Chapter VI: Part 6

A number of old pipe-staves and iron hoops are also shipped from Nueva Espana to the said Filipinas Islands. Delivered in the city of Manila they cost your Majesty a considerable sum of ducados. That expense can be avoided; for, when those staves arrive there, they are full of holes and rotten, and quite useless. The hoops alone serve in Manila to make nails and bolts from them, which thus come to cost fifty ducados per quintal. They can be made there for thirty-three reals. It is sufficient to carry those pipes that hold the water and wine in the ships.

For the ships' supply of water, they generally make vats when the ships leave there [_i.e.,_ Manila], each of which carries thirty pipes of water. Further, there are many earthen jars, which are brought from China and Japon. Consequently, one can make the above articles there, and more cheaply, for much less money than what is paid there.

Flour is also shipped in pipes from Nueva Espana to the said Filipinas Islands, which they say is for making hosts. That is unnecessary, for the said islands have an abundance of flour, which is shipped from Japon and China so cheaply, that it costs sixteen reals per quintal in the city of Manila. That shipped from Nueva Espana costs your Majesty, delivered in the said city of Manila, more than eighty reals per quintal.

From Nueva Espana to the said Filipinas Islands are also transported in the [ships], _habas, garbanzos,_" [51] and lentils, which are for the provision of hospitals, fleets, and convents. It serves no other purpose than to arrive at Manila rotten; and if any arrives in good condition, it does not seem so. For the provision of the fleets, a grain [_semilla_] is grown in that land [_i.e._, Filipinas] which resembles beans, and is very cheap. Consequently it is unnecessary for the ships to carry more than what they need for their voyage when they leave Acapulco.

A quantity of _gerguetas_ [52] are also shipped from Nueva Espana to the said Filipinas Islands. They are said to be for the use of the soldiers, but that is unnecessary, for that land has other kinds of cloth--both those that are produced there, and others that come from China--which are better and cheaper. If your Majesty will order that to be stopped, it will be of much importance to your royal treasury, and will increase it by many ducados; while it will benefit greatly the soldiers who serve your Majesty in those islands, for, when this cloth is delivered there, they are obliged to take it.

In the former year of six hundred and sixteen, seven galleons were stationed at the city of Manila and the port of Cabite, one of which [53] came built from Yndia, and was bought in Pinacan for the service of your Majesty. The other six were built in the time of Don Juan de Silva, and Don Juan Ronquillo [54] took them all when he sailed in pursuit of the enemy at Playa Honda. These said galleys were in the greatest need of being repaired--one because it was very badly used up in the fight, and another because its decks had not been changed for two years; while most of them were holed along the sides by seaworms and leaked badly, and all their masts, yards, and topmasts were rotten. Consequently, Don Geronimo de Silva, captain-general of those islands, was preparing to send them to be repaired (except three) to the island of Marinduque, forty leguas from Manila, in order to avoid the expense of hauling the wood, while awaiting the arrival of the ships from Nueva Espana in which Don Alonso Fajardo came last year (one thousand six hundred and eighteen), in order to repair the said galleys with that money [brought by those ships]. He also intended to hold them in readiness, in order to comply with your Majesty's orders, sent by a despatch-boat, to keep them so prepared that they might join the fleet that was about to sail with reenforcements by way of the cape of Buena Esperanca, to make the journey to the Malucas Islands and drive the enemy from them.

It was necessary to equip two of the said seven galleys so that they could come to Nueba Espana last year, six hundred and eighteen, with the usual merchandise. Consequently only five were left--or rather six, with that in which Don Alonso Fajardo arrived. Since the said Don Alonso Fajardo has reached Manila and finds himselt with only six galleons, it becomes necessary to build some more; for, if the fleet from Espana has not sailed and the enemy learn that Manila has but six galleons, they will go to the mouth of the port and repeat their performance of last year, unless they go to El Embocadero [55] to await the ships from Nueva Espana with the reenforcements, for, in order that the loss of Manila and Maluco may be completed, nothing else is wanting.

As above stated, it will be necessary for Governor Don Alonso Fajardo to devise immediate means for building galleons and to repair the six at Manila. I regard the present building of ships in that country as impossible. For with the former ships and fleets, and with the depredations and deaths caused by the enemy in those districts the natives are quite exhausted; for, as I said above, in the former year of six hundred and seventeen the Mindanao enemy captured four hundred native carpenters and killed more than two hundred others. The year before that, six hundred and sixteen, in the expedition made by Don Juan de Silva to the strait of Cincapura, where he died, it was found from lists that more than seven hundred Indians, of those taken as common seamen (of whom more than two hundred were carpenters), died on that expedition. Before that, in the year six hundred and fourteen, the said Mindanao enemy captured in the islands of Pintados nine hundred odd Indians, of whom but few have been ransomed. In the shipbuilding and in the hauling of wood many have died. Consequently, on account of all combined, there is a lack of natives for the above works. Therefore your Majesty must order the said Don Alonso Fajardo, governor and captain-general of the said islands, that in case galleons are to be built, it should not be in the islands--on the one hand, on account of the short time that those woods last, and on the other because of the lack in that land of natives (occurring through the above-mentioned causes, and because those natives in the islands are serving in the fleets as common seamen and carpenters).

