Note 2 — Chapter VII

37. The president Fray Juan considered those so liberal propositions as annoying temptations, to which, through the motive of their zeal, not one of his could consent. He considered it advisable to avoid them by flight, and resolved upon his voyage to the port of Acapulco. There was already a ship there about to sail to Philipinas on the day of the invocation of the Holy Ghost. Having embarked on it, they set sail on the twenty-second of February, one thousand six hundred and six. They had their terrors on the voyage; the ship caught fire, and the fire was already quite near the powder-barrels that were reserved in the “Santa Barbara.”2 Warning was given of this (which is one of the greatest of dangers), in sufficient time to enable them to extinguish the fire. Had it reached the powder, the worst ruin [249] would have surely followed. I think that there is no peril of the sea so horrible. Another danger happened on a calm, clear night, when the cry of “Land, land!” came from the bow. That danger startled the pilots, who had no shoals down on their charts there. They were aware of them by the breakers in the water, and the vessel was so engulfed in them that it could neither bear away, nor put in, without the same risk. As the breaking of the waters was getting nearer the ship, they considered all their efforts vain, and without any urging, allowed themselves to be carried in the same path. They tried to make soundings, but the plunging of the boat and the violent dragging of the sounding-line on the reefs did not permit them to make an accurate calculation of the depth. In such a contest, the hopes of all were already weak, besides which they were entering amid the breakers. The ship sailed a long distance without meeting accident, and later they found themselves in the deep sea, free from so dangerous a fright. That shoal was marked down accurately on the charts, and was noted on other voyages. It was a rocky islet surrounded with many covered reefs. They considered it a marvelous occurrence that they should pass over them without meeting with accident on them. Father Fray Andres de San Nicolas fell sick near the islands of the Ladrones, and, recognizing that his attack was serious, he sought consolation in the holy sacraments. During his last hours he fervently exhorted all to persevere in the undertaking that had been begun, promising them a happy result. He yielded up his spirit to God amid tender colloquies. Those of the ship wished to keep his body in a well-sealed wooden casket, in order to give it decent burial on shore; but [250] in order to avoid innovations, the venerable superior, Fray Juan, did not consent to this. Accordingly, having been placed in a casket, he was cast into the sea, accompanied with the usual obsequies.