Chapter VIII: Part 8

The weapons that the Sangleys collected, besides some few firearms, were: javelins and Japanese catanas, fastened to poles (and some were made in Manila), some of these weighing more than an arroba, which will indicate the force with which they could be used; sickles and pruning-hooks, also fastened to poles; iron tridents; and bamboos with sharp points hardened in fire, four or five brazas in length. They also carried away the iron from the houses and churches that they burned, and whenever they were left undisturbed in any encampment, they set up their forges and made weapons, in order that no one might he unprovided with them. The men were divided into tens, like [the Roman] decurias, so that the exact number of their men was known; and, of each ten, six fought, and four were responsible for their food, in order that the fighting men might be entirely relieved from that work. [78] They did not fight all at one time, but only three from each decuria, in order that while these were fighting the others might rest, and thus always they could have men who could enter the battle in fresh condition. They employed stratagems in fighting--in the beginning, when they had not so many arms, they made sham weapons, covering these with cloth, so that they looked like steel. In their camp near Sanpaloc, [79] in some towers that they built they placed straw figures of Sangleys, so that our infantry might fire at these and use up their bullets, and then the Sangleys could, without risk of being hit, rush to attack our men.

The damages which they committed throughout the period of the insurrection are very great. They made havoc among the sacred images and utensils, besides which they burned the village of Calamba and its church; the village of Taluco, [80] in charge of secular priests, with a wooden church and a stone clergy-house; houses and property in Vinan; the house of San Pedro, belonging to the Society of Jesus; the house and church at Meyhaligue and Santa Cruz; the village and church of Quiapo, belonging to the Society of Jesus; many houses in the villages of Tondo and Binondoc; the village of Sanpaloc, with a house and church of stone belonging to the fathers of St. Francis; the village of Taytay, with house and church of stone belonging to the Society of Jesus; the villages of Mahayhay, Santa Cruz, Antipolo, and Baras, belonging to the Society of Jesus; the villages and churches of San Mateo and Pasig, belonging to the fathers of St. Augustine; the villages of Santa Maria and Siniloan, and some visitas, belonging to the fathers of St. Francis. They also burned ranches and country houses belonging to [the fathers of] St. Augustine, the Society of Jesus, Captain Gastelu, General Don Juan Claudio, Alferez Medrano, General Azaldegui, Admiral Ezquerra, and Admiral Juan Alonso; besides other stone houses and property belonging to private persons.

The persons who most distinguished themselves in our army

From the very outset of the war the governor was active in it, not sparing himself from any of its dangers, which were very great. If any proof were needed of his energy, valor, executive ability, and military circumspection, the present emergency would have furnished it. Distinction was honorably gained by the master-of-camp, Don Lorenzo de Olaso; he was always the first in dangers--none of which he shunned, although he experienced several attacks of illness, and even lay stretched at the foot of a papaw tree--escaping from them, or being drawn out of them by his brave heart and valiant spirit. Many personages of Manila in private life displayed their courage, adding merits to their former ones by their service in the army, and causing the enemy to recognize their bravery in the skirmishes and assaults, that they might relate how they had conducted themselves in these; it is sufficient to mention who they are. The commanding officer of the artillery, Juan Bautista de Molina, was present in some of the engagements, and the rest of the time he was directing his artillery in the city. General Geronimo Enrriquez, lieutenant of the master-of-camp, and general in the army, having been appointed on New Year's day alcalde-in-ordinary, preferred to fight in the campaign rather than to remain in Manila in the quiet and repose of his house, although opportunity to do so was given him by so honorable a title. General Don Juan Claudio de Verastegui, who fulfilled the obligations that he had inherited by birth and acquired by military service. Admiral Don Francisco Ezquerra, who, sometimes accompanying his brother, General Ezquerra, and sometimes following the army, everywhere gave proof of his valor. Captain Don Rodrigo de Guillestegui, his deeds making him appear like a veteran soldier, although he was so young. All the encomenderos and citizens of Manila also played the part of veterans, either guarding the city by day and by night, or serving in the camp, being present in various notable encounters, wherein the cavalry distinguished themselves. The company of Captain Juan Fiallo, who with his men was the terror of the enemy; Captain Juan de Montoya, and Alferez Alfonso Gomez. The ranchmen and mulattoes, as being accustomed to the management of horses and skilful in hurling javelins, caused the greatest losses to the enemy on all occasions. The Spanish infantry, with their captains Don Manuel de Rivera and N. [sic] de Ugalde (who are worthy of the highest praise), always fulfilled their duties with good results. The Pampango infantry was not without glory--the archers and shield-bearers from Pampanga, whose leader besides their captains was father Fray Juan de Sosa, prior of the convent of Betis, always as thorough a religious as he was, on occasion, valiant and courageous; they never returned to our camp without leaving tokens of their presence in that of the enemy. The Zambal archers, who went under the orders of Fray Antonio de las Misas--a Recollect religious, and a person who was in all respects such as the emergency required--always endeavored to win a reputation; and if they were previously known by report, they were now by their deeds. The companies of Cagayans and Terrenatans, as war was not a new thing to them since they were born and trained in it, did not hesitate to risk their lives, at the cost of a great number of enemies whom they left dead behind them. The Tagal Indians of all this province accompanied their valor with their loyalty, which was so great that, although their losses had been so considerable in villages, houses, and possessions, forgetful of all these, and remembering only the treason plotted, the sacrilege committed, and the design of the Sangleys to make themselves masters of the country, [81] these Indians took up arms against them most of the villages serving in their companies, and by so honorable an act giving proof of their fidelity toward God, and of their affection for the Spaniards, tokens also of their loyalty, subjection, and obedience to the king our lord and his officials.

