Chapter VIII: Part 8

The season and necessity compelled General Furtado to request urgently the help that was being prepared in Filipinas. Amboino is eighty leguas from those islands. Accordingly he sent Father Andres Pereyra, a Jesuit, and Captain Antonio Brito Fogaco, in May of the year one thousand six hundred and two. They reached Cebu July twenty-five. They sailed thence for Manila, August six, and entered that city September five. Don Pedro de Acuna rejoiced greatly over their arrival. He asked them--so great was his desire and interest, or rather, his noble rivalry--minutely concerning the expeditions of General Furtado. Since the latter had referred to them in his letters, they gave an extended relation of them, and executed his embassy, each one fulfilling the office that he professed. Don Pedro did not delay the sending [of reenforcements.] He assembled the council of war, where it was resolved to send Furtado the help that he requested, without delay, although they felt obliged to accommodate themselves to the necessities of the country. Following this decision the governor sent a message to the provinces of Pintados ordering captain Juan Xuarez Gallinato, chief of them, to provide all necessaries for the expedition, and himself to sail with his best disciplined infantry from Cebu to the city of Arevalo, the place assigned for assembling the fleet. Gallinato did this, and also sent a vessel to Oton to lade as much as possible of the supplies. It reached Oton October twenty-eight, and the same day Don Pedro left Manila for Pintados, in order, by his presence, to inspire greater haste in the despatch of the fleet, which was already almost ready in Oton. He arrived there November thirteen. So fiery was his spirit that he assembled the reenforcement and entrusted it to Juan Xuarez Gallinato--without allowing the expeditions from Xolo and Mindanao to embarrass him, even though he saw the natives of those islands, divided into different bodies among the Pintados, pillaging and murdering his Majesty's vassals--and appointed him general and commander of that expedition.

[Furtado, after asking the reenforcement from Acuna, goes to the Moluccas. Some of his men are defeated in a naval engagement with the natives, whereupon Furtado builds a fort at the friendly island of Machian.]

After the fleet, military stores and food had been collected, they were delivered to Gallinato by the auditors and fiscal of the Audiencia. The supplies consisted of one thousand fanegas of cleaned rice, three hundred head of cattle, two hundred jars of wine, eighty quintals of nails and bolts, forty quintals of powder, three hundred Ylocos blankets, seven hundred varas of Castilian wool, one hundred sail-needles, and thirty jugs of oil. The men amounted to two hundred soldiers--one hundred and sixty-five arquebusiers and thirty-five musketeers--twenty-two sailors, several pilots, one master, three artillerymen in the "Santa Potenciana," and twenty common seamen. The monthly expense of all that equipment amounted to twenty-two thousand two hundred and sixty pesos. This having been done on the part of the governor and Audiencia, they required Father Andres Pereyra and Captain Brito to go with the reenforcement--which Gallinato had ready, with its colors, and with Captains Christoval Villagra and Juan Fernandez de Torres. The company of Captain Don Tomas Bravo, the governor's nephew, son of Don Garcia his brother, was left behind; but the captain went, and served bravely on the expedition. The infantry was taken on the ship "Sancta Potenciana," and on the fragatas "Santo Anton," "San Sebastian," "San Buenaventura," and "San Francisco." The fleet left the port of Yloilo January twenty, one thousand six hundred and three, and reached La Caldera in Mindanao the twenty-fifth. They remained there until the twenty-eighth, as they had some information concerning those enemies. Then they sailed toward Maluco, and sighted the island of Siao February seven, and at dawn of the next day that of Taolan, four leguas from Siao. There the fragata "Sant Anton" was wrecked on a shoal of the island, which gave greater anxiety to the fleet. Gallinato made efforts so that the men should not perish. He sent Captain Villagra, who saved them, as well as the weapons and the pieces of artillery; the rest was left in the sea. They continued their voyage and sighted the island of Ternate February thirteen. On the fourteenth they entered that of Tydore, where they heard of Andres Furtado's arrival. There they rested but little, in order to join him sooner. Sailing thence with a good breeze they reached Ternate, and made harbor at Talangame, one legua from the fortress, on the sixteenth of the same month. The fleets saluted one another with tokens of friendly regard, and the generals did the same....

[The active campaign soon begins, and notwithstanding some few successes in the siege of Ternate by Furtado and Gallinato, sickness, and want of ammunition and provisions, compel the Portuguese commander to withdraw before the superior forces and equipment of the Ternatans. Thereupon Gallinato and his men return to the Philippines via Tidore, while Furtado intends going to Amboina and perhaps to Malaca. About April of this same year the Jesuit brother, Gaspar Gomez, reaches Spain, to argue before the Council of the Indias the necessity of an effective expedition from the Philippines. There it is agreed that Acuna shall undertake one in person. The following year a letter received from Acuna by the council describes the ill-success of Furtado's expedition and the necessity for an effective expedition from the Philippines, a synopsis of the letter being given by our author.]

Conquest of the Malucas Islands Book Ninth

[The action of the council finally secured the king's assent to the Molucca expedition, and the following decree was sent to Acuna:]

... Don Pedro de Acuna, my governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, and president of my royal Audiencia therein. On September twenty of the past year, six hundred and three, I wrote you by an advice-boat on which Gaspar Gomez, of the Society of Jesus, took passage for Nueva Espana, my resolution in regard to what you wrote me from Nueva Espana, when you went to take charge of that office, about the Ternate expedition. In accordance with that resolution, I have ordered a contingent of five hundred men to be collected in these kingdoms, which are to be conveyed in the trading fleet that sails to Nueva Espana this year. I wrote to the viceroy to have another five hundred men enlisted so that, at the very least, eight hundred men could be sent you for this enterprise. I have appointed four captains for the contingent from these kingdoms. One of them, namely, Admiral Juan de Esquivel, is to be commander and governor of the said soldiers. I have also appointed six substitutes, practiced and experienced soldiers, so that, in case any of the said captains die, these may take command of the men, and that they may be in charge of the companies to be raised in Nueva Espana, as I am writing to the viceroy. I have assigned forty ducados per month as pay to the said captains; to Admiral Juan de Esquivel the sum of sixty; and to the substitutes, twenty-five escudos apiece until ahey reach Nueva Espana. Thenceforward the said Juan de Esquivel, in case I order him to be given the title of master-of-camp, shall enjoy the sum of one hundred and twenty ducados per month; but if he serves with the title of commander and governor of the said soldiers, he shall have sixty. The substitutes shall receive forty; and the soldiers--both those levied in Espana and those to be raised in Nueva Espana--shall have the sum of eight ducados per month. I have ordered the viceroy, in accordance with the above, to send to those islands the necessary money to meet the pay of the soldiers for one year. If they are detained longer in other affairs of my service, he shall also furnish what may be necessary after advice from you. I have thought it best to advise you of the above, in order to charge and order you that, if the pay of the soldiers can be moderated, in respect to what is there paid men of that rank, you may reform the schedule justifiably, advising me thereof, and the viceroy of Nueva Espana. However, you shall make no alteration in the pay of Admiral Juan de Esquivel, or of the captains, alferezes, or substitutes. I have also ordered the viceroy to provide you with whatever may be necessary, up to the amount of the one hundred and twenty thousand ducados that you have asked for this undertaking; also six pieces of artillery for bombardment, and five hundred quintals of arquebus powder. The men sent from here are armed with muskets and arquebuses. You shall be careful in the distribution of this money, and in all the rest you shall exercise the advisable care, system, and caution. You shall endeavor to attain the end sought, as I confidently expect from you, with the men sent from Espana, and those from Nueva Espana, together with those whom you shall have collected in those islands for the expedition to Ternate. If possible, you shall make the expedition in person, as you have offered to do, and shall leave those islands provided as it fitting. In case conditions are such that you cannot go in person, on this expedition, then you shall appoint another man of the experience and qualities requisite for it, who may take entire charge of it; and for this I grant you authority. It is my will that, in case of your death while on the expedition, or through any other cause, or the death of the person whom you may appoint for it, Admiral Juan de Esquivel succeed in it and continue it. All the sea and land forces who shall take part in the said expedition, shall obey him as they would yourself. I declare that, in this event, and in case of your death, and the succession of the said Juan de Esquivel to the charge of the expedition, he shall be subject and subordinate to my royal Audiencia in those islands. The captains in whose charge is the infantry raised in these kingdoms, I have selected as worthy men who have served. Accordingly I charge and order you chat you honor and favor them as far as possible, for in that I shall consider myself served. You shall not dismiss them or deprive them of their companies to give these to others, without just cause, unless it be to appoint them to better offices. However, if they should commit crimes you may punish them, as their superior. It is supposed that by the time of the arrival of these soldiers at those islands--and they shall leave Nueva Espana in the first vessels, after the arrival of the trading fleet there--you will have matters so well in hand that you may begin the expedition immediately. I charge you straitly to do with circumspectness, consideration, and caution what I expect from so gallant a soldier. These men are to be well disciplined and drilled, and everything so ordered that the desired and so important effect may be gained, for you see the risk in this and its expense. You shall endeavor, as I charge you, to have the advisable care and order taken in the efficient distribution and collection of my revenues, and the avoidance of superfluous expense. Of the course of events you shall keep me advised on all occasions. After recovering the fort of Ternate, you shall place there and on the island the garrison necessary for its safety. I have ordered the viceroy of Nueva Espana, if he has any opportunity for it, to advise you as soon as the men raised here arrive there [_i.e._, in Nueva Espana], and that he report clearly to you the contingent enlisted in that country, and that will be raised in any other way, as well as the time that they will leave there, so that you may take the necessary precautions concerning them from those islands. If you consider it advisable for these men to stop anywhere and not to go to Manila, you shall so order it, or give any other orders that you deem most advisable, in anything. Valladolid. June twenty, one thousand six hundred and four.

After the above decree was sent, its dispositions began to be carried out in Espana. Before this, in the preceding year one thousand six hundred and three, while governor Don Pedro was occupied in the preparations necessary for this purpose [_i.e._, of the expedition], an accident occurred in Filipinas which threatened their loss and other greater misfortunes. In the month of April a fire broke out in Manila and burnt the richest part and more than half of the city, and it was impossible to keep the goods from burning which had been discharged from the ships recently arrived from Nueva Espana which were being kept in the most secure of the houses. Two hundred and seventy houses, wood and stone, were burned, and even the monastery of St. Dominic (both house and church), the royal Spanish hospital, and the magazines; and not a single edifice was left standing in the burned area. Fourteen Spaniards were burned, among whom was Licentiate Sanz, canon of the cathedral, together with some Indians and negroes. The loss was estimated at one million....

[The incident of the coming of the three Chinese mandarins and their pretense of looking for an island of gold is described. This with certain rumors, readily believed, leads to the outbreak of feeling against the Chinese or Sangleys resident in Manila and other parts of the island. That same year (1603), the insurrection by them takes active shape. Argensola's account is substantially the same as that of other writers. He traces the insurrection during its rise, and progress, and the retreat of the Sangicys, with the consequent slaughters of those people. The following extracts and synopses are made from his account:]

At the time when Covernor Don Pedro was attending most closely to the war with Maluco, there occurred in Manila a circumstance such that it might not only have suspended the war, but extinguished the entire province. A man was residing in Manila who had remained there when the great pirate Limaon (of whose history popular accounts are current) came against the city. He was formerly an idolater, and, as was reported, served the pirate for a lewd purpose. His name was Encan, and he was a native of Semygua in the province of Chincheo. He was baptized during Santiago de Vera's term, and took the latter's surname, being called Baptista de Vera. He proved sagacious, industrious, and of efficacious energy, by means of which, exercising his trading, he came to possess great wealth and to have influence with the governors of Filipinas. Through his arrangements the Sangleys negotiated with Don Pedro, asking his consent to finish a parapet of the wall that he was completing, at their own cost; for they, as a portion of the commonwealth, wished to do this service for his Majesty. Each of them offered four reals for the work. This service and the thanks of the citizens, whom Encan or Baptista had bought by benefits, destroyed or decreased the suspicions conceived against their conspiracy. He was respected by the Spaniards and loved by the Sangleys. He had twice been their governor, and had many adopted sons and dependents.... Near the Parian was another district inhabited by Japanese, a race hostile to the Sangleys, with whom they are at constant war in their own country. The governor summoned their headmen, and sounded them by kind methods, as he wished to know how to depend on them on any occasion, and if they would help against the Chinese if war came. The Japanese, puffed up by the confidence that he placed in them, and elated that time would give them an opportunity to fight against their enemy, answered that they were ready to die with the Spaniards. Some trouble arose from this wise effort, and as the Japanese kept the secret badly, or referred to it with exaggeration, it became public that Don Pedro was going to kill the Sangleys with their help. Some of the Japanese told them that, so that the Sangleys could flee and pay them for the warning. Many Sangleys tried to take to the mountains, while all were in fear. Those who wished to revolt were able to persuade the others to do the same, and to quiet the anxious by promises. In fact, the greater portion of them determined to rebel, and assigned St. Francis' day for the beginning of the insurrection, at the hour when the Christians would be busied in their churches, in the holy feast. Some said that the time assigned for it was during the night, when twenty-five thousand of them would enter the city and behead our men. Some indications of it escaped, notwithstanding their secrecy. Juan de Talavera, parish priest of the hamlet of Quiapo, informed the archbishop that an Indian woman, with whom a Sangley was in love, had revealed to him the plot for St. Francis's day.... All these advices and some others were learned immediately by the governor and the royal Audiencia. It would be sufficient to see the haste with which the Chinese sold everything, even to their shoes, and adjusted their debts--although this was interpreted rather as a design to go away than one of treason. In order to relieve them from fear of the Spaniards and Japanese, the governor talked to them himself, and had the pledge of safety and the royal faith published anew in all districts. But no effort could quiet them. Three days before that of St. Francis, more than four hundred Anhay merchants remained in the city, because they had been unable to sell their goods. These, upon seeing the others in confusion because of the report that the Spaniards and Japanese were about to kill them, sent their embassy to Don Pedro by one Chican, also an Anhay or Chincheo.... He came at night, being in fear of the other Chinese. He communicated their fears to the governor and their present uncertainty; and stated that they did not know what resolution to take, and consequently came to him for advice and protection. The governor, after hearing him and having completely assured him with his answer, went next day personally to talk to Chican's companions, and satisfied them with affectionate words, saying that the Spanish nation is not accustomed to execute or to consent to such deceits. After this talk they were quieted, but those who had evil intentions were not satisfied....

[At the first outbreak of the insurrection, Encan is sent to reassure and quiet the Sangleys. He returns very late "telling Don Pedro that he had been in danger of being elected their chief, and that they wished to force him to accept it." In the slaughter of Don Luis Dasmarinas and his men which soon follows, over thirty Spaniards manage to escape. The Japanese aid the Spaniards, while the Sangleys try to induce all their countrymen of the Parian to join them.]

The few Sangleys in the Parian caused the Spaniards no less anxiety than the many in the fort, both because they had them for so near neighbors and as they supposed that if these saw our cause declining, they would join their countrymen. Besides, it was known that the insurgents had sent to ask those in the Parian to join them, and had advised them of the Spaniards whom they had killed. This was declared by a Sangley, who was caught while crossing the river by swimming, by the sentinel of the river-boats. He, confessing, when put to the torture, that he was a spy, and that he gave and carried messages, was beheaded. On the other side, it was considered that although it would lessen the anxiety to kill all the Sangleys or to attempt it, it did not appear a just punishment toward people of whose crime they were uncertain--much more so, since they had come to Filipinas to conduct their trading in good faith, and the governor had given them his word for their safety if they were quiet and did not mix in the rebellion....

