all the gold, precious stones, and jewelry of the city, which had been offered with much readiness and good will. Our Lord rewarded them for this, for there was not one accident, or a single piece lacking, of which there had previously been some fear, on account of the great gathering of all classes of people. As for the decoration of the church, the edifice itself, recently completed, was so beautiful and pleasing that it sufficed for adornment, although not so elaborate as the tabernacle. Its beauty was increased by elegant hangings of tapestry, and by many inscriptions--written by Ours in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Castilian, and Tagalo--extending in three rows along the great nave, besides others, corresponding to these, in various places. As I have said, the holy relics were borne on six platforms, resting on the shoulders of men, most of whom were religious, and in fourteen reliquaries, which were carried by as many religious; and dignitaries of the cathedral, clothed in their official robes, accompanied these. Add to this the salutes from the forts, and the standards of the confraternities carried in the van, and the effect was highly imposing. The festivities lasted nine days, each order celebrating its special feast, preaching and saying mass with the greatest possible solemnity. The Augustinian fathers began the festivities, considering the occasion especially theirs on account of their long residence there. They assisted us by their good will and deeds, thereby showing themselves no less devoted to the holy relics than friendly to the Society. They conducted many kinds of music and dances, and besides these were many furnished by our Indians, and the Chinese and Japanese; all this variety produced most pleasing effects and greatly adorned and enlivened the festival. In this fashion the other religious orders celebrated their own days until the eighth, in succession, with great devotion, joy and edification on the part of the people. On the afternoon of the last day, as a conclusion to the fiesta, valuable prizes were distributed on the occasion of a literary contest, the announcement of which had been published some days before with much show and solemnity. In this contest many excellent and ingenious compositions of various kinds were delivered, to which prizes were awarded, after two exceedingly pleasing, dignified and impressive declamations had been recited in praise of the holy relics. Divine worship was also improved in the new church by the addition of some silver lamps, candlesticks, chalices, patines, wine-cruets, monstrances, and thuribles; many altar hangings and chasubles, made not only from the silk and embroideries of that country, but from damask, velvet, and brocade brought from Espana and Italia, with printed borders; hangings heavily embroidered with seed pearls and thin silver plates; and various draperies, some of velvet and damask, others of colored taffeta. Besides all these things,