History of the Philippine Islands Vols 1 and 2
by
Antonio de Morga
Part 2 out of 8
his troops to the fleet, leaving behind several Spaniards who had
fallen in the encounter. The governor did not regain consciousness,
for the wound was very severe, and died next day. The fleet after that
loss and failure left that place, and descended the river to Tampacan,
where it anchored among the friendly inhabitants and their settlements.
The master-of-camp, Juan de la Xara, had himself chosen by the fleet
as successor in the government and enterprise. He built a fort with
arigues and palms near Tampacan, and founded a Spanish settlement to
which he gave the name of Murcia. He began to make what arrangements he
deemed best, in order to establish himself and run things independently
of, and without acknowledging the governor of Manila, without whose
intervention and assistance this enterprise could not be continued.
Of the administration of Don Francisco Tello, and of the second
establishment of the Audiencia of Manila; and of occurrences during
the period of this administration.
CHAPTER SIXTH
Governor Don Luis Dasmariñas was awaiting news from Captain Juan
Xuarez Gallinato, and from Governor Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa
concerning the voyage which each had made at the beginning of the year
ninety-six, to Camboja and to Mindanao, when news reached Manila,
in the month of June, that two ships had entered the islands by the
channel of Espiritu Santo, and that they brought a new governor sent
from España, namely, Don Francisco Tello de Guzman, knight of the Order
of Sanctiago, a native of Sevilla, and treasurer of the India House
of Trade. He arrived at Manila in the beginning of July and entered
upon his office. It was also learned that Fray Ygnacio Sanctivañez,
of the Order of St. Francis, a native of Sanctivañez, in the province
of Burgos, had been nominated in Nueva España as archbishop of Manila,
for Bishop Fray Domingo de Salazar had died in Madrid; and that Fray
Miguel de Venavides, a native of Carrion and a religious of the Order
of St. Dominic, who had gone to España with Bishop Fray Domingo de
Salazar, had been appointed bishop of the city of Segovia in the
province of Cagayan; also that Fray Pedro de Agurto, of the Order
of St. Augustine, a native of Mexico, had been appointed in Mexico,
bishop of the city of Sanctisimo Nombre de Jesus, and that these
two bishops with another for the city of Caceres, in the province
of Camarines, who was not yet named, had been lately added to the
Filipinas and appointed as suffragans to the archbishop of Manila,
at the instance of Bishop Fray Domingo. Also it was learned that the
Audiencia which had been suppressed in Manila was to be reëstablished
there, as well as other things which the bishop had presented at court.
Shortly after Don Francisco Tello had taken over the governorship, news
was brought of the death of Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa in Mindanao,
by Brother Gaspar Gomez of the Society of Jesus. The latter brought
the body for burial in the college of Manila, of which Don Estevan
was patron. Juan de la Xara wrote that he had charge of affairs,
that he had settled in Tampacan, that he intended to continue the
pacification and conquest of the island as should seem most advisable,
and that reënforcements of men and other things should be sent him. It
was learned that he intended to make an ill use of the government,
and would not remain dependent on, and subordinate to, the governor
of the Filipinas; and that he was depriving the heirs of Estevan
Rodriguez of what lawfully belonged to them. It was learned that,
in order to make himself safer in this respect, he was sending his
confidants to the town of Arevalo in Oton where Don Estevan had
left his wife, Doña Ana de Osseguera, and his two small daughters,
with his house and property, to persuade Doña Ana to marry him. This
resolution appeared injurious in many respects, and the attempt was
made to rectify matters. But in order not to disturb the affairs
of Mindanao, the matter was left alone for the present, until time
should show the course to be followed. And so it happened that when
Juan de la Xara left the camp and settlements of Mindanao, and came
hurriedly to Oton to negotiate his marriage in person--although the
widow of Don Estevan had never been favorable to it--Don Francisco
Tello sent men to arrest him. He was brought to Manila, where he died
while his trial was being conducted.
After the imprisonment of Juan de La Xara, Don Francisco Tello
immediately sent Captain Toribio de Miranda to Mindanao, with orders
to take command of the camp and to govern, until some one should
agree to continue the enterprise. When he arrived at Mindanao and the
soldiers saw that Juan de La Xara's schemes had been defeated, and
that the latter was a prisoner in Manila, with no hope of returning,
they obeyed Toribio de Miranda and the orders that he brought.
In Manila the governor was considering carefully the necessary
measures for continuing the war, since the island of Mindanao was so
near the other pacified islands, and the island itself contained some
provinces that professed peace and were apportioned as encomiendas,
and had Spanish magistrates, such as the rivers of Butuan, Dapitan,
and Caragan, so that it was desirable to pacify the whole island and
subject it to his Majesty. The royal treasury was spent and could
not bear the expense; and Estevan Rodriguez had bound himself by a
legal writ, to carry the war to entire completion at his own expense,
in accordance with the terms of his agreement. The guardian of his
children and heirs brought the matter before the court, and refused
to fulfil this obligation on account of Estevan Rodriguez's death. In
order not to lose time, for what had been commenced had to be continued
in one way or another, the governor decided to prosecute it, drawing
the necessary funds from the royal treasury, either on its own account
or on the account of Estevan Rodriguez's heirs, if such should be
according to law. The governor then searched for a person to go to
Mindanao, and selected Don Juan Ronquillo, general of the galleys. The
latter was given the necessary reënforcements of men and other things,
with which he reached Mindanao. He took command of the Spanish camp and
fleet which he found in Tampacan. He confirmed the peace and friendship
with the chiefs and people of Tampacan and Lumaguan, restored and set
in better order the Spanish settlement and fort, and began to make
preparation for the war against the people of Buhahayen. He spent
many days in making a few incursions into their land and attacks on
their forts, but without any notable result, for the enemy were many
and all good soldiers, with plenty of arquebuses [63] and artillery,
and had fortified themselves in a strong position. They had many other
fortifications inland and went from one to the other with impunity,
whenever they wished, and greatly harassed the Spaniards, who were
little used to so swampy a country. The latter found themselves short
of provisions without the possibility of getting them in the country
on account of the war, inasmuch as the camp contained many men,
both Spaniards and the native servants and boatmen, and it was not
easy at all times to come and go from one part to another in order
to provide necessities. [64]
Meanwhile Don Juan Ronquillo, seeing that the war was advancing very
slowly and with little result, and that the camp was suffering, drew up
a report of it, and sent letters in all haste to Governor Don Francisco
Tello, informing him of the condition of affairs. He wrote that it
would be better to withdraw the camp from Mindanao River, so that
it might not perish; and that a presidio could be established on the
same island in the port of La Caldera, which could be left fortified,
in order not to abandon this enterprise entirely, and so that their
friends of Tampacan and Lumaguan might be kept hostile to the people
of Buhahayen. Meanwhile he and the rest of the camp and fleet would
return to Manila, if permitted, for which he requested the governor
to send him an order quickly. Upon the receipt of this despatch,
Governor Don Francisco Tello resolved to order Don Juan Ronquillo,
since the above was so and the camp could not be maintained, nor the
war continued advantageously, to withdraw with his whole camp from
Mindanao River. He was first to make a great effort to chastise the
enemy in Buhahayen, and then to burn the Spanish settlement and fort
and to go to La Caldera, fortify it, and leave there a sufficient
garrison with artillery, boats, and provisions for its maintenance and
service. Then he was to return to Manila with the rest of his men,
after telling their friends in Tampacan that the Spaniards would
shortly return to the river better equipped and in greater numbers.
Silonga and other chiefs of Buhahayen were not neglecting their
defense, since, among other measures taken, they had sent a chief to
Terrenate to ask assistance against the Spaniards who had brought
war into their homes. Thereupon the king of Terrenate despatched a
numerous fleet of caracoas and other boats to Mindanao with cachils
[65] and valiant soldiers--more than one thousand fighting men in
all--and a quantity of small artillery, in order to force the Spaniards
to break camp and depart, even could they do nothing else. When the
news reached Buhahayen that this fleet was coming to their defense and
support, they made ready and prepared to attack the Spaniards, who
also having heard the same news were not careless. Consequently the
latter turned their attention more to the main fort, and reduced the
number of men in the smaller forts on Buquil River and other posts,
mouths, and arms of the same river. These served to strengthen the
garrison of the main fort and the armed galleys and other smaller
craft, in order to use the latter to resist the expected attack of
the enemy. The enemy having gallantly advanced to the very fort of
the Spaniards with all their vessels and men, attacked and stormed it
with great courage and resolution, in order to effect an entrance. The
Spaniards within resisted valiantly, and those outside in the galleys
on the river assisted them so effectively that together, with artillery
and arquebuses, and at times in close combat with swords and campilans,
they made a great slaughter and havoc among the men of Terrenate and
those of Buhahayen, who were aiding the former. They killed and wounded
a great number of them and captured almost all the caracoas and vessels
of the enemy, so that very few boats escaped and they were pursued and
burned by the Spaniards, who made many prisoners, and seized immense
booty and many weapons from the enemy. As soon as possible after this,
the Spaniards turned against the settlements and forts of Buhahayen
where some of their results were of so great moment that the enemy,
seeing themselves hard pressed and without anyone to help them, sent
messages and proposals of peace to Don Juan Ronquillo, which were
ended by their rendering recognition and homage, and the renewal
of friendship with the people of Tampacan, their ancient enemy. In
order to strengthen the friendship, they sealed it by the marriage
of the greatest chief and lord of Buhahayen with the daughter of
another chief of Tampacan, called Dongonlibor. Thereupon the war was
apparently completely ended, provisions were now to be had, and the
Spaniards with little precaution crossed and went about the country
wherever they wished. The people of Buhahayen promised to dismantle
all their forts immediately, for that was one of the conditions of
peace. Then the Spaniards returned to their fort and settlement at
Tampacan, whence Don Juan Ronquillo immediately sent despatches to
Governor Don Francisco Tello, informing him of the different turn
that the enterprise had taken. In view of the present condition he
requested the governor to issue new instructions as to his procedure,
saying that he would wait without making any change, notwithstanding
the arrival of the answer which he expected to his first report,
for conditions had now become so much better than before that the
governor's decision would be different.
The governor had already answered Don Joan Ronquillo's first despatch,
as we have said above, when the second despatch arrived with news
of the successes in Mindanao. Suspicious of the men in the camp who
had constantly shown a desire to return to Manila, and little relish
for the hardships of war, and fearing lest they would return at the
arrival of the first order, executing that order and abandoning the
enterprise which had reached such a satisfactory stage; and thinking
that it would be unwise to abandon the river: the governor made haste
to send a second despatch immediately by various roads, ordering them
to pay no attention to his first orders, but to remain in Mindanao, and
that he would soon send them what was necessary for further operations.
It seems that this message traveled slowly; for, the first having
arrived, they obeyed it without any further delay, and camp was
raised and the country abandoned. To their former enemy of Buhahayen
they gave as a reason that the governor of Manila had summoned them;
and to their friends of Tampacan, they said that they would leave men
in La Caldera for their security, and that assistance would be sent
them from Manila. This news caused as much sorrow and sadness to the
latter, as joy to the people of Buhahayen. Then after burning their
fort and settlement, the Spaniards embarked all their forces as soon as
possible, left the river, and went to La Caldera, twenty-four leguas
farther down in the direction of Manila. Having entered port, they
built a fortress and left there a garrison of one hundred Spaniards,
with some artillery, provisions, and boats for their use.
At this juncture, the governor's second message to General Don Joan
Ronquillo arrived, to which the latter replied that he was already
in La Caldera, and could not return to the river. Then, without any
further delay, Don Juan Ronquillo went to Manila with the balance of
his fleet, by way of the provinces of Oton, and Panay. The governor,
having heard of his coming, sent to arrest him on the road before
he entered the city, and proceeded against him by law for having
withdrawn the camp and army from Mindanao River, without awaiting the
orders he should have expected after the favorable turn that affairs
had taken. Don Juan Ronquillo was set at liberty on showing a private
letter from the governor, which the latter had sent him separately
with the first instructions, to the effect that he should return
to Manila with his troops in any event, for they were needed in the
islands for other purposes; and because of this letter Don Juan had
determined not to await the second order.
Captain and Sargento-mayor Gallinato crossed from Cochinchina to Manila
in the flagship of his fleet, and informed Don Francisco Tello whom he
found governing, of the events of his expedition; and that Blas Ruyz
and Diego Belloso had gone by land to Lao from Cochinchina in search
of King Langara of Camboja. Thus by their absence he avoided the blame
of leaving Camboja, although there were not wanting many of his own
followers who angrily gave information of the opportunity that he had
lost by not showing himself or staying in Camboja when he had so good
an opportunity; and they stoutly asserted that if he had done so,
all that had been hoped in that kingdom would have been attained.
The other ship of his convoy, to which the balance of his fleet
had been reduced, of which he made Alférez Luys Ortiz commander,
could not pursue the voyage on account of heavy storms, and put in at
Malaca. Some of the Spaniards remained there, and Ortiz with the rest
of the crew, was able to set sail after a few months, and returned
to Manila.
