that were prepared to punish the king of Ternate and recover that kingdom and the rest of Maluco, which had rebelled with so great an insult and outrage to the Spanish nation.  His Highness should trust in God our Lord, and persevere in his attempt to serve him in the holy and true religion.  When the Ternate enterprise was over, he would take his force to the relief of Camboxa.  With these hopes, which were fulfilled by Don Luys de las Marinas, his son, those ambassadors left.  In order to give them truthful satisfaction and a just cause for the delay, it was necessary to publish the true purpose of that fleet, which until then had been kept secret.

Then the governor determined upon his departure, and tried to take with him as many men as possible.  They were enlisted, willingly or by force—­those who were requested and those who were compelled, alike.  The encomenderos and soldiers caused a prodigal expense in ships, supplies and parades—­which, because of the great opportunity furnished for all that in Filipinas, exceeded the governor’s power and wishes.  The governor sent Don Luys, his son, with all the regulars to the island of Cebu, where all the fleet was to be assembled.  There he remained six months, awaiting new orders.  Gomez Perez was detained in Manila, planning matters of importance.  Two days before leaving, while a guest and dining at the house of Pedro de Roxas, his assistant, where he was wont to amuse himself in heavy gaming and merriment, he became so gay—­beyond his custom, and contrary to the harshness of his character—­that many interpreted it as his last farewell, and an omen of what happened.  He recounted in conversation, amid much laughter, that father Fray Vicente, of the Franciscan order, had told him that that enterprise could not succeed; for the army was composed of conscripted men, and especially because the married men were going.  The governor left Manila October seventeen, with six royal galleys, one galleon, one fusta, one fragatin, and a number of fragatas, caracoas, and vireys—­different varieties of craft of the natives of the country.  All the vessels, those belonging to his Majesty and those of his vassals who offered their persons for his service, totaled one hundred.  There were one thousand well-armed Spaniards and more than four hundred arquebusiers from the vicinity of Manila; and another thousand of those called Visaias, people who use lances, shields, and bows and arrows.  Besides these, there were more than four hundred others, Chinese, of those living throughout that island; and of those who come to trade, another goodly number, with pay—­the great majority of whom were conscripts rather than volunteers.  There was in the galleys a quantity of food for the fleet.  The governor appointed his son, Don Luys Perez, as lieutenant of the fleet, and ordered him, as above stated, to assemble it at the island of Cebu.  He himself embarked in the flagship, a vessel of twenty-eight benches, manned by two hundred and fifty Chinese;