I left Manila in a champan, which is a boat used by the Chinese, and in which they come from their country here.  We were four of the Society who embarked in it, and God was pleased to give it so favorable a wind that by means of it we escaped from the hands of the enemy, who were in ambush, watching for an opportune moment.  The father-provincial [59] took the same route in a caracoa—­a boat used in this country; but that craft was knocked to pieces before reaching the place where the enemy had established themselves.  Hence it was necessary for him and his associate to come overland, suffering extraordinary hardships, over mountains and through rivers, for more than one hundred leguas.  Thus does it seem that they escaped as by a miracle, as well as did the champan.

Soon thirty or more boatloads of Camuzones Indians arrived here.  They were naked, having only a bit of cloth with which they cover, etc.  Their weapons are certain pointed bamboos, but those bamboos are very strong.  They entered a village which was under my charge, and burned it, together with its house and church.  They broke the saints into pieces, although the ornaments were saved.  Nine persons were captured here.

Another brother and I were going to another village, without thought of enemies.  We entered the bar of a river at about one in the afternoon.  That afternoon the enemy entered the same river.  The next day, while we were giving thanks, they made a sudden attack on the village, whereupon all the people fled.  We two went to the mountains, where we remained eleven days.  Thence the enemy took their way toward another village, where the father-provincial was, together with Father Juan Lopez, [60] his associate, and other fathers.  Before the enemy arrived, they received the warning which I sent them.  Consequently, all took to the mountains, and the father-provincial and the other fathers were among the mountains for a number of days, where they suffered hardships.  But our Lord was pleased to order that the enemy should not reach that village nor the village where I was staying, for fear of the narrowness of the rivers, lest they could not get through them when they departed.  But they went thence to another town located on the seashore, and burned it entirely.  The enemy also went to other villages of our missions and burned them, and the fathers escaped as by a miracle from their hands.  When the enemy capture the fathers they cut off their heads, as they did two years ago with a father whom they captured.  They treat the Spaniards whom they capture in the same way.  Consequently, we all go about as if we were soldiers; our ships are laden with arms; and forts have been built in the chief villages and fortified with firearms, with which to defend ourselves; while forts are being built in the other villages.

All those coasts of this sea have been crowded with sentinels this year, for it was rumored that many Dutch ships were to come, and they always come to sight land at the cape of Espiritu Santo.