A large Spanish galley cruising in these waters met a Japanese vessel off Cape Bojeador (N.W. point), and fired a shot which carried away the stranger's mainmast, obliging him to heave-to. Then the galley-men, intending to board the stranger, made fast the sterns, whilst the Spaniards rushed to the bows; but the Japanese came first, boarded the galley, and drove the Spaniards aft, where they would have all perished had they not cut away the mizzenmast and let it fall with all sail set. Behind this barricade they had time to load their arquebuses and drive back the Japanese, over whom they gained a victory. The Spaniards then entered the Rio Grande de Cagayan, where they met a Japanese fleet, between which they passed peacefully. On shore they formed trenches and mounted cannons on earthworks, but the Japanese scaled the fortifications and pulled down the cannons by the mouths. These were recovered, and the Spanish captain had the cannon mouths greased, so that the Japanese tactics should not be repeated. A battle was fought and the defeated Japanese set sail, whilst the Spaniards remained to obtain the submission of the natives by force or by persuasion. The Japanese had also come to Manila to trade, and were located in the neighbouring village of Dilao, [29] where the Franciscan friars undertook their conversion to Christianity, whilst the Dominican Order considered the spiritual care of the Chinese their especial charge. The Portuguese had been in possession of Macao since the year 1557, and traded with various Chinese ports, whilst in the Japanese town of Nagasaki there was a small colony of Portuguese merchants. These were the indirect sources whence the Emperor of Japan learnt that Europeans had founded a colony in Luzon Island; and in 1593 he sent a message to the Governor of the Philippines calling upon him to surrender and become his vassal, threatening invasion in the event of refusal. The Spanish colonies at that date were hardly in a position to treat with haughty scorn the menaces of the Japanese potentate, for they were simultaneously threatened with troubles with the Dutch in the Moluccas, for which they were preparing an armament (_vide_ Chap. vi.). The want of men, ships, and war material obliged them to seek conciliation with dignity. The Japanese Ambassador, Farranda Kiemon, was received with great honours and treated with the utmost deference during his sojourn in Manila. The Governor replied to the Emperor, that being but a lieger of the King of Spain--a mighty monarch of unlimited resources and power--he was unable to acknowledge the Emperor's suzerainty; for the most important duty imposed upon him by his Sovereign was the defence of his vast domains against foreign aggression; that, on the other hand, he was desirous of entering into amicable and mutually advantageous relations with the Emperor, and solicited his conformity to a treaty of commerce, the terms of which would be elucidated to him by an envoy.