Coincident with the above, and at the beginning of Don Francisco
Tello's administration, two Indian chiefs of the province of Cagayan,
the more powerful of whom was called Magalat, were detained in Manila,
because they, with their kinsmen, and others who followed their
party and opinion, often incited the settlements of that province to
rebellion; and it had cost no little trouble to subdue them; besides
the daily murder of many Spaniards and other injuries inflicted upon
the peaceful natives and their crops. Magalat was captain and leader
of these men, and since he, with his brother and other natives, was
in Manila, and unable to leave it, that province became more secure.
Some Dominican religious bound for Segovia, the capital of that
province, where they give instruction, moved with pity, persuaded
the governor to let Magalat and his brother return to their country
with them. To such an extent did they importune the governor, that
he granted their request. Having reached Cagayan, the chiefs went
inland by the Lobo River and again incited the whole country to
rebellion. With the help of other chiefs of Tubigarao, and other
settlements, they so stirred up things, that it was impossible to
go to those settlements or a step beyond the city. Magalat was the
leader of the rebels, and he committed cruel murders and injuries
even upon the natives themselves, if they refused to rise against the
Spaniards. This reached such a point that the governor was obliged
to send the master-of-camp, Pedro de Chaves, from Manila with
troops, in order that he might suitably remedy the evil. In spite
of many difficulties, the latter had so good fortune that he seized
many insurgent leaders upon whom he executed justice and public
punishment. As for Magalat himself, the governor caused him to be
killed in his own house and land where he had fortified himself, by
the hand of his own Indians, who had offered to do it for a reward;
for in no other way did it appear possible. Had Magalat not been
killed, the war would have dragged on for many years, but with his
death the province became quiet and the peace secure.
In April of the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-five,
Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira sailed from Callao de Lima in
Peru, to colonize the Salomon Islands, which he had discovered many
years before in the South Sea, [66] the principal one of which he had
called San Christoval. He took four ships, two large ones--a flagship
and an almiranta--a frigate, and a galliot, with four hundred men
in all. He was also accompanied by his wife, Doña Ysabel Barreto and
his three brothers-in-law. On the way he discovered other islands at
which he did not stop; but not finding those which he had previously
discovered, and as his almiranta had been lost, he anchored with the
other ships at an island near Nueva Guinea, inhabited by blacks,
to which he gave the name of Santa Cruz [Holy Cross]. There he
settled--little to the satisfaction of his men. The adelantado, two of
his brothers-in-law, and many of his people died there. Doña Ysabel
Barreto abandoned the colony, on account of sickness and want, and
embarked the survivors aboard her flagship, frigate, and galliot. But
while they were sailing toward the Filipinas the frigate and galliot
disappeared in another direction. The flagship entered the river of
Butuan, in the island of Mindanao, and reached Manila after great
want and suffering. There Doña Ysabel Barreto married Don Fernando de
Castro, and returned to Nueva España in his ship, the "San Geronymo,"
in the year ninety-six. The events of this voyage have been only
lightly touched upon here, so that it seems fitting to reproduce
literally the relation, to which Don Pedro Fernandez de Quiros,
chief pilot on this voyage, affixed his signature, which is as follows.
Relation of the voyage of Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira for
the discovery of the Salomon Islands
On Friday, the ninth of the month of April, one thousand five hundred
and ninety-five, Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña set sail with his fleet
for the conquest and settlement of the western islands in the South
Sea, sailing from the port of Callao de Lima, which lies in twelve and
one-half degrees south latitude. Laying his course toward the valleys
of Santa, Truxillo, and Saña, and collecting men and provisions, he
went to Paita. [67] There he took in water and numbered his forces,
which amounted to about four hundred persons. Then with his four
vessels, two large and two small, he left the said port, which is
five degrees higher than the former port, and directed his course
west-southwest in search of the islands that he had discovered. He
took Pedro Merino Manrique as master-of-camp; his brother-in-law,
Lope de la Vega, as admiral; and Pedro Fernandez de Quiros as
chief pilot. Following the above-mentioned course he sailed to the
altitude of nine and one-half degrees, whence he sailed southwest by
west to fourteen degrees, where he changed his course to northwest
by west. On Friday, the twenty-first of the month of July, having
reached an altitude of ten long degrees, we sighted an island to
which the general gave the name of Madalena. [68] From a port of this
island, about seventy canoes came out, each containing three men,
or thereabout, while some came swimming and others on logs. There
were more than four hundred Indians, white and of a very agreeable
appearance, tall and strong, large-limbed, and so well made that
they by far surpassed us. [69] They had fine teeth, eyes, mouth,
hands and feet, and beautiful long flowing hair, while many of them
were very fair. Very handsome youths were to be seen among them;
all were naked and covered no part. Their bodies, legs, arms, hands,
and even some of their faces, were all marked after the fashion of
these Bissayans. And indeed, for a barbarous people, naked, and of
so little reason, one could not restrain himself, at sight of them,
from thanking God for having created them. And do not think this
exaggeration, for it was so. These people invited us to their port,
and were in turn invited to our flagship, and about forty of them
came aboard. In comparison with them we appeared to be men of less
than ordinary size. Among them was one who was thought to be a palmo
taller than the tallest man of our fleet, although we had in the
fleet men of more than average height. The general gave some of them
shirts and other things, which they accepted with much pleasure,
dancing after their fashion and calling others. But being annoyed
at the liberties that they took, for they were great thieves, the
general had a cannon fired, in order to frighten them. When they
heard it they all swam ashore, seized their weapons, and at the sound
of a conch threw a few stones at the ships and threatened us with
their lances, for they had no other weapons. Our men fired their
arquebuses at them from the ships and killed five or six of them,
whereat they stopped. Our fleet sailed on and we discovered three
other islands. This island has a circumference of about six leguas. We
passed it on its southern side. On that side it is high and slopes
precipitously to the sea, and has mountainous ravines where the
Indians dwell. There seemed to be many inhabitants, for we saw them
on the rocks and on the beach. And so we continued our course to the
other three islands. The first, to which was given the name San Pedro,
is about ten leguas from Magdalena, and like it extends northwest by
north. It has a circumference of about three leguas. The island is
beautiful, and rich in woods and fine fields. We did not ascertain
whether it was inhabited or not, for we did not stop there. To the
southeast and about five leguas from it lies another island to which
the general gave the name of Dominica. It is very sightly, and to
all appearances thickly populated, and has a circumference of about
fifteen leguas. To the south and a little more than one legua from
it lies another island with a circumference of about eight leguas,
which received the name of Sancta Cristina. Our fleet passed through
the channel that separates the one island from the other, for all that
we saw of these islands is clear sailing. On the west side of Sancta
Cristina, a good port was found, and there the fleet anchored. [70]
These Indians did not seem to me to resemble the first; but many
beautiful women were seen. I did not see the latter, but some who did
assured me that in their opinion, they are as beautiful as the women
in Lima, but light complexioned and not so tall--and the women in Lima
are very beautiful. The articles of food seen in that port were swine
and fowl, sugar-cane, excellent bananas, cocoanuts, and a fruit that
grows on high trees. Each of the last is as large as a good-sized
pineapple, and is excellent eating. Much of it was eaten green,
roasted, and boiled. When ripe it is indeed so sweet and good that,
in my estimation, there is no other that surpasses it. Scarcely any
of it, except a little husk, has to be thrown away. [71] There was
also another fruit with a flavor like that of chestnuts, but much
larger in size than six chestnuts put together; much of this fruit
was eaten roasted and boiled. Certain nuts with a very hard shell,
and very oily, were also found, which were eaten in great quantities,
and which, according to some, induced diarrhoea. We also saw some
Castilian pumpkins growing. Near the beach there is a fine cascade
of very clear water, which issues from a rock at the height of two
men. Its volume is about the width of four or five fingers. Then
near by there is a stream, from which the boats drew a full supply
of water. The Indians fled to the forests and rocks, where they
fortified themselves and tried to do some mischief, by throwing
stones and rolling down rocks, but they never wounded anyone, for
the master-of-camp restrained them, by placing outposts. The Indians
of this island, on seeing one of our negroes, made signs toward the
south, saying that there were men like him there, and that they were
wont to go there to fight; that the others were armed with arrows; and
that they make the journey thither in certain large canoes which they
possess. Since there was no interpreter, or much curiosity to learn
more, no further investigations were made, although, in my opinion,
this is impossible for Indians so remote, unless there be a chain of
islands; for their boats and their customs in other things show that
they have not come from any great distance.
This port lies in an altitude of nine and one-half degrees. The
adelantado ordered three crosses to be planted, and on Saturday, August
fifth, to weigh anchor and set sail southwest by west. We sailed with
easterly and east southeasterly winds, now southwest by west and now
northwest by west, for about four hundred leguas. One Sunday, August
twenty, we sighted four low islands with sandy beaches, abounding
in palms and other trees. On the southeast side, towards the north,
was seen a great sandbank. All four islands have a circuit of about
twelve leguas. Whether they were inhabited or not, we could not tell,
for we did not go to them. That year appeared to be one of talk, of
which I speak with anger. These islands lie in an altitude of ten and
three-quarters degrees. They were named San Bernardo, [72] because
they were discovered on that saint's day. Thenceforward we began to
meet southeasterly winds, which never failed us, and which seem to
prevail in those regions. With these winds we continued to sail always
in the said direction, never going above eleven or below ten degrees,
until Tuesday, August twenty-nine, when we discovered a round islet,
of about one legua in circumference, surrounded by reefs. We tried
to land there, so that the almiranta could take on wood and water, of
which there was great need, but could find no landing-place. We gave
it the name of La Solitaria [Solitary Island]. It lies in an altitude
of ten and two-thirds degrees, and is about one thousand five hundred
and thirty five leguas from Lima. [73] From this island we continued
to sail in the said course: a thing which drew a variety of opinions
from the men, some saying that we did not know where we were going,
and other things which did not fail to cause some hard feelings; but by
the mercy of God, at midnight on the eve of Nuestra Señora de Setiembre
[Our Lady of September], we sighted an island of about ninety or one
hundred leguas in circumference, which extends almost east southeast
and west northwest, and lies about one thousand eight hundred leguas
from Lima. [74] The whole island is full of dense forests, even to
the highest ridges; and where it was not cleared for the Indians'
fields, not a palmo of earth could be seen. The ships anchored in a
port on the north side of the island, in ten degrees of latitude. About
seven leguas north of that port, there is a volcano with a very well
shaped cone, which ejects much fire from its summit, and from other
parts. The volcano is high and about three leguas in circumference. On
the side toward the sea it is very steep and quite bare, and offers
no landing; and it rumbles frequently and loudly within. Northeast of
this volcano are several small inhabited islets, surrounded by many
shoals. The distance to these islets is seven or eight leguas. The
shoals extend about northwest, and one who saw them said that they
were numerous. Around the large island were several small ones, and
as we sailed around them, we found that they were all inhabited,
even the large one. Within sight of this large island, and to the
southeast of it, we saw another island of no great size. This must
be the connecting link with the other islands. [75] After having put
into port at the great island Sancta Cruz, as it had been named, the
adelantado ordered Captain Don Lorenzo, his brother-in-law, to go with
the frigate in search of the almiranta, of which I have no favorable
conjectures, and which had disappeared on the night that we sighted the
island. It was sought on this and on two other occasions, but nothing
except the shoals above-mentioned were found. What was seen in the
way of food in this bay and port was swine, fowl, bananas, sugar-cane,
some two or three kinds of roots resembling sweet potatoes, which are
eaten boiled or roasted and made into biscuits, buyos [i.e., betel],
two kinds of excellent almonds, two kinds of pine-nuts, ring-doves
and turtle-doves, ducks, gray and white herons, swallows, a great
quantity of amaranth, Castilian pumpkins, the fruit which I mentioned
as being in the first islands, chestnuts, and walnuts. Sweet basil,
of great fragrance, and red flowers, which are kept in the gardens
at that port, and two other kinds of different flowers, also red, are
found. There is another fruit which grows on high trees, and resembles
the pippin in its pleasing smell and savor; a great quantity of ginger
grows wild there, as also of the herb chiquilite, from which indigo
is made. [76] There are agave-trees, abundance of sagia [sago (?)],
[77] and many cocoanuts. Marble is also to be seen, as well as pearl
shells and large snail-shells, like those brought from China. There is
a very copious spring and five or six rivers of small volume. There
we settled close by the spring. The Indians endeavored to prevent
us; but as the arquebus tells at a distance, upon seeing its deadly
effects, their hostility was lukewarm, and they even gave us some of
the things that they possessed. In this matter of procuring provisions,
several cases of not over good treatment happened to the Indians; for
the Indian who was our best friend and lord of that island, Malope
by name, was killed, as well as two or three others, also friendly
to us. No more of all the island than about three leguas about the
camp was explored. The people of this island are black. They have
small single-masted canoes for use about their villages; and some
very large ones to use in the open sea. On Sunday, October eight, the
adelantado had the master-of-camp stabbed. Tomas de Ampuero was also
killed in the same way. Alférez Juan de Buitrago was beheaded; and the
adelantado intended to have two others, friends of the master-of-camp,
killed, but was restrained therefrom at our request. The cause of
this was notorious, for these men tried to induce the adelantado to
leave the land and abandon it. There must have been other reasons
unknown to me; what I saw was much dissoluteness and shamelessness,
and a great deal of improper conduct. On October eighteen, after a
total eclipse of the moon on the seventeenth, the adelantado died;
[78] November two, Don Lorenzo, his brother-in-law, who had succeeded
him as captain-general; the priest Antonio de Serpa, seven or eight
days before; and November eight the vicar, Juan de Espinosa. Disease
was rampant among our men and many died for lack of care, and the
want of an apothecary and doctor. The men begged the governor Doña
Ysabel Barreto to take them out of the country. All agreed to embark,
and by the mercy of God, we left this port on Saturday, the eighteenth
of the said month, and sailed southwest by west toward the island of
San Cristoval or rather in search of it, to see whether we could find
it or the almiranta, in accordance with the governor's orders. For two
days nothing was seen; and at the request of all the men, who cried
out that we were taking them to destruction, she ordered me to steer
from our settlement, located in ten and one-half degrees of latitude,
to Manila. Thence I steered north northwest to avoid meeting islands
on the way, since we were so ill prepared to approach any of them,
with our men so sick that about fifty of them died in the course of
the voyage and about forty there in the island. We continued our course
short of provisions, navigating five degrees south and as many north,
and meeting with many contrary winds and calms. When we reached an
altitude of six long degrees north latitude, we sighted an island,
apparently about twenty-five leguas in circumference, thickly wooded
and inhabited by many people who resembled those of the Ladrones,
and whom we saw coming toward us in canoes. From the southeast
to the north and then to the southwest, it is surrounded by large
reefs. [79] About four leguas west of it are some low islets. There,
although we tried, we failed to find a suitable place to anchor; for
the galliot and frigates which accompanied our ship had disappeared
some days before. [80] From this place we continued the said course
until we reached an altitude of thirteen and three-quarters degrees,
and in the two days that we sailed west in this latitude, we sighted
the islands of Serpana [i.e., Seypan] and Guan in the Ladrones. We
passed between the two and did not anchor there, because we had no
cable for lowering and hauling up the boat. This was the third of the
month of January, one thousand five hundred and ninety-six. On the
fourteenth of the same month we sighted the cape of Espiritu Sancto,
and on the fifteenth we anchored in the bay of Cobos. [81] We reached
there in such a state that only the goodness of God could have taken
us thither; for human strength and resources would hardly have taken
us a tenth of the way. We reached that place so dismantled and the
crew so weak that we were a most piteous sight, and with only nine
or ten jars of water. In this bay of Cobos the ship was repaired and
the men recuperated as much as possible. On Tuesday, February second,
we left the above port and bay, and on the tenth of the same month
we anchored in the port of Cabite, etc.