The activities in Manila during the time of the war, not only in defense of the city, but in prayers

In proportion to the anxiety which the war occasioned was the solicitude that was felt in the city for its protection; no citizen shunned the performance of the duty that was allotted to him, and all were [in turn] continually serving on the walls. The direction of the fort [82] was in charge of the commander and castellan, Don Fernando de Ayala; the cavalier [i.e., tower] of San Gabriel was in the keeping of General Don Juan de Ezquerra; and the gate of the Parian, in that of Sargento-mayor Don Pedro Jara, until he had to take his station and plant artillery against the enemy at Sanpaloc. At the new gate, Captain Don Gregorio Mujica commanded; at that of Dilao, Sargento-mayor Palomino--and afterward Captain Mena of the cavalier, whom they call De Carranza; in charge of San Pedro, Captain Lorenzo Lopez. Admiral Luis Alonso de Roa attended to the foundry [for artillery]; and Captain Aumada, to emergencies [del inmediato]. Alferez Orgaz was in charge of the gate of Santa Lucia; and Alferez Bernave Martinez and Sargento-mayor Don Marcos Zapata of that of Santo Domingo. But, as the Spaniards were few in number, it was necessary that they should be aided by the ecclesiastics and the students. The clerics were placed in charge of a cavalier; the students or collegians of Santo Tomas were under the orders of the fathers of St. Dominic; those of the other, San Jose, under the [fathers of the] Society of Jesus. They wore the clerical garb all the time while the war lasted, with that of the military. The religious hastened to take arms and defend the walls on the day of the attack; and, every night when there was cause to suspect another, they were found at the posts assigned them.

The city was provided with a new moat, which continuing with the old one by the side of the foundry, extended almost to the sea--a celebrated work which was completed in a very short time, all due to the assiduity and personal attention of the master-of-camp of the artillery. Its commander, General Don Juan Zapata de Molina, gave much attention to this work; it was greatly aided, and new inventions and devices for [the use of] fire were furnished, by the solicitude and experience of Captain Geronimo de Fuentes [Cortes]. There was no one who did not, on occasion, render all kinds of service. A company of free negroes [83] was formed, who were very useful within the city, being distributed through the cavaliers for the effective management of the artillery. Duties were assigned to the slaves, but with discreet caution, on account of rumors which had been current (although without foundation) that they were making great plans when they saw the Sangleys in revolt; this was done partly [to give them] occupation, and to deprive them of any notions of undertaking another insurrection to the injury of the colony. But as its citizens recognized that its main defense must come from the Supreme Power, they did not neglect to raise their hands toward heaven, everywhere offering continual petitions to our Lord for the fortunate result of the war, and for the repose and pacification of these islands. In the cathedral was begun a novenary [i.e., nine days' prayer] to the glorious St. Joseph, all the [religious] communities repairing thither, each on its own day, to recite solemn mass to him. The fathers of St. Dominic, at the request of the city, celebrated another mass to our Lady of the Rosary, all the religious orders also going thither to say mass before her image. On the last day, [the image of] the glorious patriarch St. Francis, who so loved this city, was carried in procession to the cathedral, with supplication for favors through his agency--which have been received heretofore, as is acknowledged, in the first insurrection; and finally a procession was made in honor of the immaculate conception of the Virgin, and other prayers were offered.

[The following additional points regarding the Chinese insurrection are taken from a pamphlet entitled Relacion verdadera del levantamiento de los Sangleyes (i.e., True relation of the Sangley insurrection), which was printed in Madrid, by Catalina de Barrio y Angulo, in 1642 (our transcript of the same having been made from the original existing in Biblioteca y Museo de Ultramar, Madrid): "Calamba is twelve leguas from Manila. The Chinese corresponded with a Chinese pirate named Yquan Sanglus; it was arranged that he should come to aid them on Christmas Eve, 1639 (the day set for the treason), and to capture the galleons from New Spain. There were 35,000 licensed Sangleys in Manila and its vicinity, besides 10,000 more in remote provinces. In Manila at this time there were thirty foot-soldiers, thirty horsemen, fifty Japanese, and seventy Siyaos. The value of the goods destroyed in the Parian was 5,000,000 pesos; and the houses (built of molave wood), with the church and the stone houses, all together were worth 2,000,000. Twenty champans brought to Mariveles the Sangleys from neighboring provinces, to join the Manila insurgents; but a Spanish and Pampango force went out against than, who sank eleven of the champans and killed six hundred and fifty men. Among the troops levied by the governor were a company of Japanese, and two of Sangley mestizos. Chinese prisoners confessed that their general had offered, to each Sangley who should bring in a Spanish head, a large reward, including a Spanish woman to be his wife. A body of religious from all the orders, aided by some Indians and ten soldiers, undertook to defend the passage across the river, and killed many of the enemy. On February 24, 1640, the starving Sangleys surrendered, to the number of 7,793."]

