At 6.30 a.m. we resumed the journey, ascending and descending the mountain ridges, but always keeping in the interior of the woods. We took the direction for the Ambabu settlement. At 12 o’clock sharp we found ourselves at the place called Alabaddabad. We stopped here looking for guides. We resumed our journey at 4 p.m. About dark we met a Calinga boy who told us he had come from the Ambatuan settlement; and that an American column had arrived there a little after midday. This news was ominous for us, as the column had blocked our retreat. We continued the march.
After walking for half an hour, the officer of the vanguard informed us that the guide was vacillating as to the route and was trying to lead us to the other side of the river, because on that side lay the road to Ambabu. But the enemy was also there, since in that neighborhood is located the Ambabu settlement. In view of all this we stopped here; and the honorable president ordered Lieutenant Magsarile and six soldiers to seek another Calinga who might serve as our guide.
About 10 o’clock that officer returned and reported he had found no Calinga, but had met a Christian, a native of Casiguran, who informed us the Americans who arrived in Abatan had continued their march on to Amabu. This news confirming our previous suspicions that our retreat was already blocked, caused the honorable president to forego the idea of going to Amabu, and to arrange for us to conceal ourselves in the woods for the time. So we slept where we were, without any other roof than the sky to cover us; and with the ground as our bed, our caresses being the bites of the numerous mosquitos or “nicnec,” which prevented us from sleeping during the night.