Together with the king's letter Blas Ruis de Hernan Gonzalez wrote another detailed letter to Doctor Morga, informing him of all the events of his expeditions. The letter reads as follows.

To Doctor Antonio de Morga, Lieutenant-governor of the Filipinas Islands of Luzon, in the city of Manila, whom may our Lord preserve.

From Camboja: Your Grace must have already heard of events in this kingdom of Camboja, from my arrival until the captain withdrew the fleet. These accounts will undoubtedly vary according to what each man thought fit to say in order to gild his own affairs: some according to their bent and opinion, and others according to their passion. Although the matter has been witnessed and thoroughly known by many persons, I am about to relate it as well as possible to your Grace, as to a person who can weld all the facts together and give to each circumstance the weight which it may possess and deserve. I shall also give an account among other things of all that happened to Captain Diego Belloso and myself on the journey to Lao, and the vicissitudes and wars in this kingdom, from our arrival until the condition of affairs now in force. Since Spaniards have taken part in all these events it will please your Grace to know the manner and retirement with which I have lived in this kingdom ever since my arrival here from Manila, sustaining the soldiers and other men whom I brought in my ship at my own expense, keeping them in a state of discipline and honor, and never allowing them to abandon themselves to sensual pleasures; although I had no credentials for this, for Gallinato had those which the governor was to give me. I shall not discuss the why and wherefore of most of the Chinese matters, because Fray Alonso Ximenez and Fray Diego [97] witnessed some of the events and heard of others and will have informed your Grace of everything, including the war against the usurper, and Gallinato's abandonment of this kingdom when affairs had practically been settled. Had he continued to follow up matters, half of the kingdom would today justly belong to his Majesty, and the whole of it would be in the power and under the rule of the Spaniards; and perhaps the king himself with most of his people would have embraced Christianity. As to Chinese matters which require most explanation I only ask your Grace to consider the kingdom which we came to help, that the Chinese had no more right there than we had, and that we had to try to gain reputation, not to lose it. Since we came with a warlike attitude, and it was the first time that an armed Spanish force set foot on the mainland, was it right for us to endure insults, abuse, contempt, and open affronts from a so vile race as they are, and before all these pagans? [Was it right to endure] the further action of their arguments before the usurping king, to induce him to kill us; their many evil and infamous reports to him concerning us, in order to induce him to grant their request; and above all their impudence in killing and disarming Spaniards and going out in the streets to spear them? All this I endured very patiently in order not to disturb the land by breaking with them, until one day when they actually tried to kill some of our men in their Parian, and the numbers being very unequal, they had already wounded and maltreated them. We came out at the noise and the Chinese drew up in battle array, armed with many warlike instruments, challenging us to battle, with insults and expressions of contempt. At this juncture, what would have become of our reputation had we retired when the advantage was on their side? Then, too, after attacking and killing many of them what security had we in this tyrannical kingdom, which showed itself not at all friendly to us, with only one ship, [98] which was at the time aground, and with the artillery and provisions ashore; while they had six ships and many rowboats all provided with one or two culverins and many men, both in the ships and those living in the port? [99] Would it have been right, after war had broken out, to have them with all their resources while we had none? Had they taken our lives, what reputation would the Spaniards have left in these kingdoms? For this reason I thought it better for us to overpower them, rather than to be at their mercy, or at that of the king. Accordingly, in order to assure our lives we were obliged to seize their ships and to strengthen ourselves by means of them, since the Chinese began the war. After this, father Fray Alonso Ximenez and we thought that, by making an embassy with presents to the king, and by exculpating ourselves in this matter, before him, everything would turn out well; and that if we had peace with him, and our persons in safety in a fort, or under his word and safe-conduct, we would give the Chinese their ship and property. All this was written out and signed by us. In order to carry this out, a letter was written in the name of the governor of that city [i.e., Manila], and we went to deliver it nine leguas away at the residence of the king, leaving the vessels guarded. But when he found us there, the king deprived us of the boats in which we had gone, and refused to receive the letter, which went under form of embassy, or to hear us unless we first restored the ships. Then he immediately began to prepare arms and to assemble many men, with the intention, unless we restored the ships, of killing us, or reducing us by force to such straits as to compel us to restore them; and after their restoration, of making an end of us all without trouble or risk to his own men. For he trusted us in nothing, since we were going in search of, and bringing help to, him whom he had dispossessed. All this was told us by some Christians among them, especially by a young mestizo from Malaca who lived among them and knew their language. Therefore considering that we were already separated from our companions, and that, if we restored the ships, they could easily take ours by means of them and kill the men left in them, and then us who were in that place; also that if we waited for them to collect and attack us, they could very easily kill us: we decided to seek the remedy by first attacking them instead of waiting to be attacked; and try to rejoin our men and assure our lives or end them by fighting. Accordingly we attacked them, and such was our good fortune that we killed the king in the fight. Then we retired to our ships with great difficulty, without the loss of a single Spaniard. We did not allow the king's house to be sacked, so that it might not be said that we had done this to rob him. At this juncture, the captain and sargento-mayor, our leader, arrived. He belittled and censured what we had done, and ridiculed our statement and that of some of the Cambodians, namely, that we had killed the usurper. All that he did was simply to collect whatever silver and gold certain soldiers seized during these troubles, and everything valuable in the ships, and then to burn the latter. Then he drew up a report against us and dispossessed us of our ships and command, thus formulating suspicion and distrust. After that he gave orders for the departure from the kingdom, paying no heed to many Cambodians who came to speak to us when we went ashore, and told us that we might build a fortress there, for they had a legitimate king before, but that he who was their king lately had driven him to Lao, and thus they had no king; that they would gather wherever the most protection could be found; and that we should continue the war. Nor did the captain accept any of our suggestions, when we told him that the usurper had imprisoned a kinsman of the lawful king; that we should go to his rescue; that the latter would raise men in favor of the legitimate king; and that with his support we would take possession of the kingdom, and then go to get the king. But he was deaf to all this and accordingly abandoned the kingdom, and this great opportunity was lost. The only thing that we could obtain from him by great entreaty after putting to sea, was to go to Cochinchina to inquire about the galley, since they had intended to send from Manila for that purpose. I also offered to go to Lao by land at my own expense, in search of the king of Camboja, for I knew that that way led thither. Accordingly, as soon as we arrived in Cochinchina, the captain sent Diego Belloso and myself to Lao, and Captain Gregorio de Vargas to Tunquin. Meanwhile he held an auction among the soldiers of everything valuable from the Chinese ships, and of what else he had taken from the soldiers; but the men were all without a real, and so he had everything bought for himself, at whatever price he was pleased to give. The king of Sinoa, a province of Cochinchina, equipped us for the voyage with a good outfit, by giving us an embassy for that country, and men to accompany us on the road. Thus we made the entire journey well provided and always highly honored and feared and much looked at, as the like had never before been seen in those kingdoms.

