or prince of Hirado, whence they proceeded to Jor, at the southern end of the peninsula of Malacca, where they found a Dutch fleet of nine sail. In this fleet the Dutch captain obtained an appointment as master, but was soon after killed in a sea-fight with the Portuguese, with whom the Dutch were, by this time, vigorously and successfully contending for the mastership of the eastern seas.[68] CHAPTER XXI _Spanish Friars in Japan—Extension of Japanese Trade—Progress of the Dutch in the Eastern Seas—They open a Trade with Japan—Emperor’s Letter—Shipwreck of Don Rodrigo de Vivero on the Japanese Coast—His Reception, Observations, and Departure—Destruction of a Portuguese Carac by the Japanese—Another Dutch Ship arrives—Spex’s Charter—Embassies from Macao and New Spain—Father Louis Sotelo and his Projects—A. D. 1607-1618._ The Dutch and English, though they had not yet reached Japan, were already, especially the Dutch, making great progress in the Indian seas; but it was not by them alone that the Portuguese monopoly of Japanese commerce and Japanese conversion was threatened. Taking advantage of the bull of Clement VII, already referred to, a multitude of Spanish friars from Manila poured into Japan, whose first and chief business it was, according to the Jesuit letter-writers and historians, to declaim with vehemence against the conduct of the fathers of the company, whom they represented as altogether too circumspect, reserved, and timid in the publication of the gospel. The fanaticism of these Spanish friars was excessive, in illustration of which the Jesuit historians relate, with malicious satisfaction, the following story: One of them, in a dispute with one of the shipwrecked Hollanders of Adams’ company (perhaps with Adams himself), to sustain the authority of the Catholic church, appealed to its miraculous power, and when this obstinate Dutch heretic questioned the reality of any such power, and challenged an exhibition of it, the fanatical missionary undertook to convince him by walking himself on the sea. A day was appointed for the miracle. The Spaniard prepared himself by confession, prayer, and fasting. A crowd of Japanese assembled to see it, and the friar, after a confident exhortation to the multitude, stepped, crucifix in hand, into the water, certain of being buoyed up by faith and providence. But he was soon floundering over his head, and was only saved from drowning by some boats sent to his assistance; nor did this experiment add much either to the faith of the Dutchman or to the docility of the Japanese. About this same time, also, the institution of parish priests was introduced; but this, like the admission of friars, led only to new disputes and collisions.