ECCLESIASTICAL AND AUGUSTINIAN AFFAIRS, 1630-40

[In VOLS. XXIII and XXIV of this series was presented the history of the Augustinian order to the year 1630, as written by Fray Juan de Medina. Continuing that history to 1640, we give (mainly in synopsis) the most important matter on this subject in the Conquistas of Fray Casimiro Diaz (Valladolid, 1890), book ii, pp. 267-444. As usual, the parts synopsized or merely referred to are printed within brackets; these will be readily distinguished from words or phrases supplied in translation, which are printed in the same manner.]

CHAPTER VI

After the death of the lord archbishop Don Fray Miguel Garcia Serrano, the ecclesiastical cabildo of Manila attempted to interfere in the government of the vacant see--alleging for this purpose that the brief of Paul V, and the royal decree, had been obtained by underhand means and misrepresentations. The bishop of Cagayan, Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, also brought forward his claim to the vacant post; accordingly, both parties presented the arguments in behalf of their respective claims. The decision thereon was deferred for some time, the cabildo always resisting Don Fray Hernando Guerrero's efforts to take possession of the see, and denying not only the claim which he preferred, but also the right which the bishop of Cebu, Don Fray Pedro de Arce, had--which he, moreover, had yielded to Senor Guerrero. This contest lasted two years in the royal Audiencia; then, the auditors having declared that the government of the archbishopric belonged to Don Fray Pedro de Arce, the cabildo appealed to the Council of the Indias. Nevertheless, the royal Audiencia and the governor sent for the bishop of Cebu, who reached Manila on the twenty-second of January, 1630. The cabildo having been commanded, by a royal decree, to hold a session, Don Fray Pedro de Arce presented himself at that meeting, and made the following proposition: "Sirs, it is well understood, as you will satisfy yourselves, that my coming to this city, and just now to this cabildo, is quite contrary to my own inclinations; for I desire and love a quiet life, and I hold very dear the sheep of my bishopric. The example [of this that I have given] is very evident; for Fray Hernando Guerrero having gone to my diocese so that I might confer upon him the orders for which he had been consecrated, I also transferred to him the right to the government of this archbishopric that I hold in virtue of a brief from his Holiness Paul V, issued by him on January 7, 1612. But the claim of the said bishop of Nueva Segovia was not allowed, for reasons which you know. After that, Don Juan Nino de Tavora, governor and captain-general of these islands, wrote to me so urgently in the name of the gentlemen of the royal Audiencia, sending me his Majesty's royal decree, and laying a burden upon my conscience if I did not accept this duty, that I could not refuse it; accordingly, I come to this city, certainly against my own wishes, and to the injury of my health in my advanced years. But, sirs, it has seemed to me expedient to come, as a measure of peace and love, to expostulate with you, and ask that you carefully consider all these motives and reasons. I ask that, without delay or opposition, you at once admit me to the government of this archbishopric, to which his Holiness and his Majesty call me, considering that my earnest desire and intention is to strive to labor in the service of both Majesties, and to promote, for yourselves and all this commonwealth, the welfare and harmony which should prevail, and which are right." Thus spoke Don Fray Pedro de Arce; and answer was made to him by the dean, Don Miguel Garcetas, in behalf of the cabildo. He said that they all fully appreciated the bishop's kindness, and that all were entirely satisfied of his good intentions in this matter, and of his great virtue, prudence, and learning; but that, in order that they might proceed in this matter with all harmony, certainty, and deliberation, it was necessary that all the members of the cabildo should assemble (for some were not present at this meeting). The dean added that in all their acts they would follow the rulings of the sacred canons and the constitutions of the cathedral church, and that his Lordship might be certain that all of them confessed themselves to be his affectionate children, and desired to render him service; and that they entreated him to show them the bulls and other documents that he possessed, in order that all these might be duly fulfilled. To this the bishop replied that the bulls were already before the cabildo, and by virtue of them he had been admitted to the government of the archbishopric by the death of Don Diego Vazquez Mercado; accordingly, they must settle the matter without delay because, if they did this amicably, they would find in him a father and protector; but if not, he would enforce his claims by the severe measures which he could by law employ.

The cabildo met on the twenty-ninth of January, and decided that, after having consulted learned persons, they were of opinion that the cabildo ought not to surrender the government; but that, on account of the many and serious difficulties [that might arise from this], they would yield under protest. Accordingly, they received Don Fray Pedro de Arce on the same day as ruler of the vacant see, although the cabildo took much umbrage at it; and from this affair originated continual strife and dissensions. At the outset, they denied to Don Fray Pedro the seat in the choir, the cabildo asserting that the bishop was not competent to possess it because he was not a proprietary bishop; and that, although he had been consecrated, it was in another diocese, and one suffragan to that of Manila. The prudent bishop felt this slight keenly, for they had given him this seat when he first administered the vacant see; but finally they gave him the seat (to which he was legally entitled), as they had done before. Don Fray Pedro de Arce ruled with the prudence and uprightness which in him were so eminent, which together with his virtue and piety, made him a most accomplished prelate, and truly a father to all. In the course of his government he made enactments very important for the conduct of the church; in especial, he imposed the cuadrante [84] for the choir in the cathedral of Manila with great exactness--aiding the prebends with great readiness in their choir, the subsidy that they receive being still so small that some of them have hardly enough for their support.

[The rest of this chapter is mainly occupied with secular occurrences, which we omit here because they have already been fully related in other documents for that time--the fruitless expedition against Jolo under Lorenzo de Olaso, shipbuilding in Cambodia attempted, the despatch of an envoy to India to secure Portuguese cooperation against the Dutch, the coming of the royal visitor Don Francisco de Rojas, and the death of the governor Nino de Tavora--and the relation of various miraculous cures and deliverances performed through the Santo Nino (or image of Christ) in the church of Cebu. The following paragraph states the proceedings at the meeting of the Augustinian provincial chapter of 1632:]

The year 1632 having arrived, the provincial chapter was convened in the convent at Manila, on the first day of May; the president at this session was father Fray Juan de Tapia, and the election [for provincial] resulted, with the general consent of the entire province, in the choice of father Fray Geronimo de Medrano--a very courteous and discreet religious, who governed this province well. As definitors were chosen the fathers Fray Juan de Montemayor, Fray Francisco de Mercado, Fray Luis Ronquillo, and Fray Juan Ramirez; and as visitors, the fathers Fray Alonso Carbajal and Fray Antonio de Porras. They made regulations very useful for the proper government of the province; and as its procurator for Espana was appointed father Fray Diego de Ordas, at that time prior of the convent of Santo Nino at Cebu. He made the journey that year, and, having performed it very successfully, returned [to the islands] in the year 1635.

CHAPTERS VII-XIV

[These chapters are occupied with accounts of the persecutions in Japan, and the biographies of Augustinian priests who were martyred therein.]

CHAPTERS XV-XXXIV

[These chapters relate the coming of Corcuera as governor, his controversies with the bishop, and the exile of the latter; biographical accounts of various noted Augustinian missionaries, some of whom were martyrs in Japan; and the final incidents of the persecution in that country, so far as Diaz could learn of them, up to about 1715. Nearly all of this matter is either a repetition of what we have already presented in previous volumes, or irrelevant to our purpose; but we select occasional passages which properly belong to the history of the islands, especially its ecclesiastical aspects. In our VOL. XXV may be found extracts from Diaz's work regarding the contest between Corcuera and Guerrero (chapters xv-xviii). Chapter xix is devoted to the opinion of "a learned auditor of Manila" on the banishment of the archbishop; the editor of Diaz, Father Tirso Lopez, prints this opinion, in order to reproduce all of Diaz's history, which is his only reason for not suppressing "this conceited, most tedious, and ill-digested document." Chapters xx and xxi are devoted to the biographies of two Augustinian missionaries, Fray Alonso de Mentrida and Fray Juan de Medina respectively. The former excelled as a linguist.]

[Pp. 353-355:] He composed a curious and ingenious grammar [arte], by which the main difficulty in [learning] those languages was surmounted in a short time. He also composed a copious vocabulary of the languages of the two islands, Panay and Cebu, which are quite distinct. In the mountain region of Ogton a very harsh language is spoken, which they call Halaya; and along the coast another, more polished and elegant, which is called Hileygueina. This work [i.e., the vocabulary] cost him much labor, and is very useful to the ministers. He left it complete, and after his death it was published by father Fray Martin Claver. [85] He [Fray Alonso] composed a brief catechism, accurately written, in the Bisayan language, which is very useful for instructing those natives in the mysteries of our holy faith; this was printed twice, in order that there might be an abundant supply of a work so important for the welfare of souls. He also published the ritual by which the holy sacraments are usually administered in these islands; and this work is deserving of esteem, since one finds therein a compilation of what is strictly necessary for the more safe administration [of the sacraments]. It is so highly regarded by the other religious orders that, although two large editions of the work have been printed, it is now necessary to issue a third, since all are trying to obtain this book. [86]

