Chapter VI: Front Matter (6)

[_Note to section 4_: "Have a copy of this section sent to the [India] House of Trade. State that although the matter there mentioned has always been considered harmful to the general commerce of these kingdoms; and although the silver which must come here from Peru would in great part, if not all, be taken to Eastern Yndia, and delivered to our enemies, whereby two wrongs would ensue, since the Filipinas serve only as a station and bridge: still we have considered whether adjusting the matter in the following manner would be a suitable expedient, and one that would avoid all the troubles mentioned. That the reënforcements be sent straight to Filipinas from Panama, since it is a road so sure and favorable; and also, as pointed out in this section, one could take the merchandise from España that would be useful and valuable in Filipinas, with which the blessing of this trade could be enjoyed; and that the soldiers could sail from España until they should disembark for the short journey from Chagre River to Panama. In order to avoid any silver from Peru being taken in these vessels on their departure to Filipinas and so that the merchandise of those islands might not be brought to Peru on the return trip (which is forbidden), it shall be ordered that the return trip of those ships be to Acapulco, as now--prohibiting them under any circumstance from returning to Panama, Callao, or any port of Tierra Firme; and so that these boats should not remain [idle] in Acapulco without making a voyage, they might be used for the voyage to Peru, because of the permission that has been decreed for the preservation of mutual correspondence and trade between Peru and Acapulco. They shall advise us of their opinion, so that all expedient measures may be taken. Likewise have all the matter bearing on this in the Peruvian secretarial office collected, so that, upon the arrival of the relation from Lalasa, the most expedient measures in all things may be taken, and the [present] section of this letter answered."]

[_Note to section 13, which these decrees concern_: "Have a letter written to the Audiencia telling them that inasmuch as it has been learned that some government officials, both lawyers and clerks, notwithstanding the prohibition decreed by royal acts, laws, and decrees--forbidding them to trade or engage in business, buy, sell, or lade vessels, themselves or through intermediaries, under the penalties contained in the said laws, acts, and decrees against all the aforesaid--secretly and clandestinely, under cover of intermediaries, make confidants of certain persons, so that, by means of the said trade, they not only become rich but prove an obstacle to the benefit of the royal revenues, besides causing other evils which are not mentioned because they are well known: for the correction of all this it has been commanded and ordered that if any of the said officials should be guilty of like transgressions, the president and governor and captain-general of those islands shall investigate and verify the aforesaid and send us a report, so that, after examining it, justice may be meted out and the fitting remedy applied. When the said investigation shall prove guilt, we have ordered the said president by an act, to sequester property, and to be rigorous in the sentence of this execution, according as we decreed it, and in the form ordered. In order that you understand this, this decree is despatched." _In another hand_: "Despatch a decree to the Audiencia, so that if there should be any mutual doubt--whether any on the part of the president toward the Audiencia, or on the part of the latter toward the president, concerning the matters of ceremony that must be observed toward the said president and governor and captain-general of those islands and his wife--in such case, the claims of each side shall be considered with the modesty, gravity, and promptness that are desirable; and I shall be advised of the result, so that after examining it I may decree what is expedient. And inasmuch as time spent in such matters is not only the loss of time necessary for other things, but also the causing of certain rivalries harmful to the common welfare; and inasmuch as under this pretext they are accustomed to revenge themselves for certain causes of anger: in order to avoid disturbances from persons who are obliged to give so good an example, I thus also order and command, and desire that you understand that, together with decreeing what shall be expedient in such matters, I shall order that he who shall be at all guilty of this, or who should violate customs or make any demonstration at public celebrations that is observed, or who leaves the body of the church or the public place where he ought to be, be punished severely and exemplarily; for that very thing serves as a scandal to the public, and a bad example to all, and these acts would arouse mutual enmities, to the harm of the royal service."]

