From Timor, white sandal wood, which grows in no other part, while they bring the red from Santo Tome.

From Borney they bring camphor, which is the best which is usually found. It passes in its own kingdom weight for weight with silver. They also bring a great quantity of wood of the same tree for tables and writing desks, and it is very beautiful and sweet-smelling.

From the islands of Ternate, Tidore, and three or four others, the spice of the clove.

From the island of Banda, and from other islands, nutmeg and mace. From the same island they bring certain very beautiful birds which have no feet or claws. They have a very long tail with very beautiful feathers, and resemble young herons.

From Xapon a great quantity of silver; [abundance?] of tunny-fish; certain catans (which resemble cutlasses, and are very large), and daggers wrought very richly in gold; and other things.

From Sunda and many other places they bring various other articles. The Spaniards take from the Philipinas many pieces of cotton of very fine quality, and many pieces of various-colored damask; all kinds of taffeta, in greater or less quantity; much spun and loose silk of all colors; a great quantity of earthenware—which, together with the silk, is all brought to Manila by the Chinese themselves, who also bring a great amount of gold, wrought and unwrought, and of different carats. The following are the names of the gold in the Philipinas and their carats: first, gold of ariseis, of twenty-three carats three granos, and worth per tae in the said islands, nine eight-real pesos; gold of guinogulan, of twenty carats, worth seven pesos; gold of orejeras, of eighteen or nineteen carats, and worth five and one-half pesos per tae; gold of linguin, of fourteen or fourteen and one-half carats, and worth four or four and one-half pesos; gold of bislin, of nine or nine and one-half carats, and worth three pesos; gold of malubay, of six or six and one-half carats, and worth one and one-half and two pesos. [70]



NOTES

[1] The twelve-year truce between the States-General and Spain, signed in 1608.

[2] This squadron was sent for the succor of the Philippines, in December, 1619; but soon after its departure it encountered a severe storm, which compelled the ships to take refuge in the port of Cadiz. Learning of this, the royal Council sent imperative orders for the ships to depart on their voyage; the result was that they were driven ashore and lost on the Andalusian coast, January 3, 1620, with the loss of one hundred and fifty lives. Among the dead was Fray Hernando de Moraga, O.S.F., who had come to Spain some time before to ask aid for the Philippine colony and the missions there. A council assembled by the king, after discussing the matter, recommended that Spain abandon the islands as costly and profitless; Moraga's entreaties induced the king to disregard this advice, and to send a fleet with troops and supplies, in which embarked Moraga with thirty friars of his order. See La Concepcion's account, in Hist. de Philipinas, v, pp. 474-479.

Another letter from Otaco, dated February 18, 1620, says: "There has been a very heated discussion (which still continues) regarding aid for the Philipinas, between the lords of the Council and all the procurators and agents of those islands."

[3] Translated: "[This blow upon us], beyond measure, still we are the Lord's and He is just, and His judgment is upright."

[4] So in the MS., but apparently a copyist's error for Leatum, the form given in later pages; apparently a phonetic blunder for Liao-tung, the name of the province where the contest between Russia and Japan is now centered (May, 1904).

[5] W. Winterbotham gives, in his View of the Chinese Empire (London, 1796), ii, pp. 6-8, an interesting account of the "mandarins of letters," the chief nobility of the empire. He says: "There are only two ranks in China, the nobility and the people, but the former is not hereditary ... China contains about fifteen thousand mandarins of letters, and a still greater number who aspire to that title ... To arrive at this degree, it is necessary to pass through several others; such as that of Batchelor (sie, or tsai), of licentiate (kiu-gin), and of doctor (tsing-tssee). The two first, however, are only absolutely necessary; bur even those on whom the third is conferred obtain for a time only the government of a city of the second or third class. There are eight orders of [these] mandarins ... In short, the whole administration of the Chinese empire is entrusted to the mandarins of letters."

[6] Referring to the Manchu chief Noorhachu (see Vol. XVIII, note 63). His grandfather was named Huen.

[7] Gabriel de Matos was born at Vidigueira, Portugal, in 1572, and entered the Jesuit order at the age of sixteen. He spent twenty years in the Japan missions, and later was provincial of Malabar; and he filed in January, 1633, either at Cochin or at Macao (according to differing authorities).

[8] Nicolas Trigault was born at Douai, France, in 1577, and became a Jesuit novice when seventeen years old. As a student, he made a specialty of Oriental languages, and in 1610 entered the China mission, of which he was long in charge—meanwhile becoming versed in Chinese history and literature, concerning which, as well as the Jesuit missions there, Trigault wrote various books and memoirs. He died November 14, 1628, at either Nanking or Hang-tcheou.

[9] Matheo de Curos was born at Lisbon in 1568, and became a Jesuit when fifteen years old; three years later, he left Europe for Japan, where during many years he occupied high positions in his order. He died at Fuscimo (Fushimi?), October 29, 1633.

[10] Dairi ("the great interior"), an appellation of the mikado of Japan, also of his palace in the city of Kioto (anciently called Miako), The temple referred to is the Daibutsu ("great Buddha"), located not far from the palace. See Rein's Japan, pp. 442-470, for account of Buddhism and other religions in Japan, and description and plan of Kioto.

[11] Cf. Jesuit Relations, (Cleveland reissue) xxvii, p. 311, and xxxv, p. 277 (and elsewhere), for mention of these helpers (Fr. dogiques) in the Jesuit missions of New France.

[12] Probably referring to St. Francis Xavier, who had been, seventy years before, so prominent a missionary in Japan and India. The word "saint," however, is here used by anticipation, as Xavier was not canonized at the time of this document. That ceremony was performed, for both Xavier and Ignatius de Loyola, on March 12, 1622; they had been beautified on July 27, 1609.

[13] The two Latin phrases read thus in English respectively: "in the bowels of Jesus Christ," and "that I may be counted worthy of suffering reproach [or ignominy] for the name of Jesus."

[14] This is a reference to the celebrated scholastic Duns Scotus.

[15] The text reads thus: Junto al estandarte que lleuoua el Pe Guardian yba un fraile lego llamado fr. Junipero y es tenido por sto sencillo como el otro vaylando y diciendo mil frialdades a lo diuino.

[16] The Order of Theatins was founded in 1524, by St. Cajetan of Chieti or Teate (whence Theatinus) and three others, one of whom later became Pope Paul IV. Their vows were very strict, for they were even forbidden to solicit alms. They were the first congregation in the Church of regular clerics or canons regular (clerici regulares or canonici regulares). On account of the early renown for piety which they acquired, it became usual to style any devout person a Theatino or Chietino. They were also sometimes called Tolentines, from the name of their principal church dedicated to St. Nicholas of Tolentine. Their dