Chapter VII: Part 7

Father Fray Diego Duarte went to that court as procurator for this province to bring religious here, which he did in the manner of a messenger of God. Now, after he had come with the second reenforcement of them to help carry the burdens of this province, at the command of his obedience he is returning again to bring more religious; for his virtue is already recognized in that court, and he too is acquainted with those who have influence there. I beseech your very reverend Paternity to receive him as one recommended, and favor him on any occasions that may arise. May our Lord protect your very reverend Paternity for many long years, for the good of His church, with many gifts from His divine favor. Manila, August 15, 1613.

_The Bishop of Nueba Segobia_ [67]

LETTER FROM FELIPE III TO SILVA

The King: To Don Juan de Silva, knight of the Order of Santiago, my governor and captain-general of the Philipinas Islands, and president of my royal Audiencia there. Your letters of July 20, 612, have been received and examined in my Council of the Yndias, and I was pleased to learn that you had sent to Nueva Espana, by the ships going that year, the two hundred quintals of quicksilver [68] of which you informed me; also of the friendly reception and kind feeling that you encountered among the Chinese in the matter of selling this metal and bringing it to Macan, where you say there is established a factory [_i.e._, trading-post] for this purpose. I feel gratified at the diligence and care that you have exercised in the matter, and earnestly charge you to advance this matter, and strive that the quantity of quicksilver that you shall purchase and send to Nueva Espana may be as large as possible, in accordance with the request of the viceroy. You will keep in close correspondence with him, and not draw on any money that he may have sent you or shall send you in the future for this purpose, for any of your own needs, however great. You will try to foster this trade in such manner that it may be at as little cost as possible. It has been thought best to advise you to consider whether it would be possible to procure the quicksilver by having the Chinese bring it with a clearance direct to the Philipinas, and thus do away with the factory in Macan. For with the latter there cannot fail to be difficulties, as the Portuguese merchants do not trade in the quicksilver; besides, it would seem that the metal would be furnished by this method at a lower price. I do not mention other objections that have been considered. However, the documents that you mention will be sent through the Council of Portugal.

What you mention in regard to the eight pesos paid by the Sangleys who last year remained in the country, for each license, is well; and I charge you to exercise the care which is of so much importance, that no difficulties shall result from their presence and intercourse in those islands.

All the papers that you send regarding the violations of law that are imputed to the royal officials have been examined in my said Council; and provision has been made therefor, as you are already aware by the despatches which were sent to you. In view of the fact that the investigation and process concerning their guilt, which you wrote me you would send, is at present being awaited, and you have not done so, I order you to comply with the orders that you received by the said despatches (duplicates of which accompany this) so that, if you have not received the originals, you may by these understand what is to be done regarding the appointment of persons which you say you have made, to serve in their offices in the interim.

What you say concerning the measures you have taken to regulate the dues which the encomenderos of those islands enjoy, from the encomiendas which they possess, has been considered, and the result will be awaited at the first opportunity.

You did well to advise me of what the king of Japon wrote you to the effect that he can not obstruct the friendship into which he has entered with the Dutch, and the desire that he also has to maintain friendly relations with my vassals. The matter is being looked into, and at the proper time the result will be written to you.

It was likewise proper to give me an account of all you mention in regard to the permission that Sebastian Vizcayno gave in Japon for a ship to go thence laden with merchandise for Nueva Espana; and the difficulties that in your opinion may result from the opening of this trade, of which I am informed.

In the matter of the assessments and contributions which you say the Indians pay, and the annoyances which they suffer on this account from the religious who are instructing them, you speak in general terms of all the orders in those islands; whereas it would have been best to write to me particularly as to which orders have thus transgressed, and to send the investigations that have been made. And, since the protection and guardianship of the Indians is in your charge, you should attend to them, in so far as lies in your department, so that they may not receive any injury or grievance. You should always carry out the provisions and ordinances in their favor, proceeding with the religious by discreet and legal measures, and advising with the Audiencia. You will strive to deal prudently with the archbishop of that city, maintaining amicable relations with him, so that from the government of both may follow the good results that are desirable; for any lack of harmony between those who govern must always result in evil, besides the general scandal and the bad example that is furnished. The same is being written to the archbishop, and he is ordered to avoid the exercise of censures in the cases that you describe in your letter, since it is not proceeding against the religious to give me information concerning occurrences. You are informed of this, that you may understand the matter. As for what you say regarding the entrance of the said archbishop in his pall, in spite of the decree sent him which directs the contrary, I have written to him that he should not have done this, but should have complied with the decree, and observed the custom in these kingdoms; of this, too, you are informed so that, being aware of it, you may take care that the said decree is complied with as I command you to do. As to the other matters contained in your letters, decisions will soon be reached, and the result will be written to you soon. Pardo, December 2, 1613.

_I The King_

Countersigned by: _Juan Ruiz de Contreras_ Signed by the members of the Council.

