them was its commander, Juan de Esguerra. The Lord delivered them
from this second peril by so signal a victory. The [Dutch] patache
was also looking for vessels. Coming in that night with a Chinese
prize, it sent its boat ahead to reconnoiter the position. Finding
different signs from those that it had left, it became suspicious,
and accordingly began to flee. The almiranta, the ship of Captain Juan
Pardos de Losada, and the flagship of the galleys went in pursuit of
it, but although they searched the neighboring coasts twice, they did
not sight the vessels, or discover what direction they took. The last
time when they went to run along the coast, they met a ship; and, as
it seemed to be the patache, the galley pursued it with sail and oar,
but found it to be a vessel from Macao. The bishop of Macao, [33] of
the Order of St. Dominic, was coming on business of great importance
for the welfare of that community. Thinking our vessels to be Dutch,
they fled at their utmost speed, and threw overboard all their cargo,
although it was valuable, in order to make the vessel lighter.

News of the victory reached Manila at two in the morning. At that hour
the bells were loudly chimed and the people uttered many expressions
of joy. Next day a very solemn procession was made, as a token of
thanksgiving. The procession marched from the cathedral to our church,
where a sermon was preached. It caused great consolation throughout the
city and in all those who were present. After the sermon the governor
sent letters to each order, thanking them for the prayers that they
had said for his success. The one that came to me read as follows:

"We discovered the enemy this morning, and the battle began at seven
o'clock. It lasted about four hours, and during that time, our Lady
and the glorious St. Mark showed themselves favorable to us. For we
obtained the victory with the surrender of their flagship to ours,