We were all sick on the road; but in all our troubles we were greatly comforted by the love which the people showed towards us, and: by the kind reception that we met at the hands of all. Finally we reached Lanchan, the capital and the royal seat of the kingdom. This kingdom has a vast territory, but it is thinly populated because it has been often devastated by Pegu. It has mines of gold, silver, copper, iron, brass, [sic] and tin. It produces silk, benzoin, lac, brasil, wax, and ivory. There are also rhinoceroses, many elephants, and horses larger than those of China. Lao is bounded on the east by Cochinchina and on the northeast and north by China and Tartaria, from which places came the sheep and the asses that were there when I went. Much of their merchandise is exported by means of these animals. On its west and southwest lie Pegu and Sian, and on the south and southeast, it is bounded by Camboja and Champan. [100] It is a rich country, and everything imported there is very expensive. Before our arrival at Lanchan, a cousin of the exiled king, on account of the usurper's death, had fled thither from Camboja, fearing lest the latter's son who was then ruling would kill him. He related what we had done in Camboja, in consequence of which the king of Lao received us very cordially, and showed great respect for us, praising our deeds and showing amazement that they had been accomplished by so few. When we arrived the old king of Camboja, together with his elder son and daughter, had already died, and there was left only the younger son with his mother, aunt, and grandmother. These women rejoiced greatly over our deeds and arrival, and more attention was given them thenceforth. Before our arrival at the city, we met an ambassador, whom the usurping king, Anacaparan, had sent from Camboja, in order that he might reach Lanchan before we did, and see what was going on there. He feigned excuse and pretext of asking for the old queen, who was the step-mother of the dead king Prauncar, and whom Anacaparan claimed to be his father's sister. The king of Lao was sending her, but at our arrival, and on our assuring him of Anacaparan's death, he ordered her to return, and the ambassador, for fear of being killed, fled down the river in a boat to Camboja. Then we declared our embassy, and asked for the heir of the kingdom in order to take him to our ships and thence to his own country. We were answered that he [i.e., the younger son] was the only one, and that they could not allow him to go, especially through a foreign country, and over such rough roads and seas. The youth wished to come, but his mothers [101] would not consent to it. Finally it was decided that we should return to the fleet and proceed with it to Camboja. We were to send them advices from there, whereupon they would send him under a large escort. His mothers gave me letters directed to that city [i.e., Manila], making great promises to the Spaniards on behalf of the kingdom, if they would return to Camboja to pacify the land and restore it to them. The king of Lao entrusted me with another embassy, in which he petitioned for friendship and requested that the fleet return to Camboja, adding that, should Gallinato be unwilling to return, he would send large forces by land to our assistance, under command of the heir himself. Thus we took leave and went to Cochinchina. While these things were happening in Lao, the following occurred in Camboja. As soon as the fleet had departed, the news of Anacaparan's death was published. When it was heard by Chupinaqueo, kinsman of the lawful king, who was in prison, he escaped from his prison, incited a province to rise, collected its men, and having proclaimed Prauncar as the lawful king, came to get us with about six thousand men, in order to join us and make war upon the sons of the usurper, who were now ruling. Not finding us in Chordemuco, where our ships had been lying, he sent boats to look for us as far as the bar. Seeing that we were nowhere to be found he seized all the Chinese and other people there, and returned to his province where he had gathered his forces, and there he fortified himself. Meanwhile the men at Champan, who had gone thither to take it, returned, whereupon the commander of the camp, called Ocuna de Chu, took sides with the sons of the usurper and had one of them—the second—Chupinanu by name, proclaimed king, because he was the most warlike. For this reason, the elder brother, called Chupinanon, and those of his party were angered, and consequently there was continual strife between them. Then all having united, together with the army from Chanpan, pursued Chupinaqueo, who came out to meet them with many of his men. They fought for many days, but at last it was Chupinaqueo's fate to be conquered and cruelly killed. Thus for the time being Chupinanu ruled as king, and the camp was disbanded, each man going to his own home. At this time a ship arrived from Malaca on an embassy, bringing some Spaniards who came in search of us, and a number of Japanese. Chupinanu would have liked to have killed them all, but seeing that they came on an embassy, and from Malaca, he let them go immediately. A large province, called Tele, seeing the cruelty with which the king treated them, revolted, and declaring themselves free, proclaimed a new king; then they marched against Chupinanu, and defeated and routed him, took from him a large number of elephants and artillery, and sacked his city. In the battle, most of the Spaniards and Japanese who had come from Malaca were killed. Chupinanu retreated with all his brothers, six in number, to another province, always accompanied by Ocuna de Chu. There they began to make plans and to collect men. They also invited two Malays, leaders of all the other Malays on whom Chupinanu relied strongly, who on the break-up of the camp after Chupinaqueo's death, had gone to the lands of which they were magistrates. But in order that what follows may be understood, I will tell who these Malays are. When this country was being ravaged by Sian, these two went to Chanpan, taking with them many of their Malays, as well as many Cambodians; and because the ruler of Champan did not show them all the honors that they desired, they caused an insurrection in the city when he was away. They fortified themselves there, and then plundered the city, after which they returned to this kingdom with all the artillery and many captives. When they arrived here the usurper Anacaparan was ruling. Congratulating one another mutually for their deeds, the usurper gave them a friendly welcome, and they gave him all the artillery and other things which they had brought. Then the usurper gave them lands for their maintenance, and made them great mandarins. These two Malays made it easy for him to capture Champan, and offered to seize its king. Since the latter had been so great and long-standing an enemy of the Cambodians, Anacaparan immediately collected an army, which he sent under command of Ocuna de Chu. When we killed Anacaparan, these forces were in Chanpan, and, as abovesaid, they returned after his death. These men presented themselves before the new king, Chupinanu, with all their Malays and it was at once decided to attack the insurgents of Tele. At this juncture arrived the ambassador who had fled from Lao as we reached Lanchan. He said that we had remained there and that our purpose was to ask for the lawful heir of Camboja in order to take him to our ships and transport him to his kingdom; that the king of Cochinchina was going to help us in this undertaking; that we had entered Lao with that report; and that the king of Lao was about to send the heir with great forces by river and by land, while we and the men of Cochinchina would go by sea and join them in Camboja, where we would declare war and inflict severe punishment upon whomsoever would not render homage. When the new king and his followers heard this news they were frightened, and consequently each thought only of himself. A few days later it was reported from the bar that four Spanish ships had entered, accompanied by many galleys from Cochinchina. This report was either a vision that some had seen, or was a fiction; and we have been unable to clarify the matter to this very day. At any rate, on hearing this news, these people confirmed as true the entire report of the ambassador who had fled. The mandarins of Camboja, taking into consideration the war which was now waging with the men of Tele, and the new one threatened by the Spaniards, Cochinchina, and Lao, decided to depose the new king and render homage to the one who was coming from Lao. For this purpose they communicated with the two Malays and together with them attacked the king with his brothers and turned them out of the realm. The two elder brothers fled separately, each to the province where he thought to find more friends. After this the mandarins ordered a fleet of row-boats to proceed toward Lao to receive their king, who they said was already coming. They sent Ocuna de Chu as leader of the fleet and also his two sons. Other boats were sent to the bar to receive the Spaniards, and make friendly terms with them, sending for that purpose certain Spaniards there. Two Cambodian mandarins and the two Malays were to remain to guard the kingdom, and to act as governors. The Spaniards went to the bar, but, finding nothing, returned. Ocuna de Chu took the road to Lao, but seeing that he did not meet his king, or hear any news of him, resolved to go to Lanchan and ask for him. He continued his march, but suffered some pangs of hunger, for he had left the kingdom unprovided, and the way was long. On account of this some of his men deserted, but at last he reached Lanchan with ten armed praus. All the kingdom of Lao was thrown into great confusion. Imagining that he was coming to make war, they abandoned their villages and property, and fled to the mountains. But on seeing that he was coming on a peaceful mission, they lost their apprehension. At his arrival we were already on the road to Cochinchina, whereupon the king ordered us to return to Lanchan immediately. The king [of Lao], on learning what was happening in Camboja, despatched there a large fleet by sea, and forces by land, and sent for the king of that country. He despatched me to Cochinchina with news of what was happening, and to take the ships to Camboja; but, while on the way, I heard of the battle fought by our fleet, whereupon I returned to Camboja with the king. When we reached the first village of the kingdom, we learned from the spies who had preceded us, that, as the news of the ships had been untrue, and Cuna de Chu was delaying so long, the provinces where the two brothers sought shelter had proclaimed them kings, and were at war with one another; that the people of Tele had come to fight with the governors, who were divided into factions; and that each man obeyed whom he pleased. But they said that Ocuna Lacasamana, one of the Malay headmen, had the greatest force of artillery and praus; and that a Japanese junk—the one that had been in Cochinchina when our fleet was there—had arrived, and was supporting Chupinannu. The sea and land forces were collected together at the point where this news had been received, and it was found that they were not sufficient to make a warlike entry. A fort was built there, and a request for more men sent to Lao. In the meantime, secret letters were despatched to probe the hearts of the leading men. The men from Lao delayed, and no answers were received to the letters. Feeling insecure in that place, they deliberated upon returning to Lao, but at this juncture news arrived from Ocuna Lacasamana, one of the Malays who had fortified himself in his own land, saying that he was on their side, although he had rendered homage to Chupinanu—a feigned promise because he had seen the king's delay—but that as soon as the king entered the land he would join his party. Soon after news came from another Cambojan governor, to the effect that, although he had rendered homage to Chupinanu, yet, if the king would come to him, he would attack Chupinanu, and depose or kill him. For that he said that he had four thousand men fortified with himself on a hill. He sent one of his relatives with this message. All trusted in this man, and immediately we set out for that place. When the above-mentioned man learned of the king's approach, he attacked the other king and routed him; then he came out to receive us, and thus we entered. That province and many others were delivered to us immediately. Chupinanu withdrew to some mountains. Immediately the two Malays, each with his forces, joined us; the Japanese did the same. The king then gave orders to pursue Chupinanu until he was taken and killed. Then he seized another man who was acting as judge in another province and put him to death. Soon after war began against the eldest of the brothers and against the people of Tele who also refused homage. At this juncture, a ship arrived from Malaca with fourteen Spaniards of our fleet, who had put into Malaca. The king was delighted thereat, and honored and made much of them, when he learned that they were some of the men who had killed the usurper. They were esteemed and respected in an extraordinary manner by the whole kingdom. Captain Diego Belloso tried to assume charge of them by virtue of an old document from Malaca; this I forbade, alleging that the right of this jurisdiction should proceed from Manila, since the restoration of this kingdom proceeded from that place, and that those men were Castilians and had nothing to do with his document or with Malaca. The king, before whom this matter was brought, replied that the matter lay between us two, and refused to mingle in those affairs. Some of the newcomers coincided with Belloso's opinion, and others with mine; and thus we have gone on until now. This has been the cause of my not asking the king for a fort to secure our personal safety. It would have been a footing for some business, [102] and what I shall relate later would not have happened to us. After the arrival of the Castilians, the king sent an embassy to Cochinchina—a Spaniard and a Cambodian—to get father Fray Alonso Ximenez and certain Spaniards, who, as we heard, had remained there. The ruler of Chanpan seized them, and they have not returned. The wars continued, in all of which the Spaniards and Japanese took part. Whatever we attacked, we conquered with God's assistance, but where we did not go, losses always resulted. Consequently we gained great reputation and were esteemed by our friends and feared by the enemy. While we were making an incursion, Ocuna de Chu, who was now called manbaray—the highest title in the kingdom—tried to revolt. In this he was aided by one of the Malay chiefs called Cancona. The king summoned me and ordered me to bring with me the Spaniards of my party. He ordered Diego Belloso to remain, for both of us were leaders and still are, in any war in which any of us is engaged. I came at his bidding, and he told me that those men were trying to kill him and deprive him of his kingdom, and asked me to prevent such a thing. The mambaray was the one who ruled the kingdom, and since the king was young and addicted to wine, he held the latter in little esteem and considered himself as king. At last, I, aided by Spaniards, killed him; then his sons were captured and killed. Afterward the Malay Cancona was seized and killed, and the king was extricated from this peril by the Spaniards. Then we returned to the war. I learned that another grandee who was head of a province was trying to rebel and join Chupinannon; I captured him and after trying him, put him to death. Therefore the king showed great esteem for us, and the kingdom feared us; that province was subdued and we returned to the king. At this time a vessel arrived from Sian, and ported here on its way to an embassy at Manila. On board this vessel were father Fray Pedro Custodio and some Portuguese. The king was greatly delighted at the arrival of the father and wished to build him a church. We all united and continued the war. Again we returned, after having reduced many provinces to the obedience of the king, and left Chupinanon secluded on some mountains, thus almost ending the war. Hereupon many Laos arrived under the leadership of one of their king's relatives, for hitherto they had done nothing nor uttered any sound. I do not know whether it was from envy at seeing us so high in the king's favor and that of the people of the kingdom, or whether they decided the matter beforehand in their own country; they killed a Spaniard with but slight pretext. When we asked the king for justice in this matter, the latter ordered his mandarins to judge the case. Meanwhile we sent for the Japanese who were carrying on the war in another region, in order to take vengeance if justice were not done. The Laos, either fearing this, or purposing to make an end of us, attacked our quarters at night and killed the father and several Spaniards who had accompanied him and who were sick; they also killed some Japanese, for their anger was directed against all. The rest of us escaped and took refuge on the Japanese vessel, where we defended ourselves until the arrival of the Japanese. The Laos made a fort and strengthened themselves therein. There were about six thousand of them. They sent a message to the king saying that they would not agree to any act of justice which he might order to be carried out. The king was very angry for the deaths that they had caused, and for the disrespect with which they treated him; but, in order not to break with their king, he refused to give us forces with which to attack them, although we often requested him to do so; nor did we attack them ourselves, as we were without weapons. The king sent word of this affair to Lao, and we remained for the time, stripped, without property, without arms, without justice or revenge, and quite angry at the king, although he was continually sending us excuses, saying that if the king of Lao did not do justice in this matter, he himself would do it, and would not let them leave the country on that account; he also sent us food, and some clothes and weapons. At this juncture a ship was despatched on an embassy to Malaca in which we wished to embark, but neither the king nor his mothers would allow Diego Belloso or me to leave. Some of the Spaniards embarked in it, some returned to Sian, and others remained with us; and the king from that time on made us more presents than ever. The Japanese gathered in their ship, and refused to continue the war. When the enemy learned that we were in confusion, they collected large forces and regained many undefended regions. The king requested the Laos to go to war, since they had thrown into confusion those who were defending his country. They went, lost the first battle, and returned completely routed, leaving many dead and wounded on the field. Chupinanon followed up the victory and came within sight of the king's residence, only a river separating them. Thereupon the king quite disregarded the Laos, and persuaded us and the Japanese to take up arms again and defend him. By this time we had all reequipped ourselves with arms and ammunition, and after much entreaty from him and his mothers, we went to war and relieved a fortress which Chupinanon was besieging. We won two battles and forced him to withdraw, thus taking from him all he had just regained, as well as other lands which had remained in those regions. We captured a quantity of rice and provisions from the enemy—with which the king's forces recuperated themselves, for they were suffering famine—and we went into quarters. This we did, I, the Spaniards, and the Japanese who were on my side. Diego Belloso and his men went to Tele, killed its king, and returned after having conquered part of the province. At this time a Portuguese ship arrived from Macao, [103] laden with merchandise; on which account, and on beholding our deeds, the Laos were filled with great fear of us, and without leave from the king, departed in boats to their country. Thereupon we went to the king, and requested him not to let them go without doing justice, unless he wished to break friendship with Luzon and Malaca. He replied that he did not dare detain them, but that if we wished to pursue and dared to fight them, he would secretly give us men. Accordingly we all negotiated for ten praus, and followed them. But since they were far ahead of us and under the spell of fear, we could not overtake them for many days. For this reason Belloso turned back with some Spaniards and Japanese. I followed with great difficulty—on account of certain strong currents, for we dragged the praus part way with ropes—although with but few men, until I overtook many of the Laos, and seized their praus and possessions, from which we all received compensation and gained still more in reputation, which at present we enjoy to a higher degree than was ever enjoyed by any nation in foreign lands. We are greatly esteemed by the king and his men, and by those native here; and greatly feared by foreigners. Accordingly we receive great respect in all parts of the kingdom. They have bestowed upon Captain Diego Belloso and myself the title of grandee, the highest in their kingdom, so that we may be more respected and feared, and better obeyed. Two of the best provinces in the kingdom are entered in our names, and will be made over to us as soon as the turmoils of war are settled and assemblies have been held to take the oaths to the king, which has not yet been done. In the meantime we are making use of other people whom the king orders to be given us. There is no opportunity in the kingdom for any one else to possess entire power and command, beyond Ocuna Lacasamana, leader of the Malays, whom the king favors on account of his large forces, and because he needs him for the wars in which he is engaged. The Spaniards have some encounters with his men, for which reason we hold aloof from one another. I have informed your Grace so minutely of these wars and affairs, in order that it may be judged whether his Majesty has any justifiable and legal right to seize any portion of this kingdom, since his forces killed the man who was quietly in possession of it; and since its heir, who was driven away where he had lost hope of ever again possessing it, has afterward reconquered it through his Majesty's subjects, who have guarded and defended his person from his enemies. For the hope that the king will give it up voluntarily will never be realized, as he rather fears having so many Spaniards in his country, even while he esteems them; for he dreads lest they deprive him of his kingdom, since he sees that this only requires the determination therefor. Some of our enemies impress this fact upon him, especially the Moros. I beg and entreat your Grace, who can do so much in this matter, to see that we do not lose our hold on this land, since so much has been accomplished in it, and it has been brought to a so satisfactory state. Moreover it is very important to possess a fortress on the mainland, since it is the beginning of great things. For if a fortress be built here, and the king see a large force in this land, he would have to do what he knows to be just, even if ill-disposed. I say this on account of his mother, aunt, and grandmother, who rule and govern, for he only does as they tell him. He is a child and is addicted to wine more than his father; he only thinks of sports and hunting, and cares nothing for the kingdom. Therefore should he see many Spaniards, and that nobody could harm them, he would do whatever they wished, because, as above-said, he loves them; neither would our opponents dare to offer any opposition. If perchance there should be so few men in the Filipinas at present that no great number of them can be sent, at least send as many as possible with the fathers, so as not to lose this jurisdiction and our share in anything; for Diego Belloso sent to Malaca for religious, men, and documents, so that by that means he may become chief justice of this land, and make over this jurisdiction to Malaca. Since this kingdom has been restored by that kingdom [i.e., the Philippines], your Grace should not allow others to reap the fruits of our labors. If some soldiers should come, and the Cambodians should refuse them the wherewithal to maintain themselves because of their small number, and not fearing them, I would do here whatever your Grace bade me, so long as it were reasonable; and until more soldiers came, I could manage to make the Cambodians give it, however much against their inclination. These men should come bound hard and fast by documents, so that, as the country is very vast, they should not be tempted to avail themselves of license, for lack of discipline was the cause of our encounter with the Laos. It has been very difficult for me to despatch this vessel, because little is given to the king for any purpose, and because there were many opponents to prevent it—for it is evident that the mandarins, whether native or foreign, are not pleased to see men set over them in the kingdom—and as I am poor, for I have lived hitherto by war, and subsisted from its gains by many wars, for the king also is very poor. The Spaniard whom I entrust with this mission is poor and an excellent soldier; and to enable him to go, I have assisted him from my indigence. Will your Grace please assist both him and the Cambodian, in order that the latter may become acquainted with some of the grandeur of his Majesty. I would rejoice to be the bearer of this, so as to give your Grace a long account of these affairs and of other notable things, and of the fertility of these kingdoms; but neither the king nor his mothers have allowed me to go, as the bearer will state, among other things. Your Grace may believe him, for he is a person disinterested in all respects, having just arrived from Macan. On account of the many wars, the king does not possess many things to send your Grace. He sends two ivory tusks, and a slave. Your Grace will forgive him; he will send many things next year, if the pacification of his country is accomplished, for he still has something to do in it. I have spoken to him and persuaded him to send to that city [i.e., Manila] to request soldiers, in order to complete the pacification of the country; but his mothers would not have it on any account, I am sure that they act thus in order not to promise them lands for their maintenance, or that they may not seize the land. But when they were in Lao, they promised very vast lands. But if what is done is not sufficient to provide for them, let the mercy of God suffice. When this embassy was despatched, Diego Belloso and myself told the king that if he did not give us the lands that he had promised us, we intended to go to Luzon, because we did not now possess the wherewithal with which to maintain ourselves. Many things occurred with respect to this request, but finally he gave us the lands, as is stated in the embassy; he gave them to us on condition of our holding them in his service and obedience. By this means I shall have more resources for your Grace's service. I spent all my possessions in meeting the expenses that I incurred in that city [i.e., Manila], and in maintaining my men in this kingdom. For that purpose I took the silver of the common seamen of my vessel, and although I paid the latter with some silver which we found in the [Chinese] ships, Gallinato would not consent to it, but took it all for himself. In Malaca they made me pay it out of the property on my ship, and would not consent to their being paid out of the prizes, since the war was considered a just one. [104] For this reason I am now destitute of any property, and therefore do not possess the means of serving your Grace as I ought and as I should have desired. Recollecting your Grace's unique armory I send you a bottle and a small flask of ivory. Your Grace will forgive the trifle for I promise to compensate for it next year. Your Grace may command me in any service for I shall take great pleasure therein. Will your Grace do me the favor to protect my affairs, so that they may gain some merit by your favor. Trusting to this, may our Lord preserve your Grace, and give you increase in your dignity, as this servant of your Grace desires in your affairs. From Camboja, July twenty, one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight.