[It is finally resolved to induce the peaceful Sangleys to take refuge in the Augustinian convent. However, they refuse to take advantage of the offer, although some put their goods in safety. Meanwhile the hostile Sangleys attempt to incite them to join their ranks, and on their refusal, turn upon them "and kill more than two hundred." Encan is found concealed in a house for fear of capture, whereupon he confesses his part in the rebellion. The religious take up arms against the insurgents, notable among them being Fray Antonio Flores, an Augustinian lay-brother, and formerly a soldier: he is credited with having slain six hundred Sangleys in the final slaughter. The Chinese, after driving in an attacking party of five hundred men under Gallinato, assault the walls of the city, but are finally driven back with great slaughter. Their Parian is burned, and they begin their retreat, going to San Pablo and other districts, pursued by the Spaniards and natives, who kill immense crowds of them and disperse the rest. Spaniards, Japanese, and Pampangos are sent out under Sargento-mayor Azcueta, and the insurrection is crushed with terrible slaughter; "for the Japanese and natives are so ferocious that nothing can restrain them." The final result of the last campaign shows that only "slightly more than one hundred [of the Sangleys] survived, who were kept alive for the galleys. Eight natives and six Japanese died on our side in these two battles [_i.e._, the slaughters of the pursuit]. No Spaniard was killed, although many were wounded." Encan is "hanged and quartered, his head exposed on the site of the Parian, and his goods confiscated; and in the days following, justice gave the same punishment to other guilty Chinese." The insurrection costs the lives of more than twenty-three thousand Chinese and only five hundred are left for the galleys. "Some say that the number of Sangleys killed was greater, but in order that the illegality in admitting so many into the country contrary to royal prohibitions might not be seen, the officials concealed or diminished the numbers of those that perished."]

Don Pedro had had some advices of how well affected his Majesty was to the enterprise of Maluco. Awaiting the effects of that decision, he wrote by all the ways possible; and by India, to solicit those who had charge of the matter. Relieved from the hindrance caused by the Sangleys, he turned his mind to the preparation and equipment of the fleet, for the time when he should be ordered to set out. But the end of this war was the beginning of other needs for Manila. Mechanical trades were stopped, and there was no work or provisions. Prices of food increased with their lack. All supplies had been formerly in great abundance, and were obtained through the Sangleys, for the Indian natives lack the willingness and the energy for such work. The cultivation of the land, the care of raising fowls, the weaving of cloth, all of which industries they had exercised in their old days of infidelity, they had forgotten. Especially was the Parian or Alcayceria wasted by fire and sword. It was once so full of gain and abundance that Don Pedro wrote to one of his relatives in Espana, a short time after his arrival at Manila, these following words of it: "This city is remarkable for the size of its buildings, which have surprised me. I shall mention only one, which is the chief one. It has an Alcayceria that contains all kinds of silks and gold, and mechanical trades; and for these things there are more than four hundred shops, and generally more than eight thousand men who trade therein. When the trading fleets come from China with their merchandise, which is the present time of the year, there are always more than thirteen or fourteen thousand men. They bring wonderful things, that are not found in Europa." Besides this, Don Pedro feared that the chastisement inflicted in the slaughter would discourage the intercourse of the Sangleys with us, and that the vessels that were wont to come from China with food would not come. Greater and universal was the fear that in place of trading ships, armed vessels would come to avenge the Sangleys. Don Pedro sent the prior of Manila, Fray Diego de Guevara, to Espana by way of India, with advices of the deed and of his fears. The incidents that befell him on his voyage in India itself, and in Persia, Turquia, and Italia, forced him to delay three years before he could reach the court, where he found other despatches already arrived.

At the same time Don Pedro sent Captain Marcos de la Cueva, together with Fray Luis Gandullo, a Dominican, to Macao--a city of China, where Portuguese reside--with letters for the commandant and council of that city, advising them of the rebellion of the Sangleys, and of its result, so that they might advise him by all ways, at any rumor of an armed fleet in China. They took letters also for the tutons, haytaos, and inspectors of the provinces of Canton and Chincheo, giving account of the transgression of the Chinese, and how it obliged the Spaniards to inflict so severe a punishment. The ambassadors found the country quiet upon their arrival, although some fugitive Sangleys, fleeing from Manila in champans, had related the disturbances among them. The arrival of those Spanish at Macao was learned in Chincheo. Immediately some of the most wealthy captains who ordinarily go to Manila, whose names were Guansan, Sinu, and Guachuan, went to see them. Having understood the truth of the matter, they took upon themselves [the delivery of] the message sent to the mandarins by Don Pedro, and the mandarins received it by their means. The Chincheo merchants determined to return to their trade at Filipinas, and left Macao in their vessels with our ambassadors, taking a quantity of powder, saltpeter and lead, with which the public magazines were supplied. In the following May, thirteen Chinese ships made port at Manila, and afterward many others returned thither to continue that commerce. Don Pedro sent to Nueva Espana the vessels that had brought the relief for the islands. The flagship foundered and not a person or a plank escaped. He did not cease at this time to store the city with provisions and ammunition, in order to find himself free for the expedition to Maluco. At this juncture, Master-of-camp Juan de Esquivel came from Mexico with six hundred soldiers, with the report that more men, money, and other preparations of arms, food, and ammunition were being collected in Nueva Espana, at the order of his Majesty; these all arrived at Manila in due season. At that time died its great archbishop, Don Miguel de Benavides, to the universal sorrow of the country.

