Having to treat of the idolatries, superstitions, and customs of the Zambals, I think I ought first to mention that my purpose is not to discourage the ministers of the gospel, who have to plant our holy Catholic faith among those Indians, but to impart to them the brief information which I possess of the little which I have ascertained in respect to the great amount which there is to ascertain, and which will be discovered with the lapse of time, concerning the customs of that blind people, who have lived so misguidedly and so far from reason at the doors of the true evangelical light which we profess. Although they are surrounded by provinces whose inhabitants are excellent Christians, such as the provinces of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Mariueles, yet notwithstanding they have been influenced very little or not at all for the good by the customs of the Christians, on account of their lack of communication with them; for they only go to the said provinces to trade and traffic for a brief space of time, and then, if anybody is careless they cut off his head. Hence, as I have said, they have but little communication with reasonable people. On the contrary, I think this paper of mine will serve as a stimulus for us religious, who, leaving our convents of our fatherland España and our friends and relatives, being moved by the zeal for souls, come to these Philipinas Islands to publish our holy Catholic faith, to preserve it, and teach good morals. All this drags us from our provinces in España, and deprives us of our fatherland. Here, then, among these miserable Zambals, we shall find much to do. It is unnecessary to go to seek infidels in other kingdoms, for we have them here, although few; and at the same time we have one to subject them for us and place them under our obedience. I say then that this paper of mine will serve as a stimulus to the ministers of the gospel to come to employ themselves in the service of our Lord and His holy Catholic faith, when they consider the great evil that there is to tear out and eradicate from the hearts of these Indians, and the great good that they lack to make them Christians. And although there are very many baptized persons among them, yet in nothing at all are any of them different from the others, if one considers their customs and mode of living. Those baptized are as idolatrous as those not baptized. I am not surprised at this, for until now the former ministers have not had any opportunity for living in residence among them, since they have not cared to collect them into a settlement. And if they have collected them, it has been for a short time only, and their evil customs have taken them again to the mountains and recesses whence we have drawn them, but today according to the efficacy which the governor of these Philipinas Islands places in the spiritual and temporal good of these wretched creatures, we have excellent hopes that they will persevere in their settlements and will be able to be