The ease and little cost connected with this enterprise are such that if the governor would send a single person suitable for it, with two hundred soldiers from the garrison of Manila, and levy a thousand Indians from the two provinces to help them and transport the supplies, they would subdue those savages without difficulty, if the man who does it is prudent and has ambition to make the enterprise a success. This is not the place to discuss the other measures and affairs in detail; but if your Majesty should be pleased to have this done, I offer to give information of all that is necessary to provide, and to solve any doubts that may arise. I protest before the divine Majesty that I am not moved by covetousness, nor by desire that your Majesty should grant me any favor for this, nor am I trying to secure favors by this means; but I am only seeking the glory of God, the service of your Majesty, and the welfare of that land.



Chapter VI. Of the persons who are needed in the government of the Filipinas.

One (and the most important) of the matters which are necessary for the preservation and growth of that kingdom—whereon depends, as it were, the attainment of its object—is that the governors should be such men as are suitable for that post, and have the requisite qualifications demanded by that government. As so few have hitherto gone there who are thus qualified, the hindrance to the growth of that country has been much more than can be understood here.

For thirty years I have been a resident in the Filipinas, and have not seen one governor such as was needed there, excepting Gomez Perez de las Marinas, who improved and bettered that land in only the three years during which he governed, more than all together who had gone before or have come since have done. The reason for this is, that those who have succeeded since that time either had not had experience in government, or did not possess the divine gift which is necessary for this so delicate task. Over there, although a soldier is needed who understands matters of war and knows how to regulate and direct them as they should be, yet he should be receptive of instruction; and he would learn much more there through the counsel of those who have broad experience, and through what experience can teach him, than through any knowledge that they can carry from here. This is the reason why matters there are very different from those in this kingdom, as if we were speaking of different species—not only of people and of their opinions, but of their modes of life and their natures. From this it has resulted that those who have undertaken to conduct affairs by the rules current here have committed irremediable blunders. But the principal thing which is necessary there is that he should be a good public man, for the basis and fundamental need is good government, and efforts for the increase of the land, and directing all one's care toward its welfare, according good treatment to the citizens, showing kindness to foreigners, and attracting and winning the affections of all. Great care should be taken to despatch the ships from Nueva Espana promptly, and with proper supplies. All the people should be encouraged to go to trade with the neighboring countries, to build vessels, to extend their interests, and to bring wealth from those lands. They should be not only governors, but fathers and protectors of the Indians. This land, I assure you in all truth, if it had been thus governed, would be the best and richest in the world, and your Majesty would possess many sources of profit. Thus all the misfortunes and losses of property that have occurred there (which have been very great), have resulted by reason of and through the fault of those who have governed it, without any one thus far having been punished or his residencia taken thereon. If Gomez Perez was successful, it was because he already had had experience in governing, and had been corregidor many times, in which capacity he was obliged to consider not only affairs of government but also those of war. Above all, he was a very good Christian and desirous of doing right, which is the basis on which is founded all that is good. Accordingly, at his death, that country lost the special character that he had given it; but his memory will endure for many years in that city, as that of the father of the country. About the city of Manila he built a wall of great strength, fortified it, cast artillery, and performed many other works with no ado, nor cost to your Majesty. He took to Maluco the choicest fleet which has ever been collected in the Indias, without having used for it the thousands from Mexico which your Majesty has ordered to be carried to other governors; and all this he did by his prudent plans and energetic action. Hence may be seen the importance of sending a governor there who is possessed of the traits that I have mentioned; for, besides so many advantages and good results as he can secure, and the evils which he can obviate, he will be able to save for your Majesty many ducados. Indeed, if the money which could have been dispensed with this year had been saved, your Majesty would be able to accomplish many military works and gain much wealth. And since your Majesty entrusts to him more than to all the other governors of the Indias, it is right that you should seek more carefully for such a man in that place than for any of the others; since not alone does your Majesty entrust him with a kingdom, but with your reputation and renown, which among so many different nations is only known through your governors for your Majesty. I even dare to say that hence also comes their knowledge of God. For to him is principally confided the honor of God and the conversion of so many souls, since we have seen so plainly how important is his good example; and, on the other hand, he will abolish evil and scandal not only there, but that which is spreading in Great China and other nations. They believe that our king is such a one as they see reflected in him who represents him. What is still more to be deplored is that, within the last few years, there has arisen blasphemy against God and derision of your Majesty among those infidels, on this account. So great is the importance of your Majesty sending a person such as I have here described; for those who have not these qualities will destroy rather than build.



Chapter VII. Of the measures which should be chosen for the growth and preservation of that kingdom.

The first thing which offers under this heading is the consideration of the matters pertaining to the war with the Dutch, which is the basal and fundamental question for all the rest; for the enemy is making such efforts and using so many measures to get control of that archipelago, and drive out the Spaniards.

Three ways and means present themselves to the mind, beside which I find no other one, although I have considered it well.

The first, if it be possible for your Majesty, is to manage to have an armed fleet sent. If, when Don Alonso Faxardo was already your governor, he had taken the one which had been made ready, the time was opportune so that he could have driven out the enemy from their posts, together with the fleet which was in the Filipinas, which was weakened in men and artillery by its loss at Manila. On account of this, the natives of the island of Maluco, fearful of the power of your Majesty, entered our service. This fleet, which I say your Majesty should have despatched, should have been sent with a previous warning to the governor of the Filipinas so that he could collect there as great a force as possible, and provisions with which to resupply the fleet which would go thither from here, the money for this purpose to be sent him from Piru or from Nueva Espana.

Yet besides this, on account of the straitened circumstances of your Majesty, and the need of attending to other pressing matters, it is indeed true, in view of the great importance to your Majesty of not allowing the enemy to get possession of that archipelago (for he would infallibly become master of the whole of India, and become more powerful than can be understood here), that there appears to be another measure less costly in the meantime; although it will not result in dislodging them, at least it will give them such diversion and do so much damage that the profit which they will secure will be dearly bought. This is, that your Majesty should command the governor of the Filipinas to build eight galleys, and keep them in Terrenate; I will explain what their cost would be, shortly. These would be of great importance, as can be readily seen here, if one considers these reasons and the letter which Don Geronimo de Silva writes to his cousin, and another from Master-of-camp Lucas de Vergara to the dean of Manila, and to myself—the originals of which I possess, and which, as they explain the situation of those islands, I place at the end of this relation.

In the first place, the enemy has no ports in those islands in which to take refuge; and ordinarily his fleet goes about, one way and another, among the coasts there.

Second, every day in the year (or almost every day) there are six or eight hours of dead calm, at which time galleys never meet a galleon under these circumstances without taking it or sending it to the bottom; for it has been seen by experience with a galleon and a galliot which the Spaniards possess there, what excellent results they have produced.

Third, on account of this expedient of the galleys the enemy will not dare to divide their forces among the factories to carry on their negotiations; and, as they will have to go together, the cost will be so great that they cannot support it.

Fourth, the supplies will be taken away from their fortresses; for they have nothing wherewith to support themselves except it be brought from other islands. This would be very easily accomplished, and the enemy would have no means to remedy it. The natives who are devoted to them would be so terrorized that they would be obliged to come over to our side. If they accomplish that in this way and through the effective plans of whomsoever shall govern there, and the negotiations which he would conduct with them, it is quite certain that the enemy would be ruined, and could not maintain himself a year in his forts; for it is the natives who aid and sustain him, and furnish the cloves for his profit.

Fifth, it would be easy to make an invasion with the galleys on all the factories where they have not fortresses—and especially in Bantan, which is in Greater Xava, whither they carry all the spices which are shipped to Holland—and then to gain them all and burn them. They have no port there for large vessels, but only a bay where vessels which anchor there are kept at a distance from the land in the mud, aground, so that they cannot make use of them when they wish. Accordingly the galleys could easily burn those which lie there. If Don Juan de Silva had adopted this measure, the enemy would already be subdued; and your Majesty would not have spent so great sums of money, and so exhausted the Filipinas Islands.

Sixth, the forces which your Majesty possesses in Maluco would be maintained with much less cost than at present by means of these galleys. For as there are no supplies in those islands it is necessary to send them from the Filipinas, which entails three difficulties. The first is that prices are thus made higher in that country, and the natives thereof are oppressed; the second, that it costs your Majesty a great deal, with the ships and men that are needed to man them; and the third, that the enemy gets a great deal of the aid which is sent. All this would be obviated by keeping galleys there; for it must be understood that the island of Macacar is very large, rich, and abundantly supplied, and lies a two days' journey from Maluco. The king there is desirous of friendship with us, and has even sent to the governor of Terrenate to seek religious, as he says in the letter which is at the end of this relation. Last year he wrote a letter to the governor of the Filipinas, offering to furnish him all the supplies that he might need for the forces in Maluco; and saying that, if he had not the money to pay for them, he might have them on trust until the money came. Things are very cheap there, costing less than half as much as in the Filipinas, and the said galleys could transport them easily, without the danger which they now encounter of being taken by the enemy. Rather, on the other hand, those which the enemy carry from there could be taken away with ease, and they would be caused to perish with hunger. If an ordinary amount of care were taken in negotiating with this king, he would, as he is so well disposed to the Spaniards, be so devoted to your Majesty that he would not allow the enemy to enter his port. Besides, his friendship with them is already greatly strained; and there is a great disposition among all that people to receive the gospel.

Seventh, as those islands have no posts where cloves may be laded, the Dutch send their ships far from the artillery of their own forts, which they cannot approach; and it will be easy to secure the vessels, or not allow them to lade anything. Considering the calms which prevail, even if there were many ships they could not aid one another, whatever injury the galleys were inflicting upon them—the least being to dismantle them, so that they cannot sail, for there is nothing there with which to make a mast or rudder.

Eighth, as they have a number of posts where they only keep twenty-five or thirty men with a squadron commander, and the forts have no ditches or drinking-water, they could be deprived of these at any time with ease. Galleons would be of no use in such engagements, as they cannot vie with galleys, which can get under cover whenever they wish. Likewise it must be understood, as their forts are in such danger, they will need so many men to keep them from being taken, and so much to maintain them, that their profit will be so small that it will be gain for them to abandon it. This would indeed be making a pretty game of war, and cutting their throats with a wooden sword. And I assure your Majesty that this idea is not only my own, but that of all experienced men in Maluco There resides at this court Juan Gomez de Cardenas, who gained considerable experience in Japon with a Dutch factor, who never thought that this man was a vassal of your Majesty. The latter made known to him the said reason, and said that they feared nothing until your Majesty should send there six or more galleys.

It now remains to tell the ease and little cost with which your Majesty could maintain these galleys and man them; and if this is explained for one, it holds in regard to all. The hull of a galley of twenty-four benches, put together and fitted for sailing, costs in the Filipinas four thousand ducats. The gang to man it must be secured in this manner. The governor of the Filipinas should send to Mindanao three hundred soldiers, by whom—besides setting free more than ten thousand Christian captives, vassals of your Majesty in the Filipinas—sufficient men could be captured to man the galleys. If this measure be not sufficient, a frigate or two should be sent to Malaca for cloves on your Majesty's account, which would bring back negroes at two hundred reals, more or less, with which to man them; these oarsmen are very satisfactory, as experience has shown. In order to maintain the crew and replace those who die, men could be captured continually from our enemies, on a thousand occasions, without fail.

The support of the galley slaves is inexpensive, for they live on rice, fish, and a little jerked beef—which, besides, is often captured from the enemy there; and is very low in price when it has to be bought, as, at present, in the island of Macacar.

The third and last measure is, if these two fail, such that I dure not write it, for that is not expedient; but I will explain it to your Majesty, if you are pleased to learn it. I shall not go into this matter any further, nor explain the reasons more in detail, as this is not to be long; but if your Majesty should be pleased to carry out any of the suggestions here made, I shall explain away the doubts which may present themselves.

In the second place the person who is to govern should have the said requisites, for he is the soul of the undertaking; and it is he who must execute whatever your Majesty orders and commands. Whatever he is, such will be the rest. That this may not appear an exaggeration, I will prove it by evidence.

There are dependent upon the governor not only the secular Spanish residents of those islands, but the ecclesiastics; also war and peace, and the royal Audiencia, the archbishop, the bishops, and all the other soldiers and citizens; for it is he who must reward and honor them with offices of peace and war. He must assign the cargoes of the ships, the profits and advantages. The royal Audiencia, because he appoints their relatives and constituents to offices of profit, must needs keep in his graces. The archbishop and bishops, if they do not conform to his will, may have their temporal support taken from them; for if he cannot do it with good cause, he can easily do it in other ways. In a thousand things which occur, too, they need him for the direction of their affairs; and he can inflict on them so many burdens and annoyances that they realize how dearly they are buying the privilege of opposing him or contradicting his wishes. The chapter of the church is the same, or worse; for he makes appointments, as your Majesty is patron, and orders the stipends to be paid. Accordingly it is necessary to be in his good graces. The cabildo of the city dare not do anything against his will; for those who oppose him or say anything in the sessions which is contrary to his wishes, it costs dear, and, besides, he is aware of whatever they do there. They dare not write to your Majesty, without taking to him the letters so that he may examine them; and there have been times when he has had these torn up, and ordered them to write others. Consequently, the religious who are teaching, and those of the convents, are all dependent upon him.

The royal officials do no more than he wishes, and, besides, they have the example of former ones, who for not acting thus were removed, and held prisoners for three years until your Majesty learned of it, and ordered their offices to be returned to them, and perchance the many hardships and afflictions which the governor inflicted upon them, and caused them to suffer, cost two of them their lives, and lost for your Majesty, in the factor, one of the best servants whom you had in the Filipinas. Accordingly, what I promised to prove is well established; for the complaints were so long in arriving, and the redress in returning, that he who awaited them was already dead.

In the third place, it is essential that he should not be excessively grasping; and that your Majesty should give him such expectations, if he conducts himself well, that his profit will rest more on them than in what the government is worth to him. He should be of mature age and great experience in handling the affairs of the commonwealth, such as some knights possess who hold offices of corregidor on the coasts of Espana, and who govern in peace and war, as they never lack exercise for these abilities on the coasts. For if they were only required to be expert in war, the country would be in ruins before they became capable of governing it—as, for our sins, we have seen in past years. They should not come burdened with debts, which are demoralizing in a thousand ways. Notwithstanding that your Majesty has issued decrees which prohibit them from giving offices of profit to members of their households, rather than to the worthy persons of the kingdom, these decrees are the least complied with; nor is there any one who dares to interfere in this. If any one should make bold to put the bell on the cat, as the adage says, who would make him comply with it? By no means the royal Audiencia. At one time when I was petitioning for the execution of a royal decree of your Majesty there, an auditor, a friend of mine, said: "You should not do this; for, besides not accomplishing anything by it, you will get yourself into difficulty with him."

With this in view, it is very important to forbid these offices to persons who are under obligations, which induce an insatiable greed and presumption; and, to fill that yawning void, the wealth of all the Indias is insignificant. The worst is, that they pervert a man, and lead him astray by their influence. If I were to recount here in detail all the difficulties which they occasion, I should have to take twice the space. In short, everyone there is lamenting; and these people come in smiles, and even negotiating for the honors which belong to others, with crass insolence; and, worse yet, it seems to the governor that his own people alone deserve all there is, and the rest are of no account. To give color to their impudence, one of them has dared to write to your Majesty that there was not a person in all your kingdom who could in the least be trusted. The mistakes of these people are never punished, nor is there any one who dares to demand an investigation against them, even when they have done a thousand injuries. In short, he must be such a one as the emperor Theodosius spoke of to St. Ambrose, when he sent him to govern Milan: "Go; and, look you, I send you not to act as governor, but as bishop." Such must be the governors of the Filipinas, if your Majesty would have them succeed.

And on this account I have no fault to find with Don Alonso Faxardo, whom your Majesty has sent at present to govern. On the contrary, I believe that he will conduct himself there as befits the service of your Majesty and the welfare of your kingdom. For I recognized such desires in him in the little intercourse that I had with him in Mexico, where I was acquainted with him. I am therefore very thankful to God to see him so desirous of serving you, and may He give him grace to succeed. As for the persons who are sent to that Audiencia, they should be in a degree like the governors; for your Majesty places as much confidence in them—although I think it would be more to the purpose to discontinue it, for the reasons which are given by most people in that country, in which matter I will give your Majesty a memorial.

The affairs of that kingdom are in such disorder, and move in so irregular channels, that people ask for an inspector to reform and adjust them and put everything in its place, redressing injuries and punishing wrong-doing. The country is much in need of this; but that it may not be like the frogs who asked Jupiter for a king, and were given one that devoured them, it will be best for your Majesty to appoint some one from that country, who, through his great experience and knowledge, cannot be deceived, and knows what must be reformed, and who is possessed as well of the prudence and tact which are necessary in such a new country. And on the other hand, on account of the risks which exist in sending anyone from here who does not understand the affairs and conditions which must be remedied, and knows not how to proceed, it would be wiser to send no one, on account of the danger which exists of ruining the city.

Item: The governor should not consent to Japanese living in that country, as they are a great trouble and danger to the country, and the city is continually in danger from them.

Item: The Chinese should be very carefully restricted, so that no greater number of them than your Majesty has ordered be [allowed to remain there]; for they are permitted [to enter the country] without any exercise of caution, and we know by experience what this costs.