The Chinese ships that returned for the trade bore letters to the governor in reply to his despatch. Three letters of one tenor came from the tuton or viceroy, the haytao, and the inspector-general of the province of Chincheo. Translated by the interpreters into Spanish, they read as follows:

[See this letter in _Vol_. XIII, pp. 287-291 of this series.]

The governor answered these letters by the same messengers, making use of terms of courtesy and authority. [293] He related the rebellion of the Sangleys from its inception. He justified the defense of the Spaniards, and the punishment inflicted upon the delinquents. He says that no community can govern without punishing those who are evil, any more than by not rewarding the blameless. Consequently he does not repent of what was done, as it was to check him who was trying to destroy us. The inspector should consider what he should do, if any similar case happened in China. What he was sorry for was in not having been able to save any of the Anhays among the Sangley merchants, who perished among the guilty. But it was impossible to prevent that, for the violence of war does not allow some to be killed and others exempted, especially since they were unknown to the soldiers in the heat of war. Employing clemency toward those captured alive, he condemned them to row in the galleys, which is the punishment substituted by the Castilians for those who merit death. However, if they in China thought that the punishment should be lessened, he would give them liberty. "But it should be noted," says Don Pedro, "that this might be the cause that, if so serious a crime were unpunished, they would fall into it a second time, a thing that would close all the gates to kindness. The goods of the Chinese killed are in deposit. And in order that it may be seen that I am not moved by any other zeal than that of justice, I shall have these immediately delivered to their heirs, or to those to whom they rightfully pertain. I am not moved to any of these things by any consideration other than that of right. To tell me that if I do not free the prisoners, permission will be given, to the relatives in China of those who were killed in the rebellion, to come with a fleet to Manila, causes no disturbance in my mind; for I consider the Chinese as so sensible a race, that they will not be incited to such things with little foundation and especially since we have; on our side, given them no occasion for it. In case any other resolution is followed, we Spaniards are people who know how to defend our rights, religion, and country very well. And do not let the Chinese consider themselves lords of all the world, as they give out; for we Castilians, who have measured it with palmos, know with exactness the lands of China, where it will be well to know that the king of Espana has continual wars with kings as powerful as their own [_i.e.,_ the Chinese king], and subdues them and inflicts great troubles upon them. It is no new case, when our enemies imagine that we are defeated, to find us desolating and destroying the confines of their lands, and not ceasing until we have hurled them from their thrones and taken away their scepters. I would be very sorry for a change in trade, but I also believe that the Chinese do not wish to lose it, since so great gain accrues from it, and the Chinese take to their kingdom so much of our silver, which is never diminished in amount, in exchange for their merchandise, which is composed of poor articles that are soon worn out." The English ships that reached the coast of China, he was determined not to receive, for they are not Spaniards, but their enemies, and are pirates. Consequently if they came to Manila they would be punished. "Finally, because we Spaniards always justify our causes, and we pride ourselves on the fact that no one in the world can say that we usurp other men's possessions or make war on our friends, all that is herein promised will be fulfilled. And hereafter let those in China understand that we never do anything through fear, or because of the threats of our enemies." Don Pedro concludes by offering to continue the friendship with the kingdoms of China by new bonds of peace, saying that he would release the prisoners in his galleys in due time, although he first intended to make use of them, as he did, in the expedition of Maluco, which would soon be despatched. All this he strictly observed.

Don Pedro received other letters during those same days from the emperor of Japon, in which, after thanking him for a present of grape wine--besides other rich presents--that Don Pedro had sent him, he earnestly requested commerce....

[This letter, of which Argensola presents a mere synopsis, is given complete by Morga, _q.v. ante_.]

In this same year, one thousand six hundred and four, the islands of Holanda and Zelanda, in pursuance of their custom, assembled a fleet of twelve vessels, large and well equipped, and some smaller ones; and, as if masters of sea and wind, steered their course toward India by the known routes. In a short time they reached the cape of Buena Esperanca. All the captains had gone at other times on that voyage, and the pilots esteemed themselves of no less experience. Their general was Estevan Drage, [294] faithless alike to his church and to his king....

[Thence this fleet continues its course along Mosambique, India, and neighboring shores, Java, Sumatra, etc., taking prizes and trading. In February, 1605, they capture Amboina, where they receive the submission of the Portuguese and allow religious freedom. Finally part of the vessels go to the Moluccas, where, with the aid of the king of Ternate, the fort of Tidore is captured--although the Portuguese are warned beforehand of their coming by English vessels (for the Spanish and English kings were then friends), and the English leave powder and shot for its defense. Some Portuguese leave the island, "many going to the Filipinas, where Governor Don Pedro interviewed them in order to learn the condition of affairs at Maluco." The narrative continues:]

One of those who escaped from the fort of Tydore, and reached the town of Arevalo in Filipinas, was Antonio de Silva, a Portuguese. Besides being a soldier he was a _naguatato_ or interpreter. This man gave a judicial account of the matter and added that the English [_i. e._. Dutch] general, while taking him a prisoner from Amboino, took a sea-chart, and began to look for Mindoro, Manila, and Cabite. Being asked by Silva, for what purpose he was looking for them, he learned that the general intended, in case hit undertaking at Maluco did not succeed well, to try to capture one of the vessels plying between Filipinas and Nueva Espana. Silva replied to him that it was not time for those vessels to sail, either way; for the first [_i. e._, those from Nueva Espana], arrive about May ten, and the others [_i. e._, those going to Nueva Espana], sail June ten. Notwithstanding, this was the end or desire of the Dutchman's navigation; for he determined to get information in Mindoro, to depart thence to Macan, to send an ambassador to China, and to avenge the insult offered by Don Pablos of Portugal in those provinces. Thence he would lade pepper in Patane, then see if he could defeat the Chinese ships at the strait of Sincapura [_i.e._, Singapore] on their way to Malaca; and at all events, continue along that same route his return to Holanda, laden with wealth. All this did the Dutch general communicate to Antonio de Silva, as to one who would go to Holanda with him; for he was a soldier and a skilled interpreter of both languages, and Estevan Drage made much of him for that reason. Certain others who had fought and escaped the slaughter of Tydore confirmed this news. Don Pedro learned it, and grieved over it, as he was so zealous in the service of the Church and of his king. He considered sorrowfully when he saw that not even one turret of a fortress was left in Maluco to the crown of Espana, and how securely a rebel to God and to his legitimate sovereign held them. And because the prosperity of Dutch affairs made the Dutch powerful and determined, the governor assembled his council of war, and appointed Captains Antonio Freyle, chief of the fleet of Pintados, Pedro Sevil, Estevan de Alcacar, and Bernardino Alfonso to go to the garrisons of the Pintados and those of other islands that were in danger, with their infantry companies. He strengthened the ships, and prepared his artillery, as if he were near a victorious enemy who was executing his threats with so great success. Antonio de Silva showed an original letter from another Dutch general, written in the island of Borneo to the king of Ternate, sent by Philipo Bissegop, a ship captain. In it the general expressed his compliments and sent him a present of a number of varas of different fine cloths from Holanda, six bales containing vessels of musk, twelve flasks of rose water, six _arrates_ [295] of _Amfion_ [296]--a Dutch compound used, as above stated, for fighting, which takes away or disturbs the reason--and six barrels of powder. He gave the king an account of the unfortunate voyage, and the obstacles, storms, and dangers that Andres Furtado had until his arrival at Malaca after leaving Ternate. He called the king "most serene prince and powerful king of Maluco, Bandas, Amboino," and an infinite number of other islands. He congratulated him on the success attained upon his arrival at Maluco. He promised him to go to Ternate with the greater forces that he was awaiting from Holanda, and garrison the forts, in order to extirpate entirely their common enemy, the king of Espana. He encouraged him by this hope to hold out until then. He assured him that he would overrun all those seas from Maluco, and would extend his empire to China, without any opposition from the Filipinos or Japanese. For this purpose he requested the king [of Borneo] to renew friendship with Mindanao, and to give the king of those islands to understand that he was a friend to the Dutch, and consequently to facilitate the ports, commerce, and friendships that were necessary for their voyages. That was what was advisable above all considerations of the state. He said that he should be warned and assured that nothing was attended to with more lukewarmness in Espana, than to strive or attempt to preserve the greater part of their provinces, or at least, any form of union. Therefore, all the farthest colonies that recognized their crown, ought to esteem highly the delay with which they help and deliberate from Espana. For while they are believing, or examining in order to believe, the news of events, affairs are assuming another condition; and hence neither Spanish counsels nor arms arrive in time. The greater part of these things had been taught to his Highness by experience, and the writer's desire to serve him obliged him to write those things to the king. Antonio de Sylva added that he knew with certainty that the king of Ternate had not neglected to take any of the precautions that the Dutchman asked him to take; and that he had even proposed to his men to go to fight far from their islands. Although it was never feared that they would be bold enough to do so, on that occasion Don Pedro was made more anxious by this information, because the city had been left so weakened by the Sangley affair. He was trying, moreover, to supply their lack, so that the late evils might not again happen; for it was so necessary to further by another road the trade of Filipinas, and to provide for its domestic security, in order to be able to take the field.

