WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES — VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 275 



the Philippines, and the other of the Religious Company of Portu- 

 guese India. From this city and fortress of Rosario they send sup- 

 plies and aid to the others on the island — the forts of St. Peter and 

 St. Paul, which are on the same island i league from Rosario, and 

 to the fort of Malayo on another, which is the chief place of arms 

 of the hostile Dutch. The valiant Spaniards, loyal to their king 

 though few and badly supported, and suffering great trials in their 

 sore need, fight every day with countless enemies, both Dutch and 

 Ternate Moors friendly to the Dutch ; they win many victories over 

 them and support themselves on the booty they take from them ; for 

 their supplies from Manila, which is where they have to be sent from, 

 keep arriving more and more precariously and practically never get 

 there. Accordingly, since the Spaniards are few in number and 

 always have to go weapons in hand, they have no chance to farm, 

 and when their rice or other supplies give out, they take advantage 

 of a tree called sagumaruco, and make sago flour from the heart 

 of it and bake it up in little biscuits, and so eat it fresh, and likewise 

 store it for long periods against their great needs. 



791. The fort of St. Peter and St. Paul is like a retirement strong- 

 hold for the city of Rosario, for it has a very high and strong position. 

 The island is very fertile and has a good climate though under the 

 Equator, for Heaven provides it with heavy showers and fresh 

 breezes, so that it comes to be cooler than Manila, which is 14° away 

 from the Equator. The trees are always loaded with fruit ; vines yield 

 abundance of grapes every four months ; corn gives large crops and 

 the stalks grow as high as lances, with many ears ; it is the same way 

 with the other products of the soil, which are very different and 

 diverse from ours and those in the West Indies. 



792. On this island they have wild hogs which are very large and 

 fierce, and usually range through the thick woods on the slopes of 

 that lofty volcano ; but, large and ferocious as they are, there are 

 bloodthirsty serpents of extraordinary size, which hang or swing 

 from a tree where the wild hogs pass, and with their forked tongues 

 fascinate and paralyze them ; and big and fierce animals as these 

 hogs are, they gobble them up and swallow them as if they were 

 mazards or cherries in a nice dining room, without the hogs being 

 able to make any resistance. There are many small animals called 

 tusas which have a pouch in the abdomen in which they put their 

 yovmg to run away with them or on expeditions for food ; they are 

 the size of a very small dog. There are many other kinds of unusual 

 animals. 



