Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 06).djvu/137

 so furiously upon the shoals, that they, persisting in the effort to offset it, were in danger of being wrecked. Therefore they returned, very sad at heart, to the harbor, and there they remained that day.

[The remainder of the second book (chaps, ii–xv) treats of the voyage of the Franciscans to China, their stay in that country, and their return to Manila. They are forced to return to the harbor for the second time on account of contrary weather, which so affects one of the priests, Estevan Ortiz, "that no entreaties availed to persuade him to finish the voyage they had undertaken. On the contrary he answers that he will tempt God no further, since these signs that they have seen are sufficient to prove that it is His holy will that they shall not make the journey at that time." On the fifteenth of June, however, the little band of three priests, three soldiers, and a Chinese lad (as interpreter) taken in the siege of Limahon, set sail from Ilocos, fearful of pursuit by the governor. Reaching the Chinese coast, they go ashore near Canton, kneel down, and "with great devotion, chanted the Te Deum laudamus, giving thanks to God who had brought them so miraculously to the kingdom of China." They receive the freedom of the city after various investigations, the Chinese officials believing the false stories of shipwreck that the interpreters tell for their own benefit. The Portuguese at Macao fail in their attempt to turn the Chinese against the Spaniards. Hunger forces them to beg their food in the streets of Canton; but the officials, on hearing this, order that provision be made for them from the royal revenues. By order of the viceroy, they journey to Aucheo, but are speedily ordered to return to Canton, to await a Portuguese