As we have already said, the post at Carigara was the first where the Society began the mission villages of this province; and it was there that we said the first mass, and celebrated the first feast with great solemnity in honor of the holy cross. There, too, occurred the first baptism, when with my own hands (although unworthy); as a beginning to this new Christian community, I baptized a goodly number of children already capable of reason. At all the services of this feast there was a great concourse from the whole district who solemnized it, beginning the night before, with mirth, rejoicing, and games. Afterward, Father Juan del Campo and Father Cosme de Flores began to instruct some of the older persons in the Christian faith. At that time, and through that exercise, those two fathers learned the language of the natives in a very short time--especially Father Cosme, who spoke it with masterly skill. Father Juan del Campo departed from Dulac, and leaving in his stead, Father Mateo, both pursued their task of winning souls for Jesus Christ, His Divine Majesty so attracting the people that soon in Carigara a very flourishing Christian church began to appear. Although there are many notable things which might be related about it, I shall refer only to two baptisms which seemed, to us who were there, worthy of consideration. The first was that of a child of five years, who filled with the fervor of heaven came to us from his village for the sole purpose of asking baptism. His infidel mother and stepfather, upon learning this, at the instigation of the Devil (who unwillingly relinquished that booty) came after him with an infernal fury, to carry him back with them--by force, if necessary. But as they could not do this, out of respect to the fathers, they tried to impede him through others--their relatives, friends and acquaintances; and, adding persuasion to threats (and, for a child so tender in years, but little effort sufficed), they used all their energies to divert and dissuade him from his holy purpose. But God our Lord, who gave him a man's strength--and, in giving it to him, made him all the stronger by adding a gentle force to his own tender will, caused him to persevere with such constancy that he finally overcame these influences, saying that he desired to be a son of God, since those who were not Christians were slaves of the Devil. He offered other arguments, so ingenious that they compelled those who were present to defend and aid him; and earnestly reproving those who unreasonably opposed him, he constrained them to leave him in peace. Thus he departed with his request granted, and with holy baptism, with a satisfaction that words cannot express, and greater than might be expected from a much older person and a more developed reason. Again, a woman of rank had refused and fled from baptism against the influences of God and our own persuasions--solely concerned with the indissolubility of matrimony taught by our holy