with confidence in the Lord,
whose work we are doing--I set out to go where they were, taking
with me Brother Dionisio (who has been, in all these experiences,
my very faithful companion); and there I said to them: 'Fear not,
my children, for I am your father, not the alcalde-mayor; I come to
do you good, not harm. What do you fear from a man unarmed and alone,
who puts himself in your power? You behold me here. If you desire me
for a slave, I will live with you in your village of Tibor, and will
serve you as a slave if you will in turn let me teach you how you
may obtain salvation. I have compassion on you when I see you acting
thus, for if the Spaniards seize you they will do you much harm. Let
us be friends, and in token of our friendship, take this garment:'
and I handed to the chiefs an elegant striped mantilla, asking them to
give me also some pledge. They presented to me a necklace, and then we
embraced each other and drank from the same cup. In short, we became
so good friends that they promised me that whenever I might summon
them to Loboc, they would come, provided that they would bring but few
people. They gave me a little fruit and some eggs, and I gave them a
basket of rice. After expressions of friendship had been exchanged,
I asked them to make peace also with my friends of Tobigon; this they
did, and departed abashed without having done any harm. May God bring
them to a place where they can receive instruction; for some of them,
when questioned, replied that I was the first Spaniard whom they had
ever seen in their lives. This took place near Sebu; what must be
the condition of affairs elsewhere?"

Another letter from Father Valerio to the father-visitor, dated
October 4, gives the following account: "Father Gabriel writes me
that he has baptized in Loboc and Dita more than four hundred souls,
most of them children under the age of reason. In these three months
I find, upon examination, that more than a thousand souls have been
baptized, and that the ardor of numberless others is aroused. The
fathers write me that the hour has come in which God is present in this
island. May your Reverence send us laborers, or at least one father,
until those from Espana arrive. Fortunate is he who may come hither,
for he will delight in the fervor of this primitive church."

Father Gabriel Sanchez writes thus, in a letter of October 5:
"Our Lord has favored the plans and labors of the father rector and
other fathers;