In order that, those islands might have and keep ships that last thirty years and cost the same as in Manila, or less, your Majesty must order the governor to order them built in Yndia in Cochim; for they can be built there very strong, and at less cost if the said governor sends men for it from Manila--both masters and other persons, who know the art of having them built. When built, they can bring a cargo of military supplies, lumber, and slaves from Cochin to Manila for the galleys of Manila, for the said slaves are valued at very little in Cochin. As common seamen the men used in navigating in those regions will serve, namely, the Lascars; and a ship of six hundred toneladas does not carry sixteen Spanish sailors, but negroes and Lascars (who are a Mahometan race), with whom navigation is performed throughout those islands and kingdoms.

Those islands have so few natives, that if your Majesty does not expressly order no vessels to be constructed in them, not any of their people will be left, for as a result the events that have happened in those islands for the last eight years, both murders and captivities, many of those who have been left, who are constantly coming to Nueva Espana, every year as common seamen in the vessels that regularly sail, remain in Nueva Espana. In the galleon "Espiritu Santo" which came last year, six hundred and eighteen, were seventy-five native Indians as common seamen, but not more than five of the entire number returned in the said galley. If your Majesty does not have that corrected, the same thing will occur every year, and should your Majesty not correct it, the following things will occur. The first is the great offense committed against our Lord, for many (indeed most) of those native Indians of the Filipinas Islands who come as common seamen are married in those said islands; and, inasmuch as they are unknown in Nueva Espana, they remarry here. Another wrong follows which is very much to the disservice of your Majesty and your royal treasury, which is caused by the said Indian natives of the Filipinas Islands who come as common seamen and remain in Nueva Espana; and if it is not checked in time, it will cause considerable injury to these kingdoms. This consists in the fact that there are in Nueva Espana so many of those Indians who come from the Filipinas Islands who have engaged in making palm wine along the other seacoast, that of the South Sea, and which they make with stills, as in Filipinas, that it will in time become a part reason for the natives of Nueva Espana, who now use the wine that comes from Castilla, to drink none except what the Filipinos make. For since the natives of Nueva Espana are a race inclined to drink and intoxication, and the wine made by the Filipinos is distilled and as strong as brandy, they crave it rather than the wine from Espana. Consequently, it will happen that the trading fleets [from Spain] will bring less wine every year, and what is brought will be more valuable every year. So great is the traffic in this [palm wine] at present on the coast at Navidad, among the Apusabalcos, and throughout Colima, that they load beasts of burden with this wine in the same way as in Espana. By postponing the speedy remedy that this demands, the same thing might also happen to the vineyards of Piru. It can be averted, provided all the Indian natives of the said Filipinas Islands are shipped and returned to them, that the palm groves and vessels with which that wine is made be burnt, the palm-trees felled, and severe penalties imposed on whomever remains or returns to make that wine.

Incited by their greed in that traffic, all the Indians who have charge of making that wine go to the port of Acapulco when the ships reach there from Manila, and lead away with them all the Indians who come as common seamen. For that reason, and the others above mentioned, scarcely any of them return to the said Filipinas Islands. From that it also results that your Majesty loses the royal revenues derived from those islands, inasmuch as all those Indians are tributarios there, and when absent pay nothing.

Among those Filipinas Islands is one called Mindanao which is more than one hundred leguas long. It is very densely populated by its natives, who are exceeding great pirates and hostile to all the other natives of all those islands subject to your Majesty. and chiefly to the Spaniards. They generally go in a certain kind of boat called caracoa on piratical expeditions, in which they commit signal depredations in all the ports and along all the coasts of those islands, killing and capturing the people of them, and burning and ruining the country. They have done that on many occasions, particularly in the former year six hundred and seventeen, when they allied themselves with the Dutch enemy, who came that said year with ten galleons to attack the city and port of Manila. The said Mindanao enemy came at the same time with ninety caracoas to the aid of the Dutch, and destroyed and burned many places along those coasts, and took many of their people captives. Among other things they arrived at the shipyard of Pantao with their fleet, where at your Majesty's orders a galleon and two pataches were being built. These were more than half built, and the Mindanaos burned them and captured more than four hundred persons, besides killing more than two hundred others. After burning all the military stores, they proceeded on their voyage toward Manila, and went to within ten leguas of the port of Cavite, whence they returned upon learning that the Dutch fleet had gone on ahead.

Consequently, not only for the said reasons, but because of the lack of men among the natives in the said Filipinas Islands, it will be highly important for the conservation of the islands for your Majesty to order that no ships be built in them, since there are so many places, so well provided in everything, as have been proposed, to enable them to be built in Yndia.