Besides my desire to serve your Grace, I am moved to leave this brief
relation for you, by the fact that if, perchance, God should dispose of
my life, or other events should cause me or the relation that I carry
to disappear, the truth may be learned from this one, which may prove
a matter of great service to God and to the king our sovereign. [82]
Will your Grace look favorably upon my great desire to serve you,
of which I shall give a better proof, if God permit me to return to
this port. Will your Grace also pardon my brevity, since the fault
lies in the short time at my present disposal. Moreover, since no man
knows what time may bring, I beg your Grace to keep the matter secret,
for on considering it well, it seems only right that nothing be said
about the first islands until his Majesty be informed and order what
is convenient to his service, for, as the islands occupy a position
midway between Peru, Nueva Españia, and this land, the English,
on learning of them, might settle them and do much mischief in this
sea. Your Grace, I consider myself as the faithful servant of your
Grace. May God our Lord preserve you for many years in great joy and
increasing prosperity, etc. Your Grace's servant, PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE
QUIROS To Doctor Antonio de Morga, lieutenant-governor of his Majesty
in the Filipinas.
When Governor Don Francisco Tello entered upon his office, in the
year ninety-six, he found the "San Geronymo," the ship in which Don
Fernando de Castro and his wife Doña Ysabel Barreto were returning
to Nueva España, preparing for the voyage in the port of Cabite. He
also found there the galleon "San Felipe" laden with Filipinas goods,
preparing to make its voyage to Nueva España. As soon as Governor
Don Francisco Tello entered upon his administration, both ships were
despatched and set sail. Although the "San Geronymo" sailed last,
it made the voyage, reaching Nueva Españia at the end of the said
year of ninety-six. The vessel "San Felipe," which was a large ship
and heavily laden with merchandise and passengers, and whose commander
and general was Don Mathia de Landecho, encountered many storms on the
voyage, so that at one time it became necessary to throw considerable
cargo overboard, and they lost their rudder while in thirty-seven
degrees of latitude, six hundred leguas from the Filipinas, and a
hundred and fifty from Xapon. Seeing themselves unable to continue
their voyage, it was decided to put back to the Filipinas. They set
about this and changed their course, but experienced even greater
difficulties and trials. Many times they gave themselves up as lost,
for the seas ran high, and as the vessel had no rudder, the rigging
and few sails were carried away, and blown into shreds. They could not
hold the vessel to its course, and it worked so often to windward that
they were in great danger of foundering, and lost all hope of reaching
the Filipinas. Xapon was the nearest place, but not sufficiently near
to enable them to reach it or to venture near its coast which is very
wild, and unknown to them even by sight; and even should they have the
good fortune to reach it, they did not know how the Japanese would
receive them. At this juncture arose confusion and a diversity of
opinion among the men aboard. Some said that they should not abandon
the course to Manila, in spite of the great peril and discomfort that
they were experiencing. Others said that it would be a rash act to do
so, and that, since Xapon was much nearer, they should make for it,
and look for the port of Nangasaqui, between which and the Filipinas
trade was carried on. There they would be well received and would find
means to repair their ships, and of resuming the voyage thence. This
opinion prevailed, for some religious in the ship adopted it, and the
rest coincided with them, on the assurance of the pilots that they
would quickly take the ship to Xapon. Accordingly they altered their
course for that country, and after six days sighted the coast and
country of Xapon, at a province called Toça; [83] and although they
tried by day to reach the land, at night, when they lowered the sails,
the tide carried them away from it. Many funeas [84] came to the ship
from a port called Hurando, and the Spaniards, persuaded by the king
of that province, who assured them of harbor, tackle, and repairs,
entered the port, after having sounded and examined the entrance, and
whether the water was deep enough. The Japanese, who were faithless,
and did this with evil intent, towed the ship into the port, leading
and guiding it onto a shoal, where, for lack of water, it touched and
grounded. Therefore the Spaniards were obliged to unload the ship and
take all the cargo ashore close to the town, to a stockade which was
given them for that purpose. For the time being the Japanese gave the
Spaniards a good reception, but as to repairing the ship and leaving
port again, the latter were given to understand that it could not be
done without permission and license from Taicosama, the sovereign of
Japon, who was at his court in Miaco, one hundred leguas from that
port. General Don Matia de Landecho and his companions, in order
to lose no time, resolved to send their ambassadors to court with a
valuable gift from the ship's cargo for Taicosama, to beg him to order
their departure. They sent on this mission Christoval de Mercado,
three other Spaniards, Fray Juan Pobre, of the Franciscan order,
and Fray Juan Tamayo, of the Augustinian order, who were aboard the
vessel. They were to confer concerning this affair with Taico in Miaco,
and were to avail themselves of the Franciscan fathers who were in
Miaco. The latter had gone as ambassadors from the Filipinas to settle
matters between Xapon and Manila, and were residing at court in a
permanent house and hospital, with Taico's sufferance. There they were
making a few converts, although with considerable opposition from the
religious of the Society of Jesus established in the same kingdom. The
latter asserted other religious to be forbidden by apostolic briefs and
royal decrees to undertake or engage in the conversion of Japon. The
king of Hurando, although to all appearances friendly and kind to
the Spaniards in his port, took great care to keep them and their
merchandise secure. He immediately sent word to court that that ship of
foreigners called Nambajies [85] had been wrecked there, and that the
Spaniards had brought great riches. This kindled Taicosama's greed,
who, in order to get possession of them, sent Ximonojo, one of his
favorites and a member of his council, to Hurando. Ximonojo, upon his
arrival, took possession of all the merchandise, and imprisoned the
Spaniards within a well-guarded palisade, after having forced them to
give up all their possessions and what they had hid, under pain of
death. Having exercised great rigor therein, he returned to court,
after granting permission to the general and others of his suite to go
to Miaco. The ambassadors who had been sent before to Miaco with the
present, were unable to see Taico, although the present was accepted;
nor did they succeed in making any profitable arrangement, although
father Fray Pedro Baptista, superior of the Franciscan religious
residing there, employed many methods for the purpose of remedying the
grievance of the Spaniards. These attempts only served to intensify
the evil; for the favorites, who were infidels and hated the religious
for making converts at court, on seeing Taico so bent upon the riches
of the ship and so unwilling to listen to any restitution, not only
did not ask him to do so, but in order to make the matter easier, and
taking advantage of the occasion, set Taicosama against the Spaniards;
telling him that the religious and the men from the ship were all
subjects of one sovereign, and conquerors of others' kingdoms. They
said that the Spaniards did this by first sending their religious
to the kingdoms, and then entered after with their arms, and that
they would do this with Xapon. They were aided in this purpose by
the fact that when the favorite, who went to seize the property of
the ship, was in Hurando, its pilot, Francisco de Sanda, had shown
him the sea-chart in which could be seen all the countries which had
been discovered, and España and the other kingdoms possessed by his
Majesty, among which were Piru and Nueva España. When the favorite
asked how those distant kingdoms had been gained, the pilot replied
that the religious had entered first and preached their religion,
and then the soldiers had followed and subdued them. It is true that
the said pilot imprudently gave those reasons, which Ximonojo noted
well and kept in mind, in order to relate them to Taicosama whenever
a suitable opportunity should present itself, which he now did.
All this, together with the persistency with which the religious begged
Taico to restore the merchandise to the Spaniards, resulted in angering
him thoroughly, and like the barbarous and so avaricious tyrant that
he was, he gave orders to crucify them all and all the religious
who preached the religion of Namban [86] in his kingdoms. Five
religious who were in the house at Miaco were immediately seized,
together with another from the "San Felipe" who had joined them, and
all the Japanese preachers and teachers. [87] It was also understood
that the persecution would extend to the other orders and Christians
in Japon, whereupon all received great fear and confusion. But later
Taico's wrath was moderated, for, allowing himself to be entreated,
he declared that only the religious who had been found in the house
at Miaco, and their companions, the Japanese preachers and teachers,
who were arrested, would be crucified; and that all the others,
together with the Spaniards of the ship, would be allowed to return
to Manila. Fonzanbrandono, brother of Taracabadono, governor of
Nangasaqui, was entrusted with the execution of the order. He placed
all those who were taken from the house of the Franciscan religious at
Miaco on ox-carts, under a strong guard; namely, Fray Pedro Baptista,
Fray Martin de Aguirre, Fray Felipe de las Casas, Fray Gonçalo,
Fray Francisco Blanco, Fray Francisco de San Miguel, and twenty-six
[sic] Japanese preachers and teachers with two boys who were in the
service of the religious. Their right ears were cut off, and they were
paraded through the streets of Miaco and through those of the cities
of Fugimen, Usaca, and Sacai, [88] to the great grief and sorrow
of all Christians who saw their sufferings. The sentence and cause
of their martyrdom was written on a tablet in Chinese characters,
which was carried hanging on a spear; and read as follows.
Sentence of the Combaco, [89] lord of Xapon, against the discalced
religious and their teachers, whom he has ordered to be martyred
in Nangasaqui.
Inasmuch as these men came from the Luzones, from the island of Manila,
in the capacity of ambassadors, and were allowed to remain in the city
of Miaco, preaching the Christian religion, which in former years I
have strictly forbidden: I order that they be executed together with
the Japanese who embraced their religion. Therefore these twenty-four
[sic] men will be crucified in the city of Nangasaqui. And whereas
I again forbid the teaching of this religion henceforward: let all
understand this. I command that this decree be carried out; and should
any person dare to violate this order, he shall be punished together
with his whole family. Given on the first of Echo, and second of the
moon. [90]
Thus these holy men were taken to Nangasaqui. There, on a hill sown
with wheat, in sight of the town and port, and near a house and
hospital called San Lazaro, established in Nangasaqui by the said
religious on their first coming from the Filipinas, before going
up to the capital, they were all crucified in a row. The religious
were placed in the middle and the others on either side upon high
crosses, with iron staples at their throats, hands, and feet, and
with long, sharp iron lances thrust up from below and crosswise
through their sides. [91] Thus did they render their souls to their
Creator for whom they died with great resolution, on the fifth of
February, day of St. Agueda, of the year one thousand five hundred and
ninety-seven. They left behind in that ploughed field, and through it
in all that kingdom, a great quantity of seed sown, which they watered
with their blood, and from which we hope to gather abundant fruit of
a numerous conversion to our holy Catholic faith. Before these holy
men were crucified, they wrote a letter to Doctor Antonio de Morga,
in Manila, by the hand of Fray Martin de Aguirre, which reads word
for word as follows.
To Doctor Morga, lieutenant-governor of Manila, whom may God protect,
etc., Manila.
