general of the coasts of China and king of
Hermosa Island, with father Fray Victorio Ricio his ambassador, in
the year 1662, until the second embassy, which his son sent with the
same father, and which was despatched on July 11, 1663.

On the fifth of May the ambassador of Cot-sen made his entry; this
was father Fray Victorio Riccio, [42] a Florentine, a religious of
the Order of Preachers. He was attired in the garb of a mandarin's
rank, which the barbarian had conferred on him to equip him for this
embassy. Little pomp was displayed in his reception, for the unfriendly
nature of his errand was already known. Don Sabiniano Manrrique de
Lara received the letter which he brought; it was full of arrogance,
ostentatiously boasting of Cot-sen's power, and declaring that his
champans were many thousands in number and his perfect soldiers
hundreds of thousands; (it is a fact that those champans, counting
large and small, amount to 15,000, as is known by eyewitnesses);
and, in virtue of this pompous and noisy declaration, he demanded
that these islands should pay him tribute, threatening us with the
example of the Dutch. [43]

The insolence of this demand angered all the Spaniards, and our
resolute attitude filled the Sangleys with anxiety; for, as it
could not be imagined that a less generous one [would be taken],
they feared the injuries that would be caused by the war, and that
they would be the first to suffer from these. The governor, as pious
as prudent, commanded that in the church of the Society of Jesus the
blessed sacrament should remain exposed, in order that the archbishop,
the three auditors, the superiors of the religious orders, and the
military chiefs might assemble in a devout public supplication; and
ordered that, at about the same time, a council should be summoned
(in order to give the Sangleys less cause for blame), where Cot-sen's
letter should be read and such decision made as in the opinion of
the council ought to be adopted.

In regard to the principal point in the letter, there was little
discussion; for, as the Spanish blood was coursing impetuously in the
heart of every man there, all gave angry reply to Cot-sen's demand,
showing the courage and resolution that was to be expected from
their noble blood, and feeling shame that [even in] imagination [he]
could dare to cast so black a stigma on the Spanish name. Resolved
to die a thousand times rather than consent to such humiliation,
and regarding