On the route between Manila and the Malucas Islands is a port of the above-mentioned island [i.e., Mindanao], called La Caldera. There the boats put in to get water and wood. Formerly, before the alliance between the natives there and the Dutch enemy, the vessels, ships, and galleys put in there and went to get fresh supplies, both going and coming. Now not only are they not permitted to obtain the said supplies, but the vessel, galley, or patache, that puts in there to get water, is surrounded by their caracoas, and its crew killed and captured.

On the contrary, they give the Dutch enemy so friendly a reception that the latter always keep their ships there, lying there in wait until those of his Majesty, that carry the aid to the said Malucas, pass by.

In order to destroy that said island of Mindanao and its pirates, without the necessity of spending for it anything from your Majesty's royal treasury, it needs only your Majesty's orders to make slaves of the said Mindanao natives of that island--since they are infidels; and they have profaned the temples and committed many cruelties in your Majesty's settlements along the coasts of those islands which they have captured--and your Majesty's permission that all who desire may take up arms against them, both the natives of the said islands, and the Spaniards, at their own cost. Only with that will the said island be conquered and subdued, and the so many injuries resulting therefrom to all the said islands and to the. Malucas will be checked.

_A report on the measurements of the galleons in the Filipinas Islands in the former year 1617 is as follows_.

The royal flagship, called "Salvador" measures 60 codos along the keel, 12 in floor, 82 from stem to stern [i.e., length over all], depth of hold 19, extreme breadth 26, sternpost transom 12; lower deck 15 codos, upper deck 19, with the space between of 4 codos.

The galleon "Espiritu Santo" (the one in which Don Alonso Fajardo came last year 1618) measures 50 codos along the keel, 10 in floor, 70 length over all, 17 depth of hold, 23 extreme breadth, 10 sternpost transom; lower deck 13 and one-half codos, and upper deck 17.

The galleon "San Felipe," 50 codos along the keel, 10 in floor, 70 length over all, 15 depth of hold, 22 and one-half extreme breadth; lower deck 11 and one-half codos, upper deck 15, and sternpost transom 11 codos.

The galleon "Santiago" has the same measurements of keel, floor, over all, depth of hold, extreme breadth, and sternpost transom, and the same space between decks.

The galleon "San Juan Bautista" has the same measurements as "San Felipe" and "Santiago."

The galleon "San Miguel," 49 codos keel, 10 in floor, 68 over all, 18 depth of hold, 23 extreme breadth, 11 sternpost transom; the lower deck 14 codos, upper deck 18.

"Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe," 46 codos keel, 9 in floor, 64 over all, 13 depth of hold, 21 extreme breadth; lower deck 9 and one-half codos, upper deck 13, sternpost transom 10 codos.

The ship [_nao_] "San Laurencio," which was built in Yndia 23 years ago, measures keel 46 codos, over all 60, 12 codos depth of hold, 19 extreme breadth; and it has three decks, quarter-deck, and forecastle [_castillo_].

[_Endorsed_: "Captain Sebastian de Pineda. To Don Alonso Fajardo, a duplicate, of the same remaining here. The council, May 26, 619."]

ROYAL DECREE REGARDING RELIGIOUS EXPELLED FROM THEIR ORDERS

[_Note at beginning of document_: "Church of Manila. Your Majesty confirms the statute made by the dean and cabildo of the metropolitan church of Manila, in the Philipinas, in regard to the expelled professed religious, of the orders not being admitted to _dignidades_, [56] canonries, or curacies of Indians or Spaniards in those islands."]

