Note 2 — Chapter VII · Period of Conquest and Settlement, 1565–1600.

Here on Bohol they were able to make friendly terms with the natives, and with Sicatuna, the dato of Bohol, Legaspi performed the ceremony of blood covenant. The Spanish leader and the Filipino chief each made a small cut in his own arm or breast and drank the blood of the other. According to Gaspar de San Augustin, the blood was mixed with a little wine or water and drunk from a goblet.2 This custom was the most sacred bond of friendship among the Filipinos, and friendship so pledged was usually kept with great fidelity.