as he was able, and bestowed not less attention
on them. As a result they appeared well pleased, and bound to make
similar returns. They promised to do many favors for the Spaniards
in the future.

Through this care, the islanders continued to frequent the vessels
fearlessly. The commander treated them according to their rank,
and showed himself kind and affectionate to all. He believed that
he could accomplish more for God and his king by that way than by
the din of arms. As soon as the father prior, Fray Andres Urdaneta,
considered them somewhat quiet and less timorous than at first, he
began, as a true curator of souls, to tell them the chief purpose of
the Spaniards' coming through so wide and vast seas, ploughing the
waters in those vessels of theirs; this he declared to be none other
than to give them light, in order that, issuing from the darkness
of the ignorance in which they had lived for so many years, they
might know the true God, the creator of the universe, and His only
begotten Son--who became man for our redemption and our release from
the slavery of the devil, lived in this world among men, and finally
died, so that by His death we might have life and liberty. He declared
that the imparting of such truths to them was the duty of the fathers
and priests who were in the vessels, who would take nothing else upon
themselves, so that these natives, guided thus by the right way, might
also enjoy salvation. The others, he said, although they were of the
same nation, desired to settle among the natives--not for any evil,
but only to trade in the things of which the natives had abundance;
and at the same time to protect them and defend them from their
enemies, who, envious of their good fortune, might try to make war
upon them. Likewise they would maintain the natives in all peace and
quiet, so that, on this account, the latter might devote themselves
more thoroughly to their occupations, either at home or abroad,
without any fear of harm befalling them from the Spaniards, if they
on their part regarded thoroughly the laws of the friendship that had
been entered upon with so many ceremonies, according to their manner
and custom. In all these negotiations, the Indian Pacheco proved of
great use. Through what was said to him, and from his own experience,
he endeavored to persuade the natives to do what would be so much to
their advantage. The natives showed themselves very well satisfied
at everything, and agreed