Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 04).djvu/296

 found it: therefore he said that he ordered, and he did order, all the vessels of this fleet to prepare to cross the bar, in order to make the voyage. His Grace ordered that a copy of a letter written in the Moro tongue, to the said Limasancay be placed in these records, so that it might be manifest. He signed the above. Witnesses, Francisco Velazquez, Tome de la Ysla, and Lope de Catalinaga.

Before me:

, notary of the fleet

In fulfilment of the above order of the said captain, I, the present notary, caused to be made and did make, a copy of the letter written by order of the said captain to Limasancay, which was first written in a rough draft, so that the essentials of the said letter might therein be set down. It was written in the Moro language by the interpreter Laquian, an Indian Moro, who can write in the said tongue. In order that the said Laquian might write the said letter, it was explained to him by Miguel Godines, Spanish interpreter. Its tenor is as follows:

To Limasancay, the panguilan who is lord over this river and the environs of Mindanao: I came to this river by order of the very illustrious Doctor Francisco de Sande, governor and captain-general of the islands of Luçon, the Pintados, and the other islands, which he governs and rules for King Don Ffelipe, our sovereign, king of Castilla (whom may God preserve during many years). He ordered me to come to treat with you for the alliance that your father Sulatan so earnestly desired with the Castilians; to enroll you under the protection of the said king, our