Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 02).djvu/204

he died within two weeks. One day, after a slight engagement between my men and the natives, we got ready at sunset to sail, without noticing the absence of a young roustabout who, either through carelessness, or because he had not heard the call to assemble, must have advanced too far on the mountain. As our small boats reached the ships, the Indians, who had not lost sight of us during the hour while we remained there, came out upon the shore. As the boy came down from the mountain to the shore, the Indians, when they saw him, fell upon him and in a moment with great cruelty tore him to pieces, giving him at least thirty lance thrusts through the body. When the men of our ships saw the Indians discharging blows, and discovered that they did not have the boy with them, they returned to shore with great fury; but at their arrival the natives had already fled up a hill. They found the boy as I have said above; and I charged the master-of-camp to punish the natives for this act. At midnight he went ashore, and marched inland, but meeting no Indians, he arranged his men in an ambuscade on shore, in which he killed a few of them and wounded many others. Our men burned many houses all along the coast. The town inland on this island is large and thickly populated, and abounds in all things which are raised in the island. There our men found about two pounds of very good sulphur, and took one of the natives alive, who was brought to the ship, and whom I am sending to that Nueba España. This island is called Ladrones, which according to the disposition of the inhabitants, is the most appropriate name that could have been given it. Eleven days after reaching this island, we set sail following our course in the aforesaid latitude.