nds were discovered, and named
San Andres. Several canoes arrived alongside of the ship, and the
occupants accepted the Commander's invitation to come on board. They
were much astonished to see the Spaniards smoke, and admired the
iron fastenings of the vessel. When they got near shore, they all
began to dance, clapping their hands to beat time. They measured the
ship, and wondered where such a large piece of wood could have come
from. They counted the crew, and presented them with cocoanuts, fish,
and herbs from their canoes. The vessel anchored near to the shore,
but there was a strong current and a fresh wind blowing, so that it was
imprudent to disembark. However, two priests insisted upon erecting
a cross on the shore, and were accompanied by the quarter-master and
an officer of the troops. The weather compelled the master to weigh
anchor, and the vessel set sail, leaving on land the four Europeans,
who were ultimately murdered. For a quarter of a century these Islands
were lost again to the Spaniards.

In 1721 two Caroline prahus were wafted to the Ladrone Islands, where
D. Luiz Sanchez was Governor. The Caroline Islanders had no idea
where they had landed, and were quite surprised when they beheld the
priest. He forcibly detained these unfortunate people, and handed
them over to the Governor, whom they entreated, with tears--but
all in vain--to be allowed to return to their homes. There they
remained prisoners, until it suited the Governor's convenience to
send a vessel with a priest to their Island. The priest went there,
and thence to Manila, where a fresh expedition was fitted out. It
was headed by a missionary, and included a number of soldiers whom
the natives massacred soon after their arrival. All further attempt
to subdue the Caroline Islands was necessarily postponed.

The natives, at that time, had no religion at all, or were, in a
vague sense, polytheists. Their wise men communicated with the
souls of the defunct. They were polygamists, but had a horror
of adultery. Divorce was at once granted by the chiefs on proof
of infidelity. They were cannibals. In each island there was a
chief, regarded as a semi-spiritual being, to whom the natives were
profoundly obedient. Huts were found used as astrological schools,
where also the winds and currents were studied. They made cloth of
plantain-fibre--hatchets with stone heads. Between sunset and sunrise
they slept. When war was declared between two villages o