In the town there was a band of worthless women, of the Catolonas [_i.e._, priestesses] as we have said. These in secret maintained a tyrannical hold upon the village by various means and plots compelling many to repair to them upon every occasion, as they formerly did before they became Christians. Among these women, one who was a leader claimed that her anito was a very close friend of the anito of the Christians and had descended to the earth from heaven. This woman most stirred up the fire on account of the power that she wielded, not only on account of the sagacity which she certainly possessed, but by her influence and reputation in the village. Not only was she herself of high family, but she was very well connected; and had several sons who were married, and thus related to the most prominent families of the village. By these means she was, on the one hand, powerful enough to draw to her the weak, and on the other, to compel the more influential to dissemble with her, and to refrain from betraying her for fear of exposing themselves to risk. Nevertheless, this woman and her following proceeded with great caution and secrecy and rigorously enjoined those who had relations with them to do the same. If any of those women died, she appointed an heir, and successor--to whom, after she had been accepted and received, her idol was brought in great silence by some chiefs, from the house of the dead person, in the middle of the night. Then they celebrated a feast during three continuous days, with banqueting and abundance of wine, which is their greatest solemnity. The idol of the chief priestess was made of gold, and she kept it in concealment, through the contrivance of the Devil (who through it held close communication with her), in a part of her house where it was most difficult to find it. It is estimated that for two years this secret pestilence had been going on, tyrannizing over the inhabitants to such a degree that there was hardly a sick person whom they did not attend with all diligence--persuading each one to demand urgently that they should cast lots to ascertain whether the sick man were to live or die, and, consequently, whether sacrifice should be offered to the anito for his health. We have already explained the manner of sacrifices and offerings they made, and the profit and gain which these infernal furies derived from them. There was one woman among them who cleared, in the short time that I have mentioned, almost three hundred escudos; but she did not enjoy them long, for God would not allow the conflagration to spread further. His Divine Majesty influenced some of his faithful ones, who, all aflame with the greater conflagration of His honor and service, hastened to give account of what they heard and saw and knew of this matter. With the help of this information, beginning among the weaker members of the band, in a short time they succeeded in discovering