Your Grace's servant,

BLAS RUYZ DE HERNAN GONCALES

Through this news and despatch from Camboja we learned in Manila of the good result attained by the stay of Diego Belloso and Blas Ruys in that land. Don Luys Dasmarinas gaining encouragement in the enterprise that he had proposed, discussed it with greater warmth. But since difficulties were still raised as to the justification with which an entrance could be made into Camboja with armed forces for more than the protection of, and completion of establishing, Prauncar in his kingdom, and to leave preachers with him—it was said on Don Luys's behalf that after accomplishing the above, he would, with the necessary favor of the same king of Camboja, proceed to the neighboring kingdom of Champan and take possession of it for his Majesty. He would drive thence a usurper, the common enemy of all those kingdoms, who lorded over it, and who, from his fortress near the sea, sallied out against all navigators, plundering and capturing them. He had committed many other crimes, murders, and thefts, on the Portuguese and other nations, who were obliged to pass his coasts in their trading with, and voyages to, China, Macan, Xapon, and other kingdoms, concerning all of which sufficient testimony had been given. On account of all these reports, the theologians and jurists decided that the war against the ruler of Champan and the conquest of his lands was justifiable, and that this position was of no less importance to the Spaniards than that of Camboja.

The governor and president, Don Francisco Tello, held a consultation with the Audiencia and others—religious and captains—as to what in their opinion was the most advisable measure to take in this matter. It was resolved that, since Don Luys offered to make this expedition at his own expense with those men who chose to follow him, the plan should be carried out. [105] Accordingly, an agreement was made with him on the above basis. He was to take the men at his own expense, with commission and papers from the governor for affairs of government and war, and provisions from the Audiencia for the administration of justice. He began preparing ships, men, and provisions, in order to sail as soon as possible.

In the meanwhile, Governor Don Francisco Tello despatched Don Joan de Camudio with a moderate-sized ship to Great China to obtain leave from the viceroy of Canton for the Spaniards to communicate and trade with his province. He was also to fetch saltpeter and metals which were wanted for the royal magazines of Manila. Don Joan reached his destination with good weather, and after stationing himself off the coast of Canton, sent certain of his company to the city with despatches for the tuton or viceroy. When the viceroy heard of the arrival of the Spaniards and the reason thereof, he gave them audience, and treated them cordially. The Portuguese residing in Macan near the city of Canton, made many efforts to prevent the viceroy, the conchifu, and other mandarins from admitting the Castilians of Manila into their country, alleging that the latter were pirates and evil-doers, who seized upon whatever kingdom and province they visited. They told them so many things that it would have sufficed to destroy them, had not the viceroy and mandarins looked at the matter dispassionately; for they knew the declaration of the Portuguese to be hate and enmity, and that these passions moved them to desire that the Castilians have no trade with China, for their own interests. The affair went so far, that, having been brought before a court of justice, silence was imposed upon the Portuguese of Macan, under penalty of severe corporal punishment; while the Castilians were given and assigned a port on the same coast, named El Pinal [Pine Grove], twelve leguas from the city of Canton, where they might then and always enter and make a settlement of their own; and they were given sufficient chapas [i.e., edicts or passports of safety] and provisions therefor. Thereupon Don Joan de Camudio, entered El Pinal with his ship and there he was furnished with everything needful by the Chinese at a moderate price while the Spaniards went to and fro on the river upon their business to Canton in lorchas [106] and champans. While the Spaniards were detained, in the said port they were always well received in the city and lodged in houses within its walls. They went about the streets freely and armed, a thing which is new and unique in China in respect to foreigners. This caused so great wonder and envy to the Portuguese (who are not so treated) that they tried with might and main to prevent it, even going so far as to come by night in boats from Macan to El Pinal to fire the ship of the Castilians. This did not succeed, however, for, having been heard, the necessary resistance was made, and after that a good watch was always kept on board, until the ship having accomplished its business and object departed thence, much to the satisfaction of the Chinese, who gave the Spaniards chapas and documents for the future. The ship reached Manila at the beginning of the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-nine.

After Don Luys Dasmarinas had equipped two moderate-sized ships and a galliot, and collected two hundred men who chose to follow him in this enterprise to Camboja—they were part of the unemployed in Manila—with the necessary provisions, ammunition, and equipment on his ships; and accompanied by Fray Alonso Ximenez and Fray Aduarte of the Order of St. Dominic and Fray Joan Bautista of the Order of St. Francis, some Japanese, and native Indians of Manila: he set sail with his fleet from the bay, in the middle of July, [107] of the year ninety-eight. The weather was somewhat contrary as the seasons of the vendavals had set in, but his desire to accomplish his voyage, lose no time, and leave Manila, which was the greatest difficulty, caused him to disregard the weather; he thought that, once at sea, he would be able to stop on the coast in the port of Bolinao.

This plan did not succeed so well as Don Luis had anticipated, for, as soon as the fleet of these three ships left the bay it was so buffeted by the weather that it could not fetch the port of Bolinao or hold the sea. The flagship sprung a leak, and the ships returned to the mouth of the bay above Miraveles, [108] where they stayed several days refitting. When the weather moderated they set sail again, but again they were buffeted so violently that the ships were separated from one another, and the galliot—the weakest of them—with difficulty made the port of Cagayan. Quite dismantled and very necessitous, it entered by the bar of Camalayuga to the city of Segovia, which is at the head of the island of Luzon opposite Great China. There the alcalde-mayor of that province furnished it the necessary provisions and tackle. Captain Luis Ortiz, who commanded this galliot, together with twenty-five Spaniards and some Indians, hastened preparations for their departure and again left that port to rejoin the fleet which he had to follow, according to his instructions, making for the bar of the river of Camboja which was their destination. He had scarcely left Cagayan, when the almiranta entered the port in the same distress as the galliot. It was also detained some days to refit. Then it left again to rejoin the flagship and the galliot. The flagship being a stronger vessel kept the sea with difficulty; and as the storm lasted a long time, it was compelled to run in the open toward China. The storm continued to rage so steadily that, without being able to meliorate its voyage, the ship was obliged to sail, amid high seas and cloudy weather, to certain small uninhabited islands on the coast of China below Macan. There it was many times in danger of shipwreck, and parts of the cargo were thrown away daily. The almiranta, after having been refitted, left Cagayan, made the same voyage in the same storm, and anchored near the flagship, where it was lost with some men and its entire cargo. [109]The flagship did its best to rescue those who escaped from the almiranta, and although the former kept afloat several days, at length it grounded near the coast. There it began to leak so badly that, with that and the strong sea which struck it broadside, the vessel went to pieces. The ship's boat had already been lost, and in order to save their lives before the ship was completely wrecked they were obliged to make rafts and prepare framework and planks on which Don Luis and the religious and crew—in all one hundred and twenty Spaniards—went ashore. They brought away from the said ship a few of the most valuable objects, the weapons, and the most manageable pieces of artillery, abandoning the rest as lost. All of the Spaniards were so soaked and in so ill a plight that some Chinese who came to the coast, from some neighboring towns, both from compassion felt for their loss and on account of having been given certain things that had been brought away from the wreck, provided them with food and with a native vessel of small burden in which to leave that place and make for Macan and Canton, which were not far.

As soon as Don Luis and his men sighted Macan, the former sent two soldiers of his company in Chinese vessels to the city and settlement of the Portuguese to announce their arrival and hardships, in order to obtain some help from them. He sent two other soldiers to Canton to ask the viceroy or tuton for assistance and protection, so that they might equip themselves in, and sail from, China, in prosecution of their voyage. The people of Macan and their chief captain Don Pablo of Portugal received the Castilians so ill that they were thrown into prison and not allowed to return to Don Luis. To the latter they sent word warning him to leave the coast immediately, as they would treat them all no less ill. When the Portuguese learned that Captain Hernando de los Rios [110] and one of his companions had gone to Canton for the same purpose, they at once sent two Portuguese, members of their council and magistracy [camara and regimiento] to oppose their entry into China, by saying that they were robbers and pirates, and evil-doers, as they had said before of Don Joan de Camudio, who at this time was with his ship in the port of El Pinal, as abovesaid.

In Canton, Captain Hernando de los Rios and his companion met Alferez Domingo de Artacho and other companions belonging to Don Joan's ship, who, on learning of the disaster of Don Luis's fleet and that it had been wrecked near by, came together and defended themselves against the calumnies and pretensions of the Portuguese. The result was that, as the main difficulty had been already overcome in the case of Don Joan, and the viceroy and mandarins were informed that all were from Manila, who Don Luis Dasmarinas was, and that he was going to Camboja with his fleet, they received him with the same good-will with which they had received Don Joan de Camudio, and gave him permission to enter the port of E1 Pinal with him. There the two met, with much regret by the one at Don Luis Dasmarinas's loss, and with much satisfaction by the other at finding there Don Joan de Camudio and his men, who provided them with certain things that they needed. With Don Joan's assistance, Don Luis at once bought a strong, moderate-sized junk, on which he embarked with some of his men, and the artillery and goods which had been saved. He enjoyed the same advantages in that port as the Spaniards of Don Joan de Camudio's ship. He intended to remain there until, having sent news to Manila, ships and the other necessary things for pursuing his voyage thence to Camboja, should be sent him, in respect to which Don Luis would never allow himself to show any discouragement or loss of resolution.

Don Joan de Camudio left El Pinal, leaving Don Luis Dasmarinas and his men in that port, at the beginning of the year ninety-nine, and reached Manila in twelve days. After him, Don Luis sent Alferez Francisco Rodrigues with three companions to Manila in a small champan to beg the governor and his supporters for help and assistance in his present emergency, a vessel, and what was needful to continue the expedition that he had begun. In Manila the news of Don Luis's loss and of the conditions to which he was reduced, was learned both from Don Joan de Camudio and from Alferez Francisco Rodrigues, who reached Manila after the former. Seeing that it was impossible for Don Luis to continue the voyage to Camboja, and that there was neither property nor substance with which to equip him again, nor the time for it, a moderate-sized ship was purchased and despatched from Manila to E1 Pinal with provisions and other things, under command of the same Alferez Francisco Rodrigues, who was accompanied by some soldiers of whom he was captain and leader. Through them Don Francisco Tello sent orders to Don Luis to embark his men and return to the Filipinas, without thinking for the present of the expedition to Camboja or of anything else.

Captain Hernando de los Rios, who attended to Don Luis's affairs in Canton, wrote a letter at this time to Doctor Antonio de Morga; and in order that what happened in this respect may be better understood, the letter reads word for word as follows.

Fernando de los Rios Coronel, to Doctor Antonio de Morga, of his Majesty's council, and his auditor in the royal Audiencia and Chancilleria of the Filipinas, whom may our Lord preserve, in Manila. The hardships which have befallen us within the short time since we left Manila, have been so many, that, if I were to give your Grace an account of them all, it would weary you; moreover the short time in which Don Joan is to depart does not allow of it. And since he will relate everything fully, I will relate only what occurred to us after reaching this land; for our Lord was pleased to change our intentions, which were to remain in Bolinao until the bad weather which we were having had terminated. In sight of the port we were overtaken by a storm which greatly endangered our lives and forced us to come to this kingdom of China, where we expected at least that the Portuguese would allow us to refit our ship. As it was the Lord's will that we should lose it, we have suffered hardships enough, for scarcely anything was saved. I lost my property and a portion of that of others, because I was not present at the time of the wreck, as my general ordered myself and a coast-pilot the day before to go to look for fresh provisions. This coast is so wretchedly laid down on the charts that we did not know where we were, and on account of bad weather I could not return to the ship. Consequently I was obliged to go to Canton, where the Sangleys, who conveyed me and those who left the ship with me, accused us of having killed three Sangleys. And had we not found there Alferez Domingo de Artacho and Marcos de la Cueva, who were pleading against the Portuguese, we would have fared very ill. It was God's will, that, with their aid, we settled the case in court; and, although without proofs, and without taking our depositions, they condemned us to a fine of fifty taes of silver. There we learned that for one and one-half months they [i.e., the men of Juan Zamudio's vessel] had been defending themselves against the Portuguese, who, as soon as the Spaniards had arrived, went about saying that they were robbers and rebels, and people who seized the kingdoms into which they entered, and other things not worth writing. But in the end, all their efforts, good and evil—and indeed very evil—profited them nothing, because, by means of great assiduity and a quantity of silver, the Spaniards negotiated a matter which the Portuguese had never imagined, namely, the opening of a port in this country, in order that the Spaniards might always come safely, and the granting of houses in Canton, a privilege which was never extended to the Portuguese, on account of which the latter are, or will be, even more angered. Besides, silence was imposed upon the Portuguese, although this was no part of the negotiations, so that they might not attempt by other means to do us all the injury possible (as the Sangleys who were among them tell us). It is impossible to tell how much the Portuguese abhor the name of Castilians, unless it be experienced as we have done for our sins, for they have placed us in great extremity, as Don Joan will relate fully. For, when our general wrote to them that we had been wrecked, and were dying of hunger among infidels, and in great peril, and that he was not coming to trade, but was engaged in the service of his Majesty, the welcome given him by the Portuguese was to seize his messengers and keep them up to the present time in a dungeon. Lastly, while we have been in this port, undergoing the difficulties and perils which Don Joan will relate, although they are so near, not only do they leave us to suffer, but, if there are any well-disposed persons, they have forbidden them to communicate with us or to give us anything, under both temporal and spiritual penalty. In truth, to reflect upon this cruelty, and still more to experience it as we are doing, exhausts all patience. May God in His mercy give us patience and consolation because these infidels [i.e., the Chinese] are the people who have corrupted the natural light more than any other people in the world. Hence angels and not men are required to deal with them. Since there are historians who record events in these regions, I shall not go into details respecting them. I only say, in order that you may understand in what a country we are, that it is the true kingdom of the devil, where he seems to rule with full power. Hence each Sangley appears to be the devil incarnate, for there is no malice or deceit which they do not attempt. Although outwardly the government, with all its order and method, seems good as far as its preservation is concerned, yet, in practice, it is all a scheme of the devil. Although here they do not rob or plunder the foreigners openly, yet they do it by other and worse methods. Don Joan has worked hard, and gratitude is certainly due him, for he has accomplished a thing so difficult, that the Portuguese say only the devil or he could have done it. However, it is true that it has cost him, as I have heard, about seven thousand pesos, besides the risk to which he has been exposed; for the Portuguese attempted to burn him in his ship; and although their schemes came to naught, it is impossible to describe the bitterness which they feel at seeing us come here to trade, because of the signal injury they receive thereby. However, if one considers it thoroughly, the truth is that, if this business were established on the basis of a fair agreement, the Portuguese would rather gain by it, because they would dispose of innumerable articles that they possess, and the majority of them, especially the poor, would profit by selling the work of their hands, and what they get from India, for which they always obtain a good price. As far as raising the price of [Chinese] merchandise to them is concerned, once established, and if the Sangleys understood that ships would come every year, they would bring down much more merchandise: and so much the more as Canton possesses such a large quantity of it, that there is more than enough for twice as many as are here, as we have seen with our own eyes. I can testify that, if they wish to load a ship with only one kind of goods, they can do so, even if it be needles; the more so, since the greater part of what the Chinese consume is not included among our articles of purchase, the great bulk of our purchases being raw silk. Therefore I believe that the continuation of this would be of great advantage to that city [i.e., Manila] for the following reasons which present themselves to me. The first is that, if orders were given for a ship to come authorized to invest the bulk of the money of that city [i.e., Manila], much more and better goods could be bought with much less money, and in articles which would prove more profitable; since, in short, we would save what the people of Chincheo gain with us [at Manila]—a goodly sum.

The second reason is that that city [i.e., Manila] would be provided with all necessaries, because one can find in the city of Canton anything that can be desired.

The third is that by this means we would avoid the excessive commerce of the Sangleys in that city [i.e., Manila], who cause the harm which your Grace knows, and even that which we do not know. They are people who, the less they are admitted, the better will it be for us in every respect. Hence there is no need of there being more of them than the number required for the service of the community; and then they would neither raise the price of provisions, nor retail what remains in the country, as they do now. Thus many pernicious sins which they commit and teach to the natives would be avoided. Although there seems to be some difficulty in establishing this and in smoothing down the Portuguese, still it might be accomplished.

The fourth reason is that, if the purchase is made here, it will reach that city [i.e., Manila] by Christmas, and each man would store his property in his house, and prepare and arrange it; and then, even should the ships from Castilla arrive early, no loss would be suffered as at present—when, if those ships arrive before the goods purchased from China [reach Manila] the merchandise rises a hundred per cent.

The fifth reason is that the ships might easily take in cargo any time in the month of May, and take advantage of the first vendavals, which sometimes begin by the middle of June or before. By sailing then, they run less risk, and will reach Nueva Espana one month or even two months earlier. Then, they can leave that country in January and come here [i.e., to the Filipinas] by April without any of the dangers which beset them among these islands if they sail late, as we know.

The sixth reason is that the many inconveniences now existing at the time of the purchase [in Manila] would be avoided—inconveniences with which your Grace is acquainted—and the citizens would have less trouble. Also in respect to the lading and its allotment [i.e., of shipping room] a better system could certainly be followed, and it would be known who is to share in it. Things would be better remedied, because neither the money of Mexico nor that of companies would be allowed to be employed. The strict prevention of this alone would be sufficient to assure prosperity to Manila in a short time; for, if only the inhabitants were to send their invested property, it is certain that all the machinery of the money of the Mexicans would have to be employed on the goods sent from here—I mean from Manila—if they do not allow the Mexicans to purchase in that city [i.e., Manila]. And if less merchandise is sent from here [i.e., China, and consequently Manila] and there are more buyers there [i.e., in Mexico], the goods would be worth double. This is self-evident, and if, as your Graces have already begun to remedy this matter, the measure be rigorously carried still farther, that city [i.e., Manila] must prosper greatly. For, by not sending to Nueva Espana any other produce except that from that city [i.e., Manila] mainly purchased in this country [i.e., China], Manila would prosper as greatly as one could desire. If we consider the benefit and favor which his Majesty confers upon us in this matter, we would esteem it much more than we do now. But I believe that we shall regret it, when, perchance, we are deprived of it. Perhaps some one would say, in opposition to what I have said about coming to purchase here, that his Majesty would be defrauded of the customs and duties which the Sangleys now pay, and of their tribute. But there is a remedy for all this, for with the freight duties alone his Majesty would save much more; as also by buying ammunitions here and other articles which he needs for the conservation of that country [i.e., the islands] twice as cheaply and abundantly, and without depending on the Chinese to bring them at their leisure, who at times—and indeed every year—leave us without them, since we are forced to go to get them. As far as the tribute is concerned, I believe that his Majesty would be better served if there were no Sangleys there at all, than by receiving the tribute. And it might happen, through this way, if our Lord ordered it, that a door might be opened for the preaching of the gospel and for the conversion of the people, a thing desired so earnestly by his Majesty, and especially aimed at by him. After all, things require a beginning, and the road would be opened, although at present it seems shut; for, if we hope that the Portuguese attempt this, I do not know when they will do it, considering that they have not tried to do so, for so long as they have been settled here. Even the Sangleys say that the Portuguese began like ourselves. At first they went to and fro; then two sick men remained; the next year they built four houses; and thus they continued to increase. I know that there is no other difficulty for us to do likewise than that which the Portuguese offer. To return to the Portuguese opposition, it is something amazing, for not only are they vexed at our coming here, but also at our going to Camboja or to Sian. They assert that those districts are theirs, but I cannot see why they so designate them—for it is just the contrary—unless it be because we have allowed them, through our negligence, to seize our possessions near the strait of Malaca, and enter the line of demarcation falling to the crown of Castilla, as I would make them fully understand if an opportunity were presented. One can read in Historia de las Indias [111] [i.e., History of the Indias] in the one hundred and second chapter, and before and after it, that, at the request of the Portuguese, his Holiness drew the said line from three hundred and seventy leguas west of the islands of Caboverde, which were called the Espericas. The one hundred and eighty degrees of longitude falling to the Portuguese terminate and end as abovesaid, near the above-mentioned strait. All the rest belongs to us. Furthermore, since we are subjects of one king, how do we suffer them to forbid us all our trade? Why do they bar us from Maluco, Sian, Camboja, Cochinchina, China, and all the rest of this archipelago? What are we to do then, if they wish to seize everything? Surely this is a very unreasonable proceeding. I have dwelt on this matter in order to express my feelings. Not until our departure shall I write to your Grace about the fertility and nature of the country, and of its greatness. Then I shall endeavor to give a full account of the land, and to mark out this coast, for nothing is put down correctly.

