Note 57 — Chapter XVI

The father provincial likewise established a convent in Lubao, which is [in] the province of Pampanga. It is a most fertile land, and we might say that it sustains the country, for it is all rice-fields. Hence it is said, that at harvest Pampanga is worth little. The convent of Lubao had many people, and hence they were able to build a church, which is one of the best in the country. It is all built of brick, made there; they also built a two-roomed house. It has generally two religious, with six hundred Indians.57 All Pampanga is like streets, for the houses of one town are continued by those of another. One may go to all its towns without getting in the sun, for now the bamboos, and now the palms furnish very pleasant shade. From this place one goes to Guagua, a short legua, past the houses; thence to Betis; from Betis to Bacolor, the best of the entire province. Of the rest we shall speak in their turn.