DOCUMENTS OF 1616

Recommendations regarding the archbishopric of Manila. [Council
of the Indias?]; 1613-16.
Letter to Felipe III. Valerio de Ledesma, S.J.; August 20.
Portuguese and Spanish expedition against the Dutch, 1615. Juan
de Rivera and Valerio de Ledesma, S.J.; [1616?].

_Sources_: The first document is obtained from the original MS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla. The second, and the first part of the third, are found in the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library), i, pp. 403-429; the remainder of the third, in Colin's _Labor evangelica_ (Madrid, 1663,) pp. 802-810.

_Translations_: The first document is translated by Robert W. Haight; the remainder, by James A. Robertson.

RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE ARCHBISHOPRIC OF MANILA

Sire:

Licentiate Diego Vazquez de Mercado, archbishop of the metropolitan church of the city of Manila in the Philipinas Islands, by a letter written your Majesty on the first of July, 610, submits that, as that church has been without a prelate for a long time, he finds the affairs of the church in a condition far from what they should be, and much in need of correction; but, owing to his great age and the hardships he has undergone, he is very deficient in health and strength to fulfil the obligations of a good prelate, and that therefore he finds it necessary to appeal to your Majesty, that you may be pleased to relieve him from that burden, and receive his resignation of the archbishopric, which he tenders. And he asks that, in case this favor is not extended to him, there be named and appointed a person of suitable qualifications as his coadjutor, with the future succession, and this should be done as soon as possible. This has been examined in the Council; and they regard as actual and valid the hindrances which he represents. Considering the urgent request which he makes in the letter to your Majesty and in others which he has written to private persons to the same effect; his advanced age and his failing health, and the great distance from Espana to that church, where a person would have to be sent to take his place in case he should fail; and the great inconvenience that would result if it was so long without a prelate as has been seen by experience--it has appeared very expedient to appoint for him, with the future succession a coadjutor, of the requisite qualifications, age, and vigor, so that he can fulfil the obligations of a prelate, and attend to the pastoral ministration. It is recommended that he he given, for his fitting support, a third part of the income of the archbishopric, besides the occasional fees [_ovenciones_] and its visitation--it being understood that the archbishops of that church are granted a decree to the effect that if the returns do not amount to three thousand ducados a year, what is lacking will be furnished them from the royal exchequer. If your Majesty be pleased to approve this, the persons who appear best fitted for that church will be proposed to you, so that at the same time when you write to his Holiness on the matter, the presentation of the person whom your Majesty would nominate, may be sent to him. Madrid, June 28, 1613.

[_Endorsed_: "In order not to institute coadjutorships in such cases, let the Council ascertain whether there is any person for those regions who, being appointed in his own right, might aid in performing the archbishop's duties; and if such a one be found, advise me of it, and of what is to be done regarding the resignation of the archbishop."]

Sire:

In the year 613, your Majesty was given an account of the reasons set forth by Licentiate Don Diego Vazquez de Mercado, archbishop of the metropolitan church of the city of Manila in the Philipinas Islands, why he should be given a coadjutor. The Council was of opinion that your Majesty might command it to be examined, with the enclosed advice; and your Majesty was pleased to answer: [Here is repeated the endorsement on the letter preceding this]. In order to give better satisfaction to your Majesty, and to report on the state of affairs in those islands, we have waited for the coming of the letters. As for himself, the archbishop persisted in his claim, which was explained to your Majesty in writing on the fourth of May, 614, and the second of August, 615. He considers himself of no use in the government of his church, as he is more than seventy years of age, with many infirmities; and he is anxious over the failure that gives cause for regarding him as remiss, and the fact that he can not fulfil his obligations, nor make easy the conscience of your Majesty, and is burdening his own. As a result of this his jurisdiction is becoming every day less; and owing to his inability to punish them, and take needful measures, there is cause to fear that there may be increase of certain sins. It is but right that this should be remedied in due time, by sending a successor. Again he beseeches your Majesty to appoint one, so that he may continue to fulfil the obligations of that office; and that, for his own support, he be left two thousand of the three thousand ducados which your Majesty has commanded to be given him. In the letters from the religious orders of these islands it is evident how fitting and just it is to concede to the archbishop what he asks. Having considered and examined into this, the Council is of the same opinion as in the said advice of 613; and thinks that your Majesty, conformably thereto, may consider it desirable to ask his Holiness to grant the archbishop a coadjutor with the future succession, who will be given a third of the stipend of that archbishopric--namely, one thousand ducados--besides the occasional fees and the visitation of the archbishopric, leaving to the archbishop the other two-thirds. It should be through a coadjutorship, because in this form it appears more suitable, and in accordance with the petition he makes, and with the customary action in similar cases. If your Majesty be pleased to approve, persons in that region and in the archbishopric will be considered in regard to the qualifications that are required for that church. Madrid, the first of July, 616.