This is the best coast [112] of all that have been discovered, and the most suitable for galleys, if God should ordain that they come hither. I have already discovered where the king keeps his treasure. The country is very rich, and the city of Canton well supplied, although there is nothing to be said in regard to its buildings, of which the whole city possesses few of any importance, according to the information received from a Theatin [113] Sangley with whom I found much pleasure in talking—though I was able to do so for only one afternoon. He was a man of intelligence and reason, and it is said that he is a scholar. He told me that in Paquien [i.e., Pekin], where the king resides, and in Lanquien [i.e., Nankin] the fathers of the Society enjoy the quiet possession of three houses. There are seven fathers, among whom is one called Father Ricio, [114] an associate of Father Rugero who went to Roma. He is an excellent mathematician and has corrected the Chinese calendar which contained many errors and false opinions, and their fantastic idea of the world, which they believed to be flat. He made them a globe and a sphere, and with this and the sound arguments and reasons which they give them, the fathers are considered as people descended from heaven. He says that in those regions the people would be very favorable to conversion, if there were ministers; and that there [i.e., in Pekin] the foreigners are not looked upon with wonder as they are here [i.e., in Canton]. He says that the people are much more sensible and reasonable, so much so that they call the people of this country barbarians. He adds that Lanquien lies in the latitude of Toledo, namely thirty and two-thirds degrees, and that from there to Paquien is a twenty-five days' journey, so that the latter city must lie in more than fifty degrees of latitude. [115] The above-mentioned brother comes down annually to collect the stipend given them by the people here for their three houses. Now they are expecting a great friend of theirs who is said to be the second person nearest to the king. One can travel through all this land by water, and therefore it abounds in everything, for articles are conveyed over the rivers and there is no need of beasts of burden, which is its special greatness.

He who wishes to depict China without having seen the land, must draw a country full of rivers and towns, and without a palmo of ground left lying idle. I wish I had more time in which to describe some of the things of China which I have observed and inquired about with special care, and of which, if God please, I shall be the messenger. The affairs of Camboja are in a good condition, and we shall arrive there at a seasonable time, if it be our Lord's will that we leave this place with good auspices. The king sent a ship to Manila at the end of August to ask for assistance. I do not know whether it has arrived or whether it returned to put in port, for it left very late. Bias Ruis sent fifty picos [116] from Camanguian. According to report, the king has apportioned and given him nine thousand vassals, and as many more to Belloso.

At present we ourselves are enduring the necessity of which Don Juan Camudio will inform you. I entreat your Grace to help us, since it is of so great importance. I kiss many times the hand of my lady Dona Joana. May our Lord preserve your Grace for many years in the prosperity and tranquillity which we your servants desire. From the port of El Pinal, frozen with cold, the twenty-third of December, ninety-eight.

If my brother should come before I return, I beseech your Grace, since it is so natural in your Grace to do good to all—especially to those of that land—to show him the goodness which your Grace has always shown me.

FERNANDO DE LOS RIOS CORONEL

After Don Juan de Camudio's departure from El Pinal, where Don Luis Dasmarinas remained with his junk awaiting the assistance that he expected from Manila and which he had requested through Don Joan and Alferez Francisco Rodrigues, Don Luis thought that, since some time had passed, the answer was being delayed, while his people were suffering great want and cold there. Therefore he tried to put out to sea in the junk, and to make for Manila. But the weather did not permit this, nor was the vessel large enough to hold all of Don Luis's men for the voyage. He stopped near the fort where the Portuguese of Macan again sent him many messages and requests to leave the coast at once, warning him that they would seize him and his companions, and would send them to India, where they would be severely punished. Don Luis always answered them that he had not come to harm or offend them, but that he was going to the kingdom of Camboja for the service of God and of his Majesty; that he had been shipwrecked and had suffered many hardships, the severest of which had been due to the Portuguese of Macan themselves, subjects of his Majesty; that he was expecting help from Manila in order that he might return thither; and that he begged and requested them to aid and protect him, and to free the two Castilians whom they had seized. Finally he declared that if, in spite of all this, they should attempt to do him any harm or injury, he would defend himself to the best of his ability; and he protested that any losses resulting therefrom would lie at their door. Thenceforward Don Luis Dasmarinas kept strict watch on his ship. He kept his weapons ready and the artillery loaded, and was on his guard day and night. And he was not mistaken, for the people of Macan resolved to attack him in order to seize him. To this end the chief captain himself came one day, with some fustas and other vessels, and with men armed with javelins, guns, and artillery, when they thought the Castilians would be off their guard, to attack Don Luis Dasmarinas. The latter, suspecting what was about to happen, awaited them arms in hand; and as he saw the Portuguese fleet attacking him, he began to play upon them with his muskets, arquebuses, and a few pieces of artillery, with such rapidity that he inflicted a very severe loss upon his enemy and upon the ship which carried the chief captain, killing one of his pages who stood behind him, and other persons. The chief captain retired with all the other vessels, and they made for the high sea, having been defeated by Don Luis, who did not attempt to follow them but remained on the watch. As the Portuguese did not dare attack him again they made for Macan, and Don Luis Dasmarinas put into the port of El Pinal, where he thought he would be in greater security. There Don Luis remained until Captain Francisco Rodrigues arrived with the ship from Manila, and joined him. They distributed their men between the two ships and made some purchases with what this last ship had brought from Manila, in the very city of Macan, for the Portuguese, for the sake of their own interests, gave and sold them goods, in spite of a certain apprehension of the law. They returned to Manila leaving a few men in El Pinal who had died of sickness, among whom was Fray Alonso Ximenez, the principal promoter of this enterprise. His associate, Fray Diego Aduarte, did not choose to return to Manila, but went to Macan and thence to Goa, in order to go to Espana. Don Luis reached Manila with both ships, and his expedition to Camboja and his conduct of the said enterprise remained in this state.

It has been already related that the galliot, one of the ships of Don Luis Dasmarinas's fleet, in which Luis Ortiz and twenty-five Spaniards had sailed, after having put into Cagayan and refitted there, sailed again during fairly good weather to find the fleet. This ship although so inadequate to resist storms at sea, was permitted, through God's mercy, to encounter those which it met without being wrecked. It made its way along the coast of Cochinchina and Champan, inside the shoals of Aynao, and reached the bar of Camboja. Expecting to find all or some of the ships of its convoy within the bar, it ascended the river as far as the city of Chordemuco. There they found Diego Belloso and Blas Ruys de Hernan Goncalez, with some Castilians who had joined them, and other Portuguese who had come by way of Malaca, and with whose assistance many battles had been won in favor of King Prauncar, who had been restored to his kingdom, although some of his provinces had not been entirely pacified. It was learned there that neither Don Luis Dasmarinas nor any other of his fleet had reached Camboja. Those in the galliot said that Don Luis was coming in person with a large force of ships, men, arms, and some religious, to accomplish what he had always desired to do in that kingdom; that he would not be long in coming; and that their galliot and crew belonged to his fleet. Blas Ruis and his Castilian companions greatly rejoiced over so opportune news. The former thought that everything was turning out well, and that now, according to the present state of affairs, matters would be accomplished and settled as they wished. Diego Belloso and his party, although they did not show their regret, were not so pleased, for they much preferred the happy termination and reward of this expedition to be for the Portuguese and the government of India. They had had certain quarrels and disputes with Blas Ruis over this. But seeing that the affair had reached this state, they conformed to the times. Thereupon all joined together, Portuguese and Castilians, and informed Prauncar and his mandarins of the arrival of Alferez Luis Ortiz with his galliot and companions, saying that they were part of a large fleet which would shortly arrive, and that Don Luis Dasmarinas was coming in it in person, with religious and men to aid and serve the king, in conformity to what he himself had requested in his letter to Manila, several months before. The king seemed pleased at this, and so did some of his mandarins who liked the Spaniards, and recognized what benefits they had derived from them hitherto. These believed that the matter would turn out as it was represented to them. But the king's stepmother, and other mandarins of her party, especially the Moro Malay Ocuna Lacasamana, were vexed at the arrival of the Spaniards, for they thought that the latter, being valiant men, numerous, and so courageous, as they already knew, would dominate everything, or at least would take the best; moreover they alone wished to deal with King Prauncar. Thus their aversion for Spanish affairs became known to be as great as the favor with which Prauncar, on the contrary, regarded them. The latter immediately assigned the Spaniards a position with their ship near the city, at the place which Blas Ruiz and Diego Belloso occupied.