Item: Your Majesty should command the governor finally to reduce the island of Mindanao to obedience to your Majesty; for those islands are so infested that they hinder the carrying of reenforcements to Maluco. And as they are in league with the Dutch, we have a perfect right to make war upon them and subject them to slavery. All this is easy for the governor if your Majesty command it, and is so necessary for the security of your Majesty's vassals, as I intend to explain to your Majesty more at length in a separate memorial.

Item: There is an island which lies about twenty leguas from Maluco, called Macacar, which measures about two hundred and fifty leguas around; it is very rich and well supplied, and from it the forces in Maluco could be supplied with ease and at little cost. It will be necessary for your Majesty to order the governor to negotiate with the king there for friendship and commerce. For the latter has already sent and written, saying that he desires it and that he will furnish all the supplies that are desired, and, if there is no money, will give credit for them until it is procured; and he has sent to ask for religious to preach the faith. They are a capable people, of good disposition, and are disposed to receive the gospel. As this district lies nearest to that which the fathers of the Society hold, it would be of much importance to send a few religious assigned to that island; and for your Majesty to be pleased to have their general requested to give them, which is of much importance even for temporal objects, besides the great service which they can render to God. And the Dutch could not get supplies from there, which would take away from them much of the previsions with which they are supported. Two fathers of the Society have been there, and have written that they were very well received; and it is highly expedient to encourage them.

Item: Your Majesty should order the governor to attend with much diligence to the despatching of ships which go to Nueva Espana, for upon this so much of the growth of that kingdom depends; and since he is so good a sailor and prides himself upon it, he should regulate that in the proper way, for at present it proceeds with great disorder and even recklessness, as I shall explain to your Majesty in a separate memorial.

Item: Your Majesty should command that the garrisons of that kingdom be made open, on account of the fact that experience has shown that more men would go, if this were the case. Those in Maluco should be exchanged with those in the Filipinas every three years, for otherwise so many refuse to go to Maluco, and the forts there are in such ill-repute, that those who are taken there are discontented, as if they were being sent to the galleys; but if they are exchanged, as I have said, they will go willingly. Beside, they would become experts, and the soldiers from Maluco are worth more than those who have not been there, on account of their constant exercise in war and labor.

Item: Your Majesty should command that the city of Manila be made an open garrison, like San Juan de Ulua and Habana; for in this way the men will go to the Filipinas willingly. As Don Juan de Silva has done otherwise for years past, this country has become depopulated, and they have fled to various parts from time to time, no one daring to go there on this account.

Item: Concerning the treatment of the Indians, and what it is well to inform your Majesty in this regard, as well in what concerns your royal conscience as the good of the country, a separate memorial is required.

Item: As to the manner of governing them and collecting their tributes, as has been seen by experience, the religious have done a great deal of harm by preventing the Indians from paying tributes on the fruits which they harvest; because the religious have not the inclination or sense to leave many things free—as will be seen in the account I shall give your Majesty in regard to this, all of which has been taught by experience.

Item: Finally, it is very necessary that your Majesty should consider that that country is very new, and that your Majesty should desire its growth; and because, likewise, it was not so much in need of your Majesty's protection and favor in the beginning as it is now—when so few wish to go there on account of ill-treatment, many misfortunes, and the fear of enemies—your Majesty should protect it so that they may be encouraged to go there. For this your Majesty should command your ministers to give those who wish to go a comfortable passage. For if in early days the king our lord, the father of your Majesty, who so greatly favored and loved that land, not only furnished a passage, but likewise the necessaries for their journey, to those who wished to go, and even freed them from duties and imposts, that aid is much more necessary today; and at least they should be given some exemptions, and should not be treated with such harshness as they now are. This I can affirm as an eyewitness, that when we arrived at the port of Capulco, after having been on the voyage five months, and a great many of our people had died, and God had brought us through such boundless hardships and dangers to the place where we were to refresh ourselves, they treated us worse, indeed, than they did the Dutch; for to the latter they gave food there, and sent them away satisfied, and to us they acted as they should have done to the Dutch. Since a proper remedy for what happened at the port of Capulco, which I am bound to suggest to your Majesty, and for many other matters concerning your royal service, cannot be suggested in this place, I shall give it in other memorials.

Item: The encomiendas which your Majesty used to grant were formerly for three lives; and a short time ago your Majesty ordered by a royal decree that they should be, and it should be so understood, for two lives. This is a great difficulty in the preservation of that community, and especially so as your Majesty has granted the favor to Nueva Espana of giving them for four lives; and as the Filipinas have been, and continue to be thus far, the colony of Nueva Espana, and almost governed by the royal Audiencia thereof, it is a great hardship that they should enjoy no more than two lives. In the first place, because many are discouraged from serving your Majesty, and even from remaining in that country, when they learn that their sons and grandsons must be reduced to the greatest poverty, the said encomienda expiring with the holder's first son or his wife, as at present happens; in the second place, because four lives are shorter in the Filipinas than two in Nueva Espana. The reason for this is the many occasions for war and naval expeditions, wherein men are easily killed or drowned, leaving their successors in the hospital—as is at present the case with many, which makes one's heart ache with pity.

In answer to the tacit objection which might be brought up that it is better to have the encomiendas vacated quickly, so that others may be rewarded with them, and with this hope will go to serve there, I would say that the important matter is to make a compromise—namely that your Majesty should concede the said encomiendas not for four lives, as in Nueva Espana, nor for two as at present, but for three, as formerly, which is a very necessary measure for the relief of some, and the encouragement of others to the service of your Majesty.



Letter from Master-of-camp Lucas de Vergara, written to Don Francisco Gomez de Arellano, dean of Manila, which is the last that came from Maluco in the past year.

By the ship "San Antonio," which I despatched to that city on the thirteenth of May last, I informed you, with other matters pertaining to me, of my health, and my arrival at these forts safely with the three ships in which I took the reenforcements; and of how well I was received by everyone, and everything which had occurred to me up to that time. What I have to say to you since that time is that, from the persons who have come to me from the forts of the enemy, both native and Dutch, and from other inquiries that I have made, I have learned that of the ten Dutch ships which were at the harbor-mouth of Marivelez only four have come back to these islands. One of them brought the wounded men from Oton; a second one, when our fleet went out to seek that of the enemy, was going out to sea, picking up Sangley ships. When it saw our fleet, without going back to theirs, it cast loose a very rich junk which it was towing astern, and took to flight. The captain of this vessel, they tell me, the Dutch put to death for having fled. Two other vessels arrived at the port of Malayo on the eighth of June. These had found occasion to fight with our fleet; and accordingly they arrived dismantled by cannon-shots, and with many wounded men. These brought the news that only six of their vessels had fought with eight of ours and three galleys; and that their commander's ship and two others were lost, one going to the bottom and the other two being burned. Their commander escaped in a boat which they saw was being followed by two of our galleons and a galley—although they did not know the result, since neither this one, nor two others that are lacking from the ten, have appeared here thus far. Of six hundred men whom they took from the forts which they have on these islands to put in the ten boats, when they were at Manila, only a hundred came back alive. These two damaged ships are being put to rights, and in all they have five at present in these islands, with few men; so that if a part of our fleet had come, and followed up the victory, they might all have been captured. This loss has made both the Dutch and those of Terrenate very sad and cast down, for they were in hopes to come back rich and victorious. A few silks and other goods were brought in the ships which escaped and they sold them to us very dear, although not so dear as they cost them. What they are considering now, and urge for the consolation of those of Terrenate and the other nations friendly to them, is that they are going to collect a great fleet which they have in Ambueno, and in the Sunda; and with the whole fleet they are to attack the forts of his Majesty before our fleet arrives from Castilla and from the Filipinas. This you already know of. Beside this, they are putting their fortresses in the best state of fortification possible, together with the posts which they hold; for they see that the natives here are very lukewarm in their friendship, and they fear that when they see our fleet more powerful than theirs, the natives will drop their friendship and try to win ours. The king of Tidore and I consider it certain, judging from what we have heard from themselves, and particularly from those of the island of Maquien, that that alone is richer in cloves and native inhabitants than are all the others there. Their Sangaje, who went there to treat of this matter, was taken and killed in the fort at Malayo, which irritated the natives of that island very much.

