sent the priest with some men to prepare the place where the mass was to be said, together with the interpreter to tell the king that we were not going to land in order to dine with him, but to say mass.

Therefore the king sent us two swine that he had killed. When the hour for mass arrived, we landed with about 50 men, without our body armor, but carrying our other arms, and dressed in our best clothes. Before we reached the shore with our boats, six pieces were discharged as a sign of peace. We landed; the two kings embraced the captain-general, and placed him between them. We went in marching in order to the place consecrated, which was not far from the shore. Before the commencement of mass, the captain sprinkled the entire bodies of the two kings musk water.

"The mass was offered up. The kings went forward to kiss the cross as we did, but they did not offer the sacrifice. When the body of our lord was elevated, they remained on their knees and worshipped Him with clasped hands. The ships fired all their artillery at once when the body of Christ was elevated, the sign having been given from the shore with muskets. After the conclusion of mass, some of our men took communion.

"The captain general arranged a fencing tournament, at which the kings were greatly pleased. Then he had a cross carried in and the nails and a crown, to which immediate reverence was made. He told the kings through the interpreter that they were the standards given to him by the emperor, his sovereign, so that wherever he might go he might set up those tokens. He said that he wished to set it up in that place for their benefit, for whenever any of our ships came, they would know that we had been there by that cross, and would do nothing to displease them or harm their property. If any of their men were captured, they would be set free immediately on that sign being shown. It was necessary to set that cross on the summit of the highest mountain, so that on seeing it every morning, they might adore it; and if they did that, neither thunder, lightning or storms would harm them in the least.

"They thanked him heartily and said that they would do everything willingly. The captain-general also had them asked whether they were Moros or heathen, or what was their belief. They replied that they worshipped nothing, but they raised their clasped hands and their face to the sky; and that they called their god "Abba". Thereat the captain was very glad and seeing that the first king raised his hands to the sky, and said that he wished that were possible for him to make the captain see his love for him.

"The interpreter asked the king why there was so little to eat here. The latter replied that he did not live in that place except when he went hunting and to see his brother, but that he lived in another island where all his family were. The captain-general asked to declare whether he had any enemies, so that he might go with his ships to destroy them and to render them obedient to him. The king thanked him and said that he did indeed have two islands hostile to him, but that that it was not the season to go there. The captain told him that if God would again allow him to return to those districts he would bring so many men that he would make the king's enemies subject to him by force. He said that he was about to go to dinner, and that he would return afterward to have the cross set up on the summit of the mountain.

"They replied that they were satisfied, and then forming in Battalion and firing the muskets, the captain having embraced the two kings, we took our leave.

"After dinner, we all returned clad in our doublet and that afternoon went together with the two kings to the sumnmit of the highest mountain there. When we reached the summit, the captain-general told them that he esteemed highly having sweated for them, for since the cross was there, it could not but be of great use to them. On asking them which port was best to get food they replied that there were three: namely, Ceylon, Zubu and Calaghan but Zubu was the largest and the one with the most trade. They offered of their own accord to give us pilots to show us the way. The captain-general thanked them, and determined to go there. For so did his unhappy fate will. After the cross was erected in position, each of us repeated the Pater Noster and an Ave Maria, and adored the cross, and the kings did the same. Then we descended through their cultivated fields, and went to the place where the balanghai was.

"The king had some coconuts brought in so that we might refresh ourselves. The captain asked the kings for the pilots for he intended to depart the following morning and said that he would treat them as if they were the kings themselves, and would leave one of us as hostage. The kings replied that every hour he wished the pilots were at their command, but that night the first king changed his mind, and in the morning when we were about to depart, sent word to the captain-genral asking him for love of him to wait two days until he should have his rice harvested, and other trifles attended to. He asked the captain-general to send him some men to help him so that it might be done sooner; and said that he intended to act as our pilot himself. The captain sent him some men, but the kings ate and drank so much that they slept all the day. Some said to excuse them that were slightly sick. Our men did nothing on that day, but they worked the next two days.

"One of those people brought us about a porringer full of rice and also eight or ten figs (bananas) fastened together to barter for a knife which at the most was worth three catrini. The captain seeing that natives cared for nothing but a knife, called him to look at other things. He put his hand in his purse and wished to give him one real for those things, but the native refused it. The captain showed him a ducado but he would not accept that either. Finally the captain tried to give him a doppione worth two ducados, but he would take nothing but a knife; and accordingly the captain had one given to him.

"When one of our men went ashore for water, one of those people wanted to give him a pointed crown of massy gold, of the size of a calona for six strings of glass beads, but the captain refused to let him barter, so that the natives should learn at the very beginning that we prized our merchandise more than their gold.

"Those people are heathens, and go naked and painted. They wear a piece of cloth woven from a tree about their privies. They are very heavy drinkers.

"Their women are clad in tree cloth about their waist down, and their hair is black and reaches to the ground. They have holes pierced in their ears which are filled with gold. Those people are constantly chewing a fruit which they call areca, and which resembles a pear. They cut that fruit into four parts, and then wrap it in the leaves of their tree which they call betre. These leaves resemble the leaves of the mulberry. they mix it with a little lime, and when they have chewed it thoroughly, they spit it out. It makes the mouth exceedingly red. All the people in those parts of the world use it, for it is very cooling to the heart, and if they cease to use it they would die.

"There are dogs, cats, swine, fowls, goats, rice, ginger, cocoanuts, figs, oranges, lemons, millet, panicum, sorgo, wax and quantity of gold in that island. It lies in the latitude of nine and two-thirds degrees toward the Arctic Pole, and a longitude of 162 degrees from the line of demarcation. It is 25 leguas from the Acquada, and it is called Mazaua.

"We remained there seven days, after which we laid our course toward the northwest, passing amoing five islands, namely Ceylon, Bohol, Canigham, Baibai and Gatighan. In the last named island of Gatighan, there are bats as large as eagles. As it was late, we killed one of them which resembled chicken in taste. There are doves, turtle doves, parrots and certain black birds as large as domestic chicken, which have a long tail. The last mentioned birds lay eggs as large as the goose and bury them under the sand through the great heat of which they hatch out. When the chicks are born, they pushed up the sand and come out. The eggs are good to eat.

"There is a distance of 20 leguas from Gatighan to Mazaua. We set out westward from Gatighan but the king of Mazaua could not follow us (closely) and, consequently, we awaited him near three islands, namely, Polo, Ticohon and Pozon. When he caught up with us, he was greatly astonished at the rapidity with which we sailed. The captain general had him come into his ship with several of chiefs at which they were pleased. Thus did we go to Zubu from Gatighan, the distance to Zubu being 15 leguas."