Chapter II: Part 2

Yesterday, May 23, the day of the Holy Ghost, Don Sebastian arrived at this port, having left Tanaguan that morning--a distance of ten mortal leguas. He came in the Terrenate galleons, which, as the weather was bad, he left at the landing at Mindoro. He, as well as Father Juan de Barrios, was fatigued, which we could see was from the hardships that they have suffered; but, thanks to God, these have been well recompensed in service to God and to the general welfare of these islands. The chaplain Don Pedro de Francia died of fever in the ship, and, six days later, Captain Don Lope de Barahona, of the same sickness. Upon the arrival of Don Sebastian, the bells in our house were rung for a long time, as a mark of rejoicing. Later the bells were rung in the cathedral church, and that night there were illuminations in all the houses and convents.

Yesterday, May 27, the galleons of the Terrenate relief expedition anchored at this port. Father Hernando de Estrada says that twenty persons of various nations (for the galleons carried Joloans, Basilans, and the Bisayans who were freed from the captivity of Xolo) have died in the flagship since their departure from Sanboangan, and that sickness was caused by their close quarters; and that a goodly number have died in the almiranta and the patache; but it is a cause for great consolation that no Moro, male or female, has died without baptism.

Yesterday, May 31, Don Sebastian made his triumphant entrance into Manila, in the same manner as he had done, the year preceding, upon his arrival from Mindanao. I wrote concerning it, by the patache; and will only state here the number of pieces--namely, eleven of cast iron and one bronze culverin, these being large pieces. Among the medium-sized pieces and falcons there were fifteen. The best falcon had the arms and name of King Don Sebastian [of Portugal]. There were eleven smaller versos. The crowd of people in the windows and streets, the illuminations of the night, and the masquerades of the city, were the same as I wrote last year.

June 3, Corpus Christi day, the procession of thanks for the victory was united with that of the most holy sacrament, as I wrote last year. That same day the xalea which had been left in Xolo arrived. It brings news that the king and queen, who had fled from the stronghold with the other Joloans, have sent to say that they desire to settle in whatever place may be assigned to them, and to pay tribute to his Majesty. They promise to obey the conditions imposed on them by Don Sebastian.

Monday, June 7, the honors for those killed in war were performed in the soldiers' church with the same solemnity as those of the past year. The father rector, Francisco Colin, preached to a generally appreciative audience.

Friday, June eleven, the flagship galley entered this port with a round sail, but no bastard; for a flash of lightning, which struck it, had torn it from top to bottom and killed two men. It brought some bronze artillery of the pieces captured at Jolo, in addition to what I mentioned in the triumph--as was told me by a man who comes from there, and who is well versed regarding artillery. The pieces with ladles mounted in the stronghold numbered in all eleven of cast iron, and eleven of bronze; also eleven other large falcons, besides the ordinary versos.

He says of Dato Ache, who is the greatest pirate, and the one who has done most damage to the Christians of all those of Jolo--and who is the one who persuaded the king and the others to fortify themselves, and to refuse to surrender to the Spaniards--that a mine which exploded and killed fifty Joloans, also caught him, so that he was completely buried. With only power to move one hand, he beckoned imploringly for help; his men hurried to his assistance, and got him out, much hurt. He recovered afterward, and when the others descended from the stronghold, he, with some other Malays, who were steadfastly of the opinion that they should not surrender, escaped, and left the island in great dudgeon at the king.

Sunday, June 20, when we celebrated the feast of the most holy sacrament, Father Francisco Rangel chanted his first mass in this college. He was one of the six who came from Macan to be ordained, and since his residence here has told us some remarkable things that happened four or five years ago, and, as I believe that very few there have any knowledge regarding them, I shall relate them here.

First, he says that the island of Ainao is as large as the island of Cicilia; and that it has its own natives, who are white-complexioned, and have a different aspect from that of the Chinese. The latter conquered the seacoast many years ago, and the natives retired to the mountains, whence it is their custom to descend to harry the Chinese--who are scattered, and have never subjected the natives to the payment of tribute. While Father Bento de Matos was in that island, two remarkable things occurred to him. In a city of the Chinese, where no means have yet been found whereby to make an entrance to instruct the natives--both because the language is special, and because they are always at war--it happened that the father, having no lodging, learned that there was a good unoccupied house, for, because of fear at I know not what noises that had been heard in it, no one would live in it. The father determined to enter and to live in that house, although his friends dissuaded him and told him their fears. He lived there quite a number of days, at the end of which, in the darkness of the night, a dead man appeared to him in the habit of a mandarin. The dead man told the father to look well at him, and note well his marks, and to go to the mandarin So-and-so, who was his brother, and tell him to disinter his body, which was buried in such and such a place near the altar; for it was the will of God that there should not be the body of a condemned heathen in a place where the holy body of His son Jesus Christ was offered to Him in acceptable sacrifice. The father gave the marks to the mandarin, who recognized that it was his brother. They dug in the place noted, and found the body entire in a casket and preserved with precious spices, with which it had been embalmed, and carried it to a separate place.

