about one hundred and fifty. They became Christians after coming here. They are a very unassuming and modest people; they clothe themselves with long robes of cotton cloth and with silk. They wear wide breeches, and sleeves and stockings, like the Spaniards. They are a very ingenious and cleanly people. This is in brief what we have seen. They wear their hair very long, men as well as women, tied up and well arranged upon their heads. I have treated thus far of various matters; I come now to speak of the fertility of these islands, of what is gathered and sown in them, mainly with regard to those in which I have been.
The island of Mindanao is very large and poorly populated, at least in the part in which I have been, which is from the river of Butuan to the cape of Calamita, about eighty leagues along the coast. It is an extremely rough country. The natives there obtain very pure gold, for the mines are numerous and very rich. The cape of Caahuite, located in this island, and where cinnamon is gathered, lies in five degrees of latitude, and is toward the southeast. It is a very unhealthy country. As I remarked above, I have been at that cape. From the cape to the river Grande de Mindanao, the distance is about sixty leagues. We were very near this river of Mindanao with the small boat of the flagship which was lost in the Ladrones. Up to the present day none of the Spaniards of our number who were in that ship, have been in that river. Near this cape there is an island called Taguima,[1] and between the island and the said
- ↑ A reference to the island of Basilan, off the southwest point of Mindanao; it was formerly called Taguima. The route for ships here mentioned was through the strait of Basilan.