Father Fray Alonso de Mentrida spent many years in the provinces of Ogton and Panay, [87] where he gathered much fruit in the conversion of those souls, especially in the district of Ogton--which in those times was, in the greater part of its mountain region, shrouded in the darkness of error. There the devil was well entrenched in those rugged mountains, having solidly established his kingdom and worship among those simple natives--who, influenced more by fear than by any other consideration, prostrated themselves before that demon, and gave him their worship and adoration. His crafty designs were successful among them through the agency of many priests and priestesses (in the Bisayan idiom called babaylanes), who, being especially assisted by that infernal spirit, concoct certain frauds and delusions, with which they deceive the simple Bisayans. These priests, moreover, secure much advantage from this mode of life, since by it they make their living, and are feared and looked up to; for most of them have a compact with the devil, by means of which they wreak such evil as they can on those persons on whom they try to be revenged, or whom they wish to injure because some one else has done them harm. Against this infernal horde father Fray Alonso de Mentrida waged continual battle, roaming through those mountains on foot, and accompanied only by one servant, a very good Christian, who aided him much in his work. This man died at a great age (more than one hundred and ten years); he lived in the village of Guimbal, of which he was a native, and his name was Vilango. They journeyed so destitute of human aid that they carried in their pouches only some roots, cooked, which in that country are very common, called camotes, with a little rice, eaten cold and half-cooked. This sort of abstinence was so continual in Father Mentrida that he ate nothing else than the vegetables and pottages of the country, with a little fish when he wished to appease his more pressing hunger; and it is not known that he ate meat until, in his old age and in several attacks of illness that he suffered, the duty of obedience compelled him to moderate so austere a diet. In such a mode of life this apostolic man wandered through those mountains, preaching to the infidels the word of God, and persuading them to leave their straggling hamlets [rancherias] and settle in some small villages, that he might more advantageously call them together and instruct them, separating them from their errors and blindness. With great benefit to their souls the simple mountaineers of Ogton received the gospel preaching, as they all are gentle and well-inclined people; the father's only opponents were those ministers of Satan and children of perdition, the babaylanes, who with their lies sowed their diabolical tares upon the grain of heaven, and easily smothered the seed that took root in piously-inclined hearts. Those priests artfully suggested to the natives the anger which their divatas (thus they name the spirits to whom they give adoration) felt against them, and on their own part uttered threats against them, menacing either their lives or their poor property--which is a scanty grain-field of rice; and by these shameless acts they terrorized the people, and caused some of them to lose their solicitude for attending church. Father Fray Alonso de Mentrida spared neither hardship nor effort to bring back to the fold of the Church those whom these malicious ministers had, through their crafty methods, caused to backslide; and he held with those priests extraordinary discussions, from which, in place of gaining good results, he obtained only their plots. With these they tried, on several occasions, to deprive him of life by their arts and witchcraft; but the Lord, who watched over His servant, did not permit them to succeed in their damnable attempts, and, for the greater humiliation of the common enemy [i.e., the devil], held back the father from the greatest dangers.

During the time when this apostolic minister was preaching in the mountains of Ogton, there were visible apparitions of the devil, standing upon a rock and teaching superstitions and giving laws to a great multitude of Indians, who, deceived by him, followed him. Moreover, in those mountains are many demons, who appear to the natives in horrible forms--as hideous savages, covered with bristles, having very long claws, with terrifying eyes and features, who attack and maltreat those whom they encounter. These being are called by the Indians Banuanhon, who are equivalent to the satyrs and fauns of ancient times. Even at this day these hideous monsters are wont to appear to the Indians, some of whom remain in a demented condition for months from the mere sight of them; others go away with these demons, and are lost for a long time, and then will return in a terrified and fainting condition, few of them failing to die soon afterward. I would have much to tell and relate if I should stop to mention what has occurred with such monsters, who have been seen not only in the mountains of Ogton and Panay, but very frequently in the province of Taal. They are called in the Tagal language Tigbalang; and many persons who have seen them have described to me, in the same terms, the aspect of the monster. They say that he has a face like a cat's, with a head that is flattened above, not round, with thick beard, and covered with long hair; his legs are so long that, when he squats on his buttocks, his knees stand a vara above his head; and he is so swift in running that there is no quadruped that can be compared with him.

[Diaz proceeds to relate several incidents connected with these demons, and the difficulties encountered by Mentrida, caused by the hostility of the native priests--who much resembled the "medicine-men" of the North American Indians; and adds (p. 356): "In these holy occupations he passed much time in that mountain wilderness, as his companion Vilango has told me; and gradually those hearts, hard as diamonds, were softened, and they were converted to our holy faith. He proceeded to gather those people into villages, founding those of Agra (with the advocacy of St. Nicholas), Baong, Santiago, Limao, San Pedro, Taytay, and Catingpan--which remain to this very day, and in my time preserve the memory of this apostolic man, to whom, as they recognize, they owe the knowledge of the truth." Mentrida remained in the missions until 1618, when he was summoned to Manila, to become prior of the Augustinian convent there; and in 1623, he was elected provincial. The rest of his life he was afflicted by age and broken health; and he died at Manila, March 22, 1637.]

