homage of the chiefs or to make war upon them. Warned by the natives
of Cebú, those of Matan fled. The invaders burned their village, for
which the natives threatened retaliation, saying they would burn the
houses of the Spanish settlement. Meanwhile the food problem assumed
threatening dimensions, and the men became discontented and began to
grumble because they were not allowed to take anything from the natives
without pay. "And although the governor and captains, the religious
and other chief persons ... tried to encourage them with good words
and promises," a mutiny was arranged among certain men, which, "if
God in his infinite mercy had not caused it to be discovered, might
have caused great loss and trouble." Certain of the petty officers
(some of them foreigners), and some of the soldiers and servants,
conspired to seize the "San Juan," and, making first a cruise through
the islands, to seize "the junks of Borneo, Luzon, and Venduro, trading
among these islands." Then they planned their course by way of the
Strait of Magellan to New Spain, Guatemala, or Peru, or to Spain or
France. If the weather were contrary then "they would go to Malaca,
where the Portuguese would receive them with open arms ... because
they had fled from this camp and settlement." All officers had been
selected. The mutiny had every appearance of succeeding, for the master
of the "San Pablo" had in his care all the artillery, powder, and
ammunition aboard the ship. The twenty-seventh of November was set for
their desertion, and to avoid pursuit the "San Pablo" and the frigates
that had been built were to be sunk. The date, for some unknown reason,
was postponed until the twenty-eighth. On that day the master of
the "San Pablo" divulged the conspiracy to the master-of-camp, who
immediately informed Legazpi. Pablos Hernandez, a native of Venice,
the head of the conspiracy, fled, first making an ineffectual attempt
to assume the ecclesiastical garb, in order that he might escape with
his life. Finally "he determined to die as a Christian, in order that