draw blood with the commander. He was received courteously, and the
commander made much of him, and asked him to bring his uncle, with
whom he would draw blood willingly; for it was not reasonable that the
commander of the Castilians, the ambassador of so powerful a sovereign
as the king of Espana, should draw blood with less than the supreme
ruler of the islands. This argument satisfied the barbarian, and be
declared the commander's remark to be very reasonable. Accordingly
he would have his uncle come, both because the request of _Basal_
was reasonable--_Basal_ was the name given by them to the commander,
and this name is given even now to all the governors, whom they have
called and call Captain Basal (_id est_, "captain-general")--and
also because, as he said, he knew his uncle was very willing to make
peace with the Castilians, and to live under their guardianship and
protection. The commander bestowed generous gifts upon him, and sent
him away very happy. He went away, to all appearances, making them
a thousand promises that the natives would bring them very willingly
all the provisions, and everything that they requested, as alliance
and friendship with the Castilas [i.e., Castilians]--as the natives
called, and still call us--was of great moment to them. But neither
they nor the many others who came fulfilled their word one whit,
so that our men were made to understand that they came only to see
and note what kind of men ours were, their arms, and how they could
rid themselves of them. For they immediately thought that friendship
with the Castilians would be of no use to them, because those who
were then the rulers of the natives would afterward behold themselves
under the yoke, serving as slaves. This they considered more than the
good of the soul, offered to them, to which they paid no attention;
nor did they desire it, as they were content with their _anitos_,
wassails, and innumerable other superstitions that had been handed
down from father to son since time immemorial.
When this was considered by the commander and the religious, the
former, by the advice of the religious, sent Captain Martin Goiti to
explore the
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