et to which they had been invited
by Hamabar, the King of the island. Juan Serrano had so ingratiated
himself with the natives during the sojourn on shore that his life
was spared for a while. Stripped of his raiment and armour, he was
conducted to the beach, where the natives demanded a ransom for his
person of two cannons from the ships' artillery. Those on board saw
what was passing and understood the request, but they were loath
to endanger the lives of all for the sake of one--"_Melius est ut
pereat unus quam ut pereat communitas_" (Saint Augustine)--so they
raised anchors and sailed out of the port, leaving Serrano to meet
his terrible fate.

Due to sickness, murder during the revolts, and the slaughter in Cebu,
the exploring party, now reduced to 100 souls all told, was deemed
insufficient to conveniently manage three vessels. It was resolved
therefore to burn the most dilapidated one--the _Concepcion_. At a
general council, Juan Caraballo was chosen Commander-in-Chief of
the expedition, with Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa as Captain of the
_Victoria_. The royal instructions were read, and it was decided
to go to the Island of Borneo, already known to the Portuguese
and marked on their charts. On the way they provisioned the ships
off the coast of Palauan Island (Paragua), and thence navigated to
within ten miles of the capital of Borneo (probably Brunei). Here
they fell in with a number of native canoes, in one of which was the
King's secretary. There was a great noise with the sound of drums
and trumpets, and the ships saluted the strangers with their guns.

The natives came on board, embraced the Spaniards as if they were old
friends, and asked them who they were and what they came for. They
replied that they were vassals of the King of Spain and wished to
barter goods. Presents were exchanged, and several of the Spaniards
went ashore. They were met on the way by over two thousand armed
men, and safely escorted to the King's quarters. After satisfying
his Majesty's numerous inquiries, Captain Espinosa was permitted to
return with his companions. He reported to Caraballo all he had seen,
and in a council it was agreed that the town was too large and the
armed men too numerous to warrant the safety of a longer stay. However,
being in need of certain commodities, five men were despatched to the
town. As days passed by, their prolonged absence caused suspicion
and anxiety, so the Spaniards took in reprisal the son of