Chapter XVII: Book 7: , folio 87. On those three sections the visitor based his charge (1)

and the royal officials their rebuttal. The visitor ordered that, notwithstanding what they alleged, the royal officials should give a sworn statement of the collections made and of those still due, for the general account of the year 631.

In charge 3. The disadvantage and loss to the royal treasury alleged by the visitor, because the statements are not so given, is that that has resulted in there being more than sixty thousand pesos of royal revenue to collect, of which results [_resultas_] have been made in the visit against the said royal officials, besides others that are being made.

Point 3

In regard to the inconveniences from having this office or tribunal in those islands, I do not find that the royal officials of the islands, who are the ones who could best make such a representation, have made it. They have only opposed the jurisdiction and authority that the auditor of accounts has possessed or claimed to possess for the exercise of his duty; and they declare that the tribunal of accounts of those islands, which is composed of the governor and two auditors [_oidores_] is the one that truly holds and exercises this ministry of the auditing department of accounts, and that the auditor [_contador_] whom they call "auditor of accounts" cannot be that official, and cannot be so called, but only "auditor-arranger of accounts." They say that it is not fitting for one man alone to be superior to the tribunal of the royal officials, for thereby is lost their authority and the superiority and influence that they ought to have for the efficient management and exercise of their duties; and that the expenses incurred with the said auditor of accounts and his clerks ought to be dispensed with, for the said reasons. In this regard what appears from the records of the visit is that Governor Don Juan de Silva, in a treasury meeting held in the year 610 (Book 7, folio 301), resolved to assign to the auditor of accounts and results [_resultas_] (joining those two offices, which had up to that time been divided) a salary of 1,000 pesos of common gold per annum, payable from the royal treasury, for the work of both offices. Until that time, it appears that the auditors of accounts had had only one official notary of accounts, with 250 pesos of salary per annum. By the said resolution it was raised to 300 pesos; and the clerks were increased by three, each with 200 pesos salary per annum--in consideration of the fact that there were many accounts in arrears to catch up with, and that the said two offices were joined into one. Other appointments resembling the one aforesaid were made in the persons of Pedro de Leuzarra, in the year 618, and Luis de Vera Encalada, in the year 620. At this time the said chief official notary of this exchequer was given a salary of 450 pesos, without its appearing when or why this increase was granted; and that same practice was continued. In the year 626, Alonso Garcia de la Vega was appointed with the title of "auditor-arranger" (Book 7, folio 65), in accordance with the act of the Audiencia above mentioned. In the year 629, Juan Baptista de Zubiaga was appointed [_In the margin_: "Memorial, folio 266, Book 1, folios 49, 128"] with the title of "auditor-arranger," and four clerks, of whom we shall treat at the end of this paper, its proper place.

Against the statements of the royal officials, in regard to its being possible to avoid those expenses, the auditor of accounts, Luis de Encalada, stated in the year 625, in the suit that he had with them, that they could not be avoided, for the tribunal of accounts, consisting of the governor and two auditors [_oidores_] cannot personally arrange or audit them, both because of their occupations and because it is outside their profession; and their only duty is to dispose of the uncertainties and results [_resultas_] which may be proposed to them by the auditor of accounts.

[Point 4]

Papers of the secretary's office. In regard to the advantages in having this office or tribunal, it seems that Governor Don Alonso Faxardo, in a letter of August 10, 619, [74] petitioned your Majesty to have intelligent persons sent as clerks; and informed your Majesty that he had appointed Pedro de Leuzarra, a trustworthy person, auditor of accounts, because of the incompetency of Francisco Lopez Tamayo. The Council, upon examining that letter, decreed, November 17, 620, that persons be named for that office, and that it was to be filled from that time thenceforth by his Majesty; and accordingly the appointment by the governor must cease.

That decree does not appear to have had any effect; for since that time and until the present, as has been seen, the governors have filled that office, notwithstanding that the Council gave that advice in the said year, and your Majesty granted the office to Alvaro de Revolledo. As it was then believed that the salary of this office was 500 pesos, the said Alvaro de Revolledo petitioned that it be increased to 2,000 ducados or to 510,000 maravedis, the same as that of the royal officials of those islands, so that he could exercise the said office with greater authority. No decision was made on the petition, and the said Alvaro de Rebolledo was afterward appointed to the accountancy of San Miguel de Piura, with a salary of 300 pesos ensayados.

The tribunal of accounts of Mexico state, in a letter of June 27, 625, that they have seen the necessity, from what they have examined of the accounts of the said Filipinas Islands, of sending a person to visit them who can adjust affairs pertaining to the expenses of the royal estate of those islands, and lay down a system [of conducting them] for the future. The person who must go should be of the ability, authority, and qualifications that the matter demands. He should be highly compensated and honored, in order that his office be respected and the end in view obtained. It is the most important action for your Majesty's service, and has most need of reform.

It appears that the said Alvaro de Rebolledo again petitioned, in the year 626, that his warrant be despatched to him, with the salary that your Majesty might be pleased to grant him, so that, its value being known, he might be able to fulfil his duties. February 19, 626, it was decreed by the Council that he should be heard. Thereupon, the Council ordered the viceroy to investigate this matter, and to submit a relation of whatever had happened in regard to the office of auditor of accounts of Manila, and whether this office is necessary, whether it be for life, and what are its qualifications and duties; and of the tribunal of accounts. In obedience to this order, the viceroy, Marquis de Cerralbo, in a letter of May 22, 627, states that what he understands is that it is necessary that this office be permanent, and that very suitable persons trained in the tribunal of accounts and the other duties of the royal estate, should be found [for it]; and that it will be advisable that the official who should exercise it be approved by the governor of Filipinas.

The tribunal of accounts of Mexico, in a letter of May 28, of the same year 627, sent a report regarding the aforesaid which had been drawn up, by order of the viceroy, by one of the auditors [_oidores_] of the tribunal, Gaspar Bello de Acuña. In this it is declared that it is necessary that not only should the accounts of the royal treasury in Manila be audited, but also the accounts of all the royal estate which should be in the keeping of any person whatever; for this was a thing that has never been customary there, or had regular course, because of the resistance offered by the royal officials. The said accounts are of much more importance than any others; and it is therefore important to appoint a person who is thoroughly competent and reliable to inspect everything pertaining to the royal estate of the said islands; for the accountants hitherto appointed have been remiss in their proceedings. That has arisen from the poverty of the country, and from all being united there; or because those who try to proceed with any show of thoroughness in your Majesty's service do not find aid in those who can give it in a matter that is of so great importance; and because this office, from what is understood of the condition of the royal estate in those islands, is subject to ordinary occupation and residence, and has a salary of one thousand pesos per annum. Since not more than one is appointed, he will need a clerk to help him in the methodical arrangement of the said accounts, and what is dependent on them. For the said office of accountant, a fully competent person, and one of abilities, will be needed. He should be well equipped, and honored with the necessary writs of prohibition for matters pertaining to his office, and with the privileges that may pertain to it. It is advisable that he should be sent as visitor of all things that concern the royal estate, to audit the accounts that are to be audited, and review those that are concluded, notwithstanding the visitor-general appointed; for the latter cannot have the intelligence, experience, and method which your Majesty orders to be exercised in such matters--which are understood only by those who have gained their knowledge in the chief bureau of accounts of those kingdoms. Such a person can be appointed with a time-limit, and, at the expiration of that time, he may return; and another man of skill and experience may remain as the ordinary and usual one, with the title of "auditor of accounts" for your Majesty; and he should receive the ordinary salary that your Majesty cares to grant him, and have a clerk to help him.

The Council, upon examination of the above-mentioned reports, decreed on December 6, 627, that the papers that occasioned them should be collected, and taken to the Council. From that time, it does not appear that anything pertaining to this matter has been done in or out of the Council until the year 631, upon the arrival of the visitor, Licentiate Don Francisco de Rojas, at the said islands. He having found Juan Baptista Zubiaga holding the said office of auditor-arranger of accounts and results [_resultas_], by the appointment of the governor in the year 629, ordered the said Juan Baptista to cease to exercise his duties, and to bring the papers in his charge to the visitor's office; and ruled that there the said Juan Baptista and Diego Ortiz de Vargas, auditor [_contador_] of the visit, should together review all the accounts of the royal treasury and estate, with four other clerks. They were to receive the following salaries: the said Diego de Ortiz de Vargas, 2,000 ducados; the said Juan Baptista, 1,000 pesos, the same as he had received before [when exercising his office]; to one clerk 400 pesos, to another, 350, to another 300, and to the fourth 200.

Later, at the end of the visit in the year 633, the said visitor gave the said Juan Baptista de Zubiaga the title of "auditor of accounts and results" [_resultas_] with a salary of 1,000 ducados per annum, increasing his salary [_In the margin_: "Memorial, folio 266"] because of the extra work which he would have in collecting [the amounts due from] the results [_resultas_] which remained drawn in his possession. He was to get a confirmation from your Majesty for the increase, namely, from the 1,000 pesos which he received before to the 1,000 ducados assigned to him by the visitor, within six years. Besides the above, he was to have two clerks to assist him and commission to audit all the accounts, both general and private, pertaining to the royal estate. [_In the margin_: "The title is to be found in the collection of papers for the claim of this man in regard to the confirmation."]

He made rules in regard to its execution, and ordered them to be obeyed and observed, and to be inscribed in the royal books for that purpose. Although the royal officials were opposed to both things, the visitor ordered them to obey the enactment. Because the said royal officials refused to inscribe the said ordinances in the royal books, he fined them five hundred ducados apiece, which remained in the royal treasury. He had those ordinances inscribed in the books, getting the books for that purpose from the royal treasury, for the royal officials refused to do it [_In the margin_: "Memorial, folio 266"]. In the report made for your Majesty by the said visitor in the year 634, regarding the visit, he states that he thinks that those islands have the greatest need of a tribunal of the bureau of accounts, so that the accounts of the royal treasury may be audited there annually for the preceding year, and results made of all for which warrants have been improperly issued, and that has failed to be collected, thus avoiding the delays which have occurred hitherto. It is very necessary to have not only the said auditor of accounts appointed by him in the said bureau of accounts, but also a greater force of men and more authority in the said bureau of accounts. If that course had been pursued hitherto, it is undeniable that so great a quantity of funds would not have been badly administered, lost, and uncollectible. In his opinion, those islands have much greater need of a tribunal or a bureau of accounts than of an Audiencia, president, and auditors [_oidores_].

By a certification given by the said auditor of accounts and of the visit, Juan Baptista Zubiaga, it appears that the results [_resultas_] drawn up against the royal officials and other private persons during the visit amounted to six hundred and ninety-five thousand and sixty pesos.

The governor of Filipinas, in a letter written to your Majesty August 10, 634, [75] declares that it will be advisable that your Majesty be pleased to send an auditor of accounts, and that such auditor should be a person of authority, who shall receive an adequate salary; and states that he who is holding that office _ad interim_ was a servant of one of the auditors [_oidores_] of those islands, and thinks more of spending his time in maintaining his friendships than in attending to what is necessary. He thinks that with the above appointment, and the correction of some recent ordinances, the condition of affairs would be improved.

A report made from the secretary's office having been examined in the Council on September 26, 635, regarding what appeared to be there on this matter, it was ordered that your fiscal should examine it; and that, after also examining what advices had been received concerning it and the letters of the visitor, he should inform the Council in regard to it all. The said your fiscal declared that the ordinances and papers sent by the royal officials had come without authentication; and therefore, until they should come with that requisite, he had nothing to say.

This defect no longer operates, for the above-mentioned ordinances have arrived duly authenticated, in the body of the [records of the] visit; and the officials, in a letter in which they set forth the objections to those ordinances, have sent some authenticated papers for the proof of their statements.

On February 20, 637, the papers on the matter having been examined in the Council, it was ordered that they be taken to your fiscal, with the rest of the papers concerning the visit that touch the royal estates and its accounts--so that, upon receiving his statement, the advisable decision may be made as to whether it is best to send an auditor of accounts to Filipinas, or not. It does not appear that the said your fiscal has as yet answered. This is the condition that appears from the above-cited records; and your Majesty will ordain the measures that seem best to you.

THE CONQUEST OF MINDANAO

_Letter from Father Marcelo Francisco Mastrili, [76] in which he gives account of the conquest of Mindanao to Father Juan de Zalazar, [77] provincial of the Society of Jesus in the Filipinas Islands._

_Gratia, et pax Christi, etc._

I would by no means have expected, Father, your Reverence's command to inform you of our expedition to Mindanao, had you known that the letters which I wrote to Father Juan de Bueras from Lamitan had remained at Sanboanga; because, since I recounted in them, with much detail, all the events of the conquest of Mindanao, I asked him to read them to your Reverence, so that, without fatiguing yourself with my separate letter, you might know what had happened. And now, having in obedience to your command, departed for Taytay, I will here relate to you faithfully as much as I can remember.

Your Reverence of course knows how Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, governor of these islands, having determined on the expedition to Mindanao, called a general council of war, in which all were of adverse opinion, saving only his nephew, Sargento-mayor Don Pedro Hurtado de Corcuera. In spite of this, constrained by desire for his own glory, and for the honor of the two Majesties, the human and the divine, he resolved, notwithstanding the contrary opinion of the entire council, to persevere in his pious intentions. On the day, therefore, of the Purification of our Lady, February second of this year 1637, having with all the soldiers attended confession and communion in the chapels of the palace, he ordered them to embark in eleven champans, which were already provided for this purpose. Father Juan de Barrios and I embarked in the flagship with his Lordship, and Sargento-mayor Don Marcos Zapata, whom he brought for a companion, and to sit at his table. The priest Don Juan, chaplain of the fleet, sailed on the almiranta, with Sargento-mayor Don Pedro Hurtado de Corcuera; and an Augustinian friar came, as confessor for the Pampangos, in Lorenço Ugalde's champan.

The previous day a letter had come from the archbishop, stating that there were eighty hostile caracoas at the island of Mindanao; so his Lordship, in order to surprise them, sailed with five champans for the opposite and outer coast of the island, and directed Captain Ugalde to skirt the inner coast, with the rest of the boats, as far as Point Nasso, [78] on the shore of the island of Othon. The fact that they found no trace of enemies anywhere, stamped the report as false, and as inspired by the effort of the devil for the purpose of hindering us in our journey; for we were compelled, by taking this route, to toil for more than twelve days in order to cover the distance of twelve leguas to this Point Nasso in Othon, the brisas being dead ahead when we attempted to round the cape. One day when (an opportunity offering) we were trying to double it, the fury of the wind and the sea was so great that we broke the steering-gear, and there was great danger of the ship's foundering, and of our being drowned. I would have been drowned more quickly than anyone else, for, being at the stern, I became entangled with the sheets of the sail, [79] at the time of the furious and unexpected turn which the ship (being no longer under control) gave, through the force of the wind.