Farewell, Doctor! farewell! Our Lord, not regarding my sins, has,
in His mercy, been pleased to make me one of a band of twenty-four
[sic] servants of God, who are about to die for love of Him. Six of
us are friars of St. Francis, and eighteen are native Japanese. With
hopes that many more will follow in the same path, may your Grace
receive the last farewell and the last embraces of all this company,
for we all acknowledge the support which you have manifested toward
the affairs of this conversion. And now, in taking leave, we beg
of you--and I especially--to make the protection of this field of
Christendom the object of your special care. Since you are a father,
and look with favor upon all things which may concern the mission of
the religious in this conversion, so may your Grace find one who will
protect and intercede for you before God in time of need. Farewell
sir! Will your Grace give my last adieu to Doña Juana. May our Lord
preserve, etc. From the road to execution, January twenty-eight,
one thousand five hundred and ninety-seven.
This king's greed has been much whetted by what he stole from the
"San Felipe." It is said that next year he will go to Luzon, and that
he does not go this year because of being busy with the Coreans. In
order to gain his end, he intends to take the islands of Lequios [92]
and Hermosa, throw forces from them into Cagayan, and thence to fall
upon Manila, if God does not first put a stop to his advance. Your
Graces will attend to what is fitting and necessary. [93]
FRAY MARTIN DE LA ASCENCION
The bodies of the martyrs, although watched for many days by the
Japanese, were removed by bits (especially those of the monks)
from the crosses as relics by the Christians of the place, who very
reverently distributed them around. Together with the staples and
the wood of the crosses they are now scattered throughout Christendom.
Two other religious of the same band, who were out of the house at
the time of the arrest, did not suffer this martyrdom. One, called
Fray Geronimo de Jesus, [94] hid himself and went inland, in order
not to leave the country; the other, called Fray Agustin Rodriguez,
was sheltered by the fathers of the Society, who sent him away by way
of Macan. General Don Mathia and the Spaniards of the ship, naked
and stripped, left Japon. They embarked at Nangasaqui and went to
Manila in various ships which make that voyage for the Japanese and
Portuguese. The first news of this event was learned from them in the
month of May of ninety-seven. Great grief and sadness was caused by
the news, in the death of the holy religious, and in the disturbances
which were expected to take place in future dealings between Japon
and the Filipinas; as well as in the loss of the galleon and its
cargo en route to Nueva España. The value of the vessel was over one
million [pesos?], and caused great poverty among the Spaniards. After
considering the advisable measures to take under the circumstances,
it was ultimately decided that, in order not to allow the matter to
pass, a circumspect man should be sent to Japon with letters from the
governor to Taicosama. The letters were to set forth the governor's
anger at the taking of the ship and merchandise from the Spaniards,
and at the killing of the religious; and were also to request Taicosama
to make all the reparation possible, by restoring and returning the
merchandise to the Spaniards, and the artillery, tackle, and spoils of
the vessel that were left, as well as the bodies of the religious whom
he had crucified; and Taicosama was so to arrange matters thenceforth,
that Spaniards should not be so treated in his kingdom.
The governor sent Don Luis Navarrete [95] Fajardo as bearer of this
message, and a present of some gold and silver ornaments, swords,
and valuable cloth for Taicosama. He also sent him an elephant
well caparisoned and covered with silk, and with its naires [i.e.,
elephant keepers] in the same livery, a thing never before seen in
Xapon. According to the custom of that kingdom, Don Luis was to make
the present to Taico when he presented his embassy, for the Japanese
are wont to give or receive embassies in no other manner. When Don
Luys de Navarrete reached Nangasaqui, Taicosama readily sent from
the court for the ambassador and for the present which had been sent
him from Luzon, for he was anxious to see the gifts, especially the
elephant, with which he was greatly delighted. He heard the embassy
and replied with much ostentation and display, exculpating himself
from the death of the religious upon whom he laid the blame, saying
that after he had forbidden them to christianize, or teach their
religion, they had disregarded his orders in his own court. Likewise,
the seizure of the ship and its merchandise, which entered the port
of Hurando in the province of Toza, had been a justifiable procedure,
according to the laws of Japon, because all ships lost on its coast
belong to the king, with their merchandise. Nevertheless, he added
that he was sorry for all that had happened, and that he would return
the merchandise had it not been distributed. As to the religious,
there was no remedy for it. But he begged the governor of Manila not
to send such persons to Xapon, for he had again passed laws forbidding
the making of Christians under pain of death. He would deliver whatever
had remained of the bodies of the religious and would be glad to have
peace and friendship with the Luzon Islands and the Spaniards, and
for his part, would endeavor to secure it. He said that if any other
vessel came to his kingdom from Manila, he would give orders that it
be well received and well treated. With this reply and a letter of the
same purport for the governor, Don Luys Navarrete was dismissed. He
was given a present for the governor consisting of lances, armor, and
catans, considered rare and valuable by the Japanese. The ambassador
thereupon left Miaco and went to Nangasaqui, whence by the first ship
sailing to Manila, he sent word to Governor Don Francisco concerning
his negotiations. But the message itself was taken later to Manila
by another person, on account of the illness and death of Don Luis in
Nangasaqui. Taicosama rejoiced over his answer to the ambassador, for
he had practically done nothing of what was asked of him. His reply
was more a display of dissembling and compliments than a desire for
friendship with the Spaniards. He boasted and published arrogantly,
and his favorites said in the same manner, that the Spaniards had sent
him that present and embassy through fear, and as an acknowledgment
of tribute and seigniory, so that he might not destroy them as he had
threatened them at other times in the past, when Gomez Perez Dasmariñas
was governor. And even then the Spaniards had sent him a message and
a present by Fray Juan Cobo, the Dominican, and Captain Llanos.
The Japanese Faranda Quiemon sought war with Manila, and the favorites
who aided him did not neglect to beg Taico not to lose the opportunity
of conquering that city. They said that it would be easy, since
there were but few Spaniards there; that a fleet could be sent there
quickly, which Faranda would accompany. The latter assured Taico of
success, as one who knew the country and its resources. They urged
him so continually that Taico entrusted Faranda with the enterprise,
and gave him some supplies and other assistance toward it. Faranda
began to prepare ships and Chinese for the expedition, which he was
never able to carry out; for, being a man naturally low and poor,
he possessed neither the ability nor the means sufficient for the
enterprise. His protectors themselves did not choose to assist him, and
so his preparations were prolonged until the enterprise was abandoned
at the death of Taico, and his own death, as will be stated later.
Meanwhile news was constantly reaching Manila that a fleet was being
equipped in Japon, completely under the supervision of Faranda,
and it naturally caused some anxiety among the people in spite of
their courage and determination to resist him, for the enemy was
arrogant and powerful. Although the city was thoroughly resolved
and determined to resist him, yet the governor and city would never
show openly that they were aware of the change which Taico was about
to make, in order not to precipitate the war or give the other side
any reason for hastening it. Trusting to time for the remedy, they so
disposed affairs in the city, that they might be ready for any future
emergency. They sent the Japanese who had settled in Manila--and they
were not few--back to Xapon, and made those who came in merchant ships
give up their weapons until their return, which they endeavored to
hasten as much as possible; but in all other respects, they treated
them hospitably. And because it was heard that Taico intended to take
possession of the island of Hermosa, a well-provisioned island off the
Chinese coast, very near Luzon, and on the way to Xapon, in order to
make it serve as a way-station for his fleet, and thus carry on more
easily the war with Manila, the governor sent two ships of the fleet
under command of Don Juan de Çamuzio, to reconnoiter that island and
all its ports, and the nature of the place, in order to be the first
to take possession of it. At least, if means and time should fail
him, he was to advise China, and the viceroys of the provinces of
Canton and Chincheo, so that, since the latter were old-time enemies
of Xapon, they might prevent the Japanese from entering the island,
which would prove so harmful to all of them. In these measures and
precautions several days were spent in the matter. However, nothing
was accomplished by this expedition to Hermosa Island beyond advising
Great China of Xapon's designs.
Several days after the imprisonment of Father Alonso Ximenez in
Cochinchina where Captain and Sargento-mayor Juan Xuarez Gallinato
had left him, the kings of Tunquin and Sinua permitted him to return
to Manila. He took passage for Macan in a Portuguese vessel. Not only
did he arrive unwearied by his voyages, hardships, and imprisonment,
but with renewed energy and spirits proposed to set on foot again
the expedition to Camboja. Although little was known of the state
of affairs in that kingdom, and of the restoration of Prauncar to
his throne, he together with other religious of his order, persuaded
Don Luys Dasmariñas, upon whom he exercised great influence, and who
was then living in Manila, taking no part in government affairs, and
inclined him to broach the subject of making this expedition anew and
in person and at his own expense, from which would ensue good results
for the service of God and of his Majesty. Don Luys discussed the
matter with Governor Don Francisco Tello, and offered to bear all
the expense of the expedition. But a final decision was postponed
until the receipt of news from Camboja, for their only information
was that Blas Ruyz and Diego Belloso, leaving Captain Gallinato and
his ships in Cochinchina, had gone to Lao.
At the departure of Don Juan Ronquillo and his camp from Mindanao
River, the people of Tampacan were so disheartened, and the spirit of
those of Buhahayen so increased that, in spite of the friendship that
they had made, and the homage that they had rendered, they became
declared enemies [to the former]. Matters returned to their former
state, so that, not only did the inhabitants of Buhahayen not dismantle
their forts, as they had promised to do, but they repaired them and
committed other excesses against their neighbors of Tampacan. They
would have altogether broken into open war, had they not feared that
the Spaniards would return better prepared and in larger number, as
they had left the garrison at La Caldera with that intention. Thus
they let matters stand, neither declaring themselves fully as rebels,
nor observing the laws of friendship toward the men of Tampacan and
other allies of the Spaniards.
Near the island of Mindanao lies an island called Joló, not very large,
but thickly populated with natives, all Mahometans. They number about
three thousand men, and have their own lord and king. When Governor
Francisco de Sande was returning from his expedition to Borneo,
he sent Captain Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa to Joló. He entered
the island and reduced the natives to his Majesty's rule as above
related. The natives were apportioned to Captain Pedro de Osseguera
for his lifetime, and after his death, to his son and successor,
Don Pedro de Osseguera. He asked and collected for several years
what tribute they chose to give him, which was but slight, without
urging more, in order not to make a general disturbance. While Don
Juan Ronquillo was with his camp in Mindanao, the men of Joló, seeing
Spanish affairs flourishing, were willing to enjoy peace and pay their
tribute; but at the departure of the Spaniards, they became lukewarm
again. Captain Juan Pacho, who commanded the presidio of La Caldera
in Don Juan Ronquillo's absence, having sent some soldiers to barter
for wax, the Joloans maltreated them and killed two of them. Juan
Pacho, with the intention of punishing this excess of the Joloans,
went there in person with several boats and thirty soldiers. As he
landed, a considerable body of Joloans descended from their king's
town, which is situated on a high and strongly-fortified hill, and
attacked the Spaniards. Through the number of the natives and the
Spaniards' inability to make use of their arquebuses, on account of
a heavy shower, the latter were routed, and Captain Juan Pacho and
twenty of his followers killed. The rest wounded and in flight took
to their boats and returned to La Caldera.
This event caused great grief in Manila, especially because of the
reputation lost by it, both among the Joloans, and their neighbors,
the people of Mindanao. Although it was considered necessary to punish
the Joloans in order to erase this disgrace, yet as this should be
done signally and just then there was not sufficient preparation,
it was deferred until a better opportunity. Only Captain Villagra was
sent immediately as commander of the presidio of La Caldera, with some
soldiers. Having arrived there, they spent their time in pleasure,
until their provisions were consumed, and the garrison suffering. They
were maintained and supported because of the slight protection that
the people of Tampacan felt, knowing that there were Spaniards on the
island, and hoped for the arrival of more Spaniards, as Don Juan had
promised them, and for punishment and vengeance upon the men of Jolo.
