Chapter XXI: Section 13: Your viceroy in Yndia has, by severe restrictions and heavy (3)

The title page reads: "History of the most notable things, the rites, and customs of the great kingdom of China; gathered not only from books of the Chinese themselves, but likewise from the relation of the religious and other persons who have been in the said country. Made and compiled by the very reverend father Maestro Fray Juan Gonçalez de Mendoça, of the order of St. Augustine, apostolic preacher, and penitentiary of his Holiness; whom his Catholic Majesty sent, with his royal missive and other things for the king of that country, in the year M.D.LXXII. Now recently enlarged by the same author. To the illustrious Lord, Fernando de Vega y Fonseca, of the Council of his Majesty, and president of his royal Council of the Indias. With an itinerary of the New World. With license. Madrid, at the shop of Pedro Madrigal. M.D.LXXXVI. At the expense of Blas de Robles, bookseller."

[21] In this connection three Chinese characters are given, the first to be printed in any European book.

[22] Jerónimo Marín was a native of Mexico, where he became an Augustinian friar in 1556. Coming to the Philippine Islands in 1571, he acquired the Bisayan, Tagal, and Chinese languages, and spent many years in missionary labors among those peoples. Afterward he went to Spain, where for a time he had charge of the Philippine missions of his order; and finally returned to Mexico, where he died in 1606.

[23] In the text, Martin--evidently a misprint; accordingly, we have corrected it to the proper spelling, Marin.

[24] Reference is here made to part i, book ii, chapter vii of Mendoza's _Historia_.

[25] Either a reference to the few small islands which lie near the coast of the province of Ilocos (Luzón), or an erroneous mention of that province as an island.

[26] The author of the "Relation of the Filipinas Islands" which appears in _Vol_. V.

[27] Alonso de Alvarado was one of the Augustinian friars who accompanied (1542) the expedition of Villalobos; in 1549 he returned to Spain. Again coming to the Philippines in 1571, he labored as a missionary among the natives of Luzon. Appointed provincial of his order there in 1575, he died at Manila in May, 1576. See Retana's _Zúñiga_, ii, p. 563*, and Pérez's _Catálogo_, p. 11; the latter states that Alvarado was the first Spaniard in the Philippines to learn the mandarin dialect of the Chinese language, and that he ministered to the Chinese converts there.

[28] As a result of this journey, Loarca wrote a memoir entitled _Verdadera relacion de la grandeça del reyno de China_, etc. A MS. which is evidently a copy from the original of this document is preserved in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid; its press-mark is "J.--16, 89," and "MSS. 2902." It is possible that Mendoza, in writing his _Historia_, had access to Loarca's work.

[29] An officer, superior to the captains, charged with the discipline and instruction of the regiment; he exercised the functions of fiscal, and had the right of intervention in the commissary department and in all expenditures. (_Nov. dicc. lengua castellana_.)

[30] Pedro de Alfaro was at the head of the first band of Franciscan missionaries who came to the Philippine Islands, and was the first custodian and superior of that order in the ecclesiastical province of the Philippines. In the autumn of 1579 he went to China, where he founded a mission at Macao. While on a voyage to India, in June of the following year, the ship was wrecked, and Alfaro perished. See account of his life and labors in Santa Inés's _Crónica_, i, pp. 113, 120, 130-140, 160-178. As that writer distinctly states (p. 124), the Franciscans reached Manila in June, 1577--not in 1578, as in our text.

[31] Agustín de Tordesillas was one of the Franciscans who first came to the Philippines. At the time when he went to China with Alfaro, Tordesillas was at the head of his convent in Manila. See account of this mission in Santa Inés's _Crónica_, i, cap. vi-ix.

[32] Named by Santa Inés (_Crónica_, p. 108), Juan Bautista Písaro (_alias_ "the Italian"), and Sebastián de Baeza, this last the name of a town in Andalusia. They left Manila on this voyage at the end of May, 1579.

[33] The title-page of this "Itinerary," as well as some portions of the text (notably the first chapter), are widely different in the first edition of Mendoza's _Historia_ (1585) from the Madrigal edition of 1586 (which we follow). See the Hakluyt Society's reprint (London, 1853) of Parke's translation of Mendoza, vol. ii, pp. 207-209, 232. The Franciscan here mentioned was Fray Martin Ignacio de Loyola, a relative of the Loyola who founded the Jesuit order.

The title-page reads: "Itinerary and epitome of all the notable things that lie on the way from España to the kingdom of China, and from China to España, returning by way of Eastern India, after having made almost the entire circuit of the world: Wherein are recounted the rites, ceremonies, and customs of the people of all those parts, and the richness, fertility and strength of many realms, with a description of them all. Compiled by the author himself, both from what he has seen, and from the account given him by the descalced religious of the order of St. Francis."

[34] Documents relating missionary efforts in these islands will be published later in this series.

[35] An expression of the opinion, then current in Europe, that the New World was either an extension of the Asiatic continent, or separated from it only by a narrow sea.

[36] "The Philippine archipelago comprises 12 principal islands and 3 groups, adjacent to which are 1,583 dependent islands" (_U.S. Philippine Gazetteer_, pp. 4, 69).

[37] This paragraph, here enclosed in parentheses, is found at the beginning of the Madrid copy of this document (see Bibliographical Data). Other additional matter found therein will be similarly indicated throughout.

In the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer Library), a paragraph at the beginning of the "Memorial" states that the general junta was held on April 20, 1586, in accordance with an edict issued (on the day preceding that date) by the Audiencia. The assembly decided that Sanchez should be sent to Madrid, bearing a suitable memorial to the home government stating the needs and wishes of the colonists; and that other conferences should be held by the various estates and interests represented, to decide upon its contents. On May 5, the Audiencia insisted that Sanchez should accept the office of envoy, which he did on the same day.

[38] Here, as elsewhere in this document, we have represented by italic side-heads the marginal notes on the original MS. They are written in a different hand, and were probably made by some clerk of the Council.

[39] The stated times of devotion of the Catholic church.

[40] A note on the margin of the Madrid MS. at this place reads, "or at least in Acapulco."

[41] A tax formerly paid to the government by those not belonging to the nobility.

[42] A word used in America to signify an Indian village newly consecrated to the Christian religion, and evidently transferred from there to the Philippines.

[43] At this point the Sevilla MS. ends, and it lacks any signature; there is reason to fear that the latter half of this copy--apparently, from the marginal notes, the one sent to the Council of the Indias, and used in their deliberations--is lost. The remainder of the document is translated from the Madrid copy, which is fully signed by the notables of the islands.

[44] For mention of the localities where these minerals are found in the Philippines, see _U.S. Philippine Gazetteer_, pp. 83-85.

[45] Jesuit missionaries had already found their way into the Chinese ports. Cretineau-Joly states--_Hist. Comp. de Jésus_ (third edition, Paris, 1859), i, p. 402--that in 1556 Melchior Nuñez visited Macao and Canton, where he became acquainted with the mandarins; but the repressive Chinese laws prevented him from preaching the Christian faith. In 1563, three Jesuits visited Pekin; and in 1581-83 three missionaries of that order became established at Macao and Canton--Michel Ruggieri, Mateo Ricci, and ---- Pazio. During 1600-10, Ricci was a missionary at Peking, where he was greatly esteemed by the emperor and other leading Chinese, on account of his scientific and linguistic attainments; he is said to have been the first European to compose works in Chinese. See sketch of his life in Yule's _Cathay_, ii, p. 536.

[46] A somewhat blind allusion to the decline of the Portuguese power in India, which began in the first decade of the sixteenth century, with the conquests of Albuquerque and others (see note 8 _ante_). The arbitrary and tyrannical rule of the Portuguese exasperated the natives, many of whom revolted. It will be remembered that in 1580 Portugal was subjected to the dominion of Spain--including, of course, its Oriental colonial possessions. The statement in the text evidently means that, of the Indian states subdued by the Portuguese, many have acquired so much strength that they have been able successfully to resist their conquerors, and little therefore remains for the Spaniards, who are now in possession of the Portuguese domains.

