against the Bornean and Camucones enemy, who were
devastating the coasts, seizing numbers of captives,
and committing other depredations. As chaplains
went fathers Fray Diego de San Joan Evangelista, native
of Zaragoca, and Fray Joan de la Cruz. They bore
themselves so devotedly amid the military excitements,
and gave so good examples, that the chief commander,
one Captain Bartolome Diaz, finding it necessary to
absent himself, in order to leave his men with security
and in quiet appointed, with well recognized prudence,
the first above named. For that religious, not
as a substitute for the commander, but as a father,
cared for all, and they were satisfied. And they
were surprised, because it happened that, the supply
of water falling short, they sought it, but were unable
to find any in various parts of the islands, and were
suffering the anguish and affliction that can be imagined
in such an extremity, when one day the said father
said mass, begging our Lord for help in such need.
It happened, then, that after performing his ministry
he returned to the men and told them to be very joyful,
and to look in the direction that he pointed out to
them for a spring that was there. They found
it immediately, not very far away, and praised God
for so great a mercy. In the insurrection of Caragha
a numerous fleet was also prepared; Captain Joan Mendez
Porras was accompanied, for the common consolation
of the soldiers, by fathers Fray Lorenco de San Facundo
and Fray Diego de Santa Ana. By their efforts
the villages of Bislin, Careel, and Bagangan were conquered
and that land again reduced. In another fleet
that set out from the same province of Caragha, Captain
Joan Nicolas chose father Fray Jacinto de San Fulgencio,
whereupon many villages surrendered to the service
of the king; and the Indians of the island of Dinagat,
Baybayon, and Sandegan requested ministers, and five
hundred were baptized. Besides such occasions,
which are generally quite common, Ours have served
in divers fleets that have been prepared to oppose
the Dutch who were infesting the shores. Lastly,
in two expeditions made by Don Sebastian Hurtado de
Corcuera—one to the kingdom of Jolo, and
the other to that of Mindanao—he took, in
the first, fathers Fray Joan de San Nicolas, and Fray
Miguel de la Concepcion; and in the second, father
Fray Lorenco de San Facundo and father Fray Joan de
San Joseph. The last-named religious was very
useful, for he served as ambassador to the Moro king,
to whom he was a friend, as he had been his captive
in former times.
Returning to our narration, and the relation of the security of Ours, now comes Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, archbishop of Manila, in a letter to the Congregation of the Propaganda of the Faith, [40] and he confirms the work of the same, while he says: