There was another crocodile, smaller than this one, which inflicted loss on the household of a reputable Spaniard of Manila; and this man came therefore to our house to entreat that Ours would provide him with a father who would make his Indians Christians.  The affair occurred thus:  This Spaniard was in his encomienda, where his house stood on the shore of a river much infested by these beasts.  While he was dining one day, a youth, one of those who waited on the table, went to the river to wash some plates; but he did not finish his task, for a crocodile suddenly sprang upon him and swallowed him.  The people [in the house] saw this tragic event, and the good man left the table, grieved that the youth should perish without baptism, and desirous to see if there might be some means of giving him the sacrament before he should die in the belly of the crocodile.  He soon decoyed the animal by means of a little dog, a food of which these beasts are very fond; and, having captured the crocodile and landed it on the shore, he cut it open and found the boy within, whole but dead.  This man, who measured the beast (which was not a large one) told us that it was fifteen [Spanish] feet in length, but that the capacity of its stomach was extraordinary:  for within it were found, besides the corpse of the boy, a great number of eggs of various animals, and fifteen human heads.  Grieved by this sad event, he had come to entreat that instruction might be supplied in his villages; but this could not be done, as there was no one to give it.

But to return to Catubig:  I shall conclude my account of this mission with the miraculous experiences of two children, which gave us more consolation than did the incident which we have just related.  While some Indians were on their way to visit the father, one of those fierce beasts attacked their boat, and seized a boy by the arm, carrying him away before anyone could rescue him.  The boy, following the pious custom that those people have of invoking Jesus and Mary, when he found himself in the water in the power of the crocodile, cried aloud:  “Jesus and Mary, help me!” and the marvelous thing was that the beast at once let him go practically unharmed, for the few scratches that he had received from the nails hurt him but little.  Rejoicing at this, and strengthened in the faith, they drew the child from the water into the boat, praising God for His mercies toward them.  One night the same father was summoned in behalf of another child, who was very sick.  His parents were very sorrowful, for, although but ten days old, he had not sucked his mother’s breast for three days.  They were anxious for his recovery, but desired, even more, that he should not die without baptism.  The father went, and baptized the child; and the next morning, when he inquired about it, they replied that the infant was already well, for holy baptism had immediately cured it.