While affairs in the Filipinas were in this condition, ships from
Nueva España arrived at Manila, in the month of May, one thousand five
hundred and ninety-eight. These ships brought despatches ordering the
reëstablishment of the royal Audiencia, which had been suppressed
in the Filipinas some years before. Don Francisco Tello, who was
governing the country, was named and appointed its president; Doctor
Antonio de Morga and Licentiates Christoval Telles Almaçan and Alvaro
Rodriguez Zambrano, auditors; and Licentiate Geronymo de Salazar,
fiscal; and other officials of the Audiencia were also appointed. By
the same ships arrived the archbishop, Fray Ignacio de Sanctivañes,
who enjoyed the archbishopric only for a short time, for he died of
dysentery in, the month of August of the same year. The bishop of
Sebu, Fray Pedro de Agurto came also. On the eighth of May of this
year-five hundred and ninety-eight, the royal seal of the Audiencia
was received. It was taken from the monastery of San Agustin to the
cathedral upon a horse caparisoned with cloth of gold and crimson,
and under a canopy of the same material. The staves of the canopy were
carried by the regidors of the city, who were clad in robes of crimson
velvet lined with white silver cloth, and in breeches and doublets of
the same material. The horse that carried the seal in a box of cloth
of gold covered with brocade was led on the right by him who held
the office of alguacil-mayor, who was clad in cloth of gold and wore
no cloak. Surrounding the horse walked the president and auditors,
all afoot and bareheaded. In front walked a throng of citizens clad
in costly gala dress; behind followed the whole camp and the soldiers,
with their drums and banners, and their arms in hand, and the captains
and officers at their posts, with the master-of-camp preceding them,
staff in hand. The streets and windows were richly adorned with
quantities of tapestry and finery, and many triumphal arches, and
there was music from flutes, trumpets, and other instruments. When
the seal was taken to the door of the cathedral of Manila, the
archbishop in pontifical robes came out with the cross, accompanied
by the chapter and clergy of the church to receive it. Having lifted
the box containing the seal from the horse under the canopy, the
archbishop placed it in the hands of the president. Then the auditors
went into the church with him, while the band of singers intoned
the Te Deum laudamus. They reached the main altar, upon the steps
of which stood a stool covered with brocade. Upon this they placed
the box with the seal. All knelt and the archbishop chanted certain
prayers to the Holy Spirit for the health and good government of the
king, our sovereign. Then the president took the box with the seal,
and with the same order and music with which it had been brought
into the church it was carried out and replaced upon the horse. The
archbishop and clergy remained at the door of the church, while the
cortége proceeded to the royal buildings. The said box containing the
royal seal was placed and left in a beautifully-adorned apartment,
with a covering of cloth of gold and crimson, on a table covered with
brocade and cushions of the same material, which stood under a canopy
of crimson velvet embroidered with the royal arms. Then the royal
order for the establishment of the Audiencia was publicly read there,
and the nominations for president, auditors, and fiscal. Homage was
done them and the usual oath administered. The president proceeded
to the Audiencia hall, where the court rooms were well arranged
and contained a canopy for the royal arms. There the president,
auditors, and fiscal took their seats and received the ministers and
officials of the Audiencia. Then the ordinances of the Audiencia
were read in the presence of as many citizens as could find room
in the hall. This completed the establishment of the Audiencia
on that day. Thenceforth it has exercised its functions, and has
had charge and disposition in all cases, both civil and criminal,
of its district. The latter includes the Filipinas Islands and all
the mainland, of China discovered or to be discovered. In charge of
the president who acts as governor of the land, were all government
affairs according to royal laws, ordinances, and special orders,
which were acted on and brought before the Audiencia.
A few days after the Chancillería of the Filipinas had been established
in Manila, news arrived of events in the kingdom of Camboja after
the arrival of Prauncar--son and successor of Prauncar Langara, who
died in Laos--together with Diego Belloso and Blas Ruyz de Hernan
Gonzalez, and of his victories and restoration to the throne, as has
already been related. [The news came] in letters from King Prauncar
to Governor Don Francisco Tello and Doctor Antonio de Morga. They
were signed by the king's hand and seal in red ink. The letters were
written in Castilian so that they might be better understood. Since
they were alike in essence, I thought it proper to reproduce here
the letter written by King Prauncar to Doctor Antonio de Morga,
which reads word for word as follows.
Prauncar, King of Camboja, to Doctor Antonio de Morga, greeting;
to whom I send this letter with great love and joy.
I, Prauncar, King of the rich land of Camboja, I, sole lord of it,
the great, cherish an ardent love for Doctor Antonio de Morga, whom
I am unable to keep from my thoughts, because I have learned through
Captain Chofa Don Blas, the Castilian, that he, from the kindness
of his heart, took an active part and has assisted the governor of
Luzon to send to this country Captain Chofa Don Blas, the Castilian,
and Captain Chofa Don Diego, the Portuguese, with soldiers to find
King Prauncar my father. Having searched for him in vain, the two
chofas and the soldiers killed Anacaparan, who was reigning as sole
great lord. Then they went with their ships to Cochinchina, whence the
two chofas went to Lao, to find the king of this land. They brought
me back to my kingdom, and I am here now through their aid. The two
chofas and other Spaniards who have come, have helped me to pacify
what I now hold. I understand that all this has come to me because the
doctor loves this country. Hence I shall act so that Doctor Antonio
de Morga may always love me as he did my father Prauncar, and assist
me now by sending fathers for the two chofas and the other Spaniards
and Christians who dwell in my kingdom. I shall build them churches
and permit them to christianize whatever Cambodians choose to become
Christians. I shall provide them with servants and I shall protect them
as did formerly King Prauncar my father. I shall provide Doctor Antonio
de Morga with whatever will be useful to him from this country. The two
chofas have received the lands which I promised them. To Captain Don
Blas, the Castilian, I gave the province of Tran, and to Captain Chofa
Don Diego, the Portuguese, the province of Bapano. These provinces I
grant and bestow upon them for the services which they have rendered
me and in payment for the property they have spent in my service,
so that they may possess and enjoy them as their own, and do what
they will with them while in my service. [96]
Together with the king's letter Blas Ruis de Hernan Gonzalez wrote
another detailed letter to Doctor Morga, informing him of all the
events of his expeditions. The letter reads as follows.
To Doctor Antonio de Morga, Lieutenant-governor of the Filipinas
Islands of Luzon, in the city of Manila, whom may our Lord preserve.
From Camboja: Your Grace must have already heard of events in this
kingdom of Camboja, from my arrival until the captain withdrew the
fleet. These accounts will undoubtedly vary according to what each man
thought fit to say in order to gild his own affairs: some according to
their bent and opinion, and others according to their passion. Although
the matter has been witnessed and thoroughly known by many persons, I
am about to relate it as well as possible to your Grace, as to a person
who can weld all the facts together and give to each circumstance
the weight which it may possess and deserve. I shall also give an
account among other things of all that happened to Captain Diego
Belloso and myself on the journey to Lao, and the vicissitudes and
wars in this kingdom, from our arrival until the condition of affairs
now in force. Since Spaniards have taken part in all these events it
will please your Grace to know the manner and retirement with which
I have lived in this kingdom ever since my arrival here from Manila,
sustaining the soldiers and other men whom I brought in my ship at
my own expense, keeping them in a state of discipline and honor,
and never allowing them to abandon themselves to sensual pleasures;
although I had no credentials for this, for Gallinato had those which
the governor was to give me. I shall not discuss the why and wherefore
of most of the Chinese matters, because Fray Alonso Ximenez and Fray
Diego [97] witnessed some of the events and heard of others and will
have informed your Grace of everything, including the war against the
usurper, and Gallinato's abandonment of this kingdom when affairs had
practically been settled. Had he continued to follow up matters, half
of the kingdom would today justly belong to his Majesty, and the whole
of it would be in the power and under the rule of the Spaniards; and
perhaps the king himself with most of his people would have embraced
Christianity. As to Chinese matters which require most explanation I
only ask your Grace to consider the kingdom which we came to help,
that the Chinese had no more right there than we had, and that we
had to try to gain reputation, not to lose it. Since we came with
a warlike attitude, and it was the first time that an armed Spanish
force set foot on the mainland, was it right for us to endure insults,
abuse, contempt, and open affronts from a so vile race as they are,
and before all these pagans? [Was it right to endure] the further
action of their arguments before the usurping king, to induce him to
kill us; their many evil and infamous reports to him concerning us,
in order to induce him to grant their request; and above all their
impudence in killing and disarming Spaniards and going out in the
streets to spear them? All this I endured very patiently in order
not to disturb the land by breaking with them, until one day when
they actually tried to kill some of our men in their Parián, and the
numbers being very unequal, they had already wounded and maltreated
them. We came out at the noise and the Chinese drew up in battle
array, armed with many warlike instruments, challenging us to battle,
with insults and expressions of contempt. At this juncture, what would
have become of our reputation had we retired when the advantage was on
their side? Then, too, after attacking and killing many of them what
security had we in this tyrannical kingdom, which showed itself not
at all friendly to us, with only one ship, [98] which was at the time
aground, and with the artillery and provisions ashore; while they had
six ships and many rowboats all provided with one or two culverins
and many men, both in the ships and those living in the port? [99]
Would it have been right, after war had broken out, to have them
with all their resources while we had none? Had they taken our lives,
what reputation would the Spaniards have left in these kingdoms? For
this reason I thought it better for us to overpower them, rather
than to be at their mercy, or at that of the king. Accordingly, in
order to assure our lives we were obliged to seize their ships and
to strengthen ourselves by means of them, since the Chinese began
the war. After this, father Fray Alonso Ximenez and we thought that,
by making an embassy with presents to the king, and by exculpating
ourselves in this matter, before him, everything would turn out well;
and that if we had peace with him, and our persons in safety in a fort,
or under his word and safe-conduct, we would give the Chinese their
ship and property. All this was written out and signed by us. In order
to carry this out, a letter was written in the name of the governor of
that city [i.e., Manila], and we went to deliver it nine leguas away
at the residence of the king, leaving the vessels guarded. But when he
found us there, the king deprived us of the boats in which we had gone,
and refused to receive the letter, which went under form of embassy,
or to hear us unless we first restored the ships. Then he immediately
began to prepare arms and to assemble many men, with the intention,
unless we restored the ships, of killing us, or reducing us by force
to such straits as to compel us to restore them; and after their
restoration, of making an end of us all without trouble or risk to his
own men. For he trusted us in nothing, since we were going in search
of, and bringing help to, him whom he had dispossessed. All this was
told us by some Christians among them, especially by a young mestizo
from Malaca who lived among them and knew their language. Therefore
considering that we were already separated from our companions,
and that, if we restored the ships, they could easily take ours by
means of them and kill the men left in them, and then us who were in
that place; also that if we waited for them to collect and attack us,
they could very easily kill us: we decided to seek the remedy by first
attacking them instead of waiting to be attacked; and try to rejoin
our men and assure our lives or end them by fighting. Accordingly we
attacked them, and such was our good fortune that we killed the king
in the fight. Then we retired to our ships with great difficulty,
without the loss of a single Spaniard. We did not allow the king's
house to be sacked, so that it might not be said that we had done
this to rob him. At this juncture, the captain and sargento-mayor,
our leader, arrived. He belittled and censured what we had done, and
ridiculed our statement and that of some of the Cambodians, namely,
that we had killed the usurper. All that he did was simply to collect
whatever silver and gold certain soldiers seized during these troubles,
and everything valuable in the ships, and then to burn the latter. Then
he drew up a report against us and dispossessed us of our ships and
command, thus formulating suspicion and distrust. After that he gave
orders for the departure from the kingdom, paying no heed to many
Cambodians who came to speak to us when we went ashore, and told
us that we might build a fortress there, for they had a legitimate
king before, but that he who was their king lately had driven him
to Lao, and thus they had no king; that they would gather wherever
the most protection could be found; and that we should continue the
war. Nor did the captain accept any of our suggestions, when we told
him that the usurper had imprisoned a kinsman of the lawful king;
that we should go to his rescue; that the latter would raise men
in favor of the legitimate king; and that with his support we would
take possession of the kingdom, and then go to get the king. But he
was deaf to all this and accordingly abandoned the kingdom, and this
great opportunity was lost. The only thing that we could obtain from
him by great entreaty after putting to sea, was to go to Cochinchina
to inquire about the galley, since they had intended to send from
Manila for that purpose. I also offered to go to Lao by land at my
own expense, in search of the king of Camboja, for I knew that that
way led thither. Accordingly, as soon as we arrived in Cochinchina,
the captain sent Diego Belloso and myself to Lao, and Captain Gregorio
de Vargas to Tunquin. Meanwhile he held an auction among the soldiers
of everything valuable from the Chinese ships, and of what else he
had taken from the soldiers; but the men were all without a real,
and so he had everything bought for himself, at whatever price he was
pleased to give. The king of Sinoa, a province of Cochinchina, equipped
us for the voyage with a good outfit, by giving us an embassy for that
country, and men to accompany us on the road. Thus we made the entire
journey well provided and always highly honored and feared and much
looked at, as the like had never before been seen in those kingdoms.
