20. All of those people are, as villagers of the mountain regions, sincere, and without a bit of malice. They attend church with great devotion, and no word is spoken to them that does not fructify; therefore the gospel will continually spread among them. But there they are held by a mass every two or three years; those who die remain dead; and immediately the cura takes great care in collecting the tribute from them, and the personal services and fees. 21. One of the great conveniences for the Indians in having religious in their districts is that, since the latter are changed every little while, if the Indian who is cowardly is afraid to confess to one, or has had a quarrel with him, he unbosoms himself to the other, and confesses well and freely to him. But if he once exhibits fear of the cura, or the cura gets angry at him, it is very difficult for him to show clearly what is in his breast when he goes to confess. He who made the confession to me that covered the thirty years had been silent about some matters, through fear and terror. This point is worthy of consideration. The fathers of the Society had been in that island in previous years; and they had four missionaries there, who labored very earnestly. The seculars to whom it belonged before went to law with them. It was returned to the seculars, and only one cura is stationed there to administer what was administered by the four religious. Already one can see what must become of it. This is to seek Quæ sua sunt, non quæ Jesu Christi. [10] There were visitas where the cura had not set foot for fourteen years. 22. On the day of the Resurrection, after the mass, and after the mystery had been explained to the people, and some rice, potatoes, eggs, and fruit had been distributed among some poor people who had come to me, I went overland to another village. I slept on the way in the shade of some trees. There I encountered an infidel from the mountains, who had an excellent disposition. I showed him many kindnesses, but since no inclinations [toward the faith] had preceded, they availed but little. Next day I lodged in the house of another infidel, who treated me very well. These Indians and thousands of others do not become baptized because they fear the tribute and personal services, as I have already observed in another place.