the Caragas, whose chief tenet of religion was the deification or apotheosis of the brave and of the most tyrannical.  From so barbarous a maxim one can infer something of their fierce customs.  The district was large and caused great labor, for the conquests had to be made through rough and dense forests.  Their superior assigned eight religious for this task, who, being supplied with the necessary things, arrived without accident at the presidio of Tandag. [65]

24.  They endeavored to reduce that infidelity with mildness and gentleness.  They made those people see their errors, and God lent such force to their persuasions that many were baptized.  They procured their conversion through the chiefs, who by their superiority tyrannized over their dependents.  One of those chiefs was called Ynuc, as renowned for his reputation as feared for his cruelty, by means of which he was absolute along that coast and formidable in the neighboring islands.  He hated the Spaniards violently, with whom he always refused to make peace or truce, ever preserving for them an implacable hatred.  The superior of that mission, father Fray Juan de la Madre de Dios, trusting in God, dared to conquer that monster.  He left Tandag to look for him alone, without any followers.  He found him at his rancheria. [66] Ynuc wondered at the father’s audacity in appearing before him without first asking permission.  He intended to take satisfaction for what he considered an intolerable insult, but the father talked to him with so much mildness and spirituality, that he not only pardoned his boldness, but also showed pleasure at his salutary advice.  They conversed intimately, and Ynuc was so pleased with his intercourse that he accepted tolerable treaties of peace with the Spaniards of Tandag, with whom he opened communication and commerce.  He granted a free permit so that the father might preach to his subjects, and so that the father might enter and leave his lands without hindrance, ordering that all give him their help.  The father continuing his intercourse with Ynuc, the opportunity came, when master of his affections, to treat concerning his conversion, as his example was so important.  Ynuc did not resist the divine call very strenuously.  He disposed himself for catechism, and received baptism amid great solemnity.  In that conversion he performed the necessary duty, as a proof [of his sincerity], of sending all the concubines from his house, and marrying the first wife and confirming by the sacraments the natural contract in faciae ecclesiae. [67] He freed all his slaves, who exceeded two thousand.  He issued edicts ordering that all persons who thought themselves aggrieved should come for satisfaction, without any fear; and he made the religious the judges for that, together with the commandant of the fort.  They settled all differences equitably, and to the satisfaction of the interested parties, entirely contenting them all with their decrees.