The other circumstance is, that every day when the said father said mass there, it was heard by a devout Christian, who, after rising suddenly, appeared so joyful and happy that the other Christians came to consider and even to believe him as mad. They resolved to censure him, and to advise him to have more moderation and modesty in the presence of so great a Lord. He answered them that he could not do otherwise than he had; for, on rising from the eucharist, he saw two most beautiful youths kneeling before the most holy sacrament, amid such lights and splendors that they bathed his soul in joy so great that it overflowed in its abundance to his body, and he could not restrain himself from manifesting it.

It happened to that same father that, while on a mission to Chincheo, some literati suddenly entered a chapel in which he was, to make a jest of him and of the God whom he was adoring. He kneeled down before a crucifix and said "Lord, do not abandon me among thine enemies." The holy crucifix answered "No, son, I shall not abandon thee; but I am always with thee to aid thee." Thereupon the literati, thunderstruck and full of fear, left the father, and went out of the chapel.

In one of these recent years, during a great baquio or typhoon, eighteen Dutch ships were wrecked on the coast of Chincheo. The Chinese beheaded some of those who escaped alive, and, having seasoned those heads with salt, took them with the other men whom they left alive to the court of Paquin, where they were all beheaded. For the aversion of the Chinese to people with blue eyes is great; and the reason is that it is said that there is an ancient prophecy that men with eyes of that color will conquer their kingdom.

About two years ago, six out of seven ships that left Olanda with reenforcements for India were sunk in the open sea, and only one arrived.

The king of China is commonly regarded by his vassals as a Christian: 1st, because he has only one wife; 2d, because he only adores the God of heaven; 3d, because he has tried to exterminate the bonzes. Among other plans [for the accomplishment of that], he employed that of having six thousand bonzes enlisted for the war against the Tartars. He sent them under the command of a great war mandarin, and all the six thousand died in the war. The captain alone escaped, and he was shortly after baptized; he is a very devout Christian, and is known as Doctor Miguel. The manner in which the king [12] became a Christian is said to have been that the famous Doctor Pablo (who is now dead), having free entrance into the palace, often conversed with the king, whom he converted and baptized. The king has shown Ours favor by giving them a large convent of the bonzes in Paquin, and has given them lands for their support.

July 6, Father Melchor de Vera passed by way of this college, en route from Sanboanga. He gives us some particulars which it is well to know. Cachil Moncay attacked the new village which Cachil Corralat had built. He killed or captured about one hundred of his men, but Corralat escaped. Afterward when Dato Siqui brought his customary tribute to Corralat from the island of Little Sanguil, he attacked Moncay and killed him and others, so that the number of killed and captives reached eighty.

Father Vera met on his way here a champan from Terrenate, which tells him that Corralat, seeing himself expelled [from his towns] by Don Sebastian, sent messengers to the Moros of Terrenate, to beg for aid; but that the latter had refused it to him, as they had enough of their own affairs to attend to. The men of that champan also told him that the petty king of Great Sanguil talked with them, and said that he wished peace with the Spaniards, and would pay tribute to his Majesty. For greater security he gave them the young prince his son, so that they might give the boy to the governor as a token of peace. All these are the results of the two victories of Mindanao and Jolo.

Today, July 11, a large champan, which had sailed from the port of Macasar at the beginning of Lent, arrived at this port. They relate many acts of affection and favor which the king has shown to the Spaniards. Those aboard the champan assert that the king will be very glad of whatever ill-treatment Don Sebastian accords to the Macasars of Jolo, because they have taken arms against the vassals of his brother the king of Castilla.

Today, July 18, the patache sails with the reenforcements for the island of Hermosa, under the command of Don Pedro Fernandez del Rio.

Yesterday, July 23, at dawn, a Macan patache anchored in this roadstead. It comes from Camboja laden with rice, camanguian or benzoin, and other drugs.