So great, in fact, was the rage and pain which the evil one suffered on account of our expedition, and what he already feared [from it] that, as I afterward knew with certainty, he often complained to a certain person, speaking in an audible voice in the woods, saying: "Why come ye? What do ye seek? Who brought you here? Curses on you; I will deprive you of life, and we will have done with this!" I did not believe this at the time, as coming from the father of lies; but he taught us later, by experience, how much he did to make his word good.

Now, although all these things were enough in themselves to cause some trouble, yet the most agreeable conversation of his Lordship, with the pious division which he made of the hours of the day, left the evil one no opportunity. For, in the morning, Father Juan de Barrios and I said mass; there with his Lordship we recited the canonical hours, the office to our Lady, matins, and the prayers for the dead; in the afternoon at vespers, the same prayers, and the holy matins, and the prayers to the Virgin; in the early evening we had the _Salve_ [_i.e._, "Hail, Mary"], with the public litany; and at night prayers for the souls in purgatory, usually relating some miracle, which was of great profit to many. Nor need your Reverence think that we lost any time because of the contrariety of the winds at Point Nasso that I mentioned; for orders were despatched to the Pintados Islands by the Indian volunteers, and sent to Othon with the _falua_ [80] by Adjutant Don Francisco Olozaran--who returned in a champan with the father rector of Othon, Father Francisco Angel, [81] and Father Gregorio Belin. The latter was going from Samboanga to Manila to give his Lordship the news of the victory won by Sargento-mayor Nicolas Gonçalez over seven caracoas from Mindanao, which were returning, with some slaves and sacred ornaments, from plundering the islands. The father rector brought with him from Othon excellent provisions, and afterward he gave the whole fleet much better at Iloilo. His Lordship arrived at that place with the aforesaid father, in the falua, three days before we did, in order to have time to visit the fort, and see whether the boats of Captain Briones were prepared for the relief of our troops in Mindanao. On the arrival of the champans, Father Angel disembarked, to return to his mission in the island of Negros; and the father rector of Othon embarked in Captain Martin Monte's champan, with his Lordship's orders for Samboanga, which place we reached on the twenty-second of February.

Here his Lordship commanded that neither the [cannon of the] fort nor the musketry should be discharged at his approach, in order not to make a noise and thus make his presence known; and for the same reason he ordered that no vessels should go out of the river. In spite of all this Corralat soon knew of his coming, through the son of a chief of Basilan, who at that time was imprisoned in the fort of Samboanga, with orders that he was not to be released except upon urgent request by the [Jesuit] fathers, so that in this way they might secure the goodwill of the Moros. The next day general communion was proclaimed, together with an indulgence and full jubilee for the whole camp, for the first Sunday in Lent--his Lordship obliging all the soldiers to give certificates of confession and communion to their officers; and he had his own servants do the same thing, for I found him one day collecting the certificates with his own hands. All this was done with great fervor, and with many general confessions, in which the continual discourses and sermons of those days aided greatly. All received communion on Sunday with his Lordship, the blessed sacrament being exposed, and all were present later at Father Berlin's [_sic_] sermon. In the evening, at the time of replacing the Host, his Lordship was again present with all the soldiery, because he had appointed me in the morning to preach the evening sermon on the reverence and devotion necessary to be observed in church, in the presence of so great a Majesty. This I did to the best of my ability, at the end inspiring the soldiers for the campaign, and inciting them to battle by showing them, painted on canvas, [82] a figure of Christ, whose feet and right arm the Moros had cut off; in the middle of it they had made a large hole, using the cloth as a _chinina_, or small mantle. This a Moro actually wore, and they killed him while he had it on, the day when Nicolas Gonçalez captured the caracoas. Father Berlin brought it with the sacred ornaments to his Lordship; and he, knowing that I had been on the lookout for some such thing in Manila, as soon as he saw it at Point Nasso, gave it to me. When I showed this image to the soldiers, and exhorted them to avenge with arms the injuries of the holy Christ, such were the tears, and so great the tender devotion and holy desire for vengeance with which they were fired, that (as they afterward told me) they would, on leaving the church, have been willing to offer battle with all the world [against them]. The effects were very marked, and much tenderness [of feeling was displayed], so that at last it was openly said that the mother who had no sons in this glorious enterprise was very unfortunate.