The King: Report has been made to me in the name of the dean and cabildo of the metropolitan church of the city of Manila of the Philipinas Islands, that in respect to my having ordered that ministers of instruction be men of good life and morals, as such is necessary for the good of Christianity, several religious who had been expelled from the orders were admitted as ministers of instruction because of the need in those islands for such ministers; and that as experience has since demonstrated the unsuitability of those men for the said ministry, they have refrained from employing such; and that, in order that the remedy may be efficacious and obviate the negotiations and methods of such persons to procure the benefices, they made a statute whose tenor is as follows: "In the city of Manila, on the eighteenth of August, one thousand six hundred and seventeen, while assembled and congregated in meeting, to wit, Bishop Don Fray Pedro Arce, bishop of the city of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus and its bishopric, and governor of this archbishopric, and the dean and cabildo Don Francisco Gomez Arellano, dean, and Commissary-subdelegate Gabriel de la Santa Crucada, Archdeacon Don Juan de Aguilar, Precentor Santiago de Castro, School-master Don Rodrigo Diaz Giralthe, and Keeper of Relics Don Luis de Herrera Sandoval; Canons Tomas de Gimarano, Don Miguel Garcetas, Juan de la Cruz, and Alonso Garcia de Leon: Racionero Don Francisco de Baldes, and Medios Racioneros [57] Tomas de Vega and Pedro Flores Benegas--the said bishop proposed with conclusive and sufficient arguments the great hindrances that, as the proved experience of all has shown, follow to all this kingdom from admitting to dignidades, canonries, and benefices professed religious who have been expelled from the holy religious orders as a penalty and punishment for their offenses, inasmuch as the abovesaid was prohibited by law and sacred canons established in a most Christianlike manner by the provincial Mexican Council. That council enacted a special decree expressly forbidding such appointments, and mentioning the many just reasons for their action, and the state of affairs in the Yndias demanding it, inasmuch as the prelates and venerable fathers who attended the council were very well acquainted with the Yndias. It is not the least consideration that the said expelled religious cannot reap a harvest in a century. Nor can they derive any advantages which will result in a real adjustment of their difficulties, so that thus with greater ease they, returning to their senses, may aspire to regain their habit and order which they before professed. [Such proceeding by the ecclesiastical authorities] will restrain the diligence and effort that other religious might employ in deserting their orders if they saw the said expelled religious given posts as dignidades. As they saw, and considered as assured, the great service they would be doing to God our Lord and to his Catholic Majesty who is incurring so heavy expenses to his royal patrimony in bringing each of the said religious to the Yndias--and these are the greatest consolations that he sends to these so remote islands, a plant which, because of its tenderness and newness in the faith, is shocked at the change that is seen in the habits [i.e., robes] of the expelled religious. This furnished a reason to his Majesty, Carlos Fifth, our sovereign of glorious memory, for the same prohibition; and he ordered that, as soon as the said religious were expelled from their holy orders, they be put aboard ship and sent to the kingdoms of Castilla, and not be allowed to remain or live in the Yndias. Therefore, having thoroughly examined, conferred over, and considered, they all unanimously and fully in accord resolved to enact a statute in this archbishopric in the following form and manner: 'We ordain that, now and henceforth, no one of the professed religious expelled from the religious orders now, or hereafter to be, established--whether from the religious orders now established in the Church of God, or from those which shall be established later--or the professed members of the fourth vow [58] of the Society of Jesus, shall be admitted or appointed to dignidades, canonries, or curacies, of Spaniards or of Indians, throughout this archbishopric. Those expelled from the said Society of Jesus, and who shall not have taken the fourth vow, may, three years after their expulsion and dismissal from the said order, if they have given therein a good example in their lives and morals, and if they are of such stamp that they may be of advantage for the edification and welfare of souls, be admitted by the prelate, now or hereafter, to the benefices which are curacies of the Indians--but only outside of this city; and not to the said canonries, dignidades, or curacies of Spaniards or Indians within this city. And inasmuch as this holy Church recognizes that it is under obligations for many reasons to his royal and Catholic Majesty, the king our sovereign, as being his foundation, and that it will not be proper to enact or make any statute without his pleasure and order, they determined to go before his royal person and entreat him humbly to confirm the present, and consider it fitting, as a matter of so great importance to the service of God our Lord, and to that of his royal Majesty, and to the increase of this holy Church.

_Fray Pedro_, bishop of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus. _Dean Arellano_ The archdeacon of Manila. The schoolmaster of Manila. _Precentor Sanctiago de Castro_ The treasurer of Manila. _Canon Tomas Gimarano_ _Canon Garcetas_ _Canon Juan de la Cruz_ _Canon Alonso Garcia de Leon_ _Racionero Don Francisco de Caldes_ _Racionero Tomas de Bega_ _Racionero Pedro Flores Benegas_

Before me:

_Alonso Ramirez_, secretary of cabildo."

And my royal Council of the Indias having examined the said statute, I have considered it advisable to have it confirmed and approved, as by the present I do confirm, and approve it. And I request and charge the archbishop of the said metropolitan of the city of Manila--the one now in office, and those who shall be archbishops hereafter--to observe, fulfil, and execute it, and cause it to be observed, fulfilled, and executed, completely, according to its contents. I declare such to be my will. Given in Madrid, February nineteen, one thousand six hundred and nineteen.

_I The King_

Countersigned by Juan Ruiz de Contreras; and signed by the council

PROPOSAL TO DESTROY MACAO

The royal Council of the Indias has tried many methods to prevent considerable amounts of silver being sent to the Philipinas from Nueva Spana; but those methods have been without result, as experience has demonstrated. One has occurred to me, and I think, God helping, that it will have good results. It is as follows:

The inhabitants of the said islands have no other means of support than commerce, and in the shelter of their trade is sustained all that church which now numbers so many faithful that it already has an archbishop and three suffragan bishops for its government. Inasmuch as that trade has hitherto consisted of Chinese merchandise with Nueva Espana, it has been, and is, necessary to obtain from that country the value of the merchandise in money, and to take the money there in order to make the investment of the following year. Trade is there [_i.e._, in the islands] like sowing in order to reap; and consequently, if the door were to be partly closed to this trade, the said inconvenience would cease. The door might be shut without any harm to the said islands, if another door were to be opened to them, which would be also as remunerative as the other, and would not be with his Majesty's countries. In this way his money would not be taken away, for they could engage in that trade with Japon. In this same manner as the inhabitants of Manila lade the silks that they buy in that city from the Chinese, and send them to Nueva Espana, they should lade them to send to Japon, where there is a great consumption of these goods and much excellent silver with which to buy them. This would be a very good thing for the people of Manila; for, although the profits for any year might be less than those of Nueva Espana, still they would be more sure, because of the much greater frequency and shortness of the voyage. Furthermore, they would enjoy the entire proceeds from the returns for their goods. Of the returns from Nueva Spana they enjoy only to the sum of five hundred thousand pesos--the amount that his Majesty allows to be sent annually to the Philipinas, and no more, although the value of the goods in Mexico amounts to much more. Besides that, this relationship with Japon would prove very beneficial to the Philipinas for their security; because the Japanese are those who are more feared in the islands than all the other neighboring nations, for they are very courageous and arrogant. Consequently they would prove excellent friends to oppose the Dutch, who are navigating those seas. Also by means of this trade the church of that kingdom, which is now so disturbed, would be made safe. By it would also be reestablished the trade of the Indias with Spana, from which so many profits would follow if that drain of money to the Philipinas were stopped; and it would be without hurt to those islands.