LETTER FROM CORCUERA TO FELIPE IV

Sire:

Last year I informed your Majesty that I had appointed Don Luis Arias de Mora as protector of the Sangleys in the Parian; he is a lawyer well known in this royal Audiencia, a man of virtue and of excellent abilities. On this account, with the salary of that office of protector (which he draws from the communal treasury of the said Sangleys), he is obliged to act as counsel for the archbishop in affairs of justice, in order to prevent the troubles that the friars brought upon him last year--inducing him to issue acts against the Order of the Society, and excommunicating the royal Audiencia and the governor of Filipinas. Since he promised that he would issue no mandates without the signed approval of this counselor, we have lived in peace, without there having been the least annoyance, or any interruption of our harmony; for the said counselor will not sign any act or document which the said archbishop causes to be drawn up if it contravenes the patronage and jurisdiction of your Majesty, or encroaches in any way upon your rights. For these reasons, and on account of the said Luis Arias de Mora's long service as advocate in this royal Audiencia, and his excellent reputation for learning and talent, I entreat that your Majesty will be pleased to grant him the favor of confirming him in the said office of protector of the Sangleys, until some greater favor be bestowed upon him; any office will be well served, if conferred upon him. May our Lord protect the Catholic person of your Majesty, as Christendom has need. Manila, August 21, 1638. Sire, your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera

[Endorsed: "February 26, 1639; provision is made for this."]

LETTER TO FELIPE IV FROM THE TREASURER AT MANILA

Sire:

If my so great obligations to your Majesty--not only since you are my king and natural sovereign, but since you have honored me so generously in these islands by employing my person in the post of official judge-treasurer of your royal estate--necessarily and strictly did not oblige me to inform your Majesty of the manner in which the said royal estate is administered here, its condition, and the so great ruin that it has suffered and is suffering since it was your Majesty's pleasure to have Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera come to govern these islands in the year thirty-five, I should have to arouse myself and take courage to place before the pious eyes of your Majesty this memoir of disasters; for no other title or name can be given to the calamities that have rushed pellmell both on the said royal estate, and on us afflicted ministers who have it in charge, to the so great peril and discredit of our persons. The matter, Sire, is a very long drawn out one, and hence it is impossible to compass it in a few lines; and I in my rashness will weary your Majesty's ears. But the love and zeal which move me will perhaps avail to remove from me censure for my boldness.

Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera entered this city in the latter part of June, 635, to assume this government. He showed apparent signs of an endeavor to excel, in his honest and careful attitude toward your royal estate; but we were soon undeceived by his so unexpected and inconsiderate resolution not to despatch the ships which your Majesty has ordered, by so many decrees and ordinances, to be sent annually to Nueva Espana with the property of the inhabitants of this city--so that the usual situado might be sent back in them to these islands from the proceeds of your royal duties, and serve as a help to the great and numerous expenses which your Majesty is incurring annually in the increase and preservation of so many of the faithful as have in these regions deserved to receive the holy water of baptism. Yet it was a fact that Don Juan Cereco de Salamanca (who was concluding his governorship, to which he had been appointed by the viceroy of Nueva Espana), had prepared two ships, and their cargoes were aboard--the lading-space having been allotted, in accordance with the orders given by your Majesty, among the inhabitants of this city. The losses and damage that have resulted, both to your royal estate and to the property of the merchants of these islands, are so considerable and momentous that I would not dare to name them. Your Majesty's ministers in Mexico, in whose charge is the management of your royal estate, will have already reported them to you, for they will be able to do it with more accurate knowledge and certainty; and, consequently, I think that they will already have come to your Majesty's ears.

A few days ago the governor introduced in this royal camp of Manila a cavalry company of twenty-nine men or soldiers, with their captain, one lieutenant, one alferez, one standard-bearer, and one corporal; each soldier was to receive 168 pesos' pay per annum, the captain 1,200, the lieutenant, 480, the alferez, 380, the corporal, 216, and one trumpler, 120--the total amounting to 7,248 pesos. It was for the sole purpose of being employed nightly in squads to close the gates of the city and to patrol it; and it was all to spare the infantry from fatigue, although the latter had until then been employed in that duty with much more security to the city, and with the correction of many lawless acts which we have been experiencing here since, and which have been committed by the very men who are deputed to obviate them. When the said governor ordered us to inscribe that new order in the royal books, and to furnish the papers to the said soldiers with pay so increased, we, seeing of how little importance and effectiveness the said company was, and that there was no order from your Majesty for its creation, warned him of that--besides giving him other reasons which will already have been seen by your Council, for we enclosed a copy of both of them in the letters that we wrote in the year 1636. Still, notwithstanding that, the governor ordered the command to be obeyed. Accordingly we did so, and the command has been, and is being, observed; and the governor refuses to recede in so pernicious a decision as is the increase of [expenses with] pay so large as this, and so unnecessary, and, moreover, when your royal treasury in these islands has so many and so great necessities.