LETTER FROM LEDESMA TO FELIPE III

_Abstract of a letter from the provincial of the Society of Jesus, Valerio de Ledesma, to the king, informing him of the condition of the Filipinas Islands._ [69]

In this letter Father Valerio made complaint to the king that the condition of the country was most unhappy and unfortunate, and resembled a sick man in the throes of death. He declared that the trade of the ships from China and Nueva Espana, which was sustaining and enriching the islands, had fallen off in great measure, and much more in its profits; for in the year 1616 no more than seven ships had gone there, although formerly as many as fifty or sixty were wont to go; and as for Acapulco, no ships had been sent in either direction. Even if they should be despatched, they were in danger not only from corsairs but from stormy weather.

Great armaments had been organized in a short time, to drive out the Dutch; but for that very reason, the inhabitants had been compelled to make vast sacrifices at the cost of their fortunes. Hence they were in so ruined a condition that the three or four wealthiest citizens had been unable to equip a ship to be sent to Acapulco. The Indians were so exhausted and harassed with tributes, new impositions, and personal services, [70] that it became necessary for many, after they had nothing more to give (since they had given all their possessions), to give their persons to others, as slaves, so that the latter might give for them what they themselves did not possess.

The enemies with whom the Spaniards had to contend were numerous and gave them no respite--namely, the Mindanaos, Caragas, Sanguils, Joloans, Dutch, and English and of these last, all those eastern districts were full of their boats, so that no voyage could be made without meeting them; and there was no security from them.

To these calamities was due the death of Governor Juan de Silva, who, all had hoped, was to free these islands and those of Maluco from the invasions and piracies of the Dutch.

He closed by petitioning the king to send forces to sustain the declining colony, as it was so important, and so precious a portion of the Spanish monarchy.

[Dated Manila, August 20, 1616, and signed _Valerio de Ledesma_, [71] provincial of the Society of Jesus.]

PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH EXPEDITION AGAINST THE DUTCH, 1615

After the Dutch pirates began to sail the seas of Eastern India and the archipelago of Filipinas, and to carry cloves from Maluco, silks from China, and drugs from the adjacent islands, they began also to cripple the cities that were sustained by the trade, which are the principal cities; because the seas were infested, and there was little security on them from those pirates. They, from the first year of their entrance into the Orient, coasted the shores, sounded the ports, and established trading-posts in the chief places, which they filled with people whom they brought from Holanda. Consequently, by the year 1614, the Dutch had eighteen armed galleons in the South Sea, and they burned the city of Arevalo, where the food for Maluco was stored, and committed many other depredations, which obliged Don Juan de Silva, governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, to prepare a large fleet to attack them and drive them from our seas. But, thinking that the forces of the Filipinas were insufficient to attend to so many things at once--the support of the camp in Maluco; the defense of the city of Manila, which is in sight of twenty thousand Chinese (who had already, in 1603, risen against it and incited a war); and sallies to fight the enemy--it was determined to ask help from the viceroy of India and to join the two forces, Castilian and Lusitanian, who are especially being attacked by the Dutch. Indeed, the letters-patent given to them by Count Mauricio read that they are to make war on the Castilians and Portuguese. Besides this argument, it is evident that Yndia is not less interested in driving out those enemies than are the Filipinas.

Father Juan de Rivera, [72] then rector of the residence of the Society of Jesus at Manila, was appointed to negotiate this league and reenforcement. He prepared himself in a few days and left for Yndia on November 21 of the year 1615. He reached Malaca on Tuesday, December 9, by Manila reckoning, but Wednesday by that of Malaca; for the date for those sailing west is later, and earlier for those sailing east. [73]

From Malaca he journeyed to Cochin, and from Cochin to Goa, at the time when Yndia was engaged in the wars of the north; because peace with the great Mogor [74] had been broken. The viceroy had gone with a powerful fleet to capture, if possible, four English ships anchored at Surate, where he received the letters belonging to our voyage and embassy. Considering the importance of the matter, he hastened his return and went to Goa. There he furnished four galleons for the said help, and three hundred or more soldiers, appointing as commander of the latter Don Francisco de Miranda Enrriquez. [75]

The latter left Goa May 12. The voyage, which is generally thirty days, lasted three and one-half months. We ran short of water in the middle of the open stretch, and thought that we were lost, on account of having been despatched with broken tanks and hogsheads. Together with this was the disorder among the soldiers of Yndia, who surreptitiously took with them many servants of their own and of other people, so that it was necessary to support these people aboard the vessel. These afterward consumed the food, and then caught and spread a pestilence. Although there were only one hundred and ten soldiers in our galleon, there were about seven hundred persons, mostly negroes and Cafres; of these many were free, although nominally slaves, as Don Gonzalo de Silva, bishop of Malaca, who was aboard the same galleon, testified. He declared that many lads were free, even some whom they were taking as captives. This is a general sin, wherefore some Portuguese authors say, with Father Hernando Rabelo, that God is punishing Yndia and the Portuguese nation, which alone has more slaves than any other nation of the world.