[47] The Sofi are a peculiar sect of Mahometans, organized about 820 A.D. For account of early relations and intercourse between the Chinese, Persians, and Armenians, see Yule's _Cathay_, i, pp. lxxxii-lxxxviii.

[48] A reference to the St. Lawrence River, then little known, but by which, it was conjectured, might be gained a route to the Sea of China, which was generally supposed to lie not far west of the North American coast.

[49] This document forms part of the group "Measures regarding trade with China;" but its subject-matter renders its location at this point more appropriate; consequently it has been transferred hither. The works printed in italics at the beginning of certain paragraphs in this document are, on the original MS., written as marginal notes--probably by a clerk of the Council of the Indias.

[50] In the original MS., section 8 does not appear--probably a mistake in numbering the divisions of the letter.

[51] The phrase _foro_ (an old form of _fuero_) _interior_ is but another expression for the ecclesiastical _forum conscientiae_, or _forum poenitentiae_. The reference is to cases of conscience, which should in this case be left entirely to the bishop's decision.

[52] This was Pedro de Moya y Contreras: see note 10, _ante_.

[53] A reference to the residencia, or judicial investigation, to which each royal official was liable (vol. IV, p. 71, note 7).

[54] In the original, _ochenta_ only--_y cinco_ evidently omitted by some oversight, as the date is written "1586" at the end of the document.

[55] Alvaro Manrique do Zúñiga, Marques de Villa Manrique, was viceroy of Nueva España from October 17, 1585, to February, 1590.

[56] The reformed Franciscans were commonly called Observantines, from their stricter observance of the rules of their order.

[57] According to La Concepción (_Hist. Philipinas_, ii, p. 92), the plans for this fort were made by the Jesuit Sedeño; and it was named Nuestra Señora de Guia ("Our Lady of Guidance"). He adds that the artillery was cast (at Baluarte) under the direction of a Pampanga Indian--whose name, Morga says, was Pandapira.

[58] Considerable copper ore is found in the Philippines, in many localities; but these deposits are little known, and have not been worked--except in northern Luzon, where "copper ore has been smelted by the natives from time immemorial. The process ... consists in alternate partial roasting and reduction to 'matte,' and eventually to black copper. It is generally believed that this process must have been introduced from China or Japan. It is practiced only by one peculiar tribe of natives, the Igorrotes ... Mean assays are said to show over 16 per cent of copper." See U.S. Philippine Commission's _Report_, 1900, iii, p. 235.

[59] Sulphur deposits abound about the numerous active and extinct volcanoes in the Philippines ... The finest deposits in the archipelago are said to be on the little island of Biliran, which lies to the N.W. of Leyte. See _U.S. Philippine Gazetteer_, p. 85.

[60] The ancient name of the city of Kioto, which was formerly the capital of Japan; it lies 250 miles S.W. of Tokio.

[61] This exploit was performed by Thomas Candish, on Nov. 4, 1587, off Cape San Lucas, the southern point of Lower California. After some six hours' fight the "Santa Ana" surrendered; her crew and passengers, numbering 190 persons, men and women, were set ashore, with supplies and provisions; the rich cargo--consisting of silks, damasks, perfumes, food, and wine, with 122,000 pesos' worth of gold--was plundered; and the ship (a galleon carrying 500 tons of goods) was burned, with all that the victors could not carry away. Candish then set sail for the Philippines, which he sighted on Jan. 14, 1588; but his small force of ships and men did not permit him to do more than cruise through the archipelago during a fortnight, when he departed toward Java. See Candish's account in Hakluyt's _Voyages_ (Goldsmid ed.), xvi, pp. 30, 35-45.