Although there was, upon the arrival of the said governor, as much infantry in this city and these presidios, as in the times of previous governors, and even more, inasmuch as he had brought in those ships a very large and fine consignment of men (for they numbered more than five hundred men)--a considerable reenforcement, and sufficient to have garrisoned and manned your Majesty's forts--he raised two companies of ninety-six Pampango Indians apiece, on his own counsel alone, and unnecessarily, so that they might take part with the Spaniards in the guard and watch of this city. The following pay [was assigned]: the captain, 240 pesos per annum; two drummers, each 24 pesos; the alferez, 120 pesos; his standard-bearer, 24 pesos; the sergeant, 84 pesos; the four corporals, 60 pesos apiece. Hence, both companies have an annual expense of 10,728 pesos, for those two companies are paid monthly the amount of their pay. Not only are those companies still kept up, but they have also been augmented since the past year, 637, by two other companies--one for this camp, which is here at present; and the other in the new presidios of Jolo and Camboja--besides 72 other Pampango Indians, who are stationed in the fort at the port of Cavite. All together mean an expense of 25,092 pesos per year to the royal treasury. I assure your Majesty that this matter ought to be looked at with the greatest attention, in order that things might not be so managed; for it is a useless and needless expense when, as I have said, your royal treasury suffers so great losses as it does, by the so terrible and irreparable damage which the province from which those Indians are drafted has suffered, as they are all tillers of the soil, and tributaries of your Majesty. Many losses to your royal estate follow, because they and their wives are exempted from paying the tribute during the time while they serve in their posts as soldiers. Besides, as this province [of Pampanga] abounds so plentifully in rice, and your Majesty needs so much of it for the rations of so great a number of persons as are employed in the building and repairing of the vessels in the port of Cavite, and for the sailors and soldiers, it is obvious that the said province will be diminished; for it is necessary to allot the vendalas and repartimientos upon the few who remain, instead of on the many, so that with a few exactions of this sort the poor Indians will be driven to the wall, and will find it necessary to desert their huts and take to the woods. That would mean the total ruin and destruction of that district, which is the support of this colony.

As the governor immediately undertook to despatch the usual reenforcement and situado to the forts of Terrenate, he appointed a chief commander with 3,000 pesos, and an admiral with 2,000--although until then there had been no such officers as commander-in-chief and admiral; but only one commandant, who received 60 ducados of eleven reals per month, while those who were placed in command of the other pataches received very moderate pay. We remonstrated, as we were bound to do, warning the governor that there was no order from your Majesty for the creation of such salaries. He referred the decision of this matter to the treasury meeting, where we found two auditors and Doctor Juan Fernandez de Ledo (who was exercising the duties of fiscal), and the factor and treasurer. All except the said Doctor Juan Fernandez de Ledo, who was of the governor's opinion, opposed the said pay, giving very powerful and cogent reasons therefor. Notwithstanding that, the governor ordered the said salaries to be made good, and said that he would report the matter to your Majesty. Hence, Sire, he will by no means listen to any proposition which is made for the benefit and use of the royal treasury, if it is contrary to his opinion.

The same thing happened in the said meeting when they were assigning the salaries to the chaplains whom he appointed in the said galleons of Terrenate, and in all the others that sailed from these islands for any place. It was an expense as avoidable as the others which he has introduced, for it is a fact that religious are always ready to serve those posts because of the accommodations that they receive in the galleons, especially in those that sail to Nueva Espana. For when the religious sail in them as passengers they must obtain permission, and the accommodation of a berth, and, as this costs money and trouble, it is found to be no little convenience to give them the posts as chaplains; and they have not claimed or demanded any pay, and they have been employed in this ministry in all the past. Therefore one can understand how superfluous is that expense.

There are five convents of religious within the walls of this city of Manila, and one of nuns; the church of La Misericordia, the seminary of Santa Potenciana, the cathedral church, and the hospital for the Spaniards or soldiers. That makes ten churches in all, and they are so near and close to one another that the divine offices can be heard from one to another, if one pays moderate attention. So small and narrow> is the district of the city, and so few the people in the churches, that if there was no more than one convent of religious and the cathedral church, they could be sufficiently taken care of and without too great fatigue [to the priests]. Although this was the fact of the case, the governor, a very few days after his arrival, began to build a church for his soldiers, saying at the beginning that the expense for the building was to be taken from the soldiers' own pay, and that no expense would be incurred by the royal treasury. But he did not keep his word, although the said church was fully built, together with some barracks and quarters for the said soldiers to live in. In the erection of it, more than eighty thousand pesos have been already spent, while the amount charged to the infantry is not in excess of sixteen thousand pesos. Consequently, it has been necessary that the remaining funds should be supplied from the royal treasury, although it would be more proper to expend that sum in building galleons to carry the goods of this city to Nueva Espana. For with galleons the royal treasury will be increased, and thereby will the governor obey the many and urgent orders which your Majesty has been pleased to issue in this regard; and the vassals and inhabitants of these islands would not be so ruined, and so hopeless of returning to their former state. It was all occasioned by the governor's resolution not to despatch any ships during the year of 635 and that of 637; and even next year, 639, there is little assurance that he will despatch them, for there is no money with which to prepare them. If that were done, we could entertain stronger hopes; because, as I write this, the usual succor from Mexico has not yet arrived, as only one very small patache was despatched last year, and there is doubt that it was able to reach port. On that account we are so perplexed and afflicted that it is even a special providence of God that we are able to breathe.