July 30 we met two Dutch ships, which were apparently going from Palliacate [_i.e._, Palicat] to carry aid to Maluco. Our galleon fought singlehanded with those two ships, because the other galleons were far to leeward. The enemy had waited two days between us, without our knowing it, in order to show themselves at a favorable opportunity. So great is the confidence of the Portuguese that they did not fear them. They said that they were ships from Cochin, and that, had they known in time that they were enemies, they could have captured them easily. In short they remained a cannon-shot from the flagship, and so fought until night, when they made off badly battered--as we learned later from the people of Achen, on whose coast one of the ships was immediately wrecked, having sprung a leak through the effect of our balls and their own firing. They only killed two of our men. After the battle, our galleon ran aground on a shoal, on the eve of our Lady of the Assumption, near Pulo Parcelar. At the first shock, the helm was shifted seaward, and all that night we tossed up and down dreadfully until, next morning, we miraculously got off the shoal. We reached the strait of Sincapura on August 10, where, as the pilots said the Manila monsoon was over, we determined to run to Malaca.

In Malaca the ships were very inhospitably received, for soldiers are wont to commit depredations. But within a few days they were made to see that the landing there of the galleons was for their relief and the salvation of their city; for a month after their arrival the king of Achen came with sixty thousand men to besiege it. Information of this number and of the other things that will be related, was given by the Portuguese who were captives in Achen and returned to Malaca. They had three hundred and fifty sail--among them sixty galleys, each with three pieces in the bows; the piece in the midship gangway fired balls of sixty libras, as we saw in those found in the galleons after the war. Along the sides they carried five falcons, firing balls of six libras. In the royal galley, called "Espanto del mundo" [_i.e._, Fear of the world] by the people of Achen, were sixteen hundred soldiers and one hundred and fifty falcons and half-sized falcons. That king of Achen, the most powerful on the sea of all this Orient, had concerted with the Dutch that both should take Malaca. Consequently they took a few days in arriving. The king of Achen arrived first at the bay of Malaca with a squadron of eighteen galleys, in order to reconnoiter the place. Finding our four galleys anchored in the port, and learning that they were war-vessels, they put to sea to await the Dutch. When our men saw them depart and go toward the strait, where they might capture the boats from China and unite with the Dutch, they resolved to set sail and give battle. They did so with the four galleons and six galliots--ten small vessels. They encountered the Achen boats on November 15, and fought for two and one-half days. The enemy carried a considerable force. They burned one galliot, so that the soldiers abandoned it and went to the galleons. The flagship grappled eleven galleys. Fire was set to it many times, but our men extinguished it. The enemy grappled the galleon of Don Juan de Silveira, which carried twenty-two pieces of artillery, and set fire to it. They were unable to extinguish the fire, and so it was entirely burned.

Don Juan de Silvera and Antonio Rodriguez de Gamboa, son of the commander-in-chief of that fortress of Malaca, and forty other Portuguese, took to the water; but all were captured by the king of Achen and placed aboard his galley. A fresh wind began to blow, wherewith the vessels separated and the men of Achen went to their country with something less than thirty craft, counting large and small boats, and with two thousand men killed. Although we did them damage, it was not so great as that which we received. Accordingly they regarded it as a victory and entered their kingdom in triumph--where they feasted the captains, whom they treated courteously, and then loosed them and gave them liberty.

On December 7 of the same year of 1615, the Dutch reached the bay of Malaca with seven ships and one patache, coming to join the king of Achen. They found our three galleons, which, for greater security, had been anchored between a sandbank made by the sea and a small island near Malaca. There they said that they were invincible, for entrance could be had only by a channel near the rampart, which, by means of its pieces of artillery, would refuse entrance. On the sea side they were defended by the sandbank and shoals. But the enemy sounded the port that night with its lanchas and found a new channel, where they entered without being hindered by the rampart. This was attributed to the fault and negligence of those who could and ought to have prevented the lanchas from making soundings, because of the many galliots in the port.

The enemy having entered and coming within cannon range, opened a fierce bombardment, which lasted two and one-half days. At this time our vessels defended themselves with three pieces that could be fired, and no more, because they were anchored, and the current threw them in a line toward the Dutch; although had the people on shore been diligent, they could have brought the vessels about with cables. The enemy tacked at will and played the majority of their pieces. We discovered that our galleons were stronger than their ships, for their balls did not pass through the sides of the galleons, especially of the almiranta and flagship. The damage inflicted by them was through the open ports; while we saw that our balls passed through the Dutch ships from side to side, and then went bounding through the water. Nevertheless, distrusting the Dutch and their battery, the men of the galleons began to edge away and to leave them at the approach of night, especially when they saw Captain Juan Pinto and Admiral Alfonso Vaez fall; they were killed with four others, by a ball that entered through a port.

First they abandoned the galleon called "Plata," without taking the precaution to set it afire when they left, so that the enemy could not approach with their artillery. This the enemy did, entering and capturing it, as was well seen; and afterward they set it afire.

When the enemy saw that the soldiers were deserting the almiranta, they lowered their lanchas and entered it. One Dutchman, climbing up to the maintopsail, lowered the banner of Christ and ran up that of Count Mauricio, the sight of which caused us great anguish. Throughout that battle our men did not fire a musket or espingarda, [76] and they had none on the second day, for they tried to escape by swimming. Our men set fire to this galleon, the almiranta; and when the Dutch saw that it was burning, they left it, and the fire did its duty until it converted the vessel into ashes. The flagship held out longer, but the soldiers did not wait for the Dutch to board, for some of them escaped from the galleon by swimming. Thirteen or fourteen of them were drowned, among them Christobal de Fegueredo. Some jumped into a small skiff belonging to the galleon, for they had taken all the boats from the city, so that they had none in which to come thence. The galleon was left with a few men, who were no longer firing and were silent. At this juncture, the general left by a port, as best he could. Reaching shore, he ordered the galleon to be set afire, which was done. It began to burn, to our very great sorrow and to the exultation of the enemy, for it was an unusually fine vessel; it carried thirty-six pieces of artillery and a quantity of ammunition. When the fire reached the powder-magazine, so great was the noise made, that the island of Malaca trembled and the houses shook. A cloud of smoke arose to the heavens which hid the clouds, and in that instant we lost sight of the galleon.

In the four galleons ninety-two pieces of artillery were lost. The wounded and dead reached one hundred. The enemy were insolent and victorious, and, although we had done them some damage, they nevertheless attained their purpose, not only of preventing the relief of Maluco, but of destroying the Portuguese squadron--and that without the necessity of boarding any galleon, for which there was no such need; because, before they could reach the galleys, these were abandoned.

As soon as the enemy were discovered, many said that it would be advisable to mount some pieces on the island, with some gabions, in order to attack the enemy, and defend the galleons, which would have been an admirable relief. But it did not have the desired effect, for only one piece was mounted, and that late; and no one cared to guard it, until Antonio Pinto de Fonseca, inspector of forts and one who insisted urgently that the pieces be mounted, found a homicide, who with other criminals, guarded the piece. He did considerable injury to the enemy, for he fired from a short distance and with safety. Had there been six guns, they would have sunk the enemy; but that was not the first or the last act of carelessness.

On the twelfth of the month, the galleons were converted into ashes, and the Maluco relief expedition was destroyed. After the battle and disaster many quarrels arose among the nobles by land and sea, over the question who was to blame. Each one blamed the other, attributing the loss to many excesses that they mentioned. The truth is that such excesses existed, and they and our sins were the cause of so great a chastisement.

On February 25, Don Juan de Silva, governor and captain-general of the Filipinas, reached the strait with ten galleons, four galleys, and one patache. The Dutch were informed of his coming, for having captured Juan Gallegos, a pilot who came from Macao in a patache, he told them the plans of the governor. Thereupon the enemy took refuge a week beforehand. They had been awaiting two vessels that were coming from China with all the wealth of Yndia; and the Portuguese considered it a foregone conclusion that these would fall into the hands of the enemy. They had resolved to land on the island of Bintan or Pulo Timon and burn the galleons, so that the enemy should not benefit therefrom. For that purpose they sent Captain Fernando Acosta to Malaca. But at the news of the governor's coming, the enemy abandoned their station and left a free passage to the ships, which arrived one day after the governor. It is reported that the two vessels had ten days of contrary southeast winds which prevented them from reaching the strait sooner, where their danger was. But God our Lord did better, and He deprived the enemy of the prize, which would have enriched them enormously, and allowed them to make war on Europe.

For that good result and benefit given to all Yndia by Don Juan de Silva, the Portuguese were extremely thankful, and accordingly received him in Malaca under a pall and with great acclamation. On March 26 all confessed that God had delivered them from the Dutch by his means; and they hoped that he would drive the enemy from these seas later. But death, which comes when God pleases, finished all their hopes; for it brought him to his bed, and from that to a grave on April 19, 1616, of a fever that carried him off in eleven days. During the course of his sickness, the city made a procession from the _asse_ or cathedral to [the church of] La Misericordia, [77] praying our Lord for his health. At his death, they bewailed him with extreme sorrow.

Before dying he saw that his end was near, and accordingly prepared himself by acts of faith and penitence, receiving the sacraments. He ordered his body to be embalmed, and taken on the royal galley to Manila, and thence to Jerez de los Caballeros, [78] where he founded a convent of discalced Carmelite nuns. In the meanwhile the body should be deposited in the residence or houses of the Society of Jesus. Accordingly, in the residence of Malaca they celebrated the church services for him. At the end of nine days, the body was taken to the galleys anchored in the strait of Sincapura. There it was received with a salute on May 2. On the fourth, sail was set toward Manila.

