chapter xiv

) is not even named by Combés, nor can Assis give anything more definite of him. He was captured by the Moro pirates (presumably in 1645) and taken to their home. Induced by desire for a good ransom, his captors took the father to the Joló fort, but no agreement could be reached. Father Juan Contreras, then chaplain of the fort, tried to aid him in effecting his escape, but in vain. The captive was thereafter treated so harshly that he became ill, and in spite of a pitiable letter, which aroused great sympathy for him in the Spanish Joloan fort, and spurred on the soldiers to beg that he be ransomed at their expense, he remained in captivity until Alejandro Lopez of the Society went to Joló from Zamboanga and ransomed him for 300 pesos. In 1649 (see Combés, book vii,