16. At ten o'clock at night we ascended the river of Baccò, which is the chief town of that island. The rain fell so heavily that the village was under water. I remained there twenty-four hours. There is a very lofty mountain within sight of the village, down which falls a river which, when viewed from below, appears like a crystal mountain. The water passes near the village, and, as it seethes so mightily, and is overhung by a quantity of sarsaparilla, it is a wonderful sight. That island has some peculiarities. First, it has a great number of civet cats, from which much civet can be obtained for trade. There is the greatest quantity of wax in all those mountains; no account is taken of the honey. There are potatoes, sweet potatoes, grapes, yams, and fruits, in the greatest abundance; an infinite number of cedars, [4] whose flower, which I saw often, exhales the sweetest odor and is very large; and cocoa-palms in great abundance. There is another kind of palm from which they get honey, wine, vinegar, tuba, and sugar. There are also innumerable trees, resembling bananas, from which a black fiber is obtained for the rigging and cables of ships, of which there are so many that one is surprised. There is another species of white fiber which comes from another tree called abaaca. There are more of that kind in another part. It is excellent for ship cables, for the more it is wet the stronger it becomes. There is another tree on which a certain bark grows, as white as snow. It is soft as soft can be to the touch, and the Indians use it for their beds and for clothing--although they are not without cotton, of which they make excellent clothing. [5] 17. Rivers and sea abound with fine fish. The fish called pexemulier [6] is found there. Very valuable rosaries are made of its bones, because of the great virtue residing in them against hemorrhages; one which has been tested by experience is worth many ducados. Licentiate Francisco Roca, the cura of that place, related to me what happened in his district--a very notable case. An Indian who went to fish every day found near the water a pexemulier, which is said to resemble a woman from the breasts down. He had regular intercourse with this creature, and continued that bestial concubinage daily for more than six months without losing a single day in that communication. After that time God touched his heart, and constrained him to confess. He confessed, and was ordered not to go to that place any more; he obeyed, and ceased that abomination. I avow that if I myself had not heard it from the above [cura], I would have doubted its truth exceedingly.