This trade between Manila and Japon has already been usual for many years, although in ships of small burden. It has been demonstrated by experience that if all the trade to Japon were theirs, all that country [_i.e._, the Philippines] could be very easily sustained without needing anything further from Nueva Spana and Spana than soldiers and the products of those countries. Consequently it would be sufficient for two small vessels to sail in that route of the South Sea. That would cost but little and that expense might even be met from the royal treasury of Manila.

But the greatest bulk of this trade is from the Portuguese of Macan, a town on the Chinese coast, which is about the same distance from Japon as Manila. All its inhabitants, in number about three hundred, support themselves by that trade; for, although they have other trade, it is of slight importance.

Therefore, it is advisable, in order to attain the said trade, that that town be abandoned, and that its inhabitants go to live in other cities of India. They can do that without much injury to their goods, since they carry them all by sea; and anywhere they have trade by way of the sea. In order to dismantle that town, it is sufficient for his Majesty to order that nothing be freighted thence to Japon, but only from Manila. Thereupon all the inhabitants would immediately pull up stakes [59] and leave that place.

Although such a thing appears harsh, and seems like falling out with one saint to placate another, still it will seem an easy and very advisable measure to those who have seen that town, or know it close at hand--and there are several such persons here in this court. And even if it were not evident that the good results above mentioned would follow from it, this step should be taken as a policy of good government, as such a course is advisable for the service of God. For his name is blasphemed by the people of that kingdom of China because of that town of Macao--such are the deeds of its inhabitants; for they live as a people without any master, and are not under the control of his Majesty, for the dwellers in that town are not his vassals, but those of the king of China. They pay tribute to him, and are subject to his mandarins, but not to others. Consequently his Majesty does not derive one maravedi's profit from it, while he incurs considerable expense; for he supports all its ecclesiastics out of his royal treasury of Malaca, for the honor of the Portuguese nation. For there they are so subject to those mandarins that, unless they kneel on the ground with both knees, they cannot talk to them; nor can they build one palmo of a wall, even in their own house, without the mandarin's license, while [they practice,] besides, innumerable infamies. [The transfer of] those people will be for the welfare of the state of Yndia, because its fortresses are without soldiers, by reason of the lack of dwellers in their ports. For the Portuguese, being so eager for liberty, go to live in the lands where there is most liberty, as in that land of China and that of Vengala. There go most and the best of the soldiers of Yndia, who take service with infidel kings and fight in their wars. Thence it follows that India is lost, land and sea, while the Dutch have become masters of it; and through their efforts much of the commerce between certain ports has ceased. The consequence of that is that the public storehouses [at Macao?] have become very poor, on account of the deficiency in their usual supplies; and they do not possess the means to bear the expenses, either in war or in peace, for the food of laymen or ecclesiastics--nearly all of whom live on what is paid to them by the king. Consequently, were that town of Macan dismantled, at least that protection would cease; and they would settle in his Majesty's lands, as is just, since the majority of them have gone to Yndia at the cost of his royal treasury. That would also be a matter of importance for the welfare of the kingdom of Portugal, since that country gains so much in having a quantity of silver sent to Spana from the Indias, because of the large amount of it that oozes from the latter country into Portugal; and just so much more would flow thither as less is drawn off from Spain to other parts. Portugal does not enjoy one single maravedi of the fruits of the trade of that town, all of which are consumed in it and in China, where it is situated. Besides for the maintenance of Portugal's state of Yndia, the helpful proximity of the Philipinas is of much more importance to it than one or two towns of that state, for it has been very evident, for some years past, how important are the forces of the Philipinas to cope with the common enemy of both states, namely, the Dutch. Those forces have been sufficient to defeat the Dutch more than once. Since money is what enables war to be carried on, it is advisable for both states that Philipinas have considerable of it, at so little expense to the state of Yndia as the possession of a town--at least, one of the importance and advantage which we have mentioned--and also at little expense to the treasury of his Majesty and of his kingdoms.

