Then they seized their catans, which are sharper and
more curved than our cutlasses, and each Chinese commenced,
without disturbing the silence, to strike his neighboring
Spaniard; and then, with the increase of their fury,
to behead all those who were sleeping. More than
sixty had embarked on the flagship, among them the
servants of the governor, and others, old soldiers,
who in order to oblige and accommodate him were enduring
discomfort. They had been gambling all the night;
and being tired, and because of the excessive heat,
were sleeping naked, some in the midship gangway,
others on the benches, while the more favored ones,
to whom were given better quarters, slept aft.
The governor went into his cabin to sleep. The
Chinese proceeded to slaughter those who, suspecting
nothing, were sleeping; it was done so quickly that
when some of those asleep in the stern awakened, the
other Spaniards were already dead. The guard
did not perceive it, and such carelessness could admit
of no excuse, for they had been sufficiently warned,
and examples had preceded. Some waked, but finding
themselves wounded and confused, jumped overboard,
where most of them were drowned. Some—a
very few—jumped overboard before being wounded,
but they were also drowned, although they were near
shore, for they could not reach land because of the
strength of the current. Twelve escaped, and many
dead bodies were found on the beach. The Chinese,
now grown bolder, seized the pikes that they had hidden
under the benches, and with outcries completed their
treachery. The governor, who was sleeping below
the hatchway, with a lantern or candle, awaked.
In order to awaken him, the Chinese themselves began
purposely to make a greater noise; while they cried
out to him and begged him to come out and settle a
quarrel among the “Castillas,” as they
call the Spaniards. He, either for that reason,
or thinking that the galley was dragging as on other
occasions, arose in his shirt, opened the hatchway,
looked out, and pushed his body half way through it.
At that same time, the Chinese fell upon him with
their cutlasses, and fatally wounded him. They
cleft his head, transfixed him with their pikes, and
ran him through with more than barbaric ferocity.
Perceiving that his death was near at hand, he retired,
and took the prayer-book of his order, which he always
kept with him, and an image of our Lady. Between
those two refuges, which were later found bathed in
his blood, he yielded up his life. However he
did not die immediately, for they found him later in
his bed, tightly holding the image, where he bled
to death. About him were the bodies of Daniel
Gomez de Leon, his valet, Pantaleon de Brito, Suero
Diaz, Juan de Chaves, Pedro Maseda, Juan de San Juan,
Carrion Ponce, and Francisco Castillo—all
servants of his—besides the bodies of four
very valiant slaves, who merited the same end.
The outcome was not learned until dawn, for not one
of the Chinese dared enter the governor’s room