The fleet was composed of ten galleons, four galleys, one patache, and three frigates. It carried three hundred pieces of artillery, eight companies of Spanish soldiers, five hundred Japanese, two hundred volunteers, sixty artillerymen, and two hundred sailors. [Without signature. [79]]

_Letter from Father Juan de Ribera, [80] rector of the residence of the Society of Jesus at Manila, in which he gives account of his voyage to and from India, and of the unfortunate fate of the four galleons that he took thence._

We set sail at Cabite November twenty-one, the day of the Virgin. In a fortnight we entered the strait of Sincapura, having followed the new route, which is called that of China. It is a very wide channel, some forty or fifty brazas deep. We anchored at Malaca on Tuesday, December nine, by our account, but on Wednesday by that of Malaca. We left there on Christmas eve, with favorable weather. In the neighborhood of Punta de Gale [or Galle], which is located in Ceylan, we experienced a heavy storm. When that had subsided, the currents carried us to the islands of Mal-Divar [_i.e._, Maldives], a voyage from which few emerge in safety. We lost our reckoning, and were in great need of wood and water. But by God's help, after having approached one of those islands, our necessity was relieved by some Malabar pirates for money. We were sailing among that great forest of islands when we became becalmed, the peril most feared by pilots. When we were all grieving over that, the chief of the Lascars, a Moro by nation, and religion, arose. Taking a dish in his hand, he begged us all for an alms for our Lady of Guadalupe of the city of Cochin, [81] assuring us that she would give us wind. He pledged himself to give double the alms collected, even if she did not give the wind. Much surprised in so great confidence in a Moro, and all of us being encouraged, he collected in a short time eighteen pesos, and after folding them in a cloth, he tied them to the mizzen-masthead begging the Virgin to fulfil her promise. The fact was that from that day the wind to navigate (little or much) never failed us, until we reached Cochin. That was on January twenty-three, and on entering the bar there, we met a fleet of Malabar pirates who were sufficiently powerful to oppose us. But God so disposed that we came upon them when they were tired out, as we afterward learned, by a battle that they had waged for the space of two days with another pirate, also a Malabar--who, conquered by them at last, scuttled his ship and went down with all on board, in order not to fall into their hands. For that reason they did not attack us so quickly, and we had time to enter Cochin.

The fathers provincial received us on the beach--the present father Francisco, [82] and the past Alberto Laercio [83]--accompanied by the most grave fathers with music and other kindnesses. We stayed two months in Cochin, where we received singular kindness and entertainment from all. They took me to Caranganor, five leguas from there, along very pleasant rivers, in a boat like a house, belonging to the archbishop of Sierra, Father Don Francisco Ros [84] of our Society, a native of the city of Girona in the principality of Cataluna, whose hand I desired to kiss. We found him at Peru. He seemed a saint to me. When I remarked to him, a propos of the retirement and poverty in which I found him, at the first salutation, "_Qui Episcopatum desiderat, bonum opus desiderat_," he replied, "Our Chaldean answers, _Bonam servitulem querit_." [85] He is learned in that language, in which his priests pray and celebrate the mass with peculiar ceremonies. We found him living so apostolic a life that he did not have room to entertain the eight of our Society who were there--among whom was the rector of Cochin, Father Gaspar Fernandez [86]--nor did he have any food to give us. Consequently we returned to the boat, which was more comfortable than the house. We went to Caranganor, a Portuguese fortress, and a residence of ours, just opposite Samorin. I saw some doors and windows that had been broken with volleys, and they told me that a father who was praying in the window had been killed. The father rector of the residence there had a carved image of the child Jesus asleep in a little gilded bed, which had been sent him by a pagan Malabar pirate, who stole it from a Portuguese, believing it to be gold. But when he had carried it to his house, he found that it was only gilded wood, and gave it to his children for a toy. The sleeping Child, however, did not allow his owner to sleep, for according to his account, He kept him awake every night, and placing Himself in front of him, said to him, "Take me to the land of the Christians." He communicated the matter to his wife, and by her counsel sent Him to the father rector of Caranganor. We went to Vaypicota, a residence of our Society, which formerly had a greater number of our members. That field of Christendom has become lessened through the little favor [shown to the Christians by] the pagan king to whom it is subject. It is a wonder to me that within a stone's throw of our church is a Moro mosque, a pagan temple, and a Jewish synagogue, without one harming another, although they annoy us greatly by their shouting, when they invoke the devil.