We were all sick on the road; but in all our troubles we were greatly
comforted by the love which the people showed towards us, and: by the
kind reception that we met at the hands of all. Finally we reached
Lanchan, the capital and the royal seat of the kingdom. This kingdom
has a vast territory, but it is thinly populated because it has been
often devastated by Pegu. It has mines of gold, silver, copper, iron,
brass, [sic] and tin. It produces silk, benzoin, lac, brasil, wax, and
ivory. There are also rhinoceroses, many elephants, and horses larger
than those of China. Lao is bounded on the east by Cochinchina and
on the northeast and north by China and Tartaria, from which places
came the sheep and the asses that were there when I went. Much of
their merchandise is exported by means of these animals. On its west
and southwest lie Pegu and Sian, and on the south and southeast,
it is bounded by Camboja and Champan. [100] It is a rich country,
and everything imported there is very expensive. Before our arrival
at Lanchan, a cousin of the exiled king, on account of the usurper's
death, had fled thither from Camboja, fearing lest the latter's son
who was then ruling would kill him. He related what we had done in
Camboja, in consequence of which the king of Lao received us very
cordially, and showed great respect for us, praising our deeds and
showing amazement that they had been accomplished by so few. When
we arrived the old king of Camboja, together with his elder son and
daughter, had already died, and there was left only the younger
son with his mother, aunt, and grandmother. These women rejoiced
greatly over our deeds and arrival, and more attention was given them
thenceforth. Before our arrival at the city, we met an ambassador,
whom the usurping king, Anacaparan, had sent from Camboja, in order
that he might reach Lanchan before we did, and see what was going
on there. He feigned excuse and pretext of asking for the old queen,
who was the step-mother of the dead king Prauncar, and whom Anacaparan
claimed to be his father's sister. The king of Lao was sending her,
but at our arrival, and on our assuring him of Anacaparan's death, he
ordered her to return, and the ambassador, for fear of being killed,
fled down the river in a boat to Camboja. Then we declared our embassy,
and asked for the heir of the kingdom in order to take him to our
ships and thence to his own country. We were answered that he [i.e.,
the younger son] was the only one, and that they could not allow him
to go, especially through a foreign country, and over such rough roads
and seas. The youth wished to come, but his mothers [101] would not
consent to it. Finally it was decided that we should return to the
fleet and proceed with it to Camboja. We were to send them advices
from there, whereupon they would send him under a large escort. His
mothers gave me letters directed to that city [i.e., Manila], making
great promises to the Spaniards on behalf of the kingdom, if they would
return to Camboja to pacify the land and restore it to them. The king
of Lao entrusted me with another embassy, in which he petitioned for
friendship and requested that the fleet return to Camboja, adding that,
should Gallinato be unwilling to return, he would send large forces
by land to our assistance, under command of the heir himself. Thus we
took leave and went to Cochinchina. While these things were happening
in Lao, the following occurred in Camboja. As soon as the fleet had
departed, the news of Anacaparan's death was published. When it was
heard by Chupinaqueo, kinsman of the lawful king, who was in prison,
he escaped from his prison, incited a province to rise, collected
its men, and having proclaimed Prauncar as the lawful king, came to
get us with about six thousand men, in order to join us and make war
upon the sons of the usurper, who were now ruling. Not finding us in
Chordemuco, where our ships had been lying, he sent boats to look
for us as far as the bar. Seeing that we were nowhere to be found
he seized all the Chinese and other people there, and returned to
his province where he had gathered his forces, and there he fortified
himself. Meanwhile the men at Champan, who had gone thither to take it,
returned, whereupon the commander of the camp, called Ocuña de Chu,
took sides with the sons of the usurper and had one of them--the
second--Chupinanu by name, proclaimed king, because he was the most
warlike. For this reason, the elder brother, called Chupinanon,
and those of his party were angered, and consequently there was
continual strife between them. Then all having united, together with
the army from Chanpan, pursued Chupinaqueo, who came out to meet
them with many of his men. They fought for many days, but at last it
was Chupinaqueo's fate to be conquered and cruelly killed. Thus for
the time being Chupinanu ruled as king, and the camp was disbanded,
each man going to his own home. At this time a ship arrived from
Malaca on an embassy, bringing some Spaniards who came in search
of us, and a number of Japanese. Chupinanu would have liked to have
killed them all, but seeing that they came on an embassy, and from
Malaca, he let them go immediately. A large province, called Tele,
seeing the cruelty with which the king treated them, revolted, and
declaring themselves free, proclaimed a new king; then they marched
against Chupinanu, and defeated and routed him, took from him a large
number of elephants and artillery, and sacked his city. In the battle,
most of the Spaniards and Japanese who had come from Malaca were
killed. Chupinanu retreated with all his brothers, six in number,
to another province, always accompanied by Ocuña de Chu. There they
began to make plans and to collect men. They also invited two Malays,
leaders of all the other Malays on whom Chupinanu relied strongly,
who on the break-up of the camp after Chupinaqueo's death, had gone
to the lands of which they were magistrates. But in order that what
follows may be understood, I will tell who these Malays are. When
this country was being ravaged by Sian, these two went to Chanpan,
taking with them many of their Malays, as well as many Cambodians;
and because the ruler of Champan did not show them all the honors that
they desired, they caused an insurrection in the city when he was
away. They fortified themselves there, and then plundered the city,
after which they returned to this kingdom with all the artillery
and many captives. When they arrived here the usurper Anacaparan
was ruling. Congratulating one another mutually for their deeds,
the usurper gave them a friendly welcome, and they gave him all
the artillery and other things which they had brought. Then the
usurper gave them lands for their maintenance, and made them great
mandarins. These two Malays made it easy for him to capture Champan,
and offered to seize its king. Since the latter had been so great
and long-standing an enemy of the Cambodians, Anacaparan immediately
collected an army, which he sent under command of Ocuña de Chu. When
we killed Anacaparan, these forces were in Chanpan, and, as abovesaid,
they returned after his death. These men presented themselves before
the new king, Chupinanu, with all their Malays and it was at once
decided to attack the insurgents of Tele. At this juncture arrived the
ambassador who had fled from Lao as we reached Lanchan. He said that
we had remained there and that our purpose was to ask for the lawful
heir of Camboja in order to take him to our ships and transport him
to his kingdom; that the king of Cochinchina was going to help us
in this undertaking; that we had entered Lao with that report; and
that the king of Lao was about to send the heir with great forces by
river and by land, while we and the men of Cochinchina would go by
sea and join them in Camboja, where we would declare war and inflict
severe punishment upon whomsoever would not render homage. When the
new king and his followers heard this news they were frightened, and
consequently each thought only of himself. A few days later it was
reported from the bar that four Spanish ships had entered, accompanied
by many galleys from Cochinchina. This report was either a vision that
some had seen, or was a fiction; and we have been unable to clarify
the matter to this very day. At any rate, on hearing this news, these
people confirmed as true the entire report of the ambassador who had
fled. The mandarins of Camboja, taking into consideration the war which
was now waging with the men of Tele, and the new one threatened by the
Spaniards, Cochinchina, and Lao, decided to depose the new king and
render homage to the one who was coming from Lao. For this purpose they
communicated with the two Malays and together with them attacked the
king with his brothers and turned them out of the realm. The two elder
brothers fled separately, each to the province where he thought to find
more friends. After this the mandarins ordered a fleet of row-boats to
proceed toward Lao to receive their king, who they said was already
coming. They sent Ocuña de Chu as leader of the fleet and also his
two sons. Other boats were sent to the bar to receive the Spaniards,
and make friendly terms with them, sending for that purpose certain
Spaniards there. Two Cambodian mandarins and the two Malays were to
remain to guard the kingdom, and to act as governors. The Spaniards
went to the bar, but, finding nothing, returned. Ocuña de Chu took the
road to Lao, but seeing that he did not meet his king, or hear any news
of him, resolved to go to Lanchan and ask for him. He continued his
march, but suffered some pangs of hunger, for he had left the kingdom
unprovided, and the way was long. On account of this some of his men
deserted, but at last he reached Lanchan with ten armed praus. All
the kingdom of Lao was thrown into great confusion. Imagining that he
was coming to make war, they abandoned their villages and property,
and fled to the mountains. But on seeing that he was coming on a
peaceful mission, they lost their apprehension. At his arrival we
were already on the road to Cochinchina, whereupon the king ordered
us to return to Lanchan immediately. The king [of Lao], on learning
what was happening in Camboja, despatched there a large fleet by
sea, and forces by land, and sent for the king of that country. He
despatched me to Cochinchina with news of what was happening, and
to take the ships to Camboja; but, while on the way, I heard of the
battle fought by our fleet, whereupon I returned to Camboja with the
king. When we reached the first village of the kingdom, we learned
from the spies who had preceded us, that, as the news of the ships
had been untrue, and Cuña de Chu was delaying so long, the provinces
where the two brothers sought shelter had proclaimed them kings,
and were at war with one another; that the people of Tele had come
to fight with the governors, who were divided into factions; and that
each man obeyed whom he pleased. But they said that Ocuña Lacasamana,
one of the Malay headmen, had the greatest force of artillery
and praus; and that a Japanese junk--the one that had been in
Cochinchina when our fleet was there--had arrived, and was supporting
Chupinannu. The sea and land forces were collected together at the
point where this news had been received, and it was found that they
were not sufficient to make a warlike entry. A fort was built there,
and a request for more men sent to Lao. In the meantime, secret letters
were despatched to probe the hearts of the leading men. The men from
Lao delayed, and no answers were received to the letters. Feeling
insecure in that place, they deliberated upon returning to Lao,
but at this juncture news arrived from Ocuña Lacasamana, one of the
Malays who had fortified himself in his own land, saying that he was
on their side, although he had rendered homage to Chupinanu--a feigned
promise because he had seen the king's delay--but that as soon as the
king entered the land he would join his party. Soon after news came
from another Cambojan governor, to the effect that, although he had
rendered homage to Chupinanu, yet, if the king would come to him,
he would attack Chupinanu, and depose or kill him. For that he said
that he had four thousand men fortified with himself on a hill. He
sent one of his relatives with this message. All trusted in this man,
and immediately we set out for that place. When the above-mentioned
man learned of the king's approach, he attacked the other king and
routed him; then he came out to receive us, and thus we entered. That
province and many others were delivered to us immediately. Chupinanu
withdrew to some mountains. Immediately the two Malays, each with
his forces, joined us; the Japanese did the same. The king then gave
orders to pursue Chupinanu until he was taken and killed. Then he
seized another man who was acting as judge in another province and
put him to death. Soon after war began against the eldest of the
brothers and against the people of Tele who also refused homage. At
this juncture, a ship arrived from Malaca with fourteen Spaniards of
our fleet, who had put into Malaca. The king was delighted thereat,
and honored and made much of them, when he learned that they were
some of the men who had killed the usurper. They were esteemed and
respected in an extraordinary manner by the whole kingdom. Captain
Diego Belloso tried to assume charge of them by virtue of an old
document from Malaca; this I forbade, alleging that the right of this
jurisdiction should proceed from Manila, since the restoration of this
kingdom proceeded from that place, and that those men were Castilians
and had nothing to do with his document or with Malaca. The king,
before whom this matter was brought, replied that the matter lay
between us two, and refused to mingle in those affairs. Some of the
newcomers coincided with Belloso's opinion, and others with mine;
and thus we have gone on until now. This has been the cause of my
not asking the king for a fort to secure our personal safety. It
would have been a footing for some business, [102] and what I shall
relate later would not have happened to us. After the arrival of the
Castilians, the king sent an embassy to Cochinchina--a Spaniard and a
Cambodian--to get father Fray Alonso Ximenez and certain Spaniards,
who, as we heard, had remained there. The ruler of Chanpan seized
them, and they have not returned. The wars continued, in all of
which the Spaniards and Japanese took part. Whatever we attacked,
we conquered with God's assistance, but where we did not go, losses
always resulted. Consequently we gained great reputation and were
esteemed by our friends and feared by the enemy. While we were making
an incursion, Ocuña de Chu, who was now called manbaray--the highest
title in the kingdom--tried to revolt. In this he was aided by one of
the Malay chiefs called Cancona. The king summoned me and ordered me
to bring with me the Spaniards of my party. He ordered Diego Belloso
to remain, for both of us were leaders and still are, in any war in
which any of us is engaged. I came at his bidding, and he told me that
those men were trying to kill him and deprive him of his kingdom,
and asked me to prevent such a thing. The mambaray was the one who
ruled the kingdom, and since the king was young and addicted to wine,
he held the latter in little esteem and considered himself as king. At
last, I, aided by Spaniards, killed him; then his sons were captured
and killed. Afterward the Malay Cancona was seized and killed, and
the king was extricated from this peril by the Spaniards. Then we
returned to the war. I learned that another grandee who was head of a
province was trying to rebel and join Chupinannon; I captured him and
after trying him, put him to death. Therefore the king showed great
esteem for us, and the kingdom feared us; that province was subdued
and we returned to the king. At this time a vessel arrived from Sian,
and ported here on its way to an embassy at Manila. On board this
vessel were father Fray Pedro Custodio and some Portuguese. The king
was greatly delighted at the arrival of the father and wished to build
him a church. We all united and continued the war. Again we returned,
after having reduced many provinces to the obedience of the king,
and left Chupinanon secluded on some mountains, thus almost ending
the war. Hereupon many Laos arrived under the leadership of one
of their king's relatives, for hitherto they had done nothing nor
uttered any sound. I do not know whether it was from envy at seeing
us so high in the king's favor and that of the people of the kingdom,
or whether they decided the matter beforehand in their own country;
they killed a Spaniard with but slight pretext. When we asked the
king for justice in this matter, the latter ordered his mandarins to
judge the case. Meanwhile we sent for the Japanese who were carrying
on the war in another region, in order to take vengeance if justice
were not done. The Laos, either fearing this, or purposing to make
an end of us, attacked our quarters at night and killed the father
and several Spaniards who had accompanied him and who were sick;
they also killed some Japanese, for their anger was directed against
all. The rest of us escaped and took refuge on the Japanese vessel,