Only two objections can be opposed to this, but they are only apparent objections. The first is that two ships are wont to ply between Goa and China every year for cargoes of silk, which are afterward consumed in India. That is the chief trade of the Portuguese in India. Those vessels anchor at the city of Macan, and thus it seems as if [the abandonment of] that city would cause the lack, [of a port] there for this trade. But I answer that this is not so; for the Chinese would not deny the port to the Portuguese, since they do not deny it to many other nations who trade in their country without having a town of their own there. On the other hand, the Chinese use that town of Macan so harshly, that were it not for the large amounts that its inhabitants owe them for the goods that the Chinese have supplied to them on credit, the latter would already have driven the inhabitants of Macan out of their country. But the Chinese act thus toward the Portuguese, and treat them like negroes, so that they should go away [of their own accord]. That town is rather a very great injury to the Portuguese merchants who sail from Goa in the said ships--so much so, that they avoid trading with its inhabitants, who generally sell the goods that they have bought from the Chinese during the year, to the Goa merchants at higher prices than the Chinese themselves ask. For several years, the merchants in that region have been wont to go with all their silver twenty leguas up stream in small boats to the city of Canton, in order to trade with its natives, leaving their vessels in the port of Macan--the inhabitants of which are mocked and disappointed in the profit that they expected from the coming of the ships.

The second objection is that, were that town abandoned, all hopes for the conversion of that great kingdom--which seems to have made a beginning through Macao--would be crushed. But to that I answer, that Macao is rather the great hindrance to the conversion; for the infidels only see in that town evil examples. It is a great inconvenience to have the Portuguese so prominently before the Chinese, for the latter judge from them that all other Christians must be like those whom they see there. Besides the ministers of the gospel, who would have to conduct the conversion, cannot enter the interior of the country unless in native costume--as is done there by some fathers of the Society--and under protection of certain natives who conceal them. That can also be managed from Manila, in the return voyage of the Chinese ships, as well as from Macan.

Consequently, the suppression of that town by taking away its trade involves no injury, but rather the said advantages. And, if there were any difficulty, one should reflect which is the greater--to abandon a church like that of the Philipinas, with so great a number of the faithful, from which so much more may be expected, since there is hope that from the Philipinas it could extend to all that world (which is, beyond comparison, much more densely populated than this world of our Europa); or, in order to preserve the church, to use the lands of his Majesty so greatly to their injury; or to order three hundred inhabitants to settle in another region, and to abandon that location. May God give understanding to him who shall have to decide this matter. I pass over any other better opinion. I am of the above opinion, and affix thereto my signature. At Santo Thomas, etc.

_Fray Diego Auduarte_

[_Endorsed_: "Have this sent to Don Alonso Fajardo, so that after examining the contents of this paper--which was furnished by a competent person, who has spent considerable time in those islands--he may use what portion of it seems most advisable, in accordance with the present condition of affairs. The Council; May 26, 619."]

RELATION OF THE EVENTS IN THE FILIPINAS ISLANDS AND IN NEIGHBORING PROVINCES AND REALMS, FROM JULY, 1618, TO THE PRESENT DATE IN 1619

These Philipinas Islands are surrounded by so many and various neighboring countries that they are like the center of a very beautiful circumference composed of cities, kingdoms and provinces. The condition of this district depends so much upon that of other places that it will not be inappropriate to relate briefly what has occurred this year in these other places, in order better to understand the present state of affairs here. And if the description of any places should not fulfil this purpose, it will at least serve to give an interesting notice of countries so far away. All that is written here is taken from relations and letters which our fathers have sent from various places, and from what I have seen this year in this country.

_Of Eastern India_

To begin with, the most notable of the events that have occurred in India is the destruction of the city of Bacani, a very beautiful city, and important as containing many Portuguese hidalgos. It was situated on the north coast, opposite the Mogors, with whom the Portuguese carry on war. [60] It was very well built of stone, with seven good monasteries of various orders; but its great strength was not sufficient to defend it from the powerful hand of God, who chose to raze it to the ground. To accomplish this, He employed all four of the elements: the water, which fell in a great deluge from the heavens; the air, which broke loose in the most horrible and furious winds ever known; the earth, which trembled terribly; and fire, which, wishing to serve its Creator in no uncertain manner, shot out its tremendous bolts into the air and discharged them over the miserable city. With such powerful enemies all the buildings fell down--not one stone remaining upon another--except a chapel of our Lady of Health [_Nuestra Senora de la Salud_], and part of the convent of St. Francis, where some people took refuge. There were lost, in the river more than sixty vessels loaded with provisions, bound for Goa; and two others from Ormuz, one coming and the other going. This destruction took place on the seventeenth of May, 1618. The reason for it only God, with His unbounded wisdom, knows. All that we here can understand is that the sins of the city provoked His wrath, and that for two years past interdictions and censures upon it have been continuous. Even the day before this disaster occurred, God took from it (as He did another [?]) Father Rodrigo, of the Society, who was one of His zealous servants, and transported him to another and a better life. When news of this reached Goa, great demonstrations were made there to appease the wrath of God, that He might not afflict that city as He had afflicted Bacani.

