the natives were captured, three of whom (all wounded) were hanged
at the same place where the boy had been killed; and the other was,
through the intervention of the priests, taken aboard the ship, in
order to send him to New Spain. Many houses were burned, a damage,
"which, although slight, was some punishment for so great baseness and
treachery as they had displayed toward us, ... and was done, so that
when Spaniards, vassals of his majesty, anchor there another time,
the natives shall give them a better reception, and maintain more
steadfastly the friendship made with them." "This island of Goam is
high and mountainous, and throughout, even to its seacoast, is filled
with groves of cocoa-palms and other trees, and thickly inhabited. Even
in the valleys, where there are rivers, it is inhabited. It has many
fields sown with rice, and abundance of yams, sweet potatoes, sugar
cane, and bananas--these last the best I have seen, being in smell
and taste far ahead of those of Nueva España. This same island has
also much ginger, and specimens of sulphurous rock were found." The
island had "no wild or tame cattle, nor any birds, except some little
turtle-doves that are kept in cages." The natives captured would not
eat the meat offered them, nor "would they at first eat anything of
ours." The natives were skilful fishermen, being able to catch the
fish with the naked hands, "which is a thing of great wonder." "They
are excellent swimmers. Their houses are high, and neatly and well
made"--some, placed on posts of stone, served as sleeping-apartments;
other houses were built on the ground, and in them the cooking and
other work was done. They had other large buildings that served as
arsenals for all in common, wherein the large boats and the covered
canoes were kept. "These were very spacious, broad, and high, and
worth seeing." The fleet left this island on February 3, and anchored
on the thirteenth near the island of Cebú. Peace was made with the
natives of one of the islands. Inquiries were made for Bernardo de