chiefs came there to see me; and the first thing they said to me was, that one who was collecting the tributes in that settlement had killed a chief by torture, and the same Indians indicated the manner in which he had been killed, which was by crucifixion, and hanging him by the arms.  I saw this soldier in the town of Caceres, in the province of Camarines, and learned that the justice arrested him for it and fined him fifty pesos—­to be divided equally between the exchequer and the expenses of justice—­and that with this punishment he was immediately set free.  Likewise I learned that an encomendero—­because a chief had neither gold nor silver nor cloth with which to pay the tribute—­exacted from him an Indian for nine pesos, in payment of nine tributes which he owed; and then took this Indian to the ship and sold him for thirty-five pesos.  And although I told this to the steward and asked for the Indian, he remained in slavery.  They collect tribute from children, old men, and slaves, and many remain unmarried because of the tribute, while others kill their children.

What the encomendero does, after having collected his tributes in the manner stated, is to return home; and for another year he neither sees nor hears of them.  He takes no more account of them than if they were deer, until the next year, when the same thing is repeated.  These injuries the Spaniards inflicted in all places until recently.  In this district of Manila there is not so much of it now, because many of the natives are already Christians, and there are religious among them, and affairs are in better order.  But in remote places and some not very far away, what I have stated occurs, and even worse things are done.  Because all, or nearly all, of those who pay the tribute are infidels, and neither know nor understand more of the matters of our faith than they did a hundred years ago, and even more on account of the wrongs which they suffer, they abhor and abominate the faith.  Indeed, as for the example of decency which those who mingle with the Indians set them there is no way to describe it here without offending your Majesty’s ears; but I state it as an assured fact that they care not whether a woman be a believer or an infidel, single or married; all are on the same level.  From this your Majesty will gather what these unhappy Indians will have conceived of us and of the faith which we preach.

I shall not omit to mention here a thing which is full of reproach to the Christians who have lived here, and even to all of us who hear it—­namely, that the natives of these islands have been, from ancient times, infidels, of whom there are many now in this and other islands; and that the Moros have come to these islands from that of Burney to preach the law of Mahoma, through which preaching a large number of pagans have turned Moros.  Those who have received this vile law keep it with much pertinacity, and there is great difficulty in getting them to leave it.