sign of the cross, and in regard to the cross itself. Visions were seen. At one time, when some of the brethren were desirous of leaving this region and of going to China to preach the gospel, one of them laid the matter before the Lord in prayer. He dreamed that night that he saw the good man of a household, clad in a long robe, and sending men out to reap his harvest. When they came to one sterile place where there was only a spike of grain here and there, they did not wish to reap it, but to go to another field where the harvest was rich; but the good man said to them: 'Will you not reap here? then you shall reap neither here nor there.' Finally, God was pleased that by the patience and sufferings of these ministers this tribe should be converted and baptized. They are now very good Christians, insomuch that some of them can conduct prayer like religious who most closely follow the rules of their order. They are people of very good intelligence, and often put very clever questions and propose intelligent doubts. At one time when a religious was preaching of the mercy of God in dying for men, an Indian woman rose in the midst of his sermon, and said: 'Wait, Father. How can you say that Christ died? You have said that Christ was God; but God cannot die.' At another time, a sick Indian put the question whether God did not concur in all things that happened in the earth and was not thus responsible for the evil of it. They even go beyond things required, in order to do works of supererogation, many of them rising at midnight to pray when the matin bell rings; they follow the fasts of the Dominican order; when they rise, the first thing they do at dawn is to make an offering of themselves and all that they have to our Lord; whenever they begin an undertaking, they first offer it to God, with their minds, their hearts, and their hands in the work. Though poor, they give alms frequently. Some of them, whenever they eat, put aside a portion as 'Christ's food,' and send it to some sick person. Some of them fast during the whole Advent, in preparation for the feast of the Nativity. It is said of one Indian woman that St. Mary and St. Joseph visited and ate with her one Advent. All the Spaniards and religious of other orders are amazed at this conversion, and especially at seeing them give up vices so enticing as drunkenness, which used to be very common among them--up to the point of making them unable to keep their feet--but which they have now given up so completely that some do not even taste wine. They greatly delight in the devotion of the rosary. The very friars who are their ministers are amazed to see such a conversion in a tribe so barbarous, so cruel, and so completely given over to vice. Their minds are set upon preparing themselves for death, so that they regard all besides--houses, property, and children, and all temporal things--as merely accessory. Those who can afford it have masses said for their