his force was somewhat small, on the shore, and although he saw that his own force was much inferior in numbers, and that his opponents were a warlike race, and were equipped with lances and other weapons, nevertheless thought it more advisable to face the enemy with them, than to retreat, or to avail himself of the aid of the Subuth islanders. Accordingly he exhorted his men to take courage, and not to be alarmed at the superior force of the enemy; since it had often been the case, as had recently happened in the island [peninsula] of Yucatan, that two hundred Spaniards had routed two or even three hundred thousand Indians. He said to the Subuth islanders, that he had not brought them with him to fight, but to see the valour and military prowess of his men. Then he attacked the Mauthan islanders, and both sides fought boldly; but as the enemy surpassed our men in number, and used longer lances, to the great damage of our men, at last Magellan himself was thrust through and slain.[1] Although the survivors did not consider themselves fairly beaten, yet, as they had lost their leader, they retreated; but, as they re-
- ↑ In the museum of the Colegio de Agustinos Filipinos at Valladolid, Spain, is a tablet bearing the following inscription (in English translation): "On the twenty-sixth of April, 1521, died on this spot, while fighting valiantly, Don Hernando Magallánes, general of the Spanish fleet, whose name alone is his greatest eulogy. Desiring that the memory of the place where so famous and fatal an event took place should not perish, and circumstances not permitting us at this time to erect a monument worthy of the heroic discoverer, this present inscription is religiously and humbly consecrated, as a memorial, by the parochial priest of the island, the reverend father Fray Benito Perez, on the twenty-ninth of February, 1843." This tablet is about three feet by one and one-half feet in size, and is made of molave wood; the letters (capitals) are neatly carved in the wood—the work being done, in all probability, by some native under the priest's supervision. Attached to the tablet is a card, bearing the following inscription:
