they took care of him with great devotion and attention. He recovered, and returned to his laborious duties, but the same infirmity attacked him with such violence that he died in the same convent, whither they had taken him the second time; and here he was interred, leaving his companions very sad on account of his absence. Yet they were very confident that he who had carried for the Lord so heavy a cross up to death, would likewise follow Him in His glory, which according to His word is granted therewith. He was prepared with the holy sacraments, and confessed very minutely and with great frequency; and singing he invited death, praying God to take him away in peace, now that he had beheld this holy province established as a light for so many tribes, whom he had seen already coming to the church and being baptized. He bade farewell to the Franciscan fathers, thanking them for their great kindness and the hospitality which they had shown him; he encouraged his companions to proceed with that which they had begun assuring them that, however great the difficulty and labor, even to those in health, there was still greater consolation, and confirmation of the hope of reward, in the perils of sickness and death in which he was; and declaring to them that the confidence in which he departed was a most sufficient reward for having left, in his last years, his quiet and his cell for this and for other greater sufferings. After the death of this father the labor to be done fell more heavily upon his companions, because it had to be divided among a smaller number. It might be said that almost the whole burden fell upon the deacon, who was, as it were, the whole of this ministry. From this it may easily be inferred that though young friars are of less dignity in such missions, they are more useful for them--that is, in cases where the sufficiency of virtue and learning makes up for the lack of age. This is what happened not only on this occasion, but on many others, as this province has learned by experience. For the labors of new conversions are very great, so great indeed as to surpass the power of youth; so that few or no such conversions have been made without costing the death of some religious. When the father vicar observed this, and found himself, though he had poor health, provided with some command of the language, he began to relieve his companions--unraveling the entanglements (which are many among the heathen Indians) in matters of matrimony, usury, and the oppression which the chief men employ toward their inferiors, making them slaves without reason or justice. He gave to this matter very great care and no less labor, being present at the investigation of such things by day and by night, and thus greatly reducing the amount of labor of his companions, because when they met with a case of this kind, they referred it to him as a matter of his jurisdiction. In the confessions they had greater labor during this first year; because in the whole