14 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
darkness in the midst of an earthly paradise. An account of his life 
and martyrdom is given in an old vellum-covered book,“ in which much 
interesting information may be found concerning the natives of Guam. 
In it, in contrast with the barbarous cruelty with which the natives had 
been treated by visiting Europeans, one may read of their kindness to 
shipwrecked sailors cast upon their shores, and of the cordial reception 
of Padre Sanvitores. They provided homes for him and his companions 
and built for them a church. All wished to be baptized forthwith, 
though the missionaries would at first baptize only the infants and 
dying persons; adults in good health had to be instructed in the Chris- 
tian doctrine before they could enjoy the privilege. 
In this book many wonderful occurrences are related—stories of 
supernatural apparitions, of miraculous cures of men possessed of the 
devil, of lances, cast by the natives, suddenly arrested in mid-air, and 
of stones hurled from their slings crumbling harmlessly to dust; but 
it must not be forgotten that this was an age of marvels. The devil’s 
influence in the affairs of everyday life was recognized throughout 
Christendom, and it is not surprising that it found its way to Guam. 
It was to the power of the evil one over the elements that the early 
missionaries attributed the adverse winds, which blew almost con- 
stantly to the westward and prevented ships from sailing directly to 
Guam from the Philippines. 
Sanvitores, ‘the Apostle of the Mariannes,” was born in the city of 
Burgos, in northern Spain, November 12, 1627. The history of his 
life tells of his early boyhood, his call to the Society of Jesus and 
ordination, his work among the poor, his journey to Mexico; his 
departure from Acapulco, April 5, 1662, for Manila; the impression 
made upon him by the natives of Guam, whom he saw on his passage 
across the Pacific; his efforts to be sent to them as a missionary, the 
refusal of his superiors at Manila to grant his request, the King’s 
decree ordering the governor of the Philippines to furnish him with the 
means of reaching the Mariannes, the building of the ship San Diego 
at Cavite and his sailing therein to Acapulco, his appeal for aid to the 
viceroy of Mexico, his arrival at Guam, March 3, 1668, his emotion on 
seeing the islanders coming out to meet him, the kindness with which 
they welcomed him to their island, the zeal with which he pursued his 
work, the hardships which he had to endure, and his final martyrdom. 
The first serious stumbling block in the way of the missionaries was 
a Chinaman named Choco, living in the village of Paa, at the southern 
end of the island. This man had been shipwrecked about twenty years 
before their arrival, and had been kindly received by the natives. He 
pointed out to the islanders that many children and old people had 
died immediately after having been baptized. He spoke slightingly 
of the padres, saying that they were people despised and looked down 
aGarcia, Vida y martyrio de Sanvitores, 1683. See List of works. 