[_Note to section 20_: "Have a letter written to the Audiencia saying that inasmuch as letters were sent to them in regard to these matters in the despatch of a former year, on such and such a day of such a month and of such a year, a section to the following effect (here insert the section). And now it has been learned by a letter from Don Alonso Faxardo, present governor of those islands, that those criminals have been set at liberty; and, in order that what happened in this matter may be understood, it is ordered that you send a copy of the records, together with the part of the fiscal, with a memorial collated by him of all that results from the deed; so that, having examined it, the expedient measures may be taken, and that the condition of everything may be understood. The memorial and the records which shall be remitted shall be communicated to the governor, so that if there should be anything of which to advise, he may do it."]

[_Note to section 22_: "Have a letter written to the Audiencia and a copy of it sent to the governor, in which mention shall be made that although it has been ruled by royal ordinances and decrees, and by other divers letters and orders, as to those things which must be observed, and the official visits to the natives in all and whatsoever parts where there are missions and where justice is administered, this is not obeyed with the exactness required by the case; and on that depends the relief and compensation of the poor, and the punishment of those who live licentiously, or make bad use of their offices. The visits were introduced for the consolation and relief of the natives--not only on that account, but in order to ascertain the characteristics of each region, and the products and articles that can be produced in them and carried in case of need to any other region; and in order to take what measures may be advisable for justice and good government. It has been learned that this has not been done with the exactness required, and that on account of the personal occupation and toils that generally accompany it, you excuse yourselves and state other objections, in order not to make those visits; but I order you to busy yourselves in them, in accordance with the order that shall be given you by your president, Don Alonso Fajardo, who shall advise me of what shall be done in this. You shall take very special care to send a minute copy of the findings for the districts visited; for thus it is advisable for the good government and for the information that must be had of affairs there; and so that what has been ordered for the benefit of the natives may not be converted into mischief and burdens for them, especially since that land is pacified. It is ordered to you that, in going to make the said visits, you observe the order decreed, avoiding followers and retainers. And in order that we may have the satisfaction necessary from this, when you send a relation of the said visits, you shall send one of the men whom the visitor took with him, and an account of what occurred in this."]

Letter from Felipe III to Fajardo

The King: To Don Alonso Faxardo de Tenza, my governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, and president of my royal Audiencia residing there. The letter which you wrote me on the tenth of August of the past year has been received and examined in my royal Council of the Yndias; and the resolutions adopted in regard to the matters discussed therein will be explained to you in this.

You say that Francisco Lopez Tamayo, on account of his many years and ill health, has left the office of accountant which he occupied, and that you have appointed in his place Pedro de Lenzara, as he appeared to you a suitable and intelligent person. In filling this office you have used the care and attention which the matter demands; accordingly the appointment will remain with [him as] a person competent for this employment.

You inform us that in a council held in the time of your predecessor, which consisted of himself, the auditors of the Audiencia there, and the officials of my royal exchequer, it was decided to give, distributed among them and the archbishop of the metropolitan church of that city, and other officials of the said Audiencia, three thousand four hundred fanégas of rice at the price at which my tributes are given to me; and when you saw that they had not my order for this, you ordered that the said grant of rice should not be continued, and that what had been received should be restored if I did not decree otherwise. In this order, and in discontinuing the four hundred pesos which were given to the governor's secretary, you have done well, and this action was advisable, and conformable to justice; and you are to understand that, if there are other affairs of this kind beside those which you have pointed out, they are to be corrected, and an account of everything given to my fiscal, so that in respect to them he may fulfil the obligation of his office.

You have done well in having ordered that the money from the treasury of property of deceased persons in that city--which used to be taken to the treasury at Mexico without benefit in the property for their souls or their heirs, being divided or invested by order of the court having the jurisdiction in such matters--should be placed in my royal treasury and be paid in the said treasury of Mexico from the money which on my account is to be sent to those islands. What you have decreed in regard to this is just and expedient; and as for what you mention in regard to the proceeds of the bulls, you will do the same if the circumstances and conditions of their collection allow of it. You will act according to previous directions.