The ships which are being despatched this year are sailing without a register; for, as yet, the inhabitants have not registered a shred of cloth with which to lade them, as they do not know the condition of their property in Nueva Espana. As they are so ruined as regards their capital, they are, according to my way of thinking excusable. But I have been unable to find any excuse in any way for the governor, who has, by his so extraordinary and unadvised resolutions, placed this city in the last straits; and has paid no attention to those who, with foresight, have represented to him these great damages, besides those which have followed and will follow to the royal estate of your Majesty. For this year alone (and I do not speak of former years), more than one hundred and fifty thousand pesos have been spent on these ships, both for the preparation that has been necessary, and for the pay of the commanders, pilots, and other seamen and other officials who sail in them, and for the food. Your Majesty will never be reimbursed for that sum, for, as no cargo goes in the ships, there can be no duties collected; and it is from these duties that the funds for these expenses must be obtained, as your Majesty has ordered and commanded. Hence, Sire, it becomes necessary to say that it seems as if your Majesty had sent the governor to these islands to ruin and destroy your royal estate, rather than to increase and preserve it. This conclusion, if relief does not come speedily, will be seen to be verified with the great loss of all, and the special sorrow of us who, as your Majesty's faithful ministers and servants, are bound to strive for the increase of your royal estate.

In the past year, 637, because these coasts were being infested by the kings of Mindanao and Jolo, with great loss and damage to the Christian Indians and your Majesty's vassals, the governor left this city with two fine large fleets--the first on February two, and the second on December eight. Both were despatched against the advice of all the soldiers who were experienced in this country--both because of the risk to which the governor exposed his person, and because of the so heavy expenses that it was necessary to incur; and furthermore, since there are very honorable soldiers in these islands, to whom these expeditions can be entrusted with the hope that they will give an excellent account of them. And thus he would have avoided a very large part of the expense, and even of the loss of very brave soldiers who died in both expeditions; for more than four hundred Spaniards died, among whom were many persons of high standing [in this colony]. That is a loss which ought to be wept with many tears, because of the lack that they will create when they will be most necessary. In the first expedition, 9,867 pesos were spent from your royal estate; and in the second, 47,171 pesos. He has tried and is trying to cover the expense of both expeditions by the value of the slaves, and other things of little account, which he took as booty in both expeditions; and by other communications, which will be seen in your Council, according to the relations or certifications which he has given to us. Most of it can have but little foundation, as there is nothing more than what the governor has been pleased to give. But it will be well to consider that although the fifth part of any booty taken belongs to your Majesty (as is a fact), he has ordered all the artillery, and other war supplies and ammunition to be valued and adjudged as part compensation for the expense incurred. That is a thing which, according to my understanding, could not be done; for he is attempting to persuade your Majesty that he is giving you something. Since that is clearly yours by law, there is no reason for [thus] adjudging it, under any of the pretexts of which, [to judge] from appearances like these, he always avails himself to accredit his own actions.

Beside the building of the church, barracks, and quarters for the soldiers, he has constructed other buildings of not inconsiderable extent, and of the same necessity and importance as the aforesaid, at the royal hospital of this city. He has bought some houses that are near it for eight thousand pesos, in order that the chaplain, apothecary, and physician may live in them. Your Majesty has assigned them a very sufficient remuneration, and they have always been contented with it, and have not asked for houses in which to live. The governor has also added a room to the said hospital (where the religious of St. Francis had their living apartments before his arrival), without sense or reason. He has spent a great sum of pesos in its building; and a great sum has also been and is being spent in the support of the sick of the said hospital--although they were supported most abundantly in past years with two thousand five hundred or three thousand pesos at the most. Now seven thousand pesos and upward are spent, and we cannot see in what this increase consists, although we are not ignorant that the sick are less carefully attended and nursed than before.

