from the house of the dead person, in the middle of the night.  Then they celebrated a feast during three continuous days, with banqueting and abundance of wine, which is their greatest solemnity.  The idol of the chief priestess was made of gold, and she kept it in concealment, through the contrivance of the Devil (who through it held close communication with her), in a part of her house where it was most difficult to find it.  It is estimated that for two years this secret pestilence had been going on, tyrannizing over the inhabitants to such a degree that there was hardly a sick person whom they did not attend with all diligence—­persuading each one to demand urgently that they should cast lots to ascertain whether the sick man were to live or die, and, consequently, whether sacrifice should be offered to the anito for his health.  We have already explained the manner of sacrifices and offerings they made, and the profit and gain which these infernal furies derived from them.  There was one woman among them who cleared, in the short time that I have mentioned, almost three hundred escudos; but she did not enjoy them long, for God would not allow the conflagration to spread further.  His Divine Majesty influenced some of his faithful ones, who, all aflame with the greater conflagration of His honor and service, hastened to give account of what they heard and saw and knew of this matter.  With the help of this information, beginning among the weaker members of the band, in a short time they succeeded in discovering those of secondary rank—­and thus, step by step, they reached the chief priestess herself.  Their second care (which they put into execution) was to take away from these people the idols, a great number of which were seized.  Some of these were of clay, others of wood; and two, in particular, were made from two great teeth of the cayman, set in gold, in which metal the head of the anito was shaped at the point of the tooth.  In neither the residence nor the country house of the head priestess, however, could her idol be found; nor could it be discovered by means of her, or by rummaging through her furniture and utensils, and searching often and most diligently; nor would she reveal it.  This idol had promised her, so she said, that they should never find it, even if they should tear down and destroy the house; consequently, it enjoined her not to fear the father who was conducting this search, or any of his agents or helpers; for it was more powerful than any of them.  But, as God is indeed more powerful, He influenced the faithful and zealous heart of Father Diego de Santiago—­who was then instructing that village, and made these investigations at the instance and orders of the vicar-general and provisor of Manila—­to decide that he would not relax or give up the search for this demon until he should find it.  Being quite certain that it was in the house (although he had already searched there for it several times), he returned for the last time with the determination to demolish the