Before Don Luis Dasmarinas left Manila with his fleet, Captain Joan de Mendoca Gamboa requested Governor Don Francisco Tello to allow him to go to the kingdom of Sian with a moderate-sized ship, in order to trade. For the greater security of his voyage and business, he asked the governor to give him letters to the king of Sian, in which the latter should be informed that he was sent as the governor's ambassador and messenger to continue the peace, friendship, and commerce which Joan Tello de Aguirre had contracted with Sian the year before. Seeing that Don Luis Dasmarinas, who was on the way to Camboja, had left in Manila for another occasion some ammunition and other things of use to his fleet, Don Joan, in order better to facilitate the granting of his request, offered to take these stores on board his ship and sail round by way of Camboja, where he supposed that he would find Don Luis Dasmarinas, and deliver them to him. The governor thought the two proposals timely, and having furnished him with the necessary despatches, Don Joan de Mendoca left Manila with his ship, taking as pilot Joan Martinez de Chave, who had been Joan Tello's pilot when the latter went to Sian. He took as companions some sailors and Indian natives. He had a quantity of siguei [117] and other goods to barter, and the ammunition and provisions which he was to convey to Don Luis. With him embarked Fray Joan Maldonado [118] and an associate, both religious of the Order of St. Dominic. The former was a grave and learned man and a very intimate friend of Don Luis Dasmarinas, to whom his order took great pleasure in sending him as a companion. They left Manila, without knowing of Don Luis's shipwreck two months after the latter had set sail. Crossing over the shoals they shortly reached the bar of Camboja and ascended to the capital, where they found the galliot of the fleet and learned that its other ships had not arrived. The king received them cordially and lodged them with Diego Belloso, Blas Ruiz, Luis Ortiz, and their companions. They passed the time together, and would not let Joan de Mendoca leave Camboja with his ship until something was heard of Don Luis Dasmarinas. A few days later, they learned through Chinese ships, and by other means, that the latter had put into China with difficulty and in distress, and that he was there preparing to continue his voyage. Although this event caused them sorrow, they still hoped that in a short time Don Luis would be in Camboja with the two ships of his fleet.

At this same time, a mestizo, named Govea, son of a Portuguese and a Japanese woman, who lived in Japon, collected some mestizo companions, as well as Japanese and Portuguese, on a junk which he owned in the port of Nangasaqui, with the intention of coasting along China, Champan, and Camboja, to seek adventures and to barter, but mainly to make prizes of what they might meet at sea. With them embarked a Castilian who had lived in Nangasaqui after the wreck of the galleon "San Felipe," while on its way to Nueva Espana in the year ninety-six. His name was Don Antonio Malaver, and he had been a soldier in Italia. He came to the Filipinas from Nueva Espana as captain and sargento-mayor of the troops brought that year by Doctor Antonio de Morga in the fleet from Nueva Espana to Manila. Don Antonio Malaver, who had no wish to return to the Filipinas, thinking that by that way he could go to India and thence to Espana, and that on the road there might fall to him some share of the illgotten gains of that voyage, embarked with Govea and his company. After they had run down the coast and heard some news of the entry of Spaniards into Camboja, Don Antonio persuaded Govea to enter the river of Camboja, where they would find Spaniards, and affairs in such a state that they might take some effective action in that kingdom, and thrive better than at sea. They went up as far as Chordemuco, joined the Castilians and Portuguese and were received into their company and list. As they all—and they were a considerable number of men—saw the delay of Don Luis Dasmarinas, they proclaimed as leaders Fray Joan Maldonado, Diego Belloso, and Blas Ruis. Then they began to treat with King Prauncar on their own account concerning their establishment and comfort, and to request lands and rice for their maintenance and other things which had been promised them, alleging that they did not derive the necessary usufruct and profit out of his concessions to Belloso and Blas Ruis. Although the king gave them good hopes for everything he brought nothing to a conclusion, being hindered in this by his stepmother and the mandarins of her party, who would have liked to see the Spaniards out of the kingdom; and in this they gained more animus every day by the non-arrival of Don Luis Dasmarinas. Consequently, the Spaniards spent the time in going to and fro between their quarters and the city to negotiate with the king, with whose answers and conversations they sometimes returned satisfied and at other times not so much so.

Ocuna Lacasamana and his Malays had their quarters near those of the Spaniards, and since they were Moros, so opposed in religion and pretension, the two parties had no affinity. Once a quarrel arose between Spaniards and Malays, and several men were severely wounded on both sides. Among them Alferez Luys Ortiz, commander of the galliot, had both legs run through and was in great danger. King Prauncar was angry at this, but did not dare to inflict any punishment or make any reparation for these injuries. While matters were at such a heat and the Malays were ill-disposed toward the Spaniards, one day while Fray Joan Maldonado, Diego Belloso, and Blas Ruyz were in the city, and Luys de Villafane was in command of the quarters, on account of the wounds and illness of Luys Ortiz, another quarrel arose in the quarters with the Malays. Luys de Villafane, taking advantage of this opportunity, determined, with a few Spaniards who followed him, to unite with Govea and his men, and attack the Malays, their quarters, and the goods that they possessed, and sack them. Incited by anger and still more by covetousness, they carried this out, and after having killed many Malays and taken a quantity of property from them, they retired and fortified themselves in their own quarters and in the Japanese ship. The king and his mandarins were very angry at this, and not less so were Fray Joan Maldonado, Belloso, and Blas Ruyz, who were in Chordemuco; but Ocuna Lacasamana was far the angriest, at seeing the injury and insult done him, and at the breaking of the peace so recently made in reference to former quarrels. Although Fray Joan Maldonado, Belloso, and Blas Ruiz went at once to the quarters to remedy the matter, they found it so complicated that not even King Prauncar, who tried to intervene, could compose it. The latter warned the Spaniards to look to their personal safety, for he saw their party fallen and in great danger, without his being able to help it. Fray Joan Maldonado and his companion, although facing the matter in company with Diego Belloso and Bias Ruis, yet took refuge in Joan de Mendoca's ship for greater security, and some Spaniards did the same. Diego Belloso, Blas Ruiz, and the others relying on the king's friendship, and their services in the country, remained on shore, although they took every precaution and kept the closest possible guard over their safety. [119]

The Malay Lacasamana, aided by his men and the mandarins of his party, and supported by the king's step-mother, lost no more time, nor the present opportunity, but attacked the Castilians, Portuguese, and Japanese, at once, both by land and sea. Finding them separated—although some offered as much resistance as possible—he killed them all, including Diego Belloso and Blas Ruiz de Hernan Goncales. Then he burned their quarters and vessels except that of Joan de Mendoca, who, fearing the danger, descended the river toward the sea and defended himself against some praus that had followed him. He took with him Fray Joan Maldonado, the latter's associate, and some few Spaniards. On shore there remained alive only one Franciscan religious, five Manila Indians, and a Castilian named Joan Dias, whom the king, who grieved exceedingly for the deaths of the Spaniards, had hid carefully in the open country. Although the king advised the friar not to appear in public until the Malays were appeased, that religious, imagining that he could escape their fury, emerged with two Indians in order to escape from the kingdom. But they were found and killed like the others. Joan Dias and three Indians remained many days in concealment, and the king maintained them, until, after other events, they could appear. Thus the cause of the Spaniards in Camboja came to an end, and was so entirely defeated that the Moro Malay and his partisans remained complete masters. They managed the affairs of the kingdom with so little respect for King Prauncar, that finally they killed him also. Thereupon a fresh insurrection broke out, the provinces revolted, each man seized whatever he could, and there was more confusion and disturbance than before.