With this fervor and so excellent preparation, the champans departed on the trip to Mindanao, [83] which is sixty leguas from Samboanga, on the third of March, and on the fourth all the rest of us set out, with his Lordship, in eleven caracoas. In all, four companies embarked, three of Spaniards, and one of Pampangos. His Lordship's company consisted of a hundred and fifty soldiers; Nicolas Gonçalez had one hundred, and Ugalde as many more, who were seamen; the master-of-camp had that of the Pampangos. I would not fail to write of what happened on Tuesday, when the champans departed. We all wished that his Lordship would not go until Saturday, that we might see whether some of the Indian scouts would not return in the meanwhile; but I did not wish to ask it from him until I had commended the matter to God. I asked the father rector to say mass to St. Francis Xavier for my intention, and I also said it. Then we withdrew into a room, and, after suitable prayer, his Lordship opened the book of the letters of that saint (which I hold to be a divine guide), pointing out beforehand the part which was to be read, and these were the words: _Many times we think that our own opinion might be better; nevertheless, we must leave affairs to Him who governs them, if we wish to succeed._ The will of the saint was plain to be seen, nor did I desire to contrive further speech about the arrangements with his Lordship. And truly all things were guided by Heaven in order to give him the glorious victory which he attained--to the confusion of the Moros and the undeceiving of the Indians, who now know that the Spaniards can, when they choose, fight in their territory without them.

In the gulf of La Silanga we met with a very severe and dangerous tempest, of which we rid ourselves by exorcisms and sacred relics, as is our way in dealing with things evidently planned by the evil one. Here Nicolas Gonçalez waited with eight caracoas to tow the champans through La Silanga, which is a strait of the sea two leguas long, between the great island of Mindanao and another and small island. His Lordship, with four of the caracoas, went to Punta de Flechas, so called from the ceremony and superstition of the Moros in shooting arrows at one of its rocks when they are returning to their own country, to show their thankfulness to Mahomet. Here we remained for two days, awaiting the vessels of the fleet; during this time I said mass on shore, having beforehand uttered tremendous conjurations against the evil one, as holy Mother Church is wont to do, with her exorcisms, holy water, etc. Then our people burned all the arrows, of infinite number, that were fixed on that headland, with a thousand other things--articles of food, such as fish, eggs, etc.--which, as a sign of their devotion, they are wont to leave fastened to the rock with black pegs. We set up a number of crosses in different places, and then the name of the place was solemnly changed to Punta de San Sebastian, in order that that saint, with his holy arrows, might complete the destruction of those infernal and accursed ones which for so many years have vexed us. The name was given also in commemoration of the fact that Don Sebastian [_i.e._, Corcuera] has been the first governor to cast anchor here and to round this cape; besides this, the marvelous fall of this rock in the night when Nicolas Gonçalez fought within sight of it, we all attribute to this saint, who desired to give to Don Sebastian pledges for the glorious campaign of Mindanao, since only that part of the rock fell which faced toward Mindanao--as we all saw with wonder. While we were here, a light vessel came from the enemy to reconnoiter our fleet; our falua gave chase, but, being very far away, could not overtake it. We, however, encountered a small boat containing four of our Indian captives who had fled from the enemy; they informed us that several Javanese ships were on the point of departure from Mindanao, laden with Christian slaves. I confess to your Reverence that this was not news to his Lordship, but he was cut to the heart by the misery of so many souls, and he at once decided to sail night and day in order to overtake the ships. This holy zeal was the sole and true reason for his pushing on without halt till he came up with them, instead of waiting for his fleet; and he was well rewarded by Heaven with so fortunate a victory, as your Reverence will see.

Now the evil spirit, who for so many years had dwelt at this Punta de Flechas, undertook to oppose us and hinder our advance. For three times, by the violence of the wind and sea, we were turned back; and the fourth time, without any contrary wind, we remained motionless for more than an hour, although our caracoa had ninety _barrigas_ (as they call rowers on the Pintados Islands). Thus the work of the evil one was plainly to be seen; but, by casting a few holy relics into the sea and pronouncing exorcisms, as before, we soon passed on.