where we defended ourselves until the arrival of the Japanese. The
Laos made a fort and strengthened themselves therein. There were about
six thousand of them. They sent a message to the king saying that
they would not agree to any act of justice which he might order to
be carried out. The king was very angry for the deaths that they had
caused, and for the disrespect with which they treated him; but, in
order not to break with their king, he refused to give us forces with
which to attack them, although we often requested him to do so; nor did
we attack them ourselves, as we were without weapons. The king sent
word of this affair to Lao, and we remained for the time, stripped,
without property, without arms, without justice or revenge, and quite
angry at the king, although he was continually sending us excuses,
saying that if the king of Lao did not do justice in this matter,
he himself would do it, and would not let them leave the country on
that account; he also sent us food, and some clothes and weapons. At
this juncture a ship was despatched on an embassy to Malaca in which
we wished to embark, but neither the king nor his mothers would allow
Diego Belloso or me to leave. Some of the Spaniards embarked in it,
some returned to Sian, and others remained with us; and the king from
that time on made us more presents than ever. The Japanese gathered in
their ship, and refused to continue the war. When the enemy learned
that we were in confusion, they collected large forces and regained
many undefended regions. The king requested the Laos to go to war,
since they had thrown into confusion those who were defending his
country. They went, lost the first battle, and returned completely
routed, leaving many dead and wounded on the field. Chupinanon followed
up the victory and came within sight of the king's residence, only
a river separating them. Thereupon the king quite disregarded the
Laos, and persuaded us and the Japanese to take up arms again and
defend him. By this time we had all reëquipped ourselves with arms
and ammunition, and after much entreaty from him and his mothers, we
went to war and relieved a fortress which Chupinanon was besieging. We
won two battles and forced him to withdraw, thus taking from him all
he had just regained, as well as other lands which had remained in
those regions. We captured a quantity of rice and provisions from
the enemy--with which the king's forces recuperated themselves,
for they were suffering famine--and we went into quarters. This we
did, I, the Spaniards, and the Japanese who were on my side. Diego
Belloso and his men went to Tele, killed its king, and returned after
having conquered part of the province. At this time a Portuguese ship
arrived from Macao, [103] laden with merchandise; on which account,
and on beholding our deeds, the Laos were filled with great fear
of us, and without leave from the king, departed in boats to their
country. Thereupon we went to the king, and requested him not to let
them go without doing justice, unless he wished to break friendship
with Luzon and Malaca. He replied that he did not dare detain them,
but that if we wished to pursue and dared to fight them, he would
secretly give us men. Accordingly we all negotiated for ten praus,
and followed them. But since they were far ahead of us and under
the spell of fear, we could not overtake them for many days. For
this reason Belloso turned back with some Spaniards and Japanese. I
followed with great difficulty--on account of certain strong currents,
for we dragged the praus part way with ropes--although with but few
men, until I overtook many of the Laos, and seized their praus and
possessions, from which we all received compensation and gained
still more in reputation, which at present we enjoy to a higher
degree than was ever enjoyed by any nation in foreign lands. We are
greatly esteemed by the king and his men, and by those native here;
and greatly feared by foreigners. Accordingly we receive great respect
in all parts of the kingdom. They have bestowed upon Captain Diego
Belloso and myself the title of grandee, the highest in their kingdom,
so that we may be more respected and feared, and better obeyed. Two
of the best provinces in the kingdom are entered in our names, and
will be made over to us as soon as the turmoils of war are settled
and assemblies have been held to take the oaths to the king, which
has not yet been done. In the meantime we are making use of other
people whom the king orders to be given us. There is no opportunity
in the kingdom for any one else to possess entire power and command,
beyond Ocuña Lacasamana, leader of the Malays, whom the king favors on
account of his large forces, and because he needs him for the wars in
which he is engaged. The Spaniards have some encounters with his men,
for which reason we hold aloof from one another. I have informed
your Grace so minutely of these wars and affairs, in order that
it may be judged whether his Majesty has any justifiable and legal
right to seize any portion of this kingdom, since his forces killed
the man who was quietly in possession of it; and since its heir, who
was driven away where he had lost hope of ever again possessing it,
has afterward reconquered it through his Majesty's subjects, who have
guarded and defended his person from his enemies. For the hope that the
king will give it up voluntarily will never be realized, as he rather
fears having so many Spaniards in his country, even while he esteems
them; for he dreads lest they deprive him of his kingdom, since he
sees that this only requires the determination therefor. Some of our
enemies impress this fact upon him, especially the Moros. I beg and
entreat your Grace, who can do so much in this matter, to see that we
do not lose our hold on this land, since so much has been accomplished
in it, and it has been brought to a so satisfactory state. Moreover
it is very important to possess a fortress on the mainland, since it
is the beginning of great things. For if a fortress be built here,
and the king see a large force in this land, he would have to do what
he knows to be just, even if ill-disposed. I say this on account of
his mother, aunt, and grandmother, who rule and govern, for he only
does as they tell him. He is a child and is addicted to wine more
than his father; he only thinks of sports and hunting, and cares
nothing for the kingdom. Therefore should he see many Spaniards,
and that nobody could harm them, he would do whatever they wished,
because, as above-said, he loves them; neither would our opponents
dare to offer any opposition. If perchance there should be so few men
in the Filipinas at present that no great number of them can be sent,
at least send as many as possible with the fathers, so as not to
lose this jurisdiction and our share in anything; for Diego Belloso
sent to Malaca for religious, men, and documents, so that by that
means he may become chief justice of this land, and make over this
jurisdiction to Malaca. Since this kingdom has been restored by that
kingdom [i.e., the Philippines], your Grace should not allow others to
reap the fruits of our labors. If some soldiers should come, and the
Cambodians should refuse them the wherewithal to maintain themselves
because of their small number, and not fearing them, I would do here
whatever your Grace bade me, so long as it were reasonable; and until
more soldiers came, I could manage to make the Cambodians give it,
however much against their inclination. These men should come bound
hard and fast by documents, so that, as the country is very vast,
they should not be tempted to avail themselves of license, for lack of
discipline was the cause of our encounter with the Laos. It has been
very difficult for me to despatch this vessel, because little is given
to the king for any purpose, and because there were many opponents to
prevent it--for it is evident that the mandarins, whether native or
foreign, are not pleased to see men set over them in the kingdom--and
as I am poor, for I have lived hitherto by war, and subsisted from
its gains by many wars, for the king also is very poor. The Spaniard
whom I entrust with this mission is poor and an excellent soldier;
and to enable him to go, I have assisted him from my indigence. Will
your Grace please assist both him and the Cambodian, in order that
the latter may become acquainted with some of the grandeur of his
Majesty. I would rejoice to be the bearer of this, so as to give your
Grace a long account of these affairs and of other notable things,
and of the fertility of these kingdoms; but neither the king nor his
mothers have allowed me to go, as the bearer will state, among other
things. Your Grace may believe him, for he is a person disinterested in
all respects, having just arrived from Macan. On account of the many
wars, the king does not possess many things to send your Grace. He
sends two ivory tusks, and a slave. Your Grace will forgive him; he
will send many things next year, if the pacification of his country is
accomplished, for he still has something to do in it. I have spoken to
him and persuaded him to send to that city [i.e., Manila] to request
soldiers, in order to complete the pacification of the country; but
his mothers would not have it on any account, I am sure that they
act thus in order not to promise them lands for their maintenance,
or that they may not seize the land. But when they were in Lao,
they promised very vast lands. But if what is done is not sufficient
to provide for them, let the mercy of God suffice. When this embassy
was despatched, Diego Belloso and myself told the king that if he did
not give us the lands that he had promised us, we intended to go to
Luzon, because we did not now possess the wherewithal with which to
maintain ourselves. Many things occurred with respect to this request,
but finally he gave us the lands, as is stated in the embassy; he
gave them to us on condition of our holding them in his service and
obedience. By this means I shall have more resources for your Grace's
service. I spent all my possessions in meeting the expenses that I
incurred in that city [i.e., Manila], and in maintaining my men in
this kingdom. For that purpose I took the silver of the common seamen
of my vessel, and although I paid the latter with some silver which
we found in the [Chinese] ships, Gallinato would not consent to it,
but took it all for himself. In Malaca they made me pay it out of
the property on my ship, and would not consent to their being paid
out of the prizes, since the war was considered a just one. [104] For
this reason I am now destitute of any property, and therefore do not
possess the means of serving your Grace as I ought and as I should
have desired. Recollecting your Grace's unique armory I send you a
bottle and a small flask of ivory. Your Grace will forgive the trifle
for I promise to compensate for it next year. Your Grace may command
me in any service for I shall take great pleasure therein. Will your
Grace do me the favor to protect my affairs, so that they may gain
some merit by your favor. Trusting to this, may our Lord preserve
your Grace, and give you increase in your dignity, as this servant
of your Grace desires in your affairs. From Camboja, July twenty,
one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight.
Your Grace's servant,
BLAS RUYZ DE HERNAN GONÇALES
Through this news and despatch from Camboja we learned in Manila of
the good result attained by the stay of Diego Belloso and Blas Ruys in
that land. Don Luys Dasmariñas gaining encouragement in the enterprise
that he had proposed, discussed it with greater warmth. But since
difficulties were still raised as to the justification with which an
entrance could be made into Camboja with armed forces for more than
the protection of, and completion of establishing, Prauncar in his
kingdom, and to leave preachers with him--it was said on Don Luys's
behalf that after accomplishing the above, he would, with the necessary
favor of the same king of Camboja, proceed to the neighboring kingdom
of Champan and take possession of it for his Majesty. He would drive
thence a usurper, the common enemy of all those kingdoms, who lorded
over it, and who, from his fortress near the sea, sallied out against
all navigators, plundering and capturing them. He had committed many
other crimes, murders, and thefts, on the Portuguese and other nations,
who were obliged to pass his coasts in their trading with, and voyages
to, China, Macan, Xapon, and other kingdoms, concerning all of which
sufficient testimony had been given. On account of all these reports,
the theologians and jurists decided that the war against the ruler
of Champan and the conquest of his lands was justifiable, and that
this position was of no less importance to the Spaniards than that
of Camboja.
The governor and president, Don Francisco Tello, held a consultation
with the Audiencia and others--religious and captains--as to what in
their opinion was the most advisable measure to take in this matter. It
was resolved that, since Don Luys offered to make this expedition
at his own expense with those men who chose to follow him, the plan
should be carried out. [105] Accordingly, an agreement was made with
him on the above basis. He was to take the men at his own expense,
with commission and papers from the governor for affairs of government
and war, and provisions from the Audiencia for the administration of
justice. He began preparing ships, men, and provisions, in order to
sail as soon as possible.
In the meanwhile, Governor Don Francisco Tello despatched Don Joan
de Çamudio with a moderate-sized ship to Great China to obtain leave
from the viceroy of Canton for the Spaniards to communicate and
trade with his province. He was also to fetch saltpeter and metals
which were wanted for the royal magazines of Manila. Don Joan reached
his destination with good weather, and after stationing himself off
the coast of Canton, sent certain of his company to the city with
despatches for the tuton or viceroy. When the viceroy heard of the
arrival of the Spaniards and the reason thereof, he gave them audience,
and treated them cordially. The Portuguese residing in Macan near the
city of Canton, made many efforts to prevent the viceroy, the conchifu,
and other mandarins from admitting the Castilians of Manila into
their country, alleging that the latter were pirates and evil-doers,
who seized upon whatever kingdom and province they visited. They told
them so many things that it would have sufficed to destroy them, had
not the viceroy and mandarins looked at the matter dispassionately;
for they knew the declaration of the Portuguese to be hate and enmity,
and that these passions moved them to desire that the Castilians
have no trade with China, for their own interests. The affair went so
far, that, having been brought before a court of justice, silence was
imposed upon the Portuguese of Macan, under penalty of severe corporal
punishment; while the Castilians were given and assigned a port on
the same coast, named El Pinal [Pine Grove], twelve leguas from the
city of Canton, where they might then and always enter and make a
settlement of their own; and they were given sufficient chapas [i.e.,
edicts or passports of safety] and provisions therefor. Thereupon
Don Joan de Çamudio, entered El Pinal with his ship and there he was
furnished with everything needful by the Chinese at a moderate price
while the Spaniards went to and fro on the river upon their business
to Canton in lorchas [106] and champans. While the Spaniards were
detained, in the said port they were always well received in the city
and lodged in houses within its walls. They went about the streets
freely and armed, a thing which is new and unique in China in respect
to foreigners. This caused so great wonder and envy to the Portuguese
(who are not so treated) that they tried with might and main to
prevent it, even going so far as to come by night in boats from Macan
to El Pinal to fire the ship of the Castilians. This did not succeed,
however, for, having been heard, the necessary resistance was made,
and after that a good watch was always kept on board, until the ship
having accomplished its business and object departed thence, much to
the satisfaction of the Chinese, who gave the Spaniards chapas and
documents for the future. The ship reached Manila at the beginning
of the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-nine.
After Don Luys Dasmariñas had equipped two moderate-sized ships and
a galliot, and collected two hundred men who chose to follow him
in this enterprise to Camboja--they were part of the unemployed in
Manila--with the necessary provisions, ammunition, and equipment on
his ships; and accompanied by Fray Alonso Ximenez and Fray Aduarte
of the Order of St. Dominic and Fray Joan Bautista of the Order of
St. Francis, some Japanese, and native Indians of Manila: he set sail
with his fleet from the bay, in the middle of July, [107] of the year
ninety-eight. The weather was somewhat contrary as the seasons of
the vendavals had set in, but his desire to accomplish his voyage,
lose no time, and leave Manila, which was the greatest difficulty,
caused him to disregard the weather; he thought that, once at sea,
he would be able to stop on the coast in the port of Bolinao.
