anxiously entreats the two great
fathers Juan and Miguel, who know the language, to help the captain,
for they are known in that country to favor the Sangleys. Their names
occur twice in that chapa, the first letters of the two names being
written in red ink, which is considered a mark of veneration among
the Chinese. A Sangley woman who lives in Chincheo wrote a letter to
Fray Juan Cobo, thanking him for having helped her husband in a matter
of business. These were the first indications by which we knew that
this expedition was starting under the guidance of God. So on Tuesday,
the twenty-second of May, of this year ninety, I went to the church of
the Parian, and said mass there; after which the two Sangleys who had
offered their services went through a ceremony worthy of notice. They
knelt down before the altar where I said mass, and remained there
for the space of two _credos_, speaking to one another in their own
language and holding each other's hands; after that they embraced one
another, and I learned afterwards that they had sworn to each other
friendship and fidelity. From that place the fathers went to embark,
and I went with them, accompanied by many Sangleys. On account of a
contrary wind, the ship in which they were going could not set sail;
and there were sent, to tow it out, four champans, which are the
small boats of the Sangley ships. They gladly pulled it out to sea,
for more than a league, where we left them under God's protection,
and returned to the city. The captains of two Sangley ships who are
about to follow in the same course have asked me for letters for the
religious, promising me to place them in their own hands, and I shall
not fail to write to them.

In conclusion, I must announce to your Majesty that a hospital has been
built by the Dominican friars who have charge of the Sangleys of the
Parian, which is close by their house. The hospital takes care of sick
Sangleys and subsists on no other income than what the fathers gather
as charity, and what the Sangley infidels contribute towards it. This
fact has been so rumored in China, that the whole country feels very
kindly towards the fathers, knowing of the friendly reception given
to their countrymen here. About a year ago a prominent Sangley was
converted. He was a doctor and an herbalist; but, forsaking all other
worldly interests, he has offered and devoted himself to the service
of the hospital. He cures the sick, bestowing upon them m