ing uncongenial, he deserts and takes passage for England
(January 2, 1691). The journey to the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good
Hope (chap. xix--misnumbered xx) witnesses a slight engagement between
the French, with whom hostilities have broken out, and the Dutch and
English; and the mysterious death of many of the sailors on the English
vessel, from the bad water, Dampier thinks. England is finally reached
(chap. xx), and the author's long voyage is over, September 16, 1691.]

PETITION FOR DOMINICAN MISSIONARIES

Fray Francisco de Villalva of the Order of Preachers, and
procurator-general (in virtue of powers which he presents) of the
province of Santo Rosario, which the said order has in the Filipinas
Islands, declares: That, as is well known, the religious of his
order in the said islands have converted to the Catholic faith,
and now have in their charge, the provinces of Cagayan, Pangasinan,
Mandayas, part of Tagalos, Zambales, and the island of Babuyanes--in
which territory there is diversity of languages, and a great number
of convents provided with ministers for the instruction of the Indian
natives; from this labor always has been and still is gathered the
spiritual harvest which is well known. Moreover, those fathers have
made extensive conquests in various parts of those kingdoms, founding
many churches--as they actually are maintaining public worship at
this very time in the vast empire of Great China. There they are
suffering immense hardships and persecutions, shedding their blood in
the violent acts committed by tyranny, in order to plant there the
Christian faith and religion; for this cause, and in its defense,
seventy-eight religious have given their lives as martyrs in that
province, leaving the church made illustrious by this triumph. And
besides this, they have in the city of Manila their principal convent,
which continually maintains the practices of hearing confessions,
preaching, and giving consolation in the sicknesses and trials of the
citizens, with great comfort to all. They have also the college of
Santo Tomas, in which are taught grammar, the arts, and scholastic
and moral theology, to the benefit of all that community and the
entire archipelago. They support students holding fellowships, usually
twenty-four to thirty, without receiving any stipend: and have thus
sent out, as they are still doing, graduates of much learning, for
the dignities and curacies of those islands. They