_Of Great China_

In China, within recent years, a very severe persecution of Christians broke out; and on account of the enmity of a mandarin, who was the cause of this storm, four fathers were ejected from the residences of Sanguin and Paquin [_i.e._, Pekin]. One of them was Father Diego Pantoja, [61] a native of Toledo, a noted religious, one of the most noted men who have been in China, and one who has learned most of the Chinese letters, sciences, and language. Upon reaching Macan from his exile, this father passed from this to a better life. There still remained in China eight fathers of our Society. These, with some others, are cultivating the vineyard of the Lord, maintaining in the faith those already converted, and bringing into it others, who, forsaking the false belief of idolatry, receive the water of holy baptism. In short, these fathers are promulgating the holy gospel. They write that they found, in one of the many provinces of that extensive realm, a people who worship the holy cross, and who are called Christians--although they are so only in name, for they are in truth heathen. They also found a synagogue of more than twelve thousand jews who live under the law of Moses. [62]

The Tartars, who usually are at war with the Chinese, this year invaded China on the north side by way of the border province of Lona [_sc._ Liao?]. [63] They routed the Chinese armies, made a great slaughter among them, took some cities, and destroyed many villages; and then, because the winter is so cold, they retired to their own country to remain till another year, when, they say, they will come with a great force. And although they fear that they are not possessed of everything necessary for this invasion, yet a short time before, [64] a violent storm demolished for them that famous and strong wall, six hundred leguas long, which separated China from Tartaria. The events of this war and the state of the kingdom of China will be set forth in a petition, or memorial, which the mandarins presented to their king. Our fathers of Macan sent it to us, saying that the Christians of Paquin had sent it to them. The fathers put it into Portuguese; translated into Spanish, it reads as follows:

_Memorial which the mandarins of Paquin sent to the king of China in the year 1618, when the Tartars invaded that kingdom._

This year, 1618, in the sixth moon, which is the month of August, the president of the council of war presented to the king a memorial for the defense [of the kingdom] against the Tartars, who entered by the north walls. He humbly begs of you, my king, that you give attention to this matter, and quickly open your treasuries in support of this war to raise soldiers and to collect supplies. The facts of the situation are, as I just now heard from the mandarins who are in the province of the north walls, that the Tartars assembled with the determination to seize this country of China. They say that on the day selected for battle they entered through the walls and captured some people, whom they sacrificed and burned at two in the morning before the pitched battle; and, while they were burning the sacrifice, great bombs and ingenious fireworks were discharged. They raised flags on the hills and proclaimed their own king as king of Paquin. Of soldiers who bear arms and other people there are thousands of thousands--they are indeed, innumerable. Each soldier carries several weapons. They entered by force of arms through the walls called Humbre. The mandarins entrusted with the defense of this part of the walls collected two armies [_companias_], ninety-six captains, and three hundred thousand men, and came to blows eleven times. In the first encounter our captain-general and thirty-seven captains ordinary were killed. Our captain called Chun entered valiantly on horseback into the ranks of the Tartars, killed five of them, and was then himself killed and mutilated on the spot. Countless numbers of our men died in these actions; some thousands were captured; and, in retreating from the battle, amid the confusion and tumult, more than a thousand more were killed. The victorious Tartar raised his flag aloft and his men cried out, "Our king of Paquin comes to take possession of Great China, which dared to resist him." The Tartars, following up the victory, killed in various encounters more than six hundred captains and soldiers of repute. The inhabitants of the cities and towns deserted them and fled to the forests with their women and children. On the same day the Tartars took three cities.

When I heard this news I met with the _Colao_ and the mandarins of the court to take counsel as to what should be done. And truly it seems that Heaven is assisting the Tartars, for how else could they kill so many thousands of men and take three cities in one day? [65] We all say that this is a punishment from Heaven, like so many other calamities that are being suffered. For example, it did not rain during the whole of last year in the province of Paquin, and so the people went about almost dead. In the province of Xanto the hunger was so great that they ate human flesh, for which there was a public market. A great multitude of rats crossed the river. The fires of heaven burned all the royal palaces. A gale blew down the five towers. There were, also, in the heavens two suns, one swallowing the other--an occurrence, certainly, of dire portent. Another very extraordinary thing beside these occurred. We saw that man called Chanchain enter the palace to kill the prince, in which event the mandarin [_illegible in MS._] wishing to speak to you, my king, in a rather loud voice, in order to show his fidelity. But you did not choose to listen to him, and, instead, you ordered him to be put in the jail, and in fetters, and sentenced to death, on the charge of having disturbed the soul of your mother, who had recently died. We, the mandarins, wishing [to aid?] him, beg you that you may be pleased to pardon him; because it would certainly be a great pity to treat as a rebel a faithful mandarin, who merely showed his love for you.