[Diaz sketches the life and labors of Juan de Medina (whose history of his order in Filipinas we publish in VOLS. XXIII and XXIV of this series), giving the following summary of his achievements: "It is not easy to relate in full the great labors of this religious in the conversion of the Indians in the province of Ogton, when they all, on account of the coming of the Dutch the first time to the point of Iloilo, took refuge in the mountains, forsaking their villages, so that it was difficult for several years to bring them back to a sedentary life. During that time, this religious traveled, carrying little more than his staff, through all the mountains of Ogton, preaching to the people that they might be converted, and maintaining a continual battle with the devil--who had, through the agency of his ministers the babaylanes, persuaded the people that the Spaniards could not deliver them from the Dutch. During that time he suffered many dangers through the plots of those infernal ministers, who at various times tried to take his life--divine Providence delivering him from them all, for the greater gain of those Christian communities. Amid those dangers did this religious convert most of the peoples in Ogton, Xaro, Baong, and Pasig. In all places where this minister went, he left an especial reputation for his virtue and apostolic teaching. He visited some nine times the entire province of Bisayas, and usually held the office of vicar-provincial--obedience obliging him to accept it, on account of the great importance of his direction for the greater glory of the order." After twenty years spent in these labors, he obtained permission (1631) to go to Spain, and miraculously escaped from the wreck of his ship in the very port of Cavite. He then returned to the Visayan missions, but again set out for Spain in 1635; while crossing the Pacific, he was carried away by disease. Chapters xxii-xxv are devoted to the persecutions and martyrdoms of Christians in Japan; chapter xxvi treats mainly of the controversy within the Augustinian order regarding the "alternation" of offices between the friars sent from Spain and those who had taken the habit in the Indias (already related in our VOL. XXVIII). The following paragraphs are of interest here.]

[Pp. 386-388:] After the father provincial Fray Juan Ramirez (who was one of the best superiors of that time) had governed this province very successfully and judiciously, the time arrived for the provincial chapter; it was held at the convent of San Pablo in Manila, on the twenty-fourth of the month of April, 1638. Father Fray Jeronimo Cornuetano, the general of the entire order, presided over the meeting; and it resulted in the election, by unanimous consent, of father Fray Martin Errasti, a religious who was much endeared to all the rest by his many fine qualities. The definitors elected were fathers Fray Juan de Trexo, Fray Jeronimo Venasque, Fray Francisco de Madrid, and Fray Francisco de Villalon; and the visitors, father Fray Juan de Boan and Fray Jeronimo de Paredes--all being religious of recognized abilities, and men to whose care the interests of this province could be confided. It was decided to send to Espana a procurator to conduct a party of religious to this province, although the choice of one was not effected until the following year; this fell upon father Fray Pedro de Quesada, prior of the convent of Bulacan, who had recently arrived, driven back by stress of weather, from [a voyage to] the kingdom of Japon--whither he went with some religious of St. Dominic; but stormy head-winds obliged them to return to Manila, divine Providence keeping them in reserve for another ministry.

The Moro pirates of Mindanao and Jolo did not cease to infest the Pintados Islands every year with their armed fleets--capturing the natives, burning the villages, plundering the churches of the consecrated vessels, and then destroying those temples by fire. So far had gone the boldness of Corralat--who came to those islands, subjected to his anger, without the Spaniards displaying any purpose to defend them, or going out to hinder those injuries--that he soon attributed this negligence to cowardice, and to the fear of him which the Spaniards felt. This so increased his boldness that his little fleets were daring enough to approach even the bay of Manila. They experienced no resistance, save only in the province of Caraga--[whose natives are] a warlike people--and this was due to the valor of its alcalde-mayor, Captain Don Francisco de Atienza y Banes, a native of Toledo; and to the great courage of a discalced Augustinian religious named Fray Agustin de San Pedro, who was very celebrated in those times, and feared by the pirates, [who was known] by the name of "Father Captain" [Padre Capitan]. [88] The exploits of this religious in defending the villages where he was a minister of religious instruction, and in going out to find the enemy in their own country, would be material for many chapters of history. He was a religious of great virtue, and of zeal for the welfare of souls; and, besides this, God had given him extraordinary courage, and a genius worthy of Scipio and Hannibal. Accordingly, seeing that those who ought to conduct military operations remained with folded hands, without going out to the defense of those harassed peoples, he determined to do so himself. On one occasion he went out from Butuan, where he was prior, with some Spanish soldiers, and men whom he gathered in Caraga; and with them he faced and put to flight an armed fleet of Corralat. When Don Francisco de Atienza saw what aid he had in the valor and experience of father Fray Agustin, the two laid their plans to perform an exploit that should do them credit; and, manning some caracoas with the best soldiers from the presidio of Tanda, both Spaniards and Caragas, and providing two boats which could be taken to pieces and carried overland in sections, and afterward be again put together and framed, Don Francisco, accompanied by father Fray Agustin, took the route to the lake of Malanao, [89] which was under the jurisdiction of Corralat. This lake is in the island of Mindanao, opposite the island of Bohol; from north to south it is eight leguas long, and it is four leguas wide. Its shores are thickly settled by several tribes, some Mahometan and others heathen (although all of them are vassals of Corralat); but they are people who are very poor in all except foodstuffs, of which they have a great abundance. Don Francisco de Atienza and father Fray Agustin de San Pedro arrived at this lake; and, as the water at its entrance was very low and there were many miry places, they took the four [sic] vessels to pieces and placed them on the lake, where they again [put them together and] manned them. By this means the Spaniards went through that region, carrying on hostilities among those tribes, and leaving them subjected to the crown of Espana--although this submission did not last long, for Corralat again reduced them, because the Spaniards had not left behind a fortified post. This conquest was not one of much profit; but it was enough to leave the Moros warned for some time by this punishment.