By a caracoa which I sent to Ambueno, to get word of what was doing there, I learned that the Dutch have seven ships in that island, and that they sent one ship laden with cloves to Holland. The natives there are, for the most part, at war with the Dutch, as are likewise those of the islands of Banda, where there are two or three English ships fortifying themselves with the permission and aid of the natives. The Dutch and the English have fought over this and the Dutch hold forty English prisoners—all of which is very good for us. It is rumored that in the Sunda there are twenty Dutch ships, but I do not know what truth there is in this. I am at present getting ready and fortifying, as well as I can, the forts which his Majesty has in these islands, so that they may be ready at any juncture; although there is a great lack of men for the necessary work, because there went this year to Manila more than came out, and some are sick, and there are many places to guard. Particularly there are three situated in the island Batachina, which, as they are in an unhealthy country, exhaust the troops more by death and sickness. They are passably supplied with provisions at present, owing to the care which I take to seek out what is in the country; and thus, with the rice which I brought, and a little which was here, I have managed to get along. I shall have enough provisions for the whole of October, and if I am sent those that I await from the island of Mateo I shall have enough for November. By that time I hope to get aid from those islands, for I am very confident that the lords there will aid me as ever; and the lord captain-general, being a man of so much experience, as he suffered so many needs in his own time, will aid in this with the expedition and care which are necessary for its preservation, since everything is and continues to be for that object. In whatever may happen which concerns this, I beg of you to further it as far as possible, as I shall take it as a great favor, besides being a service for God and for his Majesty, and as you are so zealous. I beseech you to be pleased to advise me of what may occur there and I shall do the same always here.

By the last despatch I sent you three birds of paradise, and the bearer of this, Sergeant Romero, brings you two more. I wished that there were more, but I assure you that they were not to be found, as the boats which usually bring them have not arrived.

While I was writing this a Dutch trumpeter arrived from the forts of the enemy, and gave the same report as another who came two days ago, and whom I send by this ship, so that he may tell the whole thing there—for, considering the news and the state of affairs, it is of the highest importance that our fleet should come here by the month of December. If those ships alone came which his Majesty has in those islands, it would be superior to the enemy's fleet; for with this they could be kept from taking to Holland this year the great quantity of cloves which they will harvest. This is the greatest loss which can be inflicted upon them at present; since with the profits from this they are waging war upon his Majesty in these parts with such great fleets. This is the opinion of those who have most at heart the service of his Majesty in these regions. I am writing, above all, to the lords there; and you will do me the favor which you always do in such cases.

Although I do not know what new things there may be there, I leave it all to your good opinion and intelligence and that of Senor Canon Garcetas, as I know, since you are such friends of mine, that you will give the most fitting counsel. May our Lord protect you for the greatest possible number of years. I kiss your hands. Tidore, July 5, 1617. Your humble servant,

Lucas Vergara Gaviria



Part Third. Wherein is Given Information of Other Matters Concerning the Filipinas, the Islands of Maluco, and Others of the Archipelago; of Their Riches, and of the Forts and Factories Which the Dutch Hold; and of the Wealth Which is At Present Secured from Them.



Chapter I. Of the prelates and their districts in the islands, and of certain curious things.

The island called Lucon, which is the most important, has two bishops and an archbishop. The archbishopric has jurisdiction in the vicinity of the city of Manila, the capital of that country. Toward the east it reaches as far as the village called Calilaya, forty leguas from the city on the same island. It has four offices of alcalde-mayor, which is the same thing as a corregimiento—namely those of La Laguna de Vai, La Laguna de Bonvon, another in Valayan, and that of Calilaya. In this there are many Indian villages administered by religious of the Augustinian order, and still more by the discalced of St. Francis. Toward the west of the jurisdiction is that of the province of Pampanga, which is fertile and well-peopled, and that of Bulacan, and the Cambales. These are not Christians and cannot be reduced to conversion, but are negroes who go about like wild beasts through the inaccessible parts of the mountains. They are given to cutting the heads from other Indians, and no woman will marry a Cambal unless he has cut off a head; accordingly, in order to be married, he will cut one off, even though it be that of his own father when he finds the latter in the fields. If these had been given into slavery they would have been already reduced; but, although I have advised it many times in the Council, no measures for this have ever been taken. As the matter stands, they will never be pacified except by this means. The reason for this is that, if they were given into slavery, the Indians of Pampanga, with their great desire to hold slaves for the managing of their crops, would have reduced them. They do a great deal of damage, so much that no Indian dares go out alone to work in his field, because they kill him merely for the sake of cutting off his head. They live upon roots and fruit from the woods, and have no houses, nor possessions, and go about naked. Toward the east this jurisdiction takes in all the island, and toward the west lies the sea. Several islands are joined to this jurisdiction, as are those of Lioban and Mindoro. In these are a number of trees resembling cinnamon [canela], which I have shown to our physicians, who say that it is the Cinamomo. [51] Then there is the island of Marenduque, where there are mines of copper; and other islands, of little importance and sparsely peopled.

Northward from this jurisdiction begins the bishopric of Nueva Segovia, starting from the province of Pangasinan, where end the Combales and the province of Ilocos—wherein are situated the mountains of the Idolotes [sic], and where are so rich mines, as I have explained. They are all Christians. The Dominican religious minister to the province of Pangasinan, and the Augustinians to that of Ilocos. Farthest to the north lies the province of Nueva Segovia, which is administered by Dominican friars. These three provinces are very fertile and well peopled, and to the north of this district there are several islands called Vabuianos, where the Indians raise swine of remarkable size. Throughout the whole island [of Luzon] there are many wild swine. They are not fierce, like those in Espana, and accordingly are easily killed. There is a great number of large, fierce wild buffaloes. They are killed with muskets, and on one occasion they were unable to bring down a buffalo with twelve musketshots. If the man who is shooting misses, and does not get quickly under cover, he will be killed. The Indians catch them as we do partridges here, and it is a remarkable thing, wherefore I shall now explain it. They make a very strong stockaded enclosure [corral], and on either side of the gate they move out, carrying with them palm leaves of a certain kind, touching one another. They keep spreading out the line until it is about a quarter of a legua long, more or less. When they find a herd, for the animals go many together, they frighten and follow them, and, driving them along, continue with shouts; and as they are running and striking with the said leaves, the buffaloes will not pass through the line of men if they are excited. Thus little by little they enter into the narrowest part until they are compelled to enter into the gate of the enclosure, which is then barred. There the Indians, by their devices, catch the animals one by one, tie them, and put them each one in a small enclosure of strong stakes so narrow that they cannot turn around, so that they have no chance to struggle. There they keep them without food for a fortnight, until they are so feeble and thin that they cannot stand. Then an Indian comes with a wisp of hay, and although angry, they needs must eat; and within twenty days they are so tame with the person who gives them food, that they let themselves be scratched. Iron rings are put in their noses, and they are led anywhere with a rope, like a beast of burden. I have seen one of these buffaloes with a negro who had fed him, seated on his head, and he played with the negro like a dog, but was a lion for those whom he did not know. This jurisdiction is fifty leguas long on the sea side. The interior of the island remains unpacified, as it consists of the said mountains. The bishopric of Las Camarinas [sic] is the most easterly on this island, and extends more than sixty leguas, including several adjacent islands, such as Burias, Ticao, Capul, and Catanduanes. There are many nutmeg trees in this bishopric, the fruit of which no one gathers. There is in this province a spring from which flows hot water, and if anything is placed in it it turns to stone. [52]

The bishopric of Cibu has the largest jurisdiction, as it includes all the islands to the east, such as Leite, Babao, Maripi, Tinagon, Panaon, the island of Negros, and that of Oton. Westward are Cebuyan and Romblon; and to the south the island of Mindanao, which is almost as large as that of Luzon. There is in it a great deal of cinnamon, rich gold mines, and considerable civet; and so large a number of civet-cats that they do no more than catch them with snares, take the civet out and set them free again, and thus profit by them without furnishing them with food. There are many other islands, and from there to the Malucos it must be about eighty leguas. In all these islands there is collected a great deal of wax and honey, which is produced in the woods, and which, accordingly, the Indians do not cultivate. The bees are small and dark-colored, and do not live in the hollows of trees and rocks, but build their nests among the branches—using on them a dark, coarse wax, which is so strong that, even though it rains hard, not a drop of water enters. So much is gathered there that not only are we all supplied cheaply, but there are sent to Nueva Espana, Japon, and China more than two thousand quintals each year. There are many deer, not so slender as are ours; and there are no other animals. There are many wood-fowl, smaller than ordinary ones, but more palata le; and which have breasts like partridges. There are in the forests certain shoots called bejucos, which they use as we do osiers here; but they are much better, some of them being as thick as one's thumb, and even larger, and six or eight brazas long. When they are thirsty, the Indians cut off a braza, and a quartillo of fluid runs out of it, which is good and healthful. There are certain canes [i.e., bamboos], some of which are as thick as one's thigh, and others smaller, and five or six brazas long; of these the poor Indians construct their houses, without other material—walls, floors, roofs, posts, and stairs.

