of the opinion that the pirate should be pursued and that the
result thereof would not be so bad as some say. The belief here,
however, is that God is chastising us for our sins, and is making
us the laughing-stock of other nations, who have all hitherto stood
in such fear of us. I must explain to your Majesty two other points
bearing on this subject, although it detains me somewhat, as I consider
that I do thereby a very great service. The first is the failure of
the expedition to Maluco. We all had been certain that with fewer men
and less equipment than there actually were, the king of Terrenate
could be subdued; but, quite to the contrary, our men came back as
if fleeing from an unknown foe. The Indians of this archipelago,
who feared us, now laugh; and, together with those of Terrenate,
threaten us. The second point is that in the island of Mindanao,
which is subject to your Majesty, and for many years has paid you
tribute, the law of Mahoma has been publicly proclaimed, for somewhat
more than three years, by preachers from Burney and Terrenate who
have come there--some of them even, it is believed, having come from
Meca. They have erected and are now building mosques, and the boys
are being circumcised, and there is a school where they are taught the
Alcoran. I was promptly informed of this, and urged the president to
supply a remedy therefor at once, in order that that pestilential fire
should not spread in these islands. I could not persuade them to go,
and thus the hatred of Christianity is there; and we are striving no
more to remedy this than if the matter did not concern us. Such are
the calamities and miseries to which we have come, and the punishments
which God inflicts upon us. The reason for it, He only knows; but,
as I infer and fear, it is because we have ill acquitted ourselves
in this land, where it is so needful that we be upright and furnish
good examples. I have written to your Majesty on this point at other
times; and I think that either my letters are not read, or what I
say is not credited. I assure your Majesty that I have never written
anything which is not true, and free from all outward influence,
or self-interest, or human considerations; but I have only done my
duty. The temporal affairs of this land are in the condition which I
have related to your Majesty; and I consider that there will never be
improvement, since cupidity is increasing so immeasurably that neither
the punishments of God