You say that the licentiate Andres de Alcaraz, my auditor in that Audiencia, wished to go to Mexico last year in the ships which left those islands for Nueva España; and that, he did not do so because he was sick, and because of your urgent request that he should not desert the Audiencia until the other auditors thereof should become proficient in the despatch of business and the duties of their offices, on account of the lack of harmony among them. As it is fitting that those things which you mention in general terms should be explained in detail, you will advise me what they are, and in regard to what persons, since as president of that Audiencia you are in duty bound to give the information, so that, having been considered, provision may be made according to justice; and in the meantime you ought to correct and warn them in such manner that all shall be peaceful and that scandal shall cease--for this is the sole cause of bad government, of justice losing its prestige, and of those who are appointed to remedy evils being the authors thereof. In order to do away with this, I have had letters written to the other auditors (a copy of which is sent you), warning them that they must be subject to your person, and maintain the respect and ceremony due to you by virtue of your office. Of the rest which you mention in that clause I have been informed.

As for what you say in regard to not considering it expedient for my royal service that the order which I have given should be executed which directs that, on the death of the governors of those islands, the duties of the office of captain-general should be exercised by the oldest auditor of that Audiencia; and what seems best to you to provide in this matter in order to do away with the difficulties which might be feared if, the licentiate Andres de Alcaraz being gone, the licentiate Jeronimo de Legaspi should enter upon the said office, as he is the next oldest auditor, considering the scandal and evil example with which he and his son, Don Antonio de Legaspi, are living: may God be pleased to grant you health, so that this thing will not happen which you wish to anticipate; and for this office there are always persons appointed, and therefore you need not be anxious about this. Since you show so much dissatisfaction with the said licentiate Jeronimo de Legaspi, and he and his son have conducted themselves ill, you will make such investigation as seems most fitting to you; and with the results thereof you will prefer charges against him, together with his answers thereto, and send them to my Council, so that, having examined the documents, they may provide a remedy. I send you a commission for this with this letter, and you are warned that your principal duty as president is to watch and be attentive to the method of procedure of every one of the officials who are dependents of this government. With which I charge your conscience, and warn you of the account which you have to give to our Lord therefor, that you may proceed in a manner not to intimidate justice, nor to propose anything which shall not be purely for the service of His Divine Majesty, and the relief of your conscience and mine. Accordingly, let it be noted that you favor your friends with commendatory reports, or injure those who are not so well disposed to you by accusing or censuring them; for, considering that there is no other person there in whom this trust can be placed except yourself, this warning is necessary.

You recount the service of the licentiate Don Juan de Albarado Bracamonte in the office of fiscal of that Audiencia, and the confidence that you have in him. As I have decreed what has appeared to be expedient in regard to this man, and you will have heard thereof, I have ordered him to be investigated on account of the continual complaints I have received in regard to him. I warn you, as in the preceding clause, that you shall proceed in these reports as justly and cautiously as is necessary, considering the account which you must give to God of them; and before you make them you should consider them with the great attention which I confidently expect from you, on account of the injuries which would follow if this were not done, both to the welfare of the people and to yourself.

