Note 2 — Character and Influence of the Friars

The convents are large, magnificent buildings, whose curas at that time—for the most part, elderly men—were most hospitable and amiable. It was necessary to stop at each convent, and the father in charge of it had his horses harnessed and drove his guest to his next colleague. I wished to hire a boat at Polángui to go to the lake of Batu;2 but there was none to be had. Only two large, eighty-foot barotos, each hollowed from a single tree-trunk and laden with rice from Camarines, lay there. In order that I might not be detained, the father bought the cargo of one of the boats, on condition that it be immediately unladed; thus I was able to proceed on my journey in the afternoon.