in us the hope that God was really about to open the gates of that great kingdom.  The aforesaid captain who brought the two Franciscan friars to this city received a letter, which they call chapa, for the president, in which the latter is entreated to do justice to the captain who brought the letter, so that he might collect some money which was due him in this city; in the letter, he anxiously entreats the two great fathers Juan and Miguel, who know the language, to help the captain, for they are known in that country to favor the Sangleys.  Their names occur twice in that chapa, the first letters of the two names being written in red ink, which is considered a mark of veneration among the Chinese.  A Sangley woman who lives in Chincheo wrote a letter to Fray Juan Cobo, thanking him for having helped her husband in a matter of business.  These were the first indications by which we knew that this expedition was starting under the guidance of God.  So on Tuesday, the twenty-second of May, of this year ninety, I went to the church of the Parian, and said mass there; after which the two Sangleys who had offered their services went through a ceremony worthy of notice.  They knelt down before the altar where I said mass, and remained there for the space of two credos, speaking to one another in their own language and holding each other’s hands; after that they embraced one another, and I learned afterwards that they had sworn to each other friendship and fidelity.  From that place the fathers went to embark, and I went with them, accompanied by many Sangleys.  On account of a contrary wind, the ship in which they were going could not set sail; and there were sent, to tow it out, four champans, which are the small boats of the Sangley ships.  They gladly pulled it out to sea, for more than a league, where we left them under God’s protection, and returned to the city.  The captains of two Sangley ships who are about to follow in the same course have asked me for letters for the religious, promising me to place them in their own hands, and I shall not fail to write to them.

In conclusion, I must announce to your Majesty that a hospital has been built by the Dominican friars who have charge of the Sangleys of the Parian, which is close by their house.  The hospital takes care of sick Sangleys and subsists on no other income than what the fathers gather as charity, and what the Sangley infidels contribute towards it.  This fact has been so rumored in China, that the whole country feels very kindly towards the fathers, knowing of the friendly reception given to their countrymen here.  About a year ago a prominent Sangley was converted.  He was a doctor and an herbalist; but, forsaking all other worldly interests, he has offered and devoted himself to the service of the hospital.  He cures the sick, bestowing upon them much love and charity, and prescribing for them his purges and medicines.  In short, it was God who led him thither for the welfare of that hospital, and, to make the fame thereof more widely spread throughout China.  Therefore I humbly beg your Majesty to be pleased to order that this hospital be endowed, so that the sick may be cared for.  Moreover, if your Majesty attend to this personally, that fact will be very well received in China and will be of more benefit than the presents which your Majesty ordered to be sent to the king.