What you say in regard to the affair at the seminary of Santa Potenciana, and the investigations which were made in regard to it by the licentiate Jeronimo de Legaspi, concerning the persons who were guilty, and the state in which its lawsuits were, may be reduced to three points. The first, which concerns the seclusion which ought to be maintained in this seminary, is of the gravest importance; and it is necessary that there should be special care exercised in regard to its prudent management, its reception-rooms, and doorkeepers, and especially the porters. To this end it would be desirable to inspect the said seminary often, and that its superior should place only approved persons on guard in the house and residence of those who are inmates, so that it may be as well secured and safe as is right; and that with its inmates, if they are guilty, the measures provided for by the sacred canons and councils should be taken. For it is not right that a house of prayer, seclusion, and retirement should be an offense, and scandal, and a cause for sacrilege. As for the secular persons concerned, I charge and order you to inform them that the crime which they have committed is one of the greatest which cry out before God our Lord, defy justice, and offend the nations and the public cause. And a severe example must be made of them, not only in the maintenance of justice but in the prompt despatch of the suits and cases of those who were implicated in so vile a deed; accordingly you will advise me fully, at all opportunities, of the condition in which they are, and of the execution of penalties, and of the corrective measures that have been applied to the said seminary. The second point concerns the complaint which you present in regard to the appeals from your decisions which are interposed. This is so well provided for by the laws that merely by commanding that these be observed you will have at your disposal all that can be used for good of justice and of your government; for, in spite of the appeal of the parties, you can execute the sentence when the guilt of the accused and the gravity of the case require it. It cannot be presumed that the Audiencia will hinder you in its execution in such cases; for what is permitted to an ordinary judge could not justly be hindered in you, being the person that you are, and the head of that government. Accordingly, for the fuller justification of the case, I have ordered that the letter which goes with this be written to the said Audiencia, and by the copy [sent to you] you will be aware of its tenor. The third point concerns the lack of obedience in military matters, and the hindrance to punishment therein. This evil will be charged to you if you do not exercise in it the most thorough vigilance, in punishing not only insolent and lawless acts, but even the appearance of them, and all that would approach either possible or actual disobedience. For you know that without such strictness there can be no military discipline, nor any successful result; and the arms which are borne for the defense of the commonwealth will be turned to its damage. Accordingly you must treat such cases summarily, in such manner that there shall be no delay permitted in the punishment of the act, so that it shall not cause an evil example or scandal. As for what you mention concerning appeals in this regard, a decision is sent in the said letter to the Audiencia, as you will there see.

You inform us that the king of Japon and several private persons--great vassals, and lords of ports of that kingdom--have usually had presents and valuable articles sent to them from your city at my expense, every year when a ship went to that country; and for several years this has not been done, and various religious persons have considered the matter, and say that those Japanese have observed this, and attributed it as a lack of esteem for their friendship; and this has aroused them to resentment, and to prefer the friendship of the Dutch, on account of the many presents which they give to the Japanese from the spoils they have taken. You say that since there are some advantages in retaining friendly intercourse with that country, and for other reasons, you give me an account of this that I may order what is most fitting for my service. This consists in the measures suggested by your own prudence, with the information that you have of the present state of affairs, and the ordinary relations with Japon; and to whom, how, when, and in what quantity it is best to make these gifts, in such manner that they shall only serve to win back their friendship, and not appear a regular and settled thing, in the manner of an acknowledgment [_i.e._, of subjection to them]--for that, in the course of time, might be troublesome in other matters. Accordingly, examining into this in conformity with your obligation for the benefit of my royal estate, you will do in this matter what, considering the time and occasion, you shall judge suitable for the interests of our religion, which is introduced into Japon, and for peaceful intercourse and friendship, and the greatest benefit to the traffic and commerce of those islands.

All you say in regard to the affection with which the citizens of that city came forward to serve me on the occasion of the last year--offering not only their persons and servants, but lending the slaves that they have and a hundred and ninety-five thousand pesos--is very gratifying. To these persons in especial, and to all generally, you will show this reply, that they may understand how grateful I am for their loyal service and fidelity; and that on occasions which may arise for their advancement and benefit in property, they will be remunerated, as will be seen in future. As to what you say in regard to Don Juan Ronquillo no resolution will be adopted in regard to him until the termination of the suit in which he is engaged. The affair will be settled as soon as possible after the arrival of the papers, and on that will depend what shall be done with this person--of whose service and their good results I am well informed, and for which I wish to show him favor. In regard to Rodrigo de Guilestegui you will advise me more fully in what way provision can be made for him. I have been advised of the good qualities and merits which you say are displayed in Don Fernando Centeno Maldonado. You mention likewise how little justification there is for some of the informations which have been made by that Audiencia concerning the merits and services of those who claim that I should favor them. This has been so understood in my Council of the Yndias; and, for its remedy, you will so conduct this matter in the session of the Audiencia that no information shall be despatched, notwithstanding that it shall have been reviewed by an auditor, without its being again looked over by the whole Audiencia in its entirety--you being present as president, governor, and captain-general--and in no other manner; and each one giving his opinion, even if he alone should think that the merits of the person are insufficient because, on account of favor or by other means, they are presented when not based upon adequate services. In the case of Gonzalo Bazquez de Lara, notary, what you have done is proper; and you will advise me in detail of the execution of sentence in this case, as you know the great evils which this would cause in the future, and which have come from it in the past, and how important it is to purge the commonwealth of such persons.

