The Italian title-page is thus translated: "A brief relation by Father Diego de Torres, of the Society of Jesus, procurator of the province of Peru, regarding the fruit which is being gathered among the Indians of that realm; for the consolation of the religious of that Society in Europe. At the end is added the annual letter from the Philippine Islands for 1600. At Milan; by the heirs of the late Pacifico Pontio, and Giovanni Battista Piccaglia, partners; 1603. By permission of the superiors." [33] Pedro Lopez de la Parra was a native of Salamanca; entering the Jesuit order, he completed his studies and was ordained at Mexico--where for some years he was both an instructor and preacher, being regarded as an unusually eloquent orator. Desiring to be a missionary in the Philippines, he came to the islands, but found that he could not master the language of the natives; discouraged by this, and finding that no other employment was available, he obtained permission from the visitor Garcia to return to Mexico; and on the voyage perished by shipwreck, as here related. (La Concepción, _Hist. de Philipinas_, iii, pp. 391, 392.) [34] The word _collegium_, as used here, means rather "residence" than "college;" but we retain the latter rendering because the Jesuits were then actually conducting an educational institution at Manila, in which they gave instruction to the Spaniards and to some natives. This was the college of San José, for which provision had been made as early as 1585; but for various reasons it was not opened until 1600. Its first rector was Pedro Chirino; among its first students (thirteen in all) were Pedro Tello, a nephew of the governor, and Antonio de Morga, a son of the auditor. See La Concepción's detailed account, in _Hist. de Philipinas_, iii, pp. 403-409. [35] La Concepción states (_Hist. de Philipinas_, iii, pp. 386-387) that St. Polycarp was chosen by lot, in a solemn and public assembly as the especial patron of the city of Manila, for its protection against earthquakes, as Santa Potenciana was its patron in hurricanes and tempests. [36] Antipolo is a town lying about thirteen miles east of Manila, near the northwest corner of Laguna de Bay.