ave found themselves in great need of everything, for
whatever houses and stores were there were all burned; for the Dutch
have done this three times on that point. Help came then from Baong,
and father Fray Hernando de Morales came overland with two hundred
Indians. He was an angel to the people, and, with the Indians,
aided them in their greatest necessity. By this means they had one
who served and accommodated them, which was no small achievement. He
brought them as much food as he could, and remained with them until
the natives began to aid; for all had been frightened greatly at the
uproar that they had seen. This was a great matter for the natives,
for they all said, "The Dutch have been beaten."

Captain Don Diego, seeing that the enemy would go there constantly,
began, with the consent of the Audiencia, to build a fort, and
constructed a rampart, furnished with some excellent pieces, which
arrived the same day when the enemy left, and were almost captured by
them. Afterward the fort was completed. It consists of four ramparts,
and is the best in the Filipinas. I have related the above, because
it shows how our religious attend to the service of our Lord.

CHAPTER XXXVI

_Of the election of our father, Fray Jeronimo de Salas; and of other
events in this province at that time._

The [time for the] chapter arrived in which our father Fray Vicente
left his office, at which he would rejoice; for this matter of
command, although it appears to be all honey, certainly contains
much more of gall and confusion than rest. The father visitor,
Fray Juan de Enriquez, received votes, and he was well liked in
Pampanga. The father-provincial thought that father Fray Agustin
de Mejia [38] was needed for the government of the province, for he
was of Manila, and had maintained that convent with great devotion
and punctuality, and no one had been lacking in anything--and that
in times so calamitous as his own. During that time the ships from
Espana failed us for two years, and during all that period he had so
great courage that he did splendid things in the convent of Manila,
both for the church and for the house. The monument placed in our house
is the best of all those belonging to the orders; it and many others
are his work. Notwithstanding this, the religious did not consider him
favorably. Consequently, our father provincial, seeing the difficulty,
did not wish, as a prudent man, to venture upon a thing which would