The orders of the Society and St. Dominic have been provided with the persons whom their superiors asked for, as you will be aware; thus your suggestion in regard to this has been carried out.

Since you say that the Order of St. Augustine has taken in its charge with great zeal to facilitate and execute all which has been and is necessary to accomplish in my royal service--and especially Fray Alonzo de Baraona, the provincial, and the definitors have done so--it will be very desirable that you should therefore confer with them, and likewise with the provincial and definitors of the discalced [Augustinians], and give them to understand my gratitude to them. You will especially express to them the pleasure which I have experienced in learning their good reputation for procedure, religion, and prudence, and suggest that they should continue this, as I trust they will; and say that I shall always remember, both in general their order in those islands, and themselves individually, as they shall see by the results. And you shall take care to encourage them to the preaching of the gospel, and the benefit and enrichment of souls, so that the public welfare shall not suffer for lack thereof; for it is my intention to aid them so far as possible; and the affairs of those islands, although they lie so far distant from my court, are very near to my thoughts. I trust through our Lord that, He lending you His divine favor, and you meriting it by your good government, you may put all in such good order that it will be preserved and advanced, and the enemy shall lose more.

There are none of your letters which have not been answered, and the same may be said of those from the Audiencia, the officials of my royal estate, and other officers. Madrid, December 13, 1620.

_I The King_

By command of the king, our lord:

_Pedro de Ledesma_

Memorial, y Relacion para sv Magestad

By, Hernando de los Rios Coronel. Madrid: Fernando Correa, 1621.

_Source_: This is translated and synopsized from the copy of the original printed work owned by the Library of Congress.

_Translation_: The translation and synopsis are made by Robert W. Haight and James A. Robertson.

_Memorial_,

_And Relation_

_For His Majesty, of the Procurator-General of the_

Filipinas, of what it is advisable to reform, and of the wealth contained in them, and in the Islands of Maluco.

In the year 1621.

_Madrid_

By _the widow of Fernando Correa_.

Memorial and Relation of the Filipinas

Sire:

I, Hernando de los Ríos Coronel; an ordained priest, and procurator-general of the Filipinas Islands, Maluco, and all that archipelago, declared that, about thirty-two years ago or more, I went to the Filipinas Islands, where I lived a considerable time in the military habit and exercise, and as a citizen of the city of Manila, but with greater desires than strength to serve your Majesty, and endeavoring to give indications of this to all the inhabitants of that kingdom. On that account, they charged me with, and loaded upon my shoulders, in the year 1605, the weight of their cares and troubles. I came to this court, where I prostrated myself many times before the royal feet of his Majesty who is in heaven, and gave him an account of those things. I returned to that kingdom in the year 1610, to give account there of myself, and of my mission, undergoing many hardships and perils. Although such might have been avoided, and I could have made stipulations for my comfort and rest, as I had opportunity to do in your royal Council of the Indias, I confess that I know not what interior force and natural inclination has always induced me to prefer the service of your Majesty, and the welfare and increase of that kingdom, to my own rest or comfort--which, in order to follow your service, I have never regarded as important, or given it any care. Inasmuch as times change affairs, and considering the many casualties caused by the enemy from Olanda, things have come to a very different pass from that in which I then left them. For that reason, that entire kingdom and its estates resolved that I should return again to confer with your Majesty and your royal councils concerning what was most advisable for your royal service and the welfare and relief of that land. And although I found that I needed some rest in a corner, and it was a severe trial for me to consent again to undergo more arduous labors, and difficulties so much greater as are the gravity of affairs in those islands and the multitude of the enemies with whom the seas are infested, yet that desire and inclination [for your Majesty's service] had so much power over me that I postponed all my rest.