These deceptions and obstacles of the invisible enemy being overcome, we came in sight of Mindanao, without recognizing it, on Friday the thirteenth of March, with four caracoas. When I had finished saying mass--this was before dawn--his Lordship embarked in the falua, and with only six soldiers went to reconnoiter the place, to sound the rivers and harbors of the coast, and to see whether any Moro who could serve as a guide might be captured, for we had none. He pursued several of them up to their own shore, discharged two muskets at them, and nevertheless they fled up the river, abandoning their vessels. In response to these shots, the report of a cannon was heard from inland; this gave us much cause for fear, seeing that his Lordship was so bold, and we dreaded lest he had engaged with the enemy. Then we recited the litany, and other prayers; and, rowing as fast as possible, met them coming back. The governor embarked in his caracoa at eleven o'clock in the morning, and placed in order all four of the caracoas, with the two champans of our fleet--those of Captains Don Rodrigo and Ugalde, which had arrived three days before, and captured three caracoas from the enemy. [84] From another direction there came, under a white flag, a letter from the Recollect fathers whom the Moros held captive there, that [our men?] should inform them of what was going on. He cast anchor near the mouth of the river, where some huts were to be seen, without knowing what village it was; [85] and turning to me, said: "I will quarter my men in those cabins tonight." Then he ordered all to eat; and having sent Adjutant Don Francisco Olazaran to land with twenty-five musketeers to seize the shore, and sounding the trumpets and the drums, discharging the ship's cannon in the direction of the harbor, his Lordship disembarked, with all his soldiers--who, between Spaniards and Pampangos, amounted to seventy men. The sargento-mayor of the forces and the admiral of the fleet, Don Pedro Hurtado de Corcuera, drew up the forces on the beach, placing, at his Lordship's direction, two field-pieces in the vanguard; and these were the terror of the enemy. Here, after I had aroused and encouraged the soldiers with the [sight of the] miraculous picture of St. Francis Xavier on one side, and that of the holy Christ (which I mentioned above) on the other--the two suspended from a lance--I walked between the vanguard and the body of the troops, with Father Juan de Barrios, the Augustinian father, and the chaplain of the fleet, which line of march we preserved during the whole campaign. At the time when we were disembarking one of our captive Indians came swimming toward us from the land, and we learned from him that this was the port of Corralat; but he was in such terror of the many musket-shots which the Moros, on seeing us, fired at him from an ambuscade which they had prepared against our people, that he could tell us nothing more. And so we marched on without knowing whether in the aforesaid port there were any force of arms or soldiers; we took for granted that what had always been said of the place was true--namely, that all the defenses of Corralat were upon the hill above, and not in the town below. Yet because this was the cause of God, where human means failed, I besought His Divine Majesty, together with the saints, to illumine with especial light his Lordship [the governor], so that, leaving the open road from the shore to the town, he should march with his soldiers by the road on the right. This route compelled us to cross the river twice, with considerable difficulty for the two cannon and for the person of his Lordship, who plunged into the water with all the rest of the soldiers. In spite of all this, it saved us from two very great dangers: one of them the armed ambuscade on the left side of the road, in the thickly-wooded part of a little hill--which we could hardly have escaped, as the road was very marshy, and was blocked by reeds, fruit plantations, and houses. The other peril was even greater; all the cannon of the fort were trained in the aforesaid direction [toward the left], and could not harm us, because they could not be turned to the right. The truth is that they had trained two chambered culverins very low against our path at the foot of the fortification--which would doubtless have done us much injury, but, through their great fear and confusion, no one succeeded in firing them.

After God had delivered us, without our knowing it, from perils so great, considering the small numbers of our expedition, his Lordship was marching in the vanguard, by the road which he had miraculously chosen. We had crossed the river for the first time, and the artillery and musketry were soon clearing the field as far as a stockade near the river, where the Moros made their first stand. Here it happened that, upon his Lordship's going forward for a moment to see what enemy lay behind the stockade, four Moros set upon him with their campilans; he very swiftly faced about, to fire at them his gun, which a negro at his side always bore; and, not seeing the servant (for he had fallen a little behind), his Lordship fell to with his sword, with such spirit that the Moros, disheartened, soon fled. In spite of this, one of the Moros--Borongon, Corralat's most valiant captain--going out most courageously from the other side of the stockade, tried to prevent our men (who were now ready to cross the river for the second time) from attacking the fort, which had been descried from this first stockade. He valiantly wounded two, and, for a third, attacked Captain Lorenço de Ugalde who was leading half the troops in this direction--the rest, under Captain Don Rodrigo, marching along the right bank of the river, where a great number of Moros was now gathering. Captain Ugalde parried with his shield the first two blows of the campilan; and then, rushing in with his sword, gave Borongon many wounds in the face, being unable to reach his breast because of the arms that the Moro carried; but he forced him to retire. His retreat, however, availed but little, because of the furious musket-fire of our men; and finally Don Francisco Olaceran's sword completed the work, and the Moro captain went into the river. And now, after this man's death, our troops went on, without further resistance, to the fort. It was furnished with a new moat, and was full of arms; and it had eight pieces of artillery in bronze, twenty-seven culverins [_versos_], many muskets with rests [?; _de pinsote_], arquebuses, and other hand-arms. There was a garrison of more than two thousand Moros for the fortress and the port, as we were told by Sosocan (a Moro friendly to us, and very well informed in regard to the equipment and strength of Corralat). All this profited them little, however; for so pressing was our attack that very soon we were masters of all, and Alférez Amesquita raised his flag above the fort. Many Moros had been killed, and the rest fled badly wounded, as we learned on the following day from our prisoners. At this place we killed the commander of the fort, a grandson of Corralat--the son of one of his daughters, who had married the lord of the lake [86] [country]--a very spirited youth, of whom his grandfather was very fond. He had that day vowed to Mahomet not to abandon the fort until his death, and thus he fulfilled his promise.