A Portuguese nobleman, an inhabitant of Macan, by name Don Diego de Miranda Enriquez, came from that city to this during the former year of 636, with a quantity of arquebuses, muskets, nails for the ships, and rough iron. Having sent for us that we might bargain and pay for it, we did so, availing ourselves for that purpose of the recent example that we had for it in the previous year, 1635, which was accredited and approved by the said governor. Nevertheless, after several months the governor fined the factor and me (for we were the ones who made the said contract and rendered payment, as the accountant was then living in the port of Cavite) without our knowing what crime we had committed, in the sum of two thousand one hundred and thirty-three pesos, five tomins; for he said that we had not observed his orders in the said contract. After he had conferred over the matter with your auditors, and they being of the opposite opinion, nevertheless, holding his own even to the end, he had us notified of the act imposing the said fine. We appealed from it to your Audiencia, where we were freed from the prosecution. The said governor was indeed very angry at that; and he even gave your auditors to so understand, and that, in matters of justice, he even was trying to tie their hands.

At the very beginning of his governorship, the said Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera tried to change the inferior employees of the tribunal of your royal officials. Among the others whom he appointed was the weigher of coins, notwithstanding that we opposed that. For your Majesty has been pleased to honor us with your special decrees, in which you order that we ourselves choose our employees, so that they may be to our satisfaction; and that your governors give their titles to those whom we should thus propose to them. [We also opposed it] because the said governor ordered us to admit the said weigher to the enjoyment and exercise of his office without bonds, although all those who had thus far exercised that office had given bonds in the sum of four thousand pesos for the security of your royal estate, as it is an office that requires great faithfulness because of the many and continually-recurring opportunities that present themselves for him to make considerable thefts without your royal officials being able to put a stop to it. That has been proved to us by experience, for, notwithstanding all our efforts in watching him, at the end of a year and slightly more (for so long a time did he hold the said office) we found that he had stolen more than three thousand five hundred pesos from your royal treasury. We began a prosecution in your royal Audiencia. The said governor, seeing that the weigher was proved to be a criminal by what was enacted, and by his confession and deposition, in order that he might not be completely exposed, had a memorial presented [to the Audiencia] through a father of the Society of Jesus--in which it is stated that a man had declared in confession that he was the thief, and that the said weigher was not guilty; and had given him a certain number of pay-warrants with which to satisfy, by way of restitution, the [claim for] three thousand five hundred pesos. The said governor ordered that this reparation should be accepted; and although the pay-warrants had no justification--as their owners had been dead for many years, and the papers contained no cessions or powers by virtue of which receipts should be given and signed--we had to receive them, because, as they had been examined before the auditor of accounts, and attested by him, they were [technically] entirely sufficient, and could and ought to be received. Thereupon, the said weigher went scot free from prison. The said governor immediately sent him to Macan, in order to remove him from the danger that might meet him at any time in this city. In this manner, Sire, was so serious a crime as the aforesaid punished; and in this wise does the governor protect his henchmen, for there is no human strength which can oppose his. This is a consideration that causes not a little sorrow to your Majesty's servants and ministers; for only that name is left us, for we have been stripped, for the sole purpose of being able to depreciate and even disaccredit us, of all the power and authority which your Majesty was pleased to give us in our titles, and in the ordinances and many other decrees. However, I think and trust, God helping, that that will not be attained, however vigilant the governor may be; for we are and shall be always in your Majesty's service, and hope that, as our pious king and sovereign, you will always examine our causes, and that you will pity us for the calamities and miseries that we are suffering for the sole reason of being so far from your royal presence, and that you will take what corrective measures are most pleasing to you. With that hope we receive new courage, although in the midst of so many perils, to fulfil our obligations, as faithful and grateful vassals and ministers of your Majesty, whose royal person may our Lord preserve, with the increase of greater and more extensive empires, as is necessary to us all. Manila, August 31, 1638.

Don Baltasar Ruiz de Escalona

BANUELOS Y CARRILLO'S RELATION

Relation of the Filipinas Islands, by Admiral Don Hieronimo de Banuelos y Carrillo [13]

The city of Manila is the chief city of the islands of Lucon, or the Filipinas. It lies in a latitude of fourteen degrees thirty minutes, is fortified on one side by the sea, and on its land side has a castle called Santiago, although that castle furnishes no great defense. The artillery of that castle points seaward, in order to prevent the entrance of [hostile] vessels--which can, however, enter there, without the cannon doing them any great damage. The chief port of these islands is called Cavite, and there the ships from Nueva Espana are anchored. That port of Cavite serves as a refuge for our sailors; it is sheltered from the heavy winds, and very secure. Manila, on the contrary, is an open bay, beaten by the north winds. The anchorage there is very poor, and the entrance very difficult; but, on the other hand, it is very well supplied with all that is necessary for commerce and for war. One may say that it serves as a magazine for the richest commerce in the world. There is abundance of bread, flesh, and wine there; and although the wine is not so good as that of Espana, those of the country who are accustomed to it do not hesitate to prefer it to that of Goa, or that of Mexico--although those are used only for the mass, and that of Espana for the tables of the richest men. The Portuguese of Goa also send abundance of provisions there, so that they can be bought in Manila at a very good bargain. There are one hundred and fifty fires [i.e., households] in Manila. The houses of the city are so suitable and those of the country so charming that life in those islands is altogether delightful. At one musket-shot from the city can be seen the Parian, the lodging of the Sangleys or Chinese merchants. There are about twenty thousand of them, all merchants whom business has attracted to that place. It is a very curious place to see, because of the fine order in which they live. Every kind of merchandise has its own separate quarter, and those goods are so rare and curious that they merit the admiration of the most civilized nations. [14]