[Chapters xxvii and xxviii are occupied with the expedition of Corcuera against Jolo, already described in our VOL. XXVIII. Chapters xxix-xxxiv are devoted almost entirely to the Chinese insurrection in Manila and its environs in 1639, and to an historical account of former disturbances caused by them in the islands, from the time of the pirate Limahon down. A brief paragraph mentions the death of the provincial of the Augustinians, and his temporary successor: "In the middle of the year 1639 occurred the death of the father provincial Fray Martin de Herrasti, a loss which was keenly felt by all the province on account of his many endowments and lovable qualities. He was a native of Guipuzcoa, and a son of the convent at Burgos. Having come to this province in the year 1617, he was assigned, by his obedience, to the ministry in Pampanga, where he remained, an excellent missionary, for a period of twenty years--until the province, satisfied as to his virtue and discretion, chose to employ so worthy a minister to govern it, and elected him provincial, although it enjoyed but little of the direction of so excellent a superior. The government of the province was assumed by father Fray Juan Ramirez, as the most recent past provincial; and thus was somewhat lessened the general grief caused by the loss of the deceased provincial."]

RELATION OF THE FILIPINAS ISLANDS

By a religious who lived there for eighteen years [90]

The islands called Filipinas, because of having been conquered during the reign of Felipe II, were discovered in the year 1521, by Hernando Magallanes, a famous Portuguese, who gave his name to the strait. That great pilot, after having forever perpetuated his name by a navigation so new and so difficult, landed on one of the Filipinas Islands--a very small one, named Matan--where he was treacherously killed by the Indians. Ruy Lopez de Villalobos sighted the islands again after him in the year 1539. [91] Finally they were pacified in the year 1571 by the adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. It is a cause for surprise that the Portuguese, who had discovered the Malucas, China, and Japon, some years before, and had made their homes there, did not know anything about those islands until long afterward, although they are, as it were, the very center and middle part of their other discoveries. They knew well the island of Borneo, which is the last of those islands toward the south, but they had never stopped there while en route to the Malucas--urged, perhaps, by their too great greed for the spices and drugs which are produced so abundantly in those islands.

The geographies say that there are eleven thousand islands in that great archipelago of which the Filipinas are a part, and that they are adjacent to Asia as are the Canaries and the Terceras to Africa. They cross into the torrid zone and extend along the coasts of China and India. South of them lie the Malucas, and on their northern coast, Japon. More than forty of them are subject to the king of Espana, the largest and most important being Manila and Mindanao. Manila is the capital of all the others, the residence of the governor and the archbishop, and the seat of the royal Audiencia. Those two islands are each six hundred miles in circuit; they are full of mountains, have rivers and dense forests, and lie in thirteen and one-half degrees north latitude. The other islands are not so large, some being one hundred miles in circuit, some fifty, and some even less. Almost all of them are inhabited by Indians, and those which are not are used by the Indians for their crops, and for the chase of deer and wild boars, and for the gathering of wax, with which the islands most abound.

The islands not yet under the dominion of the king of Espana have their own kings, who are Mahometans. The island of Borneo, three times greater than the whole of Italia, is the largest of all the islands. Those subject to the king of Espana are Manila, Zebu, Oton, Mindanao, Bohol, Leite, Samar, Mindoro, Marinduque, the island of Negros, the island of Fuegos, Calamianes, Masbat, Jolo, Taquima, Capul, La Paragua, the island of Tablas, Verde Island, Burias, Tiago, Maripipe, Panama, Panaon, Sibuian, Luban, Bantajan, Panglao, Siquior, Catanduan, Imaras, Tagapolo, Banton, Romblon, Similara, Cuio, Cagaianes, Marivelez, Poro, Babuianes, the island of Cabras (which is distant from the others), and other smaller ones.

In the islands subject to the king of Espana, every married man pays ten reals of tribute, and he who is unmarried five. Nearly all of them have received the gospel, and hence there are few heathen. However, in the islands of Mindanao, Taquima, and Jolo, conquered but recently, most of the people are Moros or heathen; but it is hoped that the zeal of the missionaries will convert them very soon to Jesus Christ.

Before the conquest of those islands by the Spaniards, the natives of the country were subject to the chiefs among them, who were recognized as nobles, and all the others obeyed them. Those chiefs possessed a great amount of gold, and slaves in proportion to their nobility. I knew two chiefs, one in Bohol, and the other at Dapitan, a village of Mindanao, who had more than one hundred slaves apiece. They are not foreign slaves, as those of Angola who are in Europa, but of the same nation. It was a lamentable thing to see with what violence and for how little a thing, these chiefs made slaves. For, however small a sum one owed to another, the interest, for lack of payment, amounted to so great a sum that it was impossible to pay it; and consequently, the person of the debtor being pledged for the debt, he became the slave of his creditor, together with all his posterity. They also made slaves, with unusual tyranny and cruelty, for crimes of slight importance, such as not keeping silent at the graves of the dead, and for passing in front of the chief's wife when she was in her bath. Those captured in war were also all made slaves. Now with baptism, all those acts of violence and tyranny have been suppressed--although there still remains one very peculiar custom among them, which does not follow that general rule, namely, Partus sequitur ventrem; [92] for there are some who are wholly slaves, and others who are only half slaves. The former are those born of a slave father and mother; the others who are born of a slave father and a free mother, or vice versa. In some villages it is the custom that, if the father is slave and the mother free, one of the children is free and the other slave. The privilege of those half slaves is that if they pay a certain sum of money to their master, they may oblige him to grant them their liberty--an advantage that is not possessed by those who are wholly slaves.

