fter saying mass
and beseeching God to direct their voyage for His holy service. They
set sail Friday morning, and, although they attempted to leave the
port, this was impossible, for the sea was running high and pounding
so furiously upon the shoals, that they, persisting in the effort to
offset it, were in danger of being wrecked. Therefore they returned,
very sad at heart, to the harbor, and there they remained that day.

[The remainder of the second book (chaps. ii-xv) treats of the voyage
of the Franciscans to China, their stay in that country, and their
return to Manila. They are forced to return to the harbor for the
second time on account of contrary weather, which so affects one of the
priests, Estevan Ortiz, "that no entreaties availed to persuade him
to finish the voyage they had undertaken. On the contrary he answers
that he will tempt God no further, since these signs that they have
seen are sufficient to prove that it is His holy will that they shall
not make the journey at that time." On the fifteenth of June, however,
the little band of three priests, three soldiers, and a Chinese lad
(as interpreter) taken in the siege of Limahon, set sail from llocos,
fearful of pursuit by the governor. Reaching the Chinese coast, they
go ashore near Canton, kneel down, and "with great devotion, chanted
the _Te Deum laudamus_, giving thanks to God who had brought them so
miraculously to the kingdom of China." They receive the freedom of the
city after various investigations, the Chinese officials believing the
false stories of shipwreck that the interpreters tell for their own
benefit. The Portuguese at Macao fail in their attempt to turn the
Chinese against the Spaniards. Hunger forces them to beg their food
in the streets of Canton; but the officials, on hearing this, order
that provision be made for them from the royal revenues. By order
of the viceroy, they journey to Aucheo, but are speedily ordered to
return to Canton, to await a Portuguese vessel, that they may be sent
from the kingdom. On leaving China the little party separate into
two divisions, the father custodian and one other going to Macao,
that they may there learn the Chinese language thoroughly, while the
other two return to Manila, which is reached February 2, 1580 "where
they were received by the governor and the rest with great joy, and
their fault in having departed without leave was pardoned." The father
custodian reports from Macao a rich harves