There will not be wanting some person who will point out my oversights,
but I shall have already answered him by confessing them; and should
this not suffice to silence him, I shall stop up my ears like another
Ulysses, and--considering the haste with which I have written--endure
this inconvenience and difficulty, desiring only to please and serve
whomsoever may read it; and this will be sufficient to protect me
from greater dangers.

Notice is given that

In reading this history, one may find certain words--names of
provinces, towns, magistrates, arms, and vessels--which it has seemed
more suitable to write by their usual names in those regions. In
the last chapter, which contains an account of the islands and their
peculiarities, these words will be explained and defined.



¶ Of the first discoveries of the eastern islands; the voyage thither
by Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi; the conquest and pacification of
the Filipinas during his governorship, and that of Guido de Labazarris,
who afterward held the office.

¶ CHAPTER FIRST

According to ancient and modern cosmographers, that part of the world
called Asia has adjacent to it a multitude of greater and lesser
islands, inhabited by various nations and peoples, and as rich in
precious stones, gold, silver, and other minerals, as they abound in