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Oroquieta was a lonely looking place, built entirely of nipa, with the exception of the inevitable white church and convento, so we were not sorry when the Powers-that-Be decided it was a poor cable landing, and gave orders for the ship to proceed to Misamis, Mindanao, on the following day.

The island and province of Paragua is the most western of the Philippine Archipelago, and is situated to the north of Borneo. It is long and narrow, following a northeast direction, and nearly closes on the southwest the Sea of Mindanao, which enters from the China Sea by Balabac Strait on the south and between Mindoro and Paragua on the north.

It may even have been that Malacca and China, as Ptolemy sets forth, extended beyond the line to the south; as Malacca might join with the land called Jentana, and the islands of Bintam, Banca, and Salistres, and the land might be all slime and ouze; likewise China might be united with the Luçones, Borneo, Lequeuo, Mindanao, and others.

Of this number eighteen thousand were in the Philippines and, although they were not aware of it, they had to all intents and purposes been placed hors de combat, both at Mindanao and in the fortifications of Manila. Besides these the two regiments on the way from San Francisco to Manila and the garrison of Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands, could be similarly deducted.

Moreover, in Moroland, in the great island of Mindanao with its neighbors, the situation is further complicated by the fact that the dominant elements are Mohammedan. Over most of these non-Christians the Spaniards had not even the shadow of control.

He was ordered to at least make an effort to punish that enemy, even if he could do nothing more, and, whenever the opportunity presented itself, to go to do the same thing in the river of Mindanao, and return to the Pintados.

The vessel of Villalobos and two small brigs put out from this place of famine to go to the upper islands, the other vessels having been sent on ahead on various commissions. Troubles from the natives still pursued these smaller vessels. At one part of Mindanao they tried to secure food. Fourteen of the crew were left ashore, ten of whom were killed.

At the end of May southwest winds begin to blow, and in a month become established, to terminate in October, bringing with them a season made up of rain squalls and tempests, which take place principally in July and August. In September a heavy mist hangs about the coast of Mindanao.

I since met Captain Bowry at Achin, and telling him this Story, he said that he sent that Letter, supposing that the English were settled there at Mindanao, and by this Letter we also thought that there was an English Factory at Borneo: so here was a mistake on both sides.

The alcaldes were said to influence the commanders of the cruisers, and the latter to overreach the alcaldes; but both usually made common cause. According to the Diario de Manila, March 14, 1866, piracy on the seas had diminished, but had not ceased. Paragua, Calamianes, Mindoro, Mindanao, and the Bisayas still suffer from it.