There are certain palms which bear a fruit called cocoanuts (which are ordinarily brought to Espana from Guinea); these are such an aid to human life that from them, or rather from the cocoanuts, they obtain the commonest oil of that country, which is as excellent for wounds, even though they be deep ones, as that of aparicio. From this tree they obtain wine which is the common beverage of that country; strong vinegar, which is good for the table; and milk like that of almonds, to serve with rice, and which curdles like real milk. When it is soft the fruit is like green hazel-nuts in taste, and better; and there is a serum for many ills and infirmities, which is called whey, as it looks much like that of milk. It is there called tuba. They make honey from this tree; also oakum with which to calk ships, which lasts in the water, when that from here would rot. Likewise they make rigging, which they call cayro; and they make an excellent match for arquebuses, which, without any other attention, is never extinguished. The shoots resemble wild artichokes while they are tender. There is a plant with leaves after the shape and fashion of the ivy, which is a certain species of pepper which they call buyo, the use of which is common throughout the whole archipelago; and it is so excellent a specific against ulcerated teeth that I do not remember ever having heard it said that any native suffered from them, nor do they need to have them pulled. It is a good stimulant for the stomach, and leaves a pleasant odor in the mouth.

There is a bird which they call tabon, a little larger than a partridge; and it buries its eggs, which are as large as goose eggs, to the number of eighty or a hundred, half an estado deep in the sand of the bays of the sea. They are all yolk, without any white, which is an indication of their great heat. Accordingly, the mother does not sit upon them, and they hatch, and the birds scratch their way out from the sand. When the bird has come out it is as large as a quail, and goes about picking up its food as other birds do after they are grown. I have seen this with my own eyes, and there must be other eyewitnesses of it in this court. So marvelous is the character of these birds. I pass over many other peculiarities for fear of tiring your Majesty.

There are many good and savory wild fruits there. The ordinary food in those islands is rice, as it is over all Asia and the neighboring islands; and I dare assert that more people are supported in the world by rice than by wheat. There is a great deal of sugar, which is usually worth four reals the arroba, or less; and the Chinese bring so much rock sugar, which they call cande, that it is ordinarily worth eight reals an arroba, or less.

In that part of the island of Mindanao which faces the south, as I have said above, the Indians are rebellious; and it is they who have done, and still do, great damage to the others. They have taken up the doctrine of Mahoma and are friendly with the Dutch. As they have not been given into slavery, they are not pacified; and this is one of the most important matters there, and deserves the application of a remedy.



Chapter II. Of the ministers and religious instruction in the islands, and those who have been converted to our holy Catholic faith, and those who pay tribute.

The island of Luzon, in the archbishopric and the two bishoprics, has fifty-nine encomiendas, and in that of Nueva Segovia, which is the most northerly, there are twenty-six; in that of Camarines, which is the most easterly of the islands, there are thirty—in all, one hundred and fifteen. In the bishopric of Cibu there are seventy-one, which make, in all, one hundred and eighty-six encomiendas of Indians. They comprise 130U938 tributarios in all; each tributario includes husband and wife, and thus at least four persons are reckoned, including children and slaves (as they have no others to serve them except slaves); there are, then, 523U752 Christians in these encomiendas. There are assigned to the royal crown 33U516 tributarios, and the rest are assigned and granted to deserving soldiers. This is exclusive of the people who pay no tributes, that is, the chiefs. There are, in all these one hundred and eighty-six encomiendas, the same number of monasteries and churches. Some of them have two monasteries each as they are too large to be administered by two religious; ordinarily, to each one are assigned five hundred tributarios. There are other encomiendas which have one monastery between two of them. Averaging these, I suppose there are about three hundred and seventy-two priests, besides the laymen. In the city there are about eighty or ninety, in four monasteries—one of St. Dominic, another of St. Francis, another of St. Augustine, another of the Recollect Augustinians—and the cathedral. These places of worship have as handsome buildings as are those of the same class in Espana; and the whole city is built of cut-stone houses—almost all square, with entrance halls and modern patios [i.e., open courts]—and the streets are straight and well laid out; there are none in Espana so extensive, or with such buildings and fine appearance. The city has as many as five hundred houses; but, as these ate all, or nearly all, houses which would cost 20U or more ducados in this court, they occupy as much space as would a city of two thousand inhabitants here. For the wall, as measured by me, is 2U250 geometrical pasos in circumference, at five tercias for each paso, which makes three quarters of a legua. [53] In all these islands there are none unconverted except the Zambales, as I have said above, and those in the mountains where the mines are, and a few villages behind these same mountains, which are called the province of Ituri—so called because it was discovered by Don Luys Perez de las Marinas, in the time of his father, who sent him there. For lack of religious, the gospel has not been preached to them. They are a peaceable people, and make no opposition. In Nueva Segovia, which is under the charge of the Order of St. Dominic, there are some to be converted, who have not yet been settled peacefully, as they are warlike and restless Indians. On the contrary, they have rebelled several times; but it has always been on account of injuries which the Spaniards have inflicted upon them.



Chapter III. Of the islands of Maluco, and others adjacent to them; and of the spice and other articles that are contained in them.

The Malucas Islands, commonly so called, where, of the spices, cloves are obtained, and so named from this drug, [54] are five. They begin at that of Bachan, which is on the equinoctial line, and extend north and south. The farthest north is that of Terrenate, which is six or seven leguas in circumference. It consists entirely of a very high elevation, on the summit of which is a volcano, which sends forth fire. In the medial region of this mountain they raise the clove-trees, which are like laurel trees, the leaves being a little narrower and longer. This island has five fortresses; the principal one is called Talangame, and another San Pedro. The Dutch have three: that of Malayo, which is the principal one; another called Tacome, and another Toleco, which is of little importance.

The island of Tidore is distant about two leguas from this, and, although smaller, has about the same aspect. Your Majesty has a fort there, and the king of Tidore has another. The Dutch have two others, which they call Great and Little Mariaco. In the island of Motiel, farther south, the Dutch have a fort.

In that of Maquien there is a fort. Directly beyond this is another and smaller island, called Cayoa; and that of Bachan, with several others of little importance, lies near. To the east of all these islands is one called Vatachina, or Gilolo, lying two or three leguas from these—a very large island, where your Majesty has two forts. This island extends so far that it makes a strait with the island of Nueva Guinea on the eastern end, according to the relation of Fray Diego de Prado, of the Order of St. Basil, who, while he was a layman, coasted along this island on the southern side, of which nothing was then known. This is the largest island in the world, and was discovered from the northern side. It extends from the equinoctial line. No one has thus far examined what is in the interior, although it is known that it is well peopled, some of the natives being black, and some of the ordinary color of Indians. There are indications of much wealth. More to the east, there are the islands of Salamon near by. The blacks are sold among the Indians, as in Guinea, and they have fairs at set times. The Indians buy these people to cultivate their lands. Beyond these Malucas Islands there are some to the southward, of little importance, as far as that of Ambueno, which is seventy leguas distant from them. The Dutch have a fort there, which they took from the Portuguese, and a port where abundance of cloves are gathered—which, transplanted from the Malucas, have grown in this island alone and in no other. Eighteen leguas farther east lies the island of Banda, where nutmeg is gathered; and the Dutch have another fortress there.

Westward from the Malucas Islands, about twenty leguas distant, is an island called Macasar. It is more than two hundred and fifty leguas around, and is very fertile and rich, being inhabited by the best people in those islands; their king is friendly, very peaceful, and glad to trade with the Spaniards. He used to receive the Dutch, and let them provide themselves from his country with provisions for all their forts. He does not now admit them, and has sent to ask for religious to preach the gospel; and two of the Society and two Dominicans have been sent to him. The friendship of this king is very important for the preservation of Maluco.

Next, farther to the west, lies the island of Borney. It is 400 leguas in circumference. On the side which faces the south the Dutch maintain trade, and through it they obtain the finest diamonds.

In Greater Java, which is the island that forms a narrow strait with that of Samatra, they have a factory (without a fort), to which they bring the cloves and nutmeg and pepper which they buy there, which amounts to a large quantity. They trade there, and a few years ago the Javans drove them out. Since the English have become their allies, they are able to keep the natives in subjection, and are building a fortress.

They have other factories in the kingdom of Patan, at one of which they buy a great deal of pepper. Patan lies more to the north of the strait of Sincapura (which others call the strait of Malaca); and further north lies the kingdom of Sian, which is very rich in many kinds of merchandise, and in rubies. They have another factory there. In the kingdom of Cambosea [sic; sc. Camboja] they have another, and still another in Cochinchina. They are not allowed to enter China, but rather, on account of the robberies which they have perpetrated, they are held to be enemies of the country. In the islands of Japon they have another factory, from which they procure supplies and military stores, and which is of much importance to them. Of the other islands of this archipelago no mention is made, to avoid being prolix, although there are a great number of them.



Chapter IV. Wherein are considered the riches of the spice trade of these Malucas Islands and the others.

These Malucas Islands give from year to year four thousand four hundred bares of cloves in clusters, which are called "selected," according to the relation which is made and the information given by Don Juan de Silva, knight of the habit of Santiago, when he governed the Filipinas Islands. Others say that there are eight thousand, and still others, six. The first statement is the most accurate, and agrees with another note made by Captain Gregorio de Vidana, a citizen of Manila; he was a person very learned in manuscripts, who spent many years there, and sought to inquire into the matter out of curiosity.

