The pirate Limahon, who was a man of astuteness and ability, in consequence of all this—­and as it seemed to him that to persist further in his design against the steadfastness of the Spaniards, which was different from what he had experienced hitherto, was to lose time and people—­resolved to embark and sail to the port of Cabite, whence he had come.  First he collected very carefully his dead, whom he buried afterward in the above-named island, remaining there for this purpose two days.  Then leaving this place, he returned by the same route that he had followed in his assault upon the city of Manila, until he arrived at a large river forty leagues away, Pangasinan by name.  Thinking this to be a rich country, and that he could remain there safe from those who, by the king’s orders, were looking for him, he resolved to stay there, and to make himself master of that place.  This he did with very little trouble, and by means of a fort which he built, one league up the river; he remained there for some time, collecting tribute from the natives, as their true lord.  He sent out his vessels to rob all who should be found along those coasts; and the report spread abroad that he had seized the Felipinas Islands, and that all the Spaniards there had been killed or had fled.  Thereupon great terror and fright filled all the neighboring villages settled upon this great river Pangasinan; and all of them, with no exception, received Limahon as lord, and as such obeyed him and paid him tribute.

The master-of-camp, Salzedo, attacks Limahon, burns his fleet, and besieges him for three months in a fort; whence the pirate escapes by dint of great effort.  Chapter VII.

When the governor of the islands and the citizens of Manila heard that the pirate Limahon was asserting, wherever he went, that he had killed and defeated the Spaniards; considering that if this were not checked speedily, great harm might result from it, which could not be remedied so easily afterward as it could at the present time; and that their allies and vassals throughout all those islands, placing credence in the pirate’s assertion, might rise against them, and kill them with ease, because of the great number of the natives and the fewness of the Spaniards, who until the present had sustained themselves solely by the report of their invincibility—­they took counsel together, and determined that as large a force as possible should be raised, and sent in military array in pursuit of the pirate.  They knew that he must, of necessity, have stationed himself near Manila; and that he would not dare return to China, because he was afraid.  They thought that, by the use of the same artifice and strategy employed by Limahon, they might come upon him unawares, as he had caught them.  They believed that, although they could not destroy him totally, they could, at the very least, take vengeance for the damage wrought by him, so that the lie would be given to the report spread abroad by the said pirate.  Thus the Spaniards’