Juan de Salcedo, convinced of the difficulty of taking the fort by storm, and desirous of being as sparing as possible, of the lives of his Spaniards, considering the difficulties they had to encounter, determined on attempting to reduce Limahon by fair means. Having in his army a Chinese who had been established in Manila, he ordered him to write to Limahon; but this letter having no effect, he wrote a second to the same purpose. Limahon replied, that he was considered a savage tiger, whom all were desirous of catching; but he assured them, that he should either kill them, or they him. The Chinese, therefore, thus declining every amicable proposal, the Colonel resolved to throw up works near to their works, but at such a distance as to be without the range of the enemy's artillery. Upon his beginning accordingly to pitch his camp, however, a shot was fired which passed close to him, and wounded his aid-de-camp in the leg, affording him a convincing proof that their artillery could reach all over the small island. It was, therefore, deemed necessary to remove the camp to another position, and to blockade the mouth of the river to prevent Limahon from escaping, until the Governor of Manila should determine, whether he would have the works taken by assault, or that, by means of a blockade, the Chinese should be starved into submission. Upon this retreat of the Spaniards, Limahon collected the remaining fragments of the junks, which had been burnt, and with these built some boats within the fort. Four months passed in this manner, when, finding he had no other resource, Limahon opened a canal to the river, and, in the night, escaped with all his people in the small vessels he had constructed. To deceive the Spaniards, and conquer the difficulties opposed to him in the mouth of the river, he set fire to a few small vessels filled with combustibles, and, ordering a false attack to be made on the guard, he, in the meantime, escaped; and, without any obstruction, on the 3d of August 1575, prosecuted his voyage. During these transactions between Juan de Salcedo and Limahon, the Augustine friars held a chapter, and appointed priests in the towns of Candaba and Macabebe, in the province of Pampanga, in Bizan, in the province of Ylocos, and in the island of Negros. They were not satisfied with the innumerable converts, they made in these islands, but they became desirous of attempting the spiritual conquest of the empire of China. There was at that time in Manila, a Chinese of the name of Aumon, who had been sent by the viceroy of Fouquien, in search of Limahon, to promise him pardon, on the part of the Emperor of China, if he would cease his depredations. This Chinese had been to Pangasinan, and told Juan de Salcedo, that he wished to see the pirate; but as Salcedo distrusted the nature of his mission, Aumon deemed it prudent to return to Manila, where he paid his court so well to the Governor, that he delivered