Seeing now our flags on the enemy's stockade, we soon, with his Lordship, crossed the river for the second time; and climbing up on the other side, I also raised my standard, that of Christ and St. Francis Xavier. We all sang the _Te Deum laudamus_; and, after his Lordship had given the name of St. Francis Xavier to the fort and had left Alférez Amesquita as its governor, with a garrison of soldiers, we advanced to the rear of a stockade which Corralat defended with its one cannon, and to the mosque. Here the Moros had rallied for the last time, trusting in what their captain-general [_condestable_] had told them, that they were not to retreat until they saw him fall. He believed, by some witchcraft or other, that our bullets could not injure him; and he had had proof of this, for once a ball had broken the bone of his leg, crippling him, but without breaking the skin or drawing blood. In this confidence, he came out with his men to defy us, but Captain Zubire at once leveled his musket at him, and sent two balls through his forehead; this was the only portion of his body uncovered, the rest of it being protected by an English shield. The wretched man fell dead on the spot, and instantly all the rest in the stockade and the mosque lost courage, left their arms, and fled with all possible speed to the woods. At this same time Don Rodrigo, marching with his detachment between the slope of the hill and the river, charged the enemy so valiantly that by force he compelled them to abandon all their ships--which, for fear of us, they had hidden two days before in a broad inlet to this same river. Here they thought the ships would be safe, because they had brought them in so quietly, and because the place was so far away from the mouth of the river.

Thus in a little more than half an hour we gained possession of all below [the hill], and we would have captured the heights above on the same day, had we had all our forces, for the Moros fled in so great fright that Corralat himself had covered his face with mud so as not to be recognized by our men. This was told us by one of his servants, a Christian, who came to us the following morning, reporting a great number of Moros wounded--especially the king of the Lake, who was suffering with a bullet-wound in the breast; he had come to celebrate some marriage, that of a cousin of his with a daughter of Corralat. From this captive, and others, we learned that Corralat had desired, in any event, to surrender to the governor, but that the Christians had not consented to this, and had persuaded him to make a defense, promising that they would fight in the front rank. This promise they fulfilled, especially the day of the assault upon the hill, for it was they who did us the most injury; but they paid the penalty of this advice, not only with the property which we took from their ships, but with their lives, which the Moros themselves took in anger at their bad advice.

After the fight, the soldiers commenced to sack the houses; and the governor, having seen all the ships as far as the river above, retired with those who had accompanied him, to the mosque. Here the first thing that was done was to take the great chair of Mahomet, with his books and other paraphernalia, and burn them. What we saw when we came to take out this throne certainly surprised us; for, before we reached the fire, two most venomous serpents came out from the feet of the chair, terrifying the soldiers greatly. And truly, nothing other than serpents and poison ought to guard the chair of the great devil of Mindanao. When the chair was burned, together with all else that savored of superstition, we consecrated the mosque to our Lady with the _Salve_; and early the next morning (which was Saturday, the fourteenth of March), having dedicated the church to God with the title of "Our Lady of Good Fortune," we commenced to say masses in it, at a very beautiful altar, which served us during the twelve days while we were there.

This same mosque, being very large and conveniently situated, served for headquarters; his Lordship and the other captains lodged there, the other houses round about being used for the soldiers--although our being on the bank of the river, very near the woods, and somewhat distant from the fort, brought it about that every night the Moros attacked us. Because of the continual showers of rain that fall at night, they might have given us a great deal of trouble (since we cannot use firearms when it is wet), if his Lordship's wise arrangements and planning had not provided for everything; for after having fortified the road to the hill with a very strong ravelin guarded by soldiers, etc., great fires burned every night around the camp. The sentinels continually called out the watchword; and all the sargentos-mayor and captains, and often his Lordship himself, made the rounds. The Moros, therefore, seeing us always vigilant, dared not attack us openly, but a few of the bravest tried their fortune in attacking us, and these were often at the mouth of the river, when our men were going to or from the fleet. One night, returning from visiting the sick, I was there in a small champan, with only Captain Rodrigo and four Sangleys--who, in their fear, not seeing the way ran the boat on a shoal. It certainly was a miracle of God that the Moros did not notice this; for, if they had, they would surely have killed us. I escaped at that place another great danger, for, not knowing that by day the Moros lay continually in ambuscade in some little huts quite a distance from the fort, I went each day among them; and it pleased God that they never saw me. When his Lordship learned of these ambuscades, he ordered the huts burned.

The vessels which were in the river the first day could not be taken to the fort until the next day, the tide being low. There were more than thirty of these ships--large, medium-sized, and small--the greater part of them laden with a thousand things, especially five or six very large vessels from Java, full of wax, oil, rice, and other articles of merchandise. All our people had the benefit of these things, except of a certain quantity of wax, which was kept for the king, together with a great number of arms. There were eight cannon of bronze, with ladles; twenty-seven versos, a cast-iron pedrero, a great many chambers for versos, and more than a hundred muskets and arquebuses; and an infinite quantity of bullets, iron, powder, arrows, and _sompites_, a kind of little arrow which they shoot by means of blowpipes [87]--so poisonous that, unless very powerful remedies are soon applied, it kills in a few hours. Other implements of warfare were found in the powder-house, which we used as barracks for the Pampangos.

