nt down to the shore to fetch the priest, he
again sallied out and drove the natives before him.

When the holy father arrived another council was held, and he was
informed that the people were ready to treat, and asked what, in
his opinion, should be the terms imposed upon them. He heard the
arguments of the governor, in favor of allowing them to return to
their island, but he said:

"In my opinion it is essential, above all things, that they should
be forced to accept Christianity."

At this the Englishmen, and indeed the two Portuguese officers,
could with difficulty repress a smile; but the governor at once saw
that a wholesale conversion of this sort would do him much good
with the authorities at Goa, and he therefore willingly fell into
the priest's views.

The next morning the natives again appeared with their green
boughs; and the governor, with the officer, the priest, and a body
of ten soldiers, went out to meet them. The King of Ternate
advanced, and bowed himself submissively to the ground, and
expressed his submission; and craved for pardon, and for permission
to return with his people to Ternate, promising solemnly that never
again would they meddle with the Portuguese settlement.

The governor, who spoke the language fluently, having been there
for some years, uttered an harangue reproaching him with his folly,
and wickedness, in wantonly declaring war against the Portuguese.
He pointed to the destroyed plantations, and asked if any
punishment could be too great for the ruin caused.

The king and his councilors offered to pay large tributes,
annually, of spice and other products, until the ruined plantations
were again in bearing.

"This will not repay us for the losses we have suffered, and for
the evil spirit which you have introduced into this island.

"We have, however," the governor said, "only your interests at
heart; and therefore we have decided to pardon you, and to allow
you to return to your island, upon the condition that you and all
your people embrace Christianity, and pay such a tribute as we may
impose."

The king had no understanding of the meaning of what was proposed
to him, and the governor said that he and his people were, in the
morning, to assemble before the castle, and that the holy father,
who had been sent on purpose to turn them from the wickedness of
their ways, would then explain the doctrines of Christianity to
them; that if they accepted and believed what he sa