Four thousand four hundred bares of cloves, each bare containing 640 libras, amount to 2,816,000 libras—which at one ducado, the price at which they are sold [in Europe] will bring the same number of ducados. All this can be bought for a hundred thousand ducados. [55] It is not bought with money, but with cloth purchased in India and in China; and what in those countries costs ten is sold in the Malucas at fifty. This profit is at present possessed by the Dutch, who buy on the coast of Caramendel, and from the Chinese in Cochinchina and Java, whence they take the merchandise which they trade for cloves in Maluco. The nutmeg, according to Don Juan de Silva, is worth 500U ducados, when transported to these parts.

The cloves gathered in the island of Ambueno amount to a great deal, although I have no exact account of the quantity.

The pepper which is taken from Greater Java is much, although I do not know the exact quantity. They likewise have a factory and a treaty friendship with the king of Achen, in the island of Samatra, where there is much merchandise. He is an enemy of ours, as well as he who attacked Malaca in the year 16, and burned a galleon of the four which were awaiting Don Juan de Silva. Soon afterward seven Dutch galleons arrived to aid him, and burned the other three. Malaca is a very important place, and it is very necessary that your Majesty should preserve it, as it is the passage to all the kingdoms and districts of that archipelago of San Lacaro, where there is so much wealth.



Chapter V. Of the expense incurred by your Majesty to maintain the fortified posts of Tidore and Terrenate in the Malucas Islands.

I said in the second part of this relation that the reenforcements of money and men which are brought from Nueva Espana to the Filipinas were not to preserve those islands, but were occasioned by the war with the Dutch. I shall now set down here a memorandum of the expenses of those forts, without the many other requisites.

Relation of the salaries and expenses which your Majesty has to pay in the Malucas Islands

Pesos

A warden and commander of the troops, with two thousand ducados of salary each year, which at eleven reals to the ducado, makes 2757 pesos, 2 tomins, and 9 granos 2U757

Seven captains of Spanish infantry, with 990 pesos of salary a year, amounting to. 6U930

Seven alferezes of these companies, with 412 pesos, 4 tomins of salary each per year. 2U887

Seven sergeants, with 206 pesos, 2 tomins, apiece each year, amounting to. 1U443

Fourteen drummers, at 171 pesos each per year, amounting to. 2U394

Seven fifers, at 165 pesos a year, amounting to. 1U155

Seven shield-bearers, at 103 pesos each, amounting to. 0U721

Seven standard-bearers, at 115 pesos per year each, amounting to. 0U815

Two adjutant sargentos-mayor, with 412 pesos, 4 tomins, each per year, amounting to. 0U825

A campaign captain, at 330 pesos of salary per year. 0U330

A captain of artillery, with a salary of 480 pesos per year. 0U480

A constable for land and sea, with 300 pesos per year. 0U300

Twenty artillerymen for land and sea, at 200 pesos each per year, amounting to. 4U000

There are continually 600 soldiers, and at times more, seldom less. These usually earn 115 pesos per year, amounting to 69U000 pesos. 69U000

Of this number 140 are musketeers, who get 36 pesos each per year beside their ordinary salary, amounting to 5040 pesos. 5U040

Thirty ducados of eleven reals each as extra pay to each company each month, amounting to 2520 ducados, which makes 3465 pesos. 3U465

Twenty-eight squadron leaders, with three pesos of extra pay each month, amounting in a year to 1008 pesos. 1U008

One accountant of the royal exchequer, with a salary of 800 pesos per year, and 50 fanegas of cleaned rice. 0U800

One superintendent of supplies and munitions, with 500 pesos of salary and rations. 0U500

One secretary of mines and registries, who serves on a salary of a major official of the office of accounts, with 400 pesos; and one minor official with 150, which amount to. 0U550

Two secretaries, one of war and one of magazines, with 200 pesos apiece per year of salary, and rations for the magazines secretary. 0U400

One engineer and one surgeon, with 600 pesos each year, amounting to 1200 pesos. 1U200

Two Pampango captains, with 120 pesos; two ensigns, with 96 pesos; two sergeants, at 72 pesos; four drummers, two fifers, two shield-bearers, two standard-bearers, at 48 pesos each; and 200 soldiers, at 48 pesos of salary per year, amounting to 10717 pesos. 10U717

A Spanish smith, with a salary of 300 pesos per year, and one Indian with 48 pesos; another, with 42 pesos; ten others, with 30 pesos; one keeper of arquebuses with 42 pesos and all his rations, which will be mentioned in their place, amounting in money to 732 pesos 0U732

Two Spanish carpenters and 20 Indians—the Spaniards with 300 pesos each per year, and the 20 Indians at 48 pesos and their rations—the money amounting to 1560 pesos 1U560

One Spanish stonecutter, with 300 pesos; and twelve Indians at 24 pesos, amounting yearly to 588 pesos 0U588

Two calkers and one cooper, Spaniards, at 300 pesos each per year, amounting to 900 pesos 0U900

A hundred Indian pioneers, at 48 pesos each per year and rations, amounting to 4800 pesos 4U800

An alguazil of the royal exchequer, at 150 pesos per year 0U150

Ten religious, of the Society of Jesus and the Order of St. Francis, and the vicar, at 100 pesos; and thirty fanegas of rice each, the money amounting to 1000 pesos 1U000

Commander, captains, pilot, masters, and other officials of the two galleys, besides rations, have each year in salaries 5643 pesos, 4 tomins 5U643

Four substitutes, [56] who are about the person of the governor of those islands, at 30 ducados of eleven reals per month each, amounting each year to 1U980

Each year presents are taken to the king, his son, and the chiefs, worth 2000 pesos 2U000

The hospitals expend each year in medicines, food, cloth, and service more than 10000 pesos 10U000

There must be used powder, balls, iron, steel, pikes and boats for minor service, costing for their manufacture or construction more than 10000 pesos 10U000

The expenses of the vessels which bring reenforcements; the galleys which are kept there; the salaries of the captains, pilots, masters, officers, and sailors; the careening; and other smaller expenses for their construction and voyages, amount each year to more than 40000 pesos 40U000

A purveyor, who is present in the province of Pintados, earns each year 700 pesos of salary; and there are others—commissioners, a storekeeper, and a secretary—in all amounting to 1300 pesos per year 1U300

The rice, wine, meat, fish, vegetables, and other minor articles used by the persons who are supplied with rations—as are the sailors, artillerymen, carpenters, smiths, pioneers, commanders, and rowers of the galleys; the religious, and others—will amount in Terrenate to more than twenty thousand pesos per year 20U000

218U372

Beside what has been mentioned, attention must be given to what has been spent on the fleets which have been collected since the year one thousand six hundred and six, when Don Pedro de Acuna recovered it—both in ships and on casting [of artillery], soldiers' hire, and that which has been lost at different times, which has amounted to a large sum each year; and little or no income has been secured from the Malucas, for in nine years they have not brought in 20U pesos. This has been due to negligence; for if there had been a faithful administrator posted there, and his accounts had been audited, and affairs had been orderly and regular (as they are with the enemy), your Majesty might have secured [sufficient] profit to maintain those forces without expending anything from your royal exchequer, as you now do. The same argument applies from now on. On this account it is very important to your royal service either that correction be applied to this, or that some means be considered, which it does not appear to me expedient to place in this relation, to spare your Majesty so great an expense. When those islands are secure from the Dutch enemy, your Majesty will suffer no expense, and will be able to further the working of the above-mentioned mines which lie near Manila. From them, with the favor of God, so great wealth may be looked for as will suffice to clear your Majesty from debt, and this can be accomplished in no other way; for with the ordinary practice, which has prevailed thus far, there is no more hope than for a sick man declared past recovery, to whom the physicians give no remedies, and whom they declare to be at the end of his life.



Bibliographical Data

The documents of the present volume are from various sources (all manuscript except No. 9). The following are from the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla:

1. Reforms needed—See Bibliographical Data, Vol. XVIII, No. 12.

2. Decrees ordering reforms of religious.—"Audiencia de Filipinas; registros de oficios y partes; reales ordenes dirigidas a las autoridades y particulares del distrito de la Audiencia; anos 1605 a 1645; est. 105, caj. 2, leg. 12."

3. Compulsory service.—"Simancas—Eclesiastico; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes de religiosos misioneros de Filipinas vistos en el Consejo; anos 1617 a 1642; est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 38."

4. Letter from Audiencia.—"Simancas—Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas cartas y expedientes del presidente y oydores de dicha Audiencia vistos en al Consejo; anos 1607 a 1626; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 20."

5. Letter from Fajardo.—"Simancas—Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes del gobernador de Filipinas vistos en el Consejo; anos 1600 a 1628; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 7."