Moreover, the viceroys and the _Chaiery_ of each province several times sent you memorials advising you of the calamities of the people, and begging that you be pleased to diminish the customs and impositions, a matter worthy of careful consideration. In the same way, all the mandarins of the court have often implored you, by means of memorials, that you should go out _incognito_ to hear complaints for the good of the government of the kingdom, and to bring it into harmony with the will of Heaven. If you had done this, we would now find ourselves in a very peaceful condition, and our empire would last a thousand centuries; but oh king, as you neither listened to nor examined into what was proposed to you, it appears, rather, that you are sleeping at your ease in your palace. You act as if you did not notice what you clearly see with your eyes. Hence for a long time the mandarins have been very much troubled. We have seen rivers running with blood. Are not all these matters of evil portent? There are indeed, other disasters than the falling of the walls on the Tartar frontier. We often sent memorials asking you to order that they be rebuilt; and at last you sent two mandarins with two hundred thousand men to repair them. They went out last year in the ninth moon. While on the way, for some unknown reason, a quarrel arose among the men at midnight; and in less than two hours more than eighty boats and over seven hundred men were burned, besides the many who were drowned. All this augured evil. And thus we sent you a memorial asking that you should give audience on matters concerning the good government of the kingdom, according to the will of Heaven. You answered, "Now it is cold, now hot; I am indisposed and unable to do it; I shall choose another day to go out, or you may choose it." We the mandarins, together, chose the seventh day of the same moon, which was convenient. You, however, did not answer favorably, but instead threw the memorial into the fire.

Furthermore, we learned from the province of Xansinque, this third moon, that a man suddenly appeared dressed in yellow, with a green cap [_bonete_], and a little fan of feathers in his hand. He called out, "Vanlle (which is the name of the king here) [66] is a king without a government, although he has ruled a long time. He is always asleep in his palace, wherefore the kingdom is about to be lost. The men of the people must perish of hunger, and the great captains must die by the sword and the lance." With this he disappeared. The viceroy, Chaien, and the mandarins were greatly terrified, and made vigorous efforts to find him and to learn who he was and where he lived, but they never found further trace of him.

And now, when we learn of the calamities of all the provinces, when from all of them we hear news of the great famine being experienced, and when we see that many renowned mandarins, captains, and soldiers have been killed in this war, we are well able to understand that this man was an omen from Heaven, and the whole affair causes fear. If you, our king, wish to go forth to encounter the Tartars you cannot do so unless you have several millions of men, and thousands of thousands of wagon-loads of supplies. We humbly beg that you undertake to release the above mentioned mandarin, who is so unjustly detained in prison. We also beg that you shall be pleased to open the treasuries to raise an army. If you do so, much of the trouble will be removed.

_Of Cochinchina_

The new mission of Cochinchina, near China, where they formerly endured great hardships, is now prosperous, and there are good prospects that a splendid Christian community will grow up in that realm. [67] The people there, induced by their false priests, had rebelled against our fathers, saying superstitiously that it had failed to rain because of the presence of preachers of the holy gospel. In this way they forced the king, against his will, to order the fathers out of the country for a time. But the fathers, in obedience to an order from their superior, did not leave until they had almost completely christianized a Japanese settlement which is there; and they so subdued these Japanese that, although formerly they had been very rebellious and had given much trouble to the king, they now became peaceable. The king was so pleased with this that he recalled the fathers with the same benevolence that he had formerly shown, and he gave them license to erect a church and residence at his court. Heaven assisted at the same time in behalf of the mission by sending abundant rain, thus leaving the superstition of the heathens confounded and mendacious, and the king despicable for this persecution. Two fathers of the mission and a lay brother went to a port of the same kingdom, Cochinchina, called Pullocambi, about fifty leagues from the court, at the request of the heathen governor there. He offered to satisfy them, and treated them so well that a beginning was made in that port of another residencia of the Society. It may be possible to build up a large Christian community in that place, since it is more quiet than Cochinchina, through its being less cursed by traffic and by people of various nationalities coming to trade. Thus there are six of the Society residing there, teaching those whom they have converted, and with much diligence learning the language of the land, without which they would not be able to accomplish much.

_Of Japan_

In treating of the affairs in Japon one would wish to begin with the coming of Fray Luis Sotelo, who, as soon as he arrived here, began to attempt so many things that he succeeded with none. He said to the bishop of Zebu (who is governor of this archbishopric) that he had secured bulls from his Holiness authorizing him to be bishop of half of Japon, [68] but as they remained in the Council they were worthless. They even say (about which I am not certain) that he attempted to consecrate himself here, but he did not succeed.

Then he planned to establish a seminary of Japanese, and had many of them ordained, with what right or authority we do not know. Over this matter there was much contention. He had a church built for this seminary, and also took possession of various places, particularly in a suburb of this city of Manila. One day he quietly took possession of a house, placed a bell upon it, and said mass. Soon the governor and the bishop came and asked him what he might be doing. He responded that a smith puts his forge wherever he can in order to work at his trade, and that he was doing likewise. They drove him away from there, and now he is in one of his convents.

They are expecting in Malaca the bishop of Japon, Father Don Diego Valente, [69] of our Society, native of Lisboa, and formerly head of the professed house at Villaviciosa. They say that with him are coming the procurators of Japon, Father Graviel de Martos and Father Pedro de Morejon; the father procurate of China, Nicolas Trigaucio; and a goodly number of members of the Society, who will have to wait in some other place because the condition of affairs in Japon is such that they cannot go there at present.