that they commit excesses; on the contrary, they preserve, in the
main, their ordinary conduct, and even under the influence of wine,
act with as much respect and prudence as before, although they are
naturally more lively and talkative, and utter witty remarks. It is
proverbial among us that none of them, upon leaving the feast late at
night in a state of intoxication, fails to reach his home. Moreover,
if they have occasion to buy or sell anything, they not only make no
mistake in the bargaining, but if it be necessary to weigh the gold or
silver for the price (which is the common usage among those nations,
each person carrying for that purpose a small pair of scales in his
wallet), they do it with such accuracy that the hand never trembles,
nor is there any error in the weight.



Of the labors of Father Juan de Torres and Father Gabriel Sanchez in
the island of Bohol. Chapter XXXV.

All these evils and excesses were abandoned when our fathers entered
that island, for after their arrival there God our Lord brought
it about that the wonted songs and noises were no longer heard,
the natives abstaining from them in order not to displease the
fathers. The greatest difficulty which one encounters among those
peoples is to teach the prayers to the adults, who are naturally lazy
and negligent; and to the old men, who are hindered by their age. The
plan and method which is followed in this matter is, not to constrain
them too much. In this regard the Boholans acted with such liberality
that our fathers, upon arriving at some villages, found the old men
learning, of their own free will, the prayers from their children. When
asked if they wished to become Christians, they answered that they were