Although that Parian is built only of wood, and the Chinese who live there have no weapons, we do not fail to keep a strong guard on that side. We even have some pieces of artillery pointed toward that city, for the Chinese are a very spirited and bold nation. We have experienced that heretofore, and are still threatened [with danger] in that hour that we are not so closely on our guard. There is no Spanish house where nine or ten of these merchants cannot be seen every morning, who take their merchandise there; for all the traffic passes through their hands, even all that is used for the sustenance of the Spaniards. There are some men who say that they mix a slow poison in our food, which works its effect chiefly on the women. It is a fact that a woman who reaches the age of twenty-six years is seldom seen. Those persons add that their intention in doing that is to prevent the Spaniards from fortifying themselves more strongly in that island, and that the Chinese would drive them out entirely. That would be very easy for them, by employing such means, if it were not for the interest that they have in the commerce of the silver of Nueva Espana. These people have a subtle and universal intelligence. They imitate whatever one presents to them, and they make the article as well as do those who invented it. The riches of Manila, and the felicity of existence there, are steadily decreasing. I shall relate here the causes for it, having regard only to the service of God and of the king.

The chief cause for the ruin of these islands is the great trade that the Sangleys carry on. The king has permitted the inhabitants of the Manilas to export a portion of their capital to Nueva Espana. in the merchandise of that country. The Spanish inhabitants daily lend their names to those Sangleys and to the Portuguese of Macao, so that they may enjoy the freedom of that commerce. These people do not attempt to hide the fact that they are acting as agents for the inhabitants of Mexico; and these last years they sent such a quantity of merchandise to Peru and to Nueva Espana that no sale could be found for it. That is a hindrance to the voyages of the trading fleet. The king of China could build a palace with the silver bars from Peru which have been carried to his country because of that traffic, without their having been registered, and without the king of Espana having been paid his duties, as has been well shown by Dom Pedro de Quiroga y Moya. That silver was sent at the account of influential persons, who do not reside at the Manilas. The two vessels which left in his time paid more duties to the king than all the other ships put together which had made that voyage before; that clearly shows the neglect of the other officials commissioned to receive the duties from his Majesty. They have attempted to conceal this truth, by saying that those ships were richer than the others because Dom Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera had written, in the preceding year, that he would not send the vessels that year; and that he had even detained and caused the unlading of those that had been on the point of sailing on the voyage to Acapulco. I do not know his reason for so doing, but I know well that he wrote that resolution at the Embocadero of Manila--that is to say, eighty leguas from the city--and that without having consulted the inhabitants of the Manilas. Those of the country are agreed that that delay has been their ruin; for they all know that they cannot maintain themselves against the Dutch or against the Mahometans except by means of the regular succor that is sent them from Nueva Espana.

The marques de Cadereta [15] came at that time to act as viceroy of Nueva Espana. He sent a large reenforcement to the islands very opportunely, under command of General Don Andres Cottigllo. The latter brought news that Don Pedro de Quiroga had arrived at Mexico to inform against the officials of his Majesty, and that he would go to Acapulco to inspect the ships and regulate the Chinese commerce. The inhabitants of the Manilas and the factors of the Portuguese tried to get back their merchandise that they had already laded on the vessels, being fearful of that news and that name of visitor. But having finally recovered courage, they laded the two vessels that the governor had detained the preceding year, which were worth about five millions in gold. Nevertheless those of the country affirmed that they were not so richly laden as those which had sailed before, for one of the chief merchants [16] had not put a single box aboard.

They report another reason for obscuring so apparent a truth. They say that Don Pedro de Quiroga had specified among the orders that he had drawn up as a remedy for the disorders of the past, that for those ships; and that it was he alone who prevented their sailing. But he himself says that that is false, and that he had heard that those who had encomiendas [Fr., commanderies], and the merchants of Mexico, had resorted to entreaties to Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera (for I cannot believe that they were in compact with him); and that they had represented to him the great quantity of Chinese merchandise then in Mexico, and declared that, if new vessels were sent there, a market could not be found for that merchandise, and that the merchants of Mexico and Nueva Espana would lose a great amount by it.