I offer your Majesty this relation, which, when I came to this court about three years ago, [33] I gave to his Majesty who is in heaven, so that he might be informed, as was desirable, of that kingdom so remote from his royal eyes. I felt now that I was obliged to present it to your Majesty, and on this occasion I have taken the opportunity to extend it to greater length, and to give your Majesty a fuller account--being encouraged to do so by seeing the glorious beginnings that your Majesty has given to your monarchy, on which, in the name of that kingdom, I give your Majesty a thousand congratulations, and may you enjoy it very many years, with the greatest happiness and increasing prosperity. I have written this relation with entire exactness and truth regarding all the facts that I have collected during so many years--and thus as well as was possible to me--without considering any human respects, which are what usually obscure such mirrors, in order that they might not give the light that is desirable in such an account. I relate, then, what has occurred in Filipinas, from the time of their first discoverers; their tendency toward, advancement; and the mildest and most advisable measures for the attainment of admirable ends. I trust, through God our Lord, that, if this child and offspring of my intellect has the good fortune to pass before the royal eyes of your Majesty, it will be of great importance to your royal service.

[The present book is divided into three parts. Part first, consisting of ten chapters, is a short résumé of Philippine history from the earliest discoveries until the naval battle at Playa Honda with the Dutch. The second part, consisting of seven chapters, deals more intimately with the needs and resources of the islands, and the importance of their conservation--that is, of matters that fell particularly to Los Rios in his capacity of procurator-general. The third part, in five chapters, relates to ecclesiastical matters in the Philippines, and contains brief remarks on the Moluccas. The first six chapters of part first are here only synopsized, with some extracts, as they deal with matters rather fully presented heretofore in this series. All the remainder of the book is translated in full.]

Part First

[Chapter I treats "of the first discoverers of the Filipinas, and of their location." In rapid survey Los Rios sketches the expeditions of Magalhães, Loaisa, Villalobos, and Legazpi, although wrongly placing the latter's death in 1574 instead of 1572. The location of the islands is briefly described and the names of some of the principal ones given, among them "Mindanao, which is the largest, and with which we are at war, although it had formerly rendered your Majesty homage." Continuing his narrative, the governorships of Guido de Labaçares (whose death is wrongly stated as occurring in 1575), Francisco de Sande, the two Ronquillos (who are mentioned as brothers), and Santiago de Vera, are lightly mentioned. Limahon's expedition against Manila (wrongly ascribed to the period of Legazpi's governorship), and Sande's expedition to Borneo are particularly mentioned. The latter sacked the Bornean king's city "with but little justification." In his time also the Chinese trade begins to be steady. Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa on coming to assume the governorship, according to the terms of his contract, brings a number of colonists, "who were called _rodeados_ [34] because they had come by way of Panama ... He was a peaceful man, although--because he had brought two sons with him, besides other relatives, whom he allowed to live with considerable laxity; and because numerous complaints had been written from the city to his Majesty--his Majesty, seeing the great trouble experienced in preaching the gospel, the evil example that those sons and relatives furnished, and the harm that this would cause unless it were stopped, removed Ronquillo from his governorship, and sent the royal Audiencia to govern, and as governor and captain-general its president, one Santiago de Vera." On the latter's arrival he finds Diego Ronquillo governing because of Gonzalo's death. An Indian, in snuffing the candles on the latter's catafalque, accidentally sets fire to some rich draperies. The fire remains unnoticed and smoulders until, the friars in attendance having left the church, it bursts into flame, and the city is entirely burned, and the site of the fort, Santiago, becomes a lake. Tomas Vimble (Candish), who captures the Santa Ana near California in 1587, sets all its crew ashore, with the exception of a priest whom he hangs. Alonso Sanchez's voyage to Spain and Rome as procurator-general is influential in the suppression of the Audiencia and the election of Gomez Perez Dasmariñas as governor. Sanchez "wrote some treatises about the justification of the kings of España, and their right of title to the Filipinas, which merit that time do not bury them, although they exist in the archives of the Council of the Indias. He seems a prophet in many of his statements in those treatises." [35]

