After the death of this father the labor to be done fell more heavily upon his companions, because it had to be divided among a smaller number. It might be said that almost the whole burden fell upon the deacon, who was, as it were, the whole of this ministry. From this it may easily be inferred that though young friars are of less dignity in such missions, they are more useful for them--that is, in cases where the sufficiency of virtue and learning makes up for the lack of age. This is what happened not only on this occasion, but on many others, as this province has learned by experience. For the labors of new conversions are very great, so great indeed as to surpass the power of youth; so that few or no such conversions have been made without costing the death of some religious. When the father vicar observed this, and found himself, though he had poor health, provided with some command of the language, he began to relieve his companions--unraveling the entanglements (which are many among the heathen Indians) in matters of matrimony, usury, and the oppression which the chief men employ toward their inferiors, making them slaves without reason or justice. He gave to this matter very great care and no less labor, being present at the investigation of such things by day and by night, and thus greatly reducing the amount of labor of his companions, because when they met with a case of this kind, they referred it to him as a matter of his jurisdiction. In the confessions they had greater labor during this first year; because in the whole year the priests were not able to make themselves masters of the Indian language so as to be able to hear confession independently, and to understand the Indians as they ought. To be sure, the deacon, if he had been a priest, would have been very well able to confess them; and the vicar-general had authority to dispense with the required age in a case of such necessity, so that he might be ordained priest. His great virtue and indefatigable industry deserved this favor; but the vicar-general could never bring himself to the point of granting it, because he did not wish the province which was to be founded with such strictness to begin by having a dispensation in so grave a matter. Accordingly the deacon was obliged to wait until he had attained the required age, which was in September of the following year, 1588, and then he was ordained priest. By this means, and by the help of another priest called Fray Juan de la Cruz, who came to join their company--and who, being young, succeeded very well with the language--this district improved greatly. They both began to hear confessions, and immediately there were manifested by experience the great efficacy and the excellent results of this sacrament--a remedy for souls that are sick, and even for those that are dead. In all regions where it is systematically followed the most valuable results are obtained; but its effects are principally seen among Indians, who are simple and have no duplicity. To such its secrecy is very edifying, and it strongly affects their souls. This it is, particularly, that directs and teaches them; hence at the beginning of the Christian training of this tribe the general amendment was sensibly perceived. It was possible to read on their very faces the great efficacy of this most beneficial medicine for their souls. Only in the case of the vice of drunkenness was it impossible to find a remedy that would suffice for the great excesses produced by it; for although all the Indians are very faulty in this particular, those of this region surpassed those of the rest of the country, and were famous for this vice among their neighbors. It seemed impossible to remedy the fault, because it was the hereditary vice of their fathers and their grand-fathers before them; and they had, as it were, grown into it by continual use. Still God revealed to the father vicar a remedy for this, so gentle that without blood or violence it brought them to reason, and so efficaciously that in a short time it achieved what was intended. This was to give orders, under light penalties, that any man who became intoxicated was not to be received in any house, and was not to be visited in his own house; that no one was to communicate to him or talk to him, or have any dealings with him.