All the religion of those Indians is founded on tradition, and on a custom introduced by the devil himself, who formerly spoke to them by the mouth of their idols and of their priests. That tradition is preserved by the songs that they learn by heart in their childhood, by hearing them sung in their sailing, in their work, in their amusements, and in their festivals, and, better yet, when they bewail their dead. In those barbarous songs, they recount the fabulous genealogies and deeds of their gods, of whom they have one who is chief and head of all the others. The Tagals call that god Bathala mei Capal, which signifies "God the Creator." The Bisayans call him Laon, which signifies "Time." They are not far from our belief on the point of the creation of the world. They believe in a first man, the flood, and paradise, and the punishments of the future life.

They say that the first man and the first woman came out of a reed stalk which burst in Sumatra, and that there were some quarrels between them at their marriage. They believed that when the soul left the body, it went to an island, where the trees, birds, waters, and all other things were black; that it passed thence to another island, where all things were of different colors; and finally that it arrived at one, where everything was white. They recognized invisible spirits, another life, and devils hostile to men, of whom they had great fear. Their chief idolatry was in adoring and regarding as gods those of their ancestors who were most remarkable for their courage, or for their intelligence. Such they called humalagar, or, as is said in Latin, manes. Each one, as far as possible, ascribed divinity to his father at death. The old men even died with that conceit, and that is why they chose a remarkable place--as did one in the island of Leite, who had himself placed on the seashore, so that those who went sailing should recognize him as a god, and commend themselves to him. They also worshiped animals and birds. They regarded the rainbow as a sort of divinity. The Tagals worshiped a totally blue bird, of the size of a thrush, which they called bathala, which was a name of the divinity. They worshiped the raven, which they called meilupa, meaning "the master of the earth." They had a great veneration for the crocodile. [When] they saw it in the water, they called it nono, or "grandfather." They offered to it prayers regularly, with great devotion, and offerings of what they carried in their boats, in order that it might not harm them. There was no old tree of which they did not make a god, and it was a sacrilege to cut it. I have seen a very large one called nonog, [93] in the island of Samar, which a religious ordered to be felled, in order to destroy all those superstitions. He was unable to find an Indian who would undertake it for him; and it was necessary for some Spaniards to go to fell it. They also worshiped the stones, rocks, reefs, and promontories of land which jut into the sea; and made offerings to these of rice, fish, and other like things, or fired their arrows at them in passing.

Between La Caldera and the river in the island of Mindanao, a great point of land runs into the sea, which makes the coast dangerous and very high. The sea beats violently against that cape, which is very difficult to double. The Indians in passing offered it their arrows as a sacrifice, praying it to allow them to pass. They shot them with so great force that they made them enter the rock, and hence it is called the Punta de Flechas. One day the Spaniards burned a number of those arrows to show their hatred of so vain a superstition; and in less than one year more than four thousand were found there. When Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera conquered the island of Mindanao three years ago, [94] he ordered that that point be called no more Punta de Flechas, but San Sebastian. They had innumerable other superstitions. If they saw a snake or a lizard, or if they heard a bird that they called corocoro [95] sneeze or sing, they took it as a bad sign, and did not go farther. They had no remarkable temples, and no festivals of days of public sacrifices; but each one made his offerings to the humalagar or divata (which was the name of their god) in private, according to their purpose or need. Although they had no temples, they had men and women who acted as priests, who were called catolonan by some and babailan by others. Those priests were most inclined to allow themselves to be deceived by the devil, and to deceive the people afterward by a thousand tricks and inventions--chiefly at the time of their sicknesses, when they are depressed, lose courage, and crave a prompt remedy; and give all their possessions to him who promises it to them.

There are some priests who have special communication with the devil. He speaks to them through the mouths of their little idols, and makes them believe that these are the voices of their ancestors, whom they worship. Sometimes the devil passes into the bodies of their sacrificers, and, during the short time of the sacrifice, he makes them say and do things that fill the bystanders with fear. They take that order of sacrificers from among their friends or their relatives, who wish to learn the mystery of it from them. Their blindness causes them to esteem that rank greatly, for besides the reputation and respect that that employment brings them, they also receive large offerings. All who have been present at the sacrifice make them gifts, one cotton, one gold, and one a fowl. The sacrifice takes place in their houses. The victim is now a hog, now a fowl, now some fish or rice; and the sacrifice is differently named according to the various victims. It is performed by the sacrificer stabbing the victim amid certain ceremonies, which he performs to a cadence marked by a drum or a bell. That is the time in which the devil takes possession of them. He causes them to make innumerable contortions and grimaces, after the end of which they tell what they believe they have seen or heard.