The next day the rest of the champans and caracoas of our fleet began to arrive, and the governor at once appointed Captain Mena as head of the fleet for all the time while we should be at Mindanao. For governor of Fort St. Francis Xavier, he chose Sargento-mayor Palomino, who fortified it and put it in order, fencing it in on all sides, with its port-holes and defenses, and adding around it a hidden rampart with embrasures, so that it could contain two ranks of artillery and musketry. On this enterprise Don Pedro Hurtado de Corcuera worked very hard, for he is especially skilled in the Flemish mode of fortification; and the governor himself gave the plan for the building and his hands for the work, turning the first earth with the spade.

Two days more, Sunday and Monday, were spent in making many sorties and in burning many neighboring places, Captain Rodrigo with his men traveling by land, and Captain Ugalde with his, by sea, until they reached the former dwelling of Corralat, which is called Puerto de las Savanillas. [88] They burned all the houses, together with many other villages and some large ships which they found concealed in a river. The other soldiers who remained in the camp busied themselves in launching all the sunken caracoas (which were many) with which the Moros were wont to make raids; and in searching out whatever was buried. This included many chambers for versos; also iron, wax, and three bells--besides the large one which stood at the door of the mosque, mouth upward, full of water in which the Moros washed their feet before entering the mosque.

On this Sunday morning, his Lordship sent also to Samboanga a Moro caracoa full of our Christian prisoners and Sangleys, who had been coming in great numbers to the camp since the first day, especially on Saturday morning. At the same time, a boat came by way of the river with the Indian who had been our prisoner for many years, accompanied by twelve others of his household--his wife, his son, his father-in-law, etc., most of them Moros. At the stern of the boat was a large cross with a white flag suspended from it. This sight, you may be sure, drew tears of joy from us all, at seeing the spoils so valiantly snatched away from the great devil of Mindanao. I was caused some anxiety by the coming that Saturday morning of a certain Moro, who appeared, his whole body covered with mud, and came up the river in a small boat with two fowls, asking to be taken to the señor Aria (for thus they call the governor of these islands, this word meaning "king" in their language), for he wished to present the fowls to him with his own hand. Questioned as to the cause and motive for his coming, he said he was driven by hunger and necessity, because they had nothing to eat up on the hill; so would all have to come [to us] in a few days. Events showed this to be false, for a great quantity of provisions was found there later, confirming my suspicions and those of others. It must have been a trick contrived by the devil and his ministers against our captain-general, who, conducting himself on this occasion (as on others) with great prudence and diplomacy, commanded without seeing the man, that he should be handed over to Sosozan--a Moro who was friendly to us, and had come with us from Samboanga--who was to hand him over to the governor of the fort. This was done, and thus, without knowing it, we were saved from a great danger.

When matters at the fort and the port below were settled, and all the ships burned except three or four, which were kept to take back to Samboanga, Nicolas Gonçalez arrived, on Monday evening, the sixteenth, with the rest of our fleet. A great tempest had detained them after they passed La Silanga, in which one caracoa was lost, under Captain Sisneros, but only a boy was killed.

At once his Lordship arranged affairs for marching upon the hill the next day. He ordered that biscuit and cheese for four days be given to the soldiers; and Sargento-mayor Don Pedro, with Adjutant Don Francisco Olazaran, spent the whole night in making them confess--which confessions I received--not being content with their confessions at Samboanga.

At three o'clock in the morning masses began to be said, and at the end of the first his Lordship made an address to the soldiers, in which he manifested his great zeal for the honor of God and his military experience. We had agreed that afterward I was to display [the images of] the blessed Christ and St. Francis Xavier; but, to confess the truth to your Reverence, I had no heart for it; and therefore I decided not to do so--as it were, a presage of what was to happen to us that day.

When his talk was finished, his Lordship sent Sargento-mayor Nicolas Gonçalez with Father Melchor de Vera (who had come with him from Samboanga), with a hundred and twenty Spaniards, thirty Pampangos, and eighty Indians to carry the packs, to cut off the enemy's retreat from the hill, and to descend by the same path to attack them. He assigned Captain Castelo to the advance-guard, and Captain Bererra with two famous spies (one a Moro, the other a Christian) to the rear-guard--ordering them to sound their trumpets beforehand, so that his Lordship might attack at the same time from the other direction, and thus they could surround the Moros. After Nicolas Gonçalez had gone, the governor drew up his troops, putting Captain Rodrigo at the head of the rest, and giving to each of the half-pay captains a troop of soldiers. The flags, a piece of artillery, the ammunition, and the provisions were with the body of the troops, and in the rear-guard were the Pampangos; Sargento-mayor Don Pedro was in the advance-guard, with Captain Don Rodrigo; Sargento-mayor Palomino remained in the camp with a goodly number of soldiers, and with the father rector of Othon as chaplain.