The following are obtained from MSS. in the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid; all are in the collection "Papeles de los Jesuitas:"

6. Letter to Escovar.—"Tomo 129, num. 153."

7. Relation of 1619-20.—"Tomo 112, num. 55."

The following is from the Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid:

8. Letter to Fajardo.—"Cedulario Indico, tomo 38, folio 101, num. 80."

9. Memorial, y relacion para sv magestad (Madrid, 1621), by Hernando de los Rios Coronel.—This is translated and synopsized from the copy in the Library of Congress.



Appendix: Buying and Selling Prices of Oriental Products

[The first list of prices that follows is from a compilation by the procurator of the Philippines, Martin Castanos, and is taken from a relation of Governor Juan de Silva entitled:]

Relation of the importance of the Filipinas and Terrenate

The Malucas Islands yield from year to year four thousand four hundred bars of cloves. Each bar is six hundred and forty libras. If his Majesty would make himself master of this, as well as of the nutmeg and mace, and establish his factories—in Yndia, in Ormuz, [57] for the nations who come from all Asia to trade for it; and in Lisboa, for Europa and the Yndias—it would be worth [from one year to another?] three million seven hundred pesos at the least, as I reckon it; because in India each libra of cloves is worth at Ormuz one peso, and in Lisboa a greater sum, while in the West Yndias it is worth more than two pesos. [58] Averaging them all together, it will be equivalent to ten reals per libra, which will amount to three million five hundred and twenty thousand pesos.... It will cost his Majesty to buy the cloves, in cloth, silks, and other things which the natives value, eighty thousand pesos; while the navigation and the pay of the factors will amount to one hundred and twenty thousand, all amounting to two hundred and thirty thousand pesos. Consequently, there will be a clear profit on the cloves of three million two hundred and ninety thousand pesos.

The nutmegs and mace when delivered in Europa cost the Dutch five hundred and twenty thousand pesos annually. The purchase, navigation, and [pay of] factors amount to one hundred and ten thousand pesos. Consequently, the net gain on the nutmeg and mace is four hundred and ten thousand pesos. That added to the profit of the cloves amounts to three million seven hundred thousand pesos.

His Majesty can make a profit of two millions annually on the silks of China in this way—that a ship of two hundred toneladas' burden go each year with the ships from Filipinas to Nueva Espana, with these silks, which cost the following prices.

One thousand picos of spun and raw silk of Changuei, [59] each pico containing one hundred and thirty libras, and costing two hundred pesos, amount to two hundred thousand pesos.

Ten thousand pieces of Canton satin, at a cost of five pesos, amount to fifty thousand pesos.

Ten thousand pieces of damask, at four pesos, amount to forty thousand pesos.

Twenty thousand pieces of gorgoran, at a cost of one and one-half pesos, amount to thirty thousand pesos.

Thirty thousand varas of velvet in colors, at one-half peso, amount to fifteen thousand pesos.

These silks cost three hundred and thirty-five thousand pesos. They will, with the condescension of his Majesty, be taken to Peru (as is done, that other silks of China may not be taken from Nueva Espana), and are sold at Lima at the following prices.

Each libra of silk of the quality named in the first item, at fifteen pesos, the one thousand picos amounting to one million nine hundred and fifty thousand pesos.

Each piece of Canton satin at fifty pesos, the ten thousand pieces amounting to five hundred thousand pesos.

Each piece of damask at forty pesos, the ten thousand pieces amounting to four hundred thousand pesos.

Each piece of gorgoran at ten pesos, the twenty thousand pieces amounting to two hundred thousand pesos.

Each vara of velvet at four pesos, the thirty thousand varas amounting to one hundred and twenty thousand pesos.

Taking from this amount the three hundred and thirty-five thousand pesos that those goods cost in China, and eight hundred and thirty-five thousand pesos for the cost of factors and of navigation, and whatever else their handling may cost, there is a net gain of two million pesos.

In that way his Majesty can obtain every year from Filipinas five million seven hundred thousand pesos net, after deducting the entire cost.

[The following list is from an undated memorial of probably the early seventeenth century which treats of the merchandise that the Portuguese were wont to take from China to Japan. The memorial first defines the value of certain coins and weights and measures.]

First, the tae is equivalent to a ducado of ten reals of gold or silver; a maz is equal to one of our reals. One maz is equivalent to ten conderins; each conderin being valued at six maravedis, is divided into ten caxes, each cax [i.e., cash] being a round brass coin half the size of a half cuarto [60] pierced with four holes, and with certain characters around the edge. One hundred of them make one maz; and it is the only coin that is stamped with a die, for all the others circulate by weight.

Ranquel are ten pieces of plate or crockery-ware.

Pico is equivalent to one quintal, but has one arroba more than ours. Cate is a weight of twenty onzas.

The ship of the Portuguese carries from five to six hundred picos of white untwisted silk. It costs at Canton eighty taes per pico delivered in Macan, and is sold in Xapon for one hundred and forty or one hundred and fifty taes.

Laden with retros (the fine red silk), of four or five hundred picos of all colors, at a cost of one hundred and forty taes, it is sold in Xapon at three hundred and seventy and sometimes four hundred taes.

The common assorted retros costs from fifty-five to sixty taes in Canton, according to its quality, and is sold in Xapon for one hundred taes.

The silk of the darca, of all colors, is worth forty taes in Canton, and is sold by the libra in Xapon at nine maces per cate.

The said ship will also carry from one thousand seven hundred to two thousand pieces of a certain silk worked with birds, and other pictures done in silk and unwoven silver. [61] Each piece is worth up to eleven maces, and the fine ones up to fourteen. They have seven, eight, and nine gaxos, and they are sold in Xapon for about two and one-half or three taes apiece.

It will take three or four thousand taes of gold. The tae of common gold is worth about four or five maces per tae, and it is sold in Xapon for seven taes and eight maces.

Fine gold is worth in Canton six taes six maces, and seven taes per tae of common gold. It is sold in Xapon for eight taes and three maces.

Moreover, two picos of musk will be taken. It costs eight reals per cate in Canton, and is sold in Xapon at fifteen and sixteen, according to its quality.

It will carry about five hundred picos of white lead. It costs at Canton two taes and seven maces per pico; and, delivered at Macan, three. It is sold in Xapon for six and one-half and seven taes. The Japanese use a considerable quantity of it.... It is brought refined from there and is carried by way of Yndia to Portugal, where each bar is worth six [maces?] seven conderins.

The ship will carry, moreover, two hundred or three hundred picos of cotton thread. It costs seven taes per pico delivered in Macan, and is sold in Xapon for sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen.

It will carry three thousand cangalas [i.e., pieces of buckram], which are pieces of cotton, most of them white, while the rest are black and in colors. They cost various prices, the large pieces costing twenty-eight taes per hundred. It is sold in Xapon at fifty and fifty-four taes per hundred. These cangalas are made of cotton. Those from Lanquin [i.e., Nankin], which are half cotton and half raw silk, are worth one tae three maces per piece of ten varas. Other smaller ones cost twelve taes per hundred in Canton, and are sold in Xapon for twenty-three and twenty-four. The red ones cost eight and one-half taes, and are sold for sixteen and seventeen taes.

The ship will carry one hundred and fifty or two hundred picos of quicksilver. It costs forty taes at Canton, and fifty-three delivered at Macan. It is sold in Xapon for ninety and ninety-two, and at times for less than ninety.

It will also carry two thousand picos of lead, at a cost of three taes per pico delivered in Macan. It is sold in Xapon for six taes four maces, and the money doubled.

It will also carry five or six hundred picos of tin. I do not remember its buying or its selling price.

It will carry besides five or six hundred picos of China-wood, [62] at a cost per pico of one tae or twelve maces. It is sold for four or five taes in Xapon, and the money doubled.

It will carry about two thousand ranquels of crockery-ware at the very least. These goods are bought in Canton at many prices, and the money doubled two or three times in Xapon.

It will carry one hundred picos of rhubarb, which costs two and one-half taes, and is sold for five, thus doubling the money.

It will also carry one hundred and fifty picos of licorice. It costs delivered in Macan three taes per pico, and is sold in Xapon for nine or ten taes per pico, thus tripling the money.

It will also carry about sixty or seventy picos of white sugar. It costs fifteen maces per pico, and is sold in Xapon for three and four and one-half taes. However, little of it is used, and the Japanese prefer the black. The latter kind costs from four to six maces in Macan, and is sold for four, five, or six taes per pico in Xapon. It forms an excellent merchandise, and the ship will carry one hundred and fifty or two hundred picos of it.

The captain of the ship will ask, for carrying the silk, ten per cent; and in order that the freight on the remainder of the merchandise may not be raised, five hundred dead taes are given him, besides sixty picos sold at its value there per pico. That which is sold, and all the bulk of the silk that is unsold, and the five hundred taes are given him beforehand; while on the other merchandise mentioned above he is given ten per cent.

