The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 21 of 55: 1624; Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 21 of 55: 1624; Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
Let us leave those islands for a moment and return to Mindanào, where
Ours were fervently attending to their ministry. After having put
Christianity on the best footing possible along the shores of Butuan,
they went forty leguas farther on by sea, to look for another river
called Cagaìang, as they had been told that its inhabitants were a
people more docile than the other inhabitants, in order to enlighten
them with the light of the gospel. The lord of that land was an Indian
named Salangsang. He lived on a steep and inaccessible rock, which is
a peninsula called Himologàn. It had no other approaches or mode of
ascent than certain ladders made of rattans [_bexucos_], which resemble
strong osiers. When those were removed it was fortified and protected
from the invasions of enemies. The customs of those people are like
those related of the inhabitants of Caraghas. The path opened for
that undertaking was that Doña Magdalena Bacuya, a Christian Indian
woman (the grandmother of the above mentioned Indian, Salangsang),
being moved by zeal for the honor of God, and compassion for the
blindness of those people, went to see her grandson. Although with
difficulty, she succeeded in gaining admittance for our ministers,
who were at that time staying at the island of Camiguì without being
able to accomplish that which they wished. Finally, fathers Fray Juan
de San Nicolàs and Fray Francisco de la Madre de Dios arrived there
[at Himologàn], and found the chief in the presence of five hundred
Indians who lived in that place. That site, perched on its summit,
was a very agreeable residence capacious enough for that people to
live in a house resembling a cloister, so large that they lived in
it with all their families. These had communication on the inside,
while it was strongly enclosed on the outside. In the middle of it
was the _divatahan_ or temple dedicated to the devil. It was a little
house and dirty, as was he who was worshiped there. The prince received
the ministers with some show of affection, for he gave them a little
buffet on the cheek, as a sign that he received them as friends.
Those people wondered at seeing those ministers in their lands, and
joked about them, taking them for madmen, since they entered without
weapons or other defense, to seek their death. But as those fathers
had God on their side, whose cause they were serving, His sovereign
Majesty ordained that the chief, showing them kindness, should give
them a small corner in his house, so that they might live securely,
although very uncomfortably. For no one gave them anything, and,
in order to live, they had to go fishing and to carry wood and water
on their backs. They suffered considerably from that, but in joy and
gladness, for they were serving the Lord, to whom they were attempting
to offer those barbarous people by means of the preaching of the faith.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account