Don Pedro de Quiroga adds that having learned that the governor of the Filipinas had given his word not to have any new vessels sail, in order to better carry out his Majesty's service, he had employed this expedient--namely, that if they entered the port that year, they would enjoy the benefit of the rules which had been made during that time; but that, if they came only the following year, they would not enjoy these, and that they would pay the king's duties in all strictness. That plainly showed that he was advised of the promise which the governor of the islands had given to the merchants of Mexico, to detain the vessels and the merchandise that ought to have been sent that year. The transaction was, in truth, greatly to the interest of the inhabitants of Mexico, and of the Spaniards who have encomiendas--although to the great prejudice of the islands, which cannot get along without the reenforcement which they ought to have annually from Mexico; and to the decrease of his Majesty's duties, which are an aid in the discharge of the expense for that succor. In fine, if the marques de Cadereta had not reenforced the islands as powerfully as he did, they would have fallen into extreme need. It would be easy for me to show here other consequences of that delay of the vessels which Don Juan Cereco y Salamanca had prepared to sail that year, as is done every year; and it will not be more difficult for me to demonstrate the other damages that we suffer in that commerce. The inhabitants of the Manilas have nothing on those vessels; their cargoes belong entirely to the Chinese, to the Portuguese of Macao, or to the Mexican merchants. If the king does not put a stop to it, the Chinese will absorb all the riches of Peru, and the subjects of the king in those islands will be forced to abandon them. I will go on to represent to your Excellency the other disorders in the government of those islands, as far as I have been able to learn them in the short time that I have spent there.

The encomiendas are ruined. Formerly the king rewarded soldiers with them, and now the islanders, who were formerly assigned under those encomiendas, have become our enemies. There has been failure to instruct those innocent people in the Catholic faith, and that is the only title under which the king of Espana holds that country, which does not belong to his patrimony. Instead of making them our friends and brothers, we have made them our domestic enemies. We have received the Sangleys in their place, with whom the profit of the traffic always embroils us. Let one consider what damage has been committed since by the inhabitants of the island of Mindanao. They have overrun the shores of these islands with their caracoas or little boats, and the governor was forced to leave the city in the hands of the Sangleys, in order to leave the island and to go to make war on them, where he lost more than one hundred and thirty Spaniards, without being able to bring the war to a successful end. In this it cannot be said that he was not greatly to blame; for one of his officers named Nicolas Gonzales, at the first war cry, forced one of their best positions without the loss of a single man, whence the governor had been unable to drive them with all his forces. [17]

We have also as enemies the people of Jolo and those of Terrenate, who are also more to be feared on account of the help that they get from the Dutch. They declare themselves neutral, but they help the Dutch underhandedly on all occasions. The chiefs of those Indians take the title of kings, but they are among the kings who go quite naked and who live by their labor. True, those of Macassar, of Cochinchina, and of Cambaya, are more powerful. But for all that, it would be enough for us, for the little help that we can get out of them, to become the arbitrator of their differences, and thus to keep them favorable to our side. But since they have seen that we have made this friendship with the Sangleys, with the inhabitants of Martavan, of Borneo, and other neighboring islands, they have broken off all trade with us, and have begun to take all the products of their country to the Dutch, so that they do nothing except at their orders. If for that reason also the king does not prevent the trade with the Sangleys, the Filipinas are lost. I come now to the remedy that can be applied to this disorder.

Among all those one hundred and fifty families who are settled at Manila, there are not two who are very rich. My plan would be to allow those inhabitants to export Chinese merchandise to the value of two hundred and fifty thousand escudos, the greater part of which should be raw silk and cotton bolls, so that they could be manufactured in this country [i.e., Mexico]. For there is less [chance for] trickery in that sort of merchandise than in the stuffs manufactured in China, which ought never to be allowed to be taken to Manila. The permission of trade to that sum would also be proportioned to the ability of the Manila merchants; and they would get more than five hundred thousand escudos in return for it, for the profits of that trade are exorbitant. Today even, when there is so much of this merchandise, four hundred per cent is gained on the poorest quality exported. By that means the Spaniards could be employed in manufacturing that silk, the textiles would be better, and they would secure innumerable other advantages. Accordingly, the inhabitants of the Manilas would not charge themselves with the commissions of Mexico, and they would get all the profit derived from those islands, which is now quite universally in the hands of foreigners. Further, as their affairs in the country became more prosperous, they would become more interested in its conservation; and they would be more careful to have the Indians, who have been assigned to them in encomiendas, instructed and held in subjection. They would save what they give to their agents in Mexico, who often ruin them. They keep their merchandise two or three years, and it has a poor sale in Mexico, because of the great quantity that is taken there; and trading only at Acapulco, and conducting their own business, they alone would enjoy, and that every year, the profits of that traffic.