The said ship takes, on its return to Yndia, the aforesaid merchandise of loose white silk—one thousand picos at the abovesaid prices. They are sold in Yndia at about two hundred cruzados [63] per pico.

It will carry about ten or twelve thousand pieces of silk damasks and taffetas of all shades, bought at different prices. The common price of the fine pieces of damask is five taes, and the very fine, six and seven; and the pieces are four varas long. There are also some at four taes. These damasks are also sold at various prices. The greater part of them are sold among the natives. The same is to be said of the pieces of taffeta as to their purchase and sale.

It will carry three or four picos of gold, bought in the manner aforesaid. A profit of eighty or ninety per cent is also made on this among the natives.

It will carry five or six hundred picos of wrought and unwrought brass. The money invested in this is doubled. It is used among the natives.

It will carry six or seven picos of musk, which is used by the people of the country. The money will be gained once and a half over.

It will carry one hundred picos of quicksilver, which will gain seventy or eighty per cent.

It will carry five hundred picos of vermilion, which will gain as much as the quicksilver.

It will carry two or three [hundred?] picos of sugar, and the money will be gained once and a half over.

It will carry one or two thousand picos of China-wood, the money invested for which will be increased two or three times.

It will carry two thousand picos of brass bracelets, which cost five taes six maces, and seven taes per pico delivered in Machan. The money is doubled. They are used in Bengala.

It will carry about two hundred picos of camphor, which goes to Portugal.

It carries a considerable quantity of earthenware of all sorts. The money is gained once and a half over.

It carries a great number of gilded beds, tables, and writing desks.

Much fine colored unwoven silk. It costs eighteen and nineteen maces and two taes per cate. Some of the gilded beds are generally sold for three or four hundred cruzados. It carries many coverlets worked on frames; canopies, bed-curtains, and hangings; short cloaks of the same handiwork, made by the same Chinese; besides other trifles, and many gold chains exquisitely wrought.

The Portuguese pay duties at Malaca of seven and one-half per cent on the merchandise which they carry from China, without selling or unloading anything in that city.

They pay two or three thousand cruzados at Zeylao [i.e., Ceylon] for the support of the garrison stationed there. For that purpose two or three fustas go to the ship and take it, in spite of itself, to the port, whence it does not sail until it pays that sum. The reason given by the captain of that fort is, that the viceroy of Goa discounts that money from the duties. The same is done with the ships which come from Bengala, as well as from all other parts from which it is necessary to pass that island (which is the island for cinnamon) in order to get to Goa. They pay eight and one-half per cent at Goa, both for entrance and for clearance; and the same is true at Malaca, going and coming to [India?] But they do not pay in [Macan?] because they return thither.

When the ship sails from Goa to China, it carries silver in money and in wrought pieces (as I saw), of these two or three thousand; ivory, velvet from Espana and other places, and fine scarlet cloth [grana]; one hundred and fifty or two hundred pipes of wine; about six other pipes of oil; also olives, and capers. One is surprised at the cheapness of these things in Machan since they are brought from Espana to Goa, and thence to China, a distance of more than one thousand leguas. What most surprised me was to see that a cuarto of wine is worth one real, which is about its worth in Lisboa. A jar of oil at eight or ten reals, or at the most twelve, is worth at Machan when it comes from Espana five, six, or eight pesos per botija, counting eight reals to the peso. A cuartillo of wine at four reals, is sold at little or nothing. The Portuguese say that they do not care to make their principal good in China, but to invest in China, as their interest lies in the investment.

Ivory is sold to the Chinese at fifty taes per pico for the white and even ivory. It is understood that this must be in exchange for other merchandise, and not for money or silver; for silver that enters China does not go out again except in merchandise.

Velvet costs six or seven cruzados per codo in Goa. The codo is a palmo less than our vara. It is sold among the Portuguese at Machan for seven or eight taes, according to its quality.

Grana costs five or six cruzados per codo at Goa, and even seven and eight.

A pipe of wine is generally worth forty or fifty cruzados at Goa, and the fine and good wines ninety-five. However, the latter is not taken to China; and that of the first-named price is sold in Machan, where it is worth eighty or ninety cruzados per pipe.

One million of gold and upward enters China yearly through the Portuguese alone.

The Portuguese pay anchorage at Machan according to the beam and length of their ships, and whether they enter light or laden. The length is measured from the mizzenmast to the bow, and the beam from edge to edge. According as the ship is larger or smaller it pays. The [standard of] measure is one cana, and so much is paid for each measure. Consequently, a ship of three hundred toneladas will pay three or four thousand taes of silver. The Portuguese formerly paid the said anchorage in brasil-wood and in other merchandise which they carried; but for two or three years past they have had to pay it in silver. They do not like that as well as the other method. If, perchance, the ships have to lay up for the winter, even if they are the ships of the inhabitants of Machan themselves, they have to pay without any remission.



Memorandum of the retail selling prices of wares in Canton

The tae of fine gold is equivalent to seven of silver. One cate of musk is sold for eight taes. Raw silk at eight taes per pico. The contrary kind, or twisted silk [sirguin], which is the best of the country, one hundred taes per pico. Good pieces of damask, seven taes; a piece contains fourteen varas. Other pieces of common silk, ten varas for one tae three maces. Vermilion, forty taes per pico. Copper, seven and eight taes [per pico]. Quicksilver, forty taes per pico. Herd-bells, eight maces per pico. White lead, two and one-half and three taes per pico. Cotton, eight taes per pico. Fine powdered vermilion, seventy maces per cate. One ranquel of fine porcelain, one tae two maces; fine dishes, fifteen maces per ranquel. Large fine dishes, five maces apiece. Medium quality earthenware is worth one and one-half maces per ranquel, both chinaware [porcelana] and dishes. Fine pieces of taffeta of all colors, from Lanquin, each piece containing about twelve codos, are worth two and one-half and three taes. Large pieces of certain damasks, which contain sixteen varas, are worth twelve taes at the least and fifteen at the most. Common earthenware is worth less than one real per ranquel, either dishes or jars. Wheat is worth four maces per pico, and eight in flour. Rice is worth three and one-half and four maces per pico. One cow is worth four taes in Macan. One pico of flour, delivered in Macan, one tae two maces. Pork is worth two taes in Macan and one and one-half taes in Canton, per pico. Fowls, two taes per pico. One pico of salt fish, two taes and more—or less, according to the fish. Two cates of fresh fish, one conderin. One pico of sugar, two taes, or, at the least, one and one-half taes. One pico of the finest iron, which resembles a manteca [64] is worth two taes, and in nails two and one-half, and three taes. One pico of Chinese camphor is worth ten taes. One pico of cinnamon, three taes. Rhubarb, at two, two and one-half, and three taes; and there is an infinite amount of it in China. Pieces of thin, fine silk, which contain about twenty varas, arc worth three and one-half and four taes. Red silk headdresses for women, four and five maces apiece. One pico of licorice, two and one-half taes. One pico of China-wood, at eight maces, and one tae.

The merchandise brought by the Portuguese in their ships from the districts where they trade and traffic is as follows.

First, they carry from Malaca to Goa a great quantity of cloves, nutmeg, and mace; also tin—which is the finest that is obtained from those parts, and which they also carry to China, for the tin of that country is not so fine. They carry tortoise-shell and many pearls.

From Zeylao, a great quantity of cinnamon, the finest of diamonds, and other precious gems.

From Bengala, abundance of very fine cotton; quantities of sugar and rock sulphur; and a quantity of rice—for which, if it were not for Bengala, Yndia would suffer.

From Mocambique, ivory and brasil-wood.

From Ormuz, which is in Persia, they bring excellent horses, and very fine carpets; many larins, [65] each one a trifle smaller than one of our reals; many clusters of dates; camlets, [66] and many agras; and benecianos, [67] each of which is worth about one of our escudos of eleven reals.

From the kingdom of Pegu, they carry a quantity of fine lac in loaves, and other things.

From Siam, excellent silver, and arquebus-balls; much and very fine benzoin; almond cakes; a quantity of oil of ginger, and of cocoa, and brasil-wood; lead; and a quantity of rice.

From Conchinchina, aguila-wood, [68] and another wood called calambac, [69] which is very valuable. It is black and contains oil, and is worth fifty cruzados among the Portuguese; while in its own kingdom, it passes weight for weight with silver. [The ship also carries] lead, pepper, and some yellow silk.

From the kingdom of Champa is brought the abovesaid wood, and it is even finer than that of Conchinchina. They carry another kind of black wood from which the Chinese make certain little sticks one cuarto [i.e., one-fourth vara?] long with which they eat. This kingdom has nothing else [to trade].

From Cambay, they bring the finest incense that those districts furnish. It is worth three taes per pico. They bring it from Far, which is Arabia the Blest [la Felice], and also from the island of Samatra, which the Portuguese call by another name Dachen.