In Chapter II some of the leading events of the term of Gomez Perez Dasmariñas are noted, and his unfortunate death. Such is his activity and care "that he alone aggrandized that city more than had all his predecessors, or his successors to this time." Negotiations are opened with Japan, and the embassy from Camboja begging for aid against Siam is received at Manila. "I believe," says Los Rios, "that if he had done it, it would have been a great stroke of fortune, and your Majesty would justly be lord of that kingdom and of Sian, which is very wealthy. That is the only thing in which I believe that Gomez Perez erred."

The succession of Luis Perez Dasmariñas to the government of the Philippines, and the designs of the Chinese to capture the islands, form the subject matter of Chapter III. By virtue of his father's will and a royal decree empowering the latter to name his successor in case of absence or death, Luis Perez takes over the command from Pedro de Rojas, who has been elected by the city, with which "all the city received great happiness, both because of what they owed the father, and the love that they bore the son, of whose heroic virtues much might be said." The Chinese send a vast fleet to Manila in charge of a number of mandarins, in order to conquer Luzón, because they fear the Spaniards, and "would much rather see us very far from their kingdom than to have the gain derived from us ... The governor received the mandarins and their embassy, who pretended that they came to trade, and asked us not to receive the Japanese in our ports, who are their mortal enemies; and taking farewell of them with a good countenance, he sent them to their own country. The next year one of those mandarins returned disguised, in order to act the spy, but as I was inspecting the ships, I noticed and arrested him; but such is the cunning of those people, that he was able to clear himself, so that it seemed better to the governor and to Doctor Antonio de Morga, his lieutenant of justice, to allow the mandarin to return to his own country."

The expedition to Camboja by Gallinato, and events there, and the arrival of Mendaña's ship at Manila are told in Chapter IV. Blaz Ruyz, Diego Veloso, and Pantaleon Carnero, having seized the vessel on which they were being carried as prisoners to Siam from Camboja, arrive at Manila, and induce the sending of the three vessels under Gallinato. [36] The latter, however, is blown out of his course as far as the strait of Sincapura. The other two vessels under Blas Ruyz and Diego Veloso reach Camboja, but the ship of the latter is wrecked on the coast. "A relative of the legitimate king was then ruling, one Nancaparan Prabantul," whom their arrival does not please. The trouble with the Chinese follows, of the three thousand of whom, the Spaniards kill five hundred, and the consequent embassy of Blas Ruyz with forty men to Sistor. The king's refusal to treat with them unless they make reparation to the Chinese, and his evident preparations to seize their small body of men, lead to the attack on the palace, the killing of the king and one of his sons, and the flight to the Spanish ship, leaving three killed--one Indian, one Japanese, and one Spaniard--but with many wounded. Gallinato's arrival at this juncture puts an end to affairs there, and all depart for Cochinchina, where Blas Ruyz and Diego Veloso go to find the legitimate king of Camboja at Laos, "crossing those kingdoms for more than two hundred leguas, through territory where a Spaniard had never been seen ... I have related this event because of the many fictions that were told here about Captain Gallinato, who, although a good soldier, did nothing else in the kingdom of Camboxa. Of it Fray Diego Duarte, a Dominican, now residing at Alcala de Henares, procurator of his order in the Filipinas Islands, who was one of those who were present at the death of the king of Camboxa--and not the least important one there--and Captain Don Miguel de Xaque de los Rios, now at this court, are witnesses." The arrival at Manila of "Doña Isabel Varreto," wife of "Alvaro de Amendaña," is chronicled. The discovery that they attempted to make from Peru can be made better from the Philippines, and at less cost, because of its proximity to those regions.