The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXIII, 1629-30

ga, of which province some description is given. This province, once so populous, has lost many of its men by conscription for the Spanish forts, being sent away even to Maluco. It is often raided by the head-hunting tribes of the interior--something which cannot be checked, especially on account of the heedlessness and lack of foresight inherent in the character of the Indians. They are lazy, deficient in public spirit, and have no initiative; what they accomplish is only under the vigilance and urging of the missionary or the alcalde-mayor. The Panay convent is near the Spanish fort at Arevalo, and the fathers have the privilege of treatment by the surgeon there--"who, without being able to distinguish his right hand, bleeds and purges, so that in a brief time the sick man is laid in his grave." The creoles of Nueva España die early, and "do not reach their majority."

In 1581, Fray Andrés de Aguirre is elected provincial of Filipinas: his many virtues and achievements are extolled by our writer. Medina h