But time, which is wont both to take away and to give hopes, consoled Don Pedro in those afflictions, and brought him in a few months from Nueva Espana some ships of private persons, and afterward, in good season, the ships of the regular trading fleet. They reached Manila on St. Matthew's eve. In them were the Spaniards who left Espana for that undertaking, together with more than two hundred others whom the viceroy of Nueva Espana, the Marques de Montesclaros, sent to Don Pedro, together with the other military stores and money, in accordance with the royal decree. Some of this came in charge of Brother Gaspar Gomez, who was received with incredible joy. He presented to the governor all his despatches. Care was immediately taken to lodge the captains and soldiers, and assign them quickly to their stations, so that all might believe that the only thing intended with them was the safety of the Filipinas, which were threatened by the emperor of Japon and by the conspiracies of the Sangleys. Corroboration of this report was sent in various directions that it might increase and be disseminated outside the kingdom, in order not to give information to those whom the Spaniards had reason to fear. Besides, although the report of that great preparation was useful to the Spaniards in opinion and in conjectures, yet the actual strength of the forces with which the country was supplied, besides the reputation of our affairs, acted for defense and security in them all. In Japon the knowledge alone that Manila was full of infantry and of armed vessels tempered or dispelled the irritation felt by their king because Don Pedro denied him shipbuilders. The Chincheos also refrained from attempting vengeance on an enemy whose victories were followed by so great succor. Don Pedro considered the whole question, and inferred from every one of these advices that he could absent himself from Manila. However the king of Ternate, as one overjoyed at having escaped from the Spanish yoke, paid little heed to all that was told him from his neighboring kingdoms, for he thought that the Spaniards were never to return to their former possessions. The captains of Holanda, who rebuilt the burned fortress in Tydore, sent him some large bronze cannon, culverins, and a considerable number of muskets; and sent him some engineers from those who came on those ships, so that they might inspect his fortifications and reside in them or in his city. Some accepted that abode, and the loose and irreligious liberty of life permitted in that country. There, by reason of the many trading-posts and fleets from the north, they lived as if they were not outside their own countries, since they had intercourse with their kinsmen and friends, or at least with men of their nation. Exiled Castilians and Portuguese reached the port of Oton in Filipinas daily. Among them was Pablo de Lima, a man of long experience, and now general of artillery in Tydore. He added to the news of the recent destruction, the joy with which the Dutch disinterred the pieces that he had tried to hide, and how they had sent ashore more arms and forces from their ships. This man was received with great honor because of his worth, and because he was one of those dispossessed, by the king of Ternate, of vassals and other property in Tydore. For later events, they profited by his warnings and advice. All, by various employments, although with equal desire, took part in the furtherance of the war--in building ships, and collecting provisions, arms, and ammunition. So great was Don Pedro's vigilance that he was not wanting in the least duty with example and encouragement. Consequently, it may be asserted that he carried on the whole enterprise; for he lent a hand in the labors of all.

Conquest of the Malucas islands Book Tenth

In human actions the moral doctrine is hidden; and judicious writers are wont to deduce this from the relation of events, as the fruit of their history. But in writing of the conquest and conservation of barbarous lands (which is founded on navigations and garrisons), what civil precepts of those who establish and compose the political life--however sagacious statecraft may have made them--can we bring to the reader's view? And what can be offered in this matter that the reader could not infer as a necessary consequence, contained in the preceding propositions? Since, then, the subject forbids us this role, let us finish it, and redeem the promise by which we bound ourselves at the beginning. Don Pedro de Acuna, now general of the fleet which was assembled in Filipinas, attended at the same time to its despatch and to the safety of the province, which he was about to abandon to go personally upon so stubborn an undertaking. Some attribute the loss of all the Malucas to Don Pedro's good fortune, so that, time offering him greater material, the victory might be more glorious. He provided very diligently what was needed for the war and for almost all the casualties thereof. The point or promontory of Yloilo extends into the sea not far from Arevalo in the island of Panay. It is spacious enough to serve as a camping-place and suitable for those arms then prepared. There the fleet was assembled. It consisted of five large ships, and six galleys; three galliots, like galizabras, belonging to the crown of Portugal--in one of which Pedro Alvarez de Abreo, commandant of the fort of Tydore, embarked, while the other two were in charge of Juan Rodriguez Camelo, a commandant sent from Malaca by General Andres Furtado de Mendoca, to aid with his prudence and his strength, and to carry to him information of the outcome; one flat galliot for unloading artillery, which carried three hundred baskets of rice; four vessels [297] built for transporting the provisions; two ten-ton champans, carrying one thousand six hundred baskets of clean rice; two English lanchas, in which the Portuguese went [to Manila] after the loss of the Tydore fort; seven fragatas belonging to his Majesty, and seven belonging to individuals; and as many other champans--in all thirty-six sail. Master-of-camp Juan de Esquivel took twelve companies of Spanish infantry, of which four were levied in Andaluzia--namely, his own, that of Captain Pablo Garrucho, that of Pedro Sevil, that of Lucas de Vergara Gaviria; and six in Nueva Espana, namely, that of Don Rodrigo de Mendoca (this gentleman is the son of Don Juan de Baeca y Castilla and of Dona Maria de Mendoca, and on the latter side grandson to the marques de Montesclaros; and left Italia to serve his Majesty in Filipinas, at the request of the viceroy of Nueva Espana, his kinsman), the company of Captain Pascual de Alarcon Pacheco, that of Martin de Esquivel, that of Bernardino Alfonso, that of Pedro Delgado, and that of Estevan de Alcacar. The other two, under Captains Juan Guerra de Cervantes and Christoval de Villagra, were from the camp of Manila and the province of Pintados. All of these with their officers amounted to one thousand four hundred and twenty-three Spaniards. Under Master-of-camp Don Guillermo and Captains Don Francisco Palaot, Don Juan Lit, Don Luys, and Don Agustin Lont were three hundred and forty-four Pampanga and Tagal Indians; while there were also six hundred and twenty men from the same tribes for the naval and military service, and six hundred and forty-nine rowers. The entire fleet, exclusive of the household and following of the general, amounted to three thousand and ninety-five men; they had seventy-five pieces of various kinds of artillery, and all the materials for navigating, disembarking, and fighting, and for bombarding walls.