This plan did not succeed so well as Don Luis had anticipated, for, as
soon as the fleet of these three ships left the bay it was so buffeted
by the weather that it could not fetch the port of Bolinao or hold
the sea. The flagship sprung a leak, and the ships returned to the
mouth of the bay above Miraveles, [108] where they stayed several days
refitting. When the weather moderated they set sail again, but again
they were buffeted so violently that the ships were separated from
one another, and the galliot--the weakest of them--with difficulty
made the port of Cagayan. Quite dismantled and very necessitous,
it entered by the bar of Camalayuga to the city of Segovia, which is
at the head of the island of Luzon opposite Great China. There the
alcalde-mayor of that province furnished it the necessary provisions
and tackle. Captain Luis Ortiz, who commanded this galliot, together
with twenty-five Spaniards and some Indians, hastened preparations for
their departure and again left that port to rejoin the fleet which
he had to follow, according to his instructions, making for the bar
of the river of Camboja which was their destination. He had scarcely
left Cagayan, when the almiranta entered the port in the same distress
as the galliot. It was also detained some days to refit. Then it left
again to rejoin the flagship and the galliot. The flagship being a
stronger vessel kept the sea with difficulty; and as the storm lasted
a long time, it was compelled to run in the open toward China. The
storm continued to rage so steadily that, without being able to
meliorate its voyage, the ship was obliged to sail, amid high seas
and cloudy weather, to certain small uninhabited islands on the coast
of China below Macan. There it was many times in danger of shipwreck,
and parts of the cargo were thrown away daily. The almiranta, after
having been refitted, left Cagayan, made the same voyage in the same
storm, and anchored near the flagship, where it was lost with some
men and its entire cargo. [109]The flagship did its best to rescue
those who escaped from the almiranta, and although the former kept
afloat several days, at length it grounded near the coast. There
it began to leak so badly that, with that and the strong sea which
struck it broadside, the vessel went to pieces. The ship's boat had
already been lost, and in order to save their lives before the ship
was completely wrecked they were obliged to make rafts and prepare
framework and planks on which Don Luis and the religious and crew--in
all one hundred and twenty Spaniards--went ashore. They brought away
from the said ship a few of the most valuable objects, the weapons,
and the most manageable pieces of artillery, abandoning the rest as
lost. All of the Spaniards were so soaked and in so ill a plight that
some Chinese who came to the coast, from some neighboring towns, both
from compassion felt for their loss and on account of having been given
certain things that had been brought away from the wreck, provided
them with food and with a native vessel of small burden in which to
leave that place and make for Macan and Canton, which were not far.
As soon as Don Luis and his men sighted Macan, the former sent two
soldiers of his company in Chinese vessels to the city and settlement
of the Portuguese to announce their arrival and hardships, in order to
obtain some help from them. He sent two other soldiers to Canton to
ask the viceroy or tuton for assistance and protection, so that they
might equip themselves in, and sail from, China, in prosecution of
their voyage. The people of Macan and their chief captain Don Pablo
of Portugal received the Castilians so ill that they were thrown
into prison and not allowed to return to Don Luis. To the latter they
sent word warning him to leave the coast immediately, as they would
treat them all no less ill. When the Portuguese learned that Captain
Hernando de los Rios [110] and one of his companions had gone to Canton
for the same purpose, they at once sent two Portuguese, members of
their council and magistracy [camara and regimiento] to oppose their
entry into China, by saying that they were robbers and pirates, and
evil-doers, as they had said before of Don Joan de Çamudio, who at
this time was with his ship in the port of El Pinal, as abovesaid.
In Canton, Captain Hernando de los Rios and his companion met Alferez
Domingo de Artacho and other companions belonging to Don Joan's ship,
who, on learning of the disaster of Don Luis's fleet and that it had
been wrecked near by, came together and defended themselves against the
calumnies and pretensions of the Portuguese. The result was that, as
the main difficulty had been already overcome in the case of Don Joan,
and the viceroy and mandarins were informed that all were from Manila,
who Don Luis Dasmariñas was, and that he was going to Camboja with
his fleet, they received him with the same good-will with which they
had received Don Joan de Çamudio, and gave him permission to enter
the port of E1 Pinal with him. There the two met, with much regret
by the one at Don Luis Dasmariñas's loss, and with much satisfaction
by the other at finding there Don Joan de Çamudio and his men, who
provided them with certain things that they needed. With Don Joan's
assistance, Don Luis at once bought a strong, moderate-sized junk,
on which he embarked with some of his men, and the artillery and
goods which had been saved. He enjoyed the same advantages in that
port as the Spaniards of Don Joan de Çamudio's ship. He intended to
remain there until, having sent news to Manila, ships and the other
necessary things for pursuing his voyage thence to Camboja, should
be sent him, in respect to which Don Luis would never allow himself
to show any discouragement or loss of resolution.
Don Joan de Çamudio left El Pinal, leaving Don Luis Dasmariñas and
his men in that port, at the beginning of the year ninety-nine,
and reached Manila in twelve days. After him, Don Luis sent Alférez
Francisco Rodrigues with three companions to Manila in a small champan
to beg the governor and his supporters for help and assistance in
his present emergency, a vessel, and what was needful to continue the
expedition that he had begun. In Manila the news of Don Luis's loss
and of the conditions to which he was reduced, was learned both from
Don Joan de Çamudio and from Alférez Francisco Rodrigues, who reached
Manila after the former. Seeing that it was impossible for Don Luis to
continue the voyage to Camboja, and that there was neither property
nor substance with which to equip him again, nor the time for it,
a moderate-sized ship was purchased and despatched from Manila to
E1 Pinal with provisions and other things, under command of the same
Alférez Francisco Rodrigues, who was accompanied by some soldiers of
whom he was captain and leader. Through them Don Francisco Tello sent
orders to Don Luis to embark his men and return to the Filipinas,
without thinking for the present of the expedition to Camboja or of
anything else.
Captain Hernando de los Rios, who attended to Don Luis's affairs in
Canton, wrote a letter at this time to Doctor Antonio de Morga; and
in order that what happened in this respect may be better understood,
the letter reads word for word as follows.
Fernando de los Rios Coronel, to Doctor Antonio de Morga, of
his Majesty's council, and his auditor in the royal Audiencia
and Chancillería of the Filipinas, whom may our Lord preserve, in
Manila. The hardships which have befallen us within the short time
since we left Manila, have been so many, that, if I were to give your
Grace an account of them all, it would weary you; moreover the short
time in which Don Joan is to depart does not allow of it. And since
he will relate everything fully, I will relate only what occurred to
us after reaching this land; for our Lord was pleased to change our
intentions, which were to remain in Bolinao until the bad weather
which we were having had terminated. In sight of the port we were
overtaken by a storm which greatly endangered our lives and forced
us to come to this kingdom of China, where we expected at least
that the Portuguese would allow us to refit our ship. As it was the
Lord's will that we should lose it, we have suffered hardships enough,
for scarcely anything was saved. I lost my property and a portion of
that of others, because I was not present at the time of the wreck,
as my general ordered myself and a coast-pilot the day before to go
to look for fresh provisions. This coast is so wretchedly laid down
on the charts that we did not know where we were, and on account
of bad weather I could not return to the ship. Consequently I was
obliged to go to Canton, where the Sangleys, who conveyed me and
those who left the ship with me, accused us of having killed three
Sangleys. And had we not found there Alférez Domingo de Artacho
and Marcos de la Cueva, who were pleading against the Portuguese,
we would have fared very ill. It was God's will, that, with their
aid, we settled the case in court; and, although without proofs, and
without taking our depositions, they condemned us to a fine of fifty
taes of silver. There we learned that for one and one-half months they
[i.e., the men of Juan Zamudio's vessel] had been defending themselves
against the Portuguese, who, as soon as the Spaniards had arrived,
went about saying that they were robbers and rebels, and people who
seized the kingdoms into which they entered, and other things not
worth writing. But in the end, all their efforts, good and evil--and
indeed very evil--profited them nothing, because, by means of great
assiduity and a quantity of silver, the Spaniards negotiated a matter
which the Portuguese had never imagined, namely, the opening of a
port in this country, in order that the Spaniards might always come
safely, and the granting of houses in Canton, a privilege which was
never extended to the Portuguese, on account of which the latter are,
or will be, even more angered. Besides, silence was imposed upon the
Portuguese, although this was no part of the negotiations, so that they
might not attempt by other means to do us all the injury possible (as
the Sangleys who were among them tell us). It is impossible to tell
how much the Portuguese abhor the name of Castilians, unless it be
experienced as we have done for our sins, for they have placed us in
great extremity, as Don Joan will relate fully. For, when our general
wrote to them that we had been wrecked, and were dying of hunger among
infidels, and in great peril, and that he was not coming to trade,
but was engaged in the service of his Majesty, the welcome given him
by the Portuguese was to seize his messengers and keep them up to the
present time in a dungeon. Lastly, while we have been in this port,
undergoing the difficulties and perils which Don Joan will relate,
although they are so near, not only do they leave us to suffer, but,
if there are any well-disposed persons, they have forbidden them to
communicate with us or to give us anything, under both temporal and
spiritual penalty. In truth, to reflect upon this cruelty, and still
more to experience it as we are doing, exhausts all patience. May God
in His mercy give us patience and consolation because these infidels
[i.e., the Chinese] are the people who have corrupted the natural
light more than any other people in the world. Hence angels and not men
are required to deal with them. Since there are historians who record
events in these regions, I shall not go into details respecting them. I
only say, in order that you may understand in what a country we are,
that it is the true kingdom of the devil, where he seems to rule with
full power. Hence each Sangley appears to be the devil incarnate,
for there is no malice or deceit which they do not attempt. Although
outwardly the government, with all its order and method, seems good
as far as its preservation is concerned, yet, in practice, it is all
a scheme of the devil. Although here they do not rob or plunder the
foreigners openly, yet they do it by other and worse methods. Don
Joan has worked hard, and gratitude is certainly due him, for he has
accomplished a thing so difficult, that the Portuguese say only the
devil or he could have done it. However, it is true that it has cost
him, as I have heard, about seven thousand pesos, besides the risk to
which he has been exposed; for the Portuguese attempted to burn him in
his ship; and although their schemes came to naught, it is impossible
to describe the bitterness which they feel at seeing us come here to
trade, because of the signal injury they receive thereby. However,
if one considers it thoroughly, the truth is that, if this business
were established on the basis of a fair agreement, the Portuguese
would rather gain by it, because they would dispose of innumerable
articles that they possess, and the majority of them, especially the
poor, would profit by selling the work of their hands, and what they
get from India, for which they always obtain a good price. As far
as raising the price of [Chinese] merchandise to them is concerned,
once established, and if the Sangleys understood that ships would come
every year, they would bring down much more merchandise: and so much
the more as Canton possesses such a large quantity of it, that there
is more than enough for twice as many as are here, as we have seen
with our own eyes. I can testify that, if they wish to load a ship
with only one kind of goods, they can do so, even if it be needles;
the more so, since the greater part of what the Chinese consume is
not included among our articles of purchase, the great bulk of our
purchases being raw silk. Therefore I believe that the continuation
of this would be of great advantage to that city [i.e., Manila] for
the following reasons which present themselves to me. The first is
that, if orders were given for a ship to come authorized to invest
the bulk of the money of that city [i.e., Manila], much more and
better goods could be bought with much less money, and in articles
which would prove more profitable; since, in short, we would save
what the people of Chincheo gain with us [at Manila]--a goodly sum.
The second reason is that that city [i.e., Manila] would be provided
with all necessaries, because one can find in the city of Canton
anything that can be desired.
The third is that by this means we would avoid the excessive commerce
of the Sangleys in that city [i.e., Manila], who cause the harm which
your Grace knows, and even that which we do not know. They are people
who, the less they are admitted, the better will it be for us in every
respect. Hence there is no need of there being more of them than the
number required for the service of the community; and then they would
neither raise the price of provisions, nor retail what remains in the
country, as they do now. Thus many pernicious sins which they commit
and teach to the natives would be avoided. Although there seems to
be some difficulty in establishing this and in smoothing down the
Portuguese, still it might be accomplished.
The fourth reason is that, if the purchase is made here, it will
reach that city [i.e., Manila] by Christmas, and each man would store
his property in his house, and prepare and arrange it; and then, even
should the ships from Castilla arrive early, no loss would be suffered
as at present--when, if those ships arrive before the goods purchased
from China [reach Manila] the merchandise rises a hundred per cent.
The fifth reason is that the ships might easily take in cargo any
time in the month of May, and take advantage of the first vendavals,
which sometimes begin by the middle of June or before. By sailing then,
they run less risk, and will reach Nueva España one month or even two
months earlier. Then, they can leave that country in January and come
here [i.e., to the Filipinas] by April without any of the dangers
which beset them among these islands if they sail late, as we know.
The sixth reason is that the many inconveniences now existing at the
time of the purchase [in Manila] would be avoided--inconveniences
with which your Grace is acquainted--and the citizens would have
less trouble. Also in respect to the lading and its allotment [i.e.,
of shipping room] a better system could certainly be followed,
and it would be known who is to share in it. Things would be better
remedied, because neither the money of Mexico nor that of companies
would be allowed to be employed. The strict prevention of this alone
would be sufficient to assure prosperity to Manila in a short time;
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