The Spanish garrison left in La Caldera, at the withdrawal of Don Joan Ronquillo's camp from the river of Mindanao, passed into command of Captain Villagra at the death of Captain Joan Pacho in Jolo, and was suffering for lack of provisions; for neither the people of the river could give them to the Spaniards, nor would the Joloans furnish any on account of the war declared upon them. Therefore the garrison urgently requested Governor Don Francisco Tello either to aid their presidio with provisions, soldiers, and ammunition, or to allow them to retire to Manila—a thing of which they were most desirous—since there they gained no other special result than that of famine, and of incarceration in that fort, and of no place wherein to seek their sustenance. The governor, in view of their insistence in the matter; and having but little money in the royal exchequer, with which to provide for and maintain the said presidio—and for the same reason the punishment that was to be inflicted upon the Joloans for their outrages upon the Spaniards, and their insurrection was deferred—and thinking that the return to Mindanao matters would be a long question: he was inclined to excuse the difficulty and anxiety of maintaining the presidio of La Caldera. In order to do it with a reasonable excuse he consulted the Audiencia and other intelligent persons, and requested them to give him their opinion. But he first communicated his wishes to them and gave them some reasons with which he tried to persuade them to give him the answer that he desired. The Audiencia advised him not to remove or raise the garrison of La Caldera, but to reenforce and maintain it, and to attend to the affairs of Jolo and the river of Mindanao as soon as possible, even if what was necessary for those two places should be withdrawn from some other section. They said that this was the most urgent need, and the one which required the greatest attention in the islands, both in order to pacify those provinces and to keep them curbed; lest, seeing the Spaniards totally withdrawn, they should gain courage and boldly venture still farther, and come down to make captures among the Pintados and carry the war to the very doors of the Spaniards. [120] Notwithstanding this reply the governor resolved to raise and withdraw the garrison, and sent orders to Captain Villagra immediately to burn the fort which had been built in La Caldera, to withdraw with all his men and ships, and return to Manila. This was quickly done, for the captain and the soldiers of the garrison waited for nothing more than to dismantle the fort and leave. When the Joloans saw the Spaniards abandoning the country, they were persuaded that the latter would return to Mindanao no more, and that they had not sufficient forces to do so. Thereupon they gained fresh resolution and courage, and united with the people of Buhahayen on the river, and equipped a number of caracoas and other craft, in order to descend upon the coast of Pintados to plunder them and make captives. The people of Tampacan, who lost hope of receiving further help from the Spaniards, and of the latter's return to the river, since they had also abandoned the fort of La Caldera and left the country, came to terms with and joined the people of Buhahayen, their neighbors, in order to avoid the war and injuries that they were suffering from the latter. Then all turned their arms against the Spaniards, promising themselves to make many incursions into their territory and gain much plunder. Accordingly they prepared their fleet, and appointed as leaders and commanders of it two of the experienced chiefs, of the river of Mindanao, called Sali and Silonga. They left the Mindanao River in the month of July of the year ninety-nine, in the season of the vendavals, with fifty caracoas, containing more than three thousand soldiers armed with arquebuses, campilans, carasas, other weapons with handles, and many culverins, and steered toward the islands of Oton and Panay, and neighboring islands. They passed Negros Island and went to the river of Panay, which they ascended for five leguas to the chief settlement, where the alcalde-mayor and some Spaniards were living. They sacked the settlement, burned the houses and churches, captured many native Christians—men, women, and children—upon whom they committed many murders, cruelties, and outrages. They pursued these in boats more than ten leguas up the river, and destroyed all the crops. For the alcalde-mayor, and those who could, fled inland among the mountains, and accordingly the enemy had a better opportunity to do what they pleased. After they had burned all the vessels in the river, they left the river of Panay with their boats laden with pillaged goods and captive Christians. They did the same in the other islands and towns which they passed. Then they returned to Mindanao, without any opposition being offered, with a quantity of gold and goods and more than eight hundred captives, besides the people whom they had killed. In Mindanao they divided the spoil, and agreed to get ready a larger fleet for the next year, and return to make war better prepared. [121]

This daring attack of the Mindanaos worked great injury to the islands of Pintados, both on account of their deeds there and also on account of the fear and terror with which they inspired the natives; because of the latter being in the power of the Spaniards, who kept them subject, tributary, and disarmed, and neither protected them from their enemies, nor left them the means to defend themselves, as they used to do when there were no Spaniards in the country. Therefore many towns of peaceful and subjected Indians revolted and withdrew to the tingues, [122] and refused to descend to their houses, magistrates, and encomenderos. As was reported daily, they all had a great desire to revolt and rebel, but they were appeased and reduced again to subjection by a few promises and presents from their encomenderos and religious who showed great pity and sadness over their injuries. Although in Manila people regretted these injuries, and still more those which were expected in the future from the enemy, they did nothing but regret them—since the governor was ill provided with ship and other necessities for the defense—and reckon them with the loss which they had suffered for having raised the camp on the river of Mindanao and dismantled the presidio of La Caldera.

As soon as the weather permitted, the Mindanaos and Joloans returned with a large fleet of more than seventy well-equipped ships and more than four thousand fighting men, led by the same Silonga and Sali, and other Mindanao and Jolo chiefs, to the same islands of Pintados, with the determination of taking and sacking the Spanish town of Arevalo, which is situated in Oton. Captain Joan Garcia de Sierra, alcalde-mayor of that province, having heard of this expedition and of the designs entertained by the enemy, took the most necessary precautions, and, gathering into the town all the Spaniards who lived there and in its neighborhood, shut himself up in it with all of them. Then, having repaired, as well as possible, a wooden fort there, he gathered there the women and their possessions. He and the Spaniards—about seventy men—armed with arquebuses, awaited the enemy. The latter, who intended to attack the river of Panay again, passed Negros Island and made for the town of Arevalo, where they anchored close to the native settlement. Then they landed one thousand five hundred men armed with arquebuses, campilans, and carasas, and, without stopping on the way marched against the Spanish town which was the object of their attack. The Spaniards, divided into troops, sallied forth and opened fire with their arquebuses upon the enemy with such vehemence that they forced them to retreat and take refuge on board their caracoas. So great was the enemy's confusion that many Mindanaos were killed before they could embark. Captain Joan Garcia de Sierra, who was on horseback, pursued the enemy so closely to the water's edge that the latter cut off the legs of his mount with their campilans and brought him to the ground where they killed him. The enemy embarked with a heavy loss of men, and halted at the island of Guimaraez, [123] in sight of Arevalo. There they counted their men, including the dead and the wounded, who were not a few, and among whom was one of the most noted chiefs and leaders. Then they sailed for Mindanao, making a great show of grief and sorrow, and sounding their bells and tifas. [124] They made no further delay at the Pintados, deriving little profit or gain from the expedition, but much injury, and loss of men and reputation, which was felt more deeply upon their arrival in Jolo and Mindanao. In order to remedy this disaster, it was proposed to renew their expedition against the Pintados at the first monsoon with more ships and men, and it was so decided.

When the affairs of Japon were discussed above, we spoke of the loss of the ship "San Felipe" in Hurando, in the province of Toca; of the martyrdom of the discalced Franciscan religious in Nangasaqui; and of the departure of the Spaniards and religious who had remained there, with the exception of Fray Geronymo de Jesus, who, changing his habit, concealed himself in the interior of the country. We related that Taicosama, after he had given an answer to the governor of Manila, through his ambassador, Don Luis Navarrete, excusing himself for what had happened, was induced, at the instigation of Faranda Quiemon and his supporters, to send a fleet against Manila; that he had supplied Faranda with rice and other provisions in order to despatch it; and that the latter had begun preparations, but not having managed to bring the matter to the point that he had promised, the enterprise was dragged on and left in that condition. What happened after these events is that Taicosama was seized with a severe sickness in Miaco and died, not without having first had time to dispose of the succession and government of his kingdom, and to see that the empire should be continued in his only son, who was ten years old at that time. For this purpose he fixed his choice on the greatest tono in Japon, called Yeyasudono, lord of Quanto—which are certain provinces in the north—who had children and grandchildren, and more influence and power in Japon than any other man in the kingdom. Taicosama summoned Yeyasudono to court, and told him that he wished to marry his son to the latter's granddaughter, the daughter of his eldest son, so that he might succeed to the empire. The marriage was celebrated, and the government of Japon left, until his son was older, to Yeyasudono, associated with Guenifuin, Fungen, Ximonojo, and Xicoraju, his special favorites and counselors, [125] to whose hands the affairs of his government had passed for some years, in order that thus united they might continue to administer them after his death, until his son, whom he left named and accepted by the kingdom as his successor and supreme lord of Japon, was old enough to rule in person. After the death of Taicosama in the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-nine, [126] the five governors kept his son carefully watched in the fortress of Usaca, with the service and pomp due his person, while they remained at Miaco at the head of the government for some time. Consequently the pretensions of Faranda Quiemon to make an expedition against Manila ceased altogether, and nothing more was said about the matter. Since the affairs of Japon are never settled, but have always been in a disturbed condition, they could not last many days as Taico left them. For, with the new administration and the arrival at court, from other provinces of Japon, of tonos, lords, captains, and soldiers, whom the combaco in his lifetime had kept busy in the wars with Coray [i.e., Corea] and the king of China, in order to divert them from the affairs of his kingdom, the men began to become restless and corrupt. The result was that the four governors entertained suspicions of, and quarreled with, Yeyasudono, for they feared from his manner of governing and procedure that he was preparing, on account of his power, to seize the empire for himself, and to exclude and take no notice of Taico's son, who had been married to his granddaughter. The flame burned still higher, for many tonos and lords of the kingdom felt the same way about the matter; and now, either because they desired the succession of Taico's son, or because they liked to see matters in disorder so that each one might act for his own interest—which was the most likely motive, and not the affection for Taicosama, who, being a tyrant, had been feared rather than loved—they persuaded the governors to oppose Yeyasudono and check his designs. Under this excitement, the opposition became so lively, that they completely declared themselves, and Yeyasudono found it convenient to leave the kingdom of Miaco and go to his lands of Quanto, in order to insure his own safety and return to the capital with large forces with which to demand obedience. The governors, understanding his intentions, were not idle, but collected men and put two hundred thousand soldiers in the field. They were joined by most of the tonos and lords of Japon, [127] both Christian and pagan, while the minority remained among the partisans and followers of Yeyasudono. The latter came down as speedily as possible from Quanto to meet the governors and their army, in order to give them battle with one hundred thousand picked men of his own land. The two armies met, and the battle was fought with all their forces. [128] In the course of the struggle, there were various fortunes, which rendered the result doubtful. But, finally, after a number of men had deserted from the camp of the governors to that of Yeyasudono, it was perceived that the latter's affairs were improving. Victory was declared in his favor, after the death of many soldiers and lords. Those who remained—for but few escaped—including the four governors, surrendered to Yeyasudono. After he had beheaded the majority of the tonos, and deprived others of their seigniories and provinces, which he granted again to men devoted to his party; and after his return to the capital, triumphant over his enemies, and master of the whole kingdom: he inflicted special punishment upon the governors, by having them crucified immediately, and their ears cut off, and then carried through the streets of the principal cities of Usaca, Sacay, Fugimen, and Miaco, in carts, until they died on the crosses in the midst of other tortures. Since these were the men through whose zeal and advice Taico had, a few years before, inflicted the same punishment upon the discalced friars whom he martyred, we may infer that God chose to punish them in this world also with the same rigor.