Don Pedro left the port of Yloilo with this armament January five, one thousand six hundred and six, in doubtful weather, but as courageous as ever. He reached the island of Mindanao, hostile to the Spanish name and allied with the Ternatans, and anchored in the port of La Caldera to take in water. There the flagship, called "Jesus Maria," in which Master-of-camp Esquivel was sailing, began to drag the anchors with which it was moored--an action which the sailors name by the peculiar word _garrar_ [298]--and, in order to save itself, had to set sail. But finding that it could not double a point in this way, it fired two shots as a call for help, just when the rudder struck. The galleys hastened to give it a tow, but some cables were snapped atwain; and their efforts were in vain, for the sea and winds prevented the work. Captain Villagra was given charge of the rescue of the men and provisions aboard the flagship. Although many possessions of the king and of private persons were lost, by incredible effort he saved the bulk of the provisions and of the clothing, and all the men, artillery, powder, cables, rigging, and sails. In order that the Mindanaos might not enjoy the spoils of the shipwreck, he set fire to the hull, after taking out the nails and bolts. They felt this first misfortune because of its very importance, and because the soldiers, a class often given to foolish superstitions, interpreted it in a sinister manner. The general's prudence calmed everything. He ordered the master-of-camp to proceed with the fleet from La Caldera to the port of Talangame, which, as we have said, is situated in the island of Ternate. Don Pedro accompanied him with his galleys until they got outside the strait of Sambuanga, a place dangerous because of its currents and reefs. For that reason they towed the ships, until this danger was past, and because of a calm that overtook them. The fleet took the open sea. The galleys, in order to take in water enough to last until reaching Ternate, coasted along gradually; for the men rescued from the submerged flagship were distributed in them and in the other boats, and their weight and peril was greater. The most skilful pilots of those seas managed the galleys, but notwithstanding their care and that of the captains and experienced sailors, they fell off their course and reached the islands of the Celebes or of Mateo, more than sixty leguas to the leeward of Ternate. Contrary winds were blowing, and they had to correct their mistake by dint of rowing. In that manner, and with great difficulty, they reached Ternate March twenty-six, on Easter day. With their observance of that day, so propitious to all creation, they forgot their past dangers, and changed them into joy and hope.

[Don Pedro finds the rest of his fleet at Tidore instead of at Ternate, as he has expected; but sees at the latter place a Dutch ship, which shows fight. However, leaving the ship for the present, Acuna sets about the reduction of Ternate with his own forces and those of the king of Tidore. Landing at Ternate April first, that fort is approached in two divisions, meeting with no opposition until they arrive near the walls. Gallinato's advice as to placing the soldiers is followed, and the Ternatan scouts in trees are replaced by those of the besiegers. Active operations begin, and after various minor successes the wall is carried by assault, and the old fortress built by the Portuguese is captured. On entering the city the soldiers fall to looting.]

When the men entered the city, every one gave himself to his fury and to plundering. Don Pedro had issued a proclamation, conceding that all the enemy captured within those four days should become slaves. The captains halted near the old church of San Pablo, which had been fortified by the enemy for this war. There were various opinions as to what course was to be followed. Some thought that they should attend to preserving what was gained; others that they should go ahead to gain the chief fortress. Captains Vergara and Villagra were of the latter opinion; and so great was the exuberance of the soldiers and their desire for danger that one of them, a native of Estremadura, of the company of Captain Sevil--who was an Arragonese, and a gallant fighter, who also approved the advice to pass on--seized Captain Villagra in his arms, and carried him thus for more than ten paces, exclaiming, "O good captain, attack the enemy, attack him!" and then set him down. Thereupon the captain struck him with the flat of his sword, because he had at such a time seized him so impudently. The soldier bowed, and said gracefully and smilingly, "Give me another, by God! [_cuerpo de Dios_] and attack them!" In fact Vergara and Villagra attacked the principal fortress with few men and gained it, and were the first to enter its gates. However they were not the first to go up, for while they were ascending very quickly by the stairs, at the entrance of the hall an old soldier, named Barela, a corporal to Captain Cervantes, hurried past them. He, on entering, took a gilded water-jar, shaped like an urn and very skilfully chased, from a rich side board and salver placed in the hall, saying to the captains, "Gentlemen, I take this in token that I entered here with your Graces." Accordingly he took it, with the consent of all. Then the entire palace was given over to the pillage of the soldiers, and exposed to their greed. Don Pedro tried to restrain them, but was obeyed only near the end of the sack.

[The king of Ternate and a few of his kinsmen, together with the Dutch, escape, the former going to the island of Gilolo. The reduction of the lesser forts continues, and some of the king's relatives who are well affected to the Spanish, offer to induce the king to surrender. This he does after a formal safe-conduct has been given by Acuna. Don Pedro receives him in a manner befitting his rank, and houses him sumptuously, but at the same time keeps him carefully guarded. Several days later a treaty is made with the king.]