From Cochin we went to Goa on April three of this year, one thousand six hundred and fifteen, in a galley of the fleet. We coasted along the shore and visited the fortresses of Malabar. We spent Holy Week in Mangalor. We lodged in the convent of St. Francis, and helped confess the soldiers. We spent forty days in the voyage, until we reached Goa, where Father Francisco Vergara, rector of the college, and all the others received us with great charity. Four of them took me to visit the viceroy, who showed us great courtesy. After I had been talking with him for almost an hour, the chief chancellor entered, who is at the same time auditor for the reports in causes, and is a knight of the habit. Having given him a seat of honor, such as we were occupying, the viceroy said to him: "I am surprised, sir, that all the fathers of the Society are all so much alike; for the father rector of Manila, whom we have here, is just like the fathers here, even in speech." He determined immediately what could be done in accordance with the present state of India, in respect to the aid that I was come to request--namely, to give four well-equipped galleons, with as many as four hundred soldiers and ninety pieces of artillery among them all. As commander of this fleet, he assigned Francisco de Miranda Enriquez, a gentleman who has had good fortune in war; and, as admiral, Alfonso Vaez Coutino.

We left Goa on the twelfth of May. We were one hundred and two days on the voyage for the lack of good weather, and on account of the poor route chosen by the pilot, who took us to the land of Achan; and as its inhabitants are hostile to the Portuguese, the latter did not dare land there. The men were dying with thirst, and had it not been for some showers, and the final resolution to get water on a desert island, we would have suffered even death. We had many _samatras_, or hurricanes, on the coast of that great land, which broke topmasts, tore sails, and broke moorings, causing us to lose anchors and other necessary articles.

On July thirty, on the eve of our Father St. Ignatius, in the district of Pulu Parcelar, our capitana galleon fought two Dutch vessels, without the other galleons being able to render aid, as they were to leeward. Our galleon made two vain attempts to grapple--one because of too much wind, and the other for lack of wind--for the one was a samatra or hurricane, and the other so great a calm, that neither we nor the Dutch could manage our ships. But inasmuch as we remained within cannon-shot of one another, we fought until night deepened, and they fled battered to pieces; for our balls had gone clear through them, while theirs made scarcely any impression on us. Accordingly we only lost two men in the fight.

On the eve of the Assumption [87] we ran upon a shoal three brazas under water, where the galleon remained all night, tossing up and down frightfully. In the morning a boat came from one of our other ships in response to the numerous pieces that we discharged, and helped us get off the shoal; but we were in so bad condition that from then on the boat made thirty palmos of water every twenty-four hours.

We finally reached Malaca August twenty-two. Although it was thought that the monsoon or favorable wind was already ended, we attempted to make the voyage to Manila. We passed the strait of Sincapura, and on the fifth of September, because of the little progress that we made, called a council, in which we all resolved to winter at Malaca. However, on the next day, the commander attempted to continue the voyage to Manila, until the soldiers and sailors mutinied and forced him to put in at Malaca, on the nineteenth of the same month.

The fleet was very ill received by the inhabitants there, because of the harm that soldiers generally do. But our going there was soon seen to have been a providence of God; for within one month the king of Achen came to attack that city with a fleet of one hundred and fifty sail and forty thousand men, and had not he found our galleys there would surely have captured it. And further, according to rumors (and as was shown in the result), he had agreed with the Dutch to join them, since they came only twenty days apart, as I shall immediately relate. In my opinion the same thing that had happened to the prophet Abacuc [_i.e._, Habakkuk] happened to me. For he having prepared the food for his reapers, the angel bore him by the hair to Babylon, to relieve the necessity of Daniel, who had been locked in the den of lions. I took that aid from Goa for Manila, and the Lord took us to Malaca, and conveyed us as if by the hair, since we put in with great repugnance; and at last all that reinforcement was consumed in helping Malaca.

A squadron of galleys came ahead to reconnoiter. Finding our galleons anchored, and taking note of the soldiers in them and in the city, it went ahead to the strait to await (as was heard) the Dutch. Our men feared lest they should attack the trading ships which generally come at that time from China. Accordingly it was resolved that four galleons, six galliots, and other oared craft should sail out to drive the enemy from the coast. They engaged on the fifteenth of November, and fought all that day, and the one following. The enemy's force was large. They burned one galliot and forced the men to desert the others and enter the galleons, which now were in need of men. The enemy attacked our flagship and surrounded it with twelve large galleys. It caught fire many times, but our men always extinguished the fire and defended themselves valiantly. They attacked the galleon of Don Juan de Silveyra, which was a fine vessel, and a fort of twenty-two cannons. It caught fire and burned so furiously that the flames could not be extinguished; and it was accordingly burned to ashes. The said Don Juan de Silveyra and Antonio Rodriguez Gamboa--his brother-in-law, and son of Juan Cayado de Gamboa, commandant of that fortress of Malaca--leaped overboard. They and thirty or forty other Portuguese were captured by the people of Achen and taken to their king, who treated them courteously and gave them liberty. Those gentlemen declared to me, in writing, in Malaca that the fleet of the people of Achen consisted of three hundred and fifty craft, among which were sixty large galleys, each with three pieces of artillery at the bow, while that of the midship gangway had the caliber of sixty libras; that the royal galley carried one thousand six hundred men, with one hundred and twenty falcons and half-falcons; and that they lost ten large galleys in the fight, besides twenty other lesser craft. They also stated that after returning to his country the king punished certain of his captains because they had not burned all the galleys; and that having given liberty to the captives he sent them to Malaca, with che message that he desired peace with his brother, the king of Castilla and Portugal.

Our good fortune resulted in his not having effected a meeting with the Dutch, who arrived the next month, on the seventh of December, with seven ships and one patache. Our three galleons had been stationed in a cove between the small island of Malaca and a sandbank--a place that seemed impregnable, as it was defended on the sea side by the sandbank and shoals, and on the land side by the artillery of its ramparts. But the enemy, having thoroughly reconnoitered the sandbank and shoals, discovered a channel where they could enter, and thereupon entered on the morning of the next day, flying their red rear-admiral's banners. The flagship remained outside, although within cannon-shot. Then began a cruel bombardardment that lasted three days. Our galleons could not play all their artillery, for they were anchored, and the currents were dragging them toward the Dutch, who were free, and maneuvered at will. Our artillery was heavier than theirs, consequently the few pieces that we fired did them great damage. The building of a protection for the cannon was discussed, and the planting of some pieces on the island, in order to defend the galleons. That would doubtless have been of great importance for they would have fired from a covered battery and at very close range, as was seen by the effect produced by only one piece that was mounted there. It was fired by a man who had been condemned to death, and who was awaiting justice for having pillaged two Chinese vessels. He was promised pardon if he would take charge of that piece, as he did, to the damage of the enemy. But as he was alone and the enemy were bringing to bear all the artillery of their ships, they finally prevailed. On the first day, Juan Pinto, captain of a galley, being killed, and his uncle, a valiant soldier, having broken his leg, his men were disheartened, and deserted the galleon; but they did not take the precaution to burn it, so that the enemy could not profit, as they did, by its artillery, food, and other things that it was carrying; afterward the enemy set it on fire.

At dawn of the next day, December ten, the heretics began to attack the almiranta. At the first volleys the admiral and five other men were killed. The men were so disheartened by that event that they began to jump overboard, and it was impossible for certain commanders and brave soldiers, who were trying to defend the galleon, to prevent them. But, as the enemy perceived them deserting the vessel, they sent their lanchac and entered it; they first lowered the flag of Christ from the masthead and placed it on their ship below that of Count Mauricio. The vessel was already burning from the fire set by our men, and accordingly the enemy deserted it quickly.

Our flagship kept up the fight longer, but at last men were lacking; for, as the land was near, they tried to reach it in boats or by swimming. The commander Francisco de Miranda Enriquez was left with very few men; and they even, seeing that it was impossible to defend themselves, were forced to land, after having set fire to the galleon. It was a very fine and strong boat. It earned thirty-six cannon, and had so much ammunition that when the fire reached the powder magazine, the vessel blew up with so great a din, that it made the entire city and the island of Malaca shake, and the vessel was seen no more. This was different from the almiranta, which, when its powder had been spent, was two days in burning. The dead and wounded on our side number about one hundred. The enemy lost one of its vessels, but was at last victorious. Then they went to the strait to await the ships expected from China. In the city was little harmony, those of the fleet and those of the city accusing one another of the fault [of the defeat]. I reverenced the judgments of God, and considered that, although there was some excess on both sides, the chief cause of so great a loss was our sins. _Quia peccavimus tibi Domini_, etc. [88]

The largest fleet ever seen in these islands or perchance in the Indias was prepared that year of 1615 in the port of Cabite. [89] It seems a miraculous circumstance that so large a number of ships could be gathered together in a land so recently conquered and peopled with Spaniards, and the most remote and distant in all the Spanish monarchy. It was the peculiar offspring of the magnanimous courage, valor, and energy (never sufficiently praised) of Governor Don Juan de Silva. It consisted of ten galleons, four galleys, one patache, and other smaller craft: the flagship of the galleons, called "La Salvadora," of two thousand tons burden; the almiranta, by name "San Marcos," of one thousand seven hundred; "San Juan Bautista," and the "Espiritu Santo," of one thousand three hundred; "San Miguel" and "San Felipe," of eight hundred; "Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe," and "Santiago," one hundred less; "San Andres," five hundred; and "San Lorenco" (the smallest one), four hundred. The galleys were all under the advocacy and name of the Virgin Mary, our Lady. Those craft were armed and equipped with five thousand men, two thousand, or a few less, being Spaniards; three hundred pieces of artillery--the flagship alone carrying forty-six (the smallest of eighteen, while the majority of them were twenty-two libras' caliber, and some were thirty), and all were bronze, and it carried nine hundred men; the almiranta seven hundred men, and thirty-two pieces; and the other vessels in proportion. Of powder, they carried four thousand five hundred arrobas; of biscuits, five thousand; of clean rice, three thousand fanegas; and so on, in all the other war-supplies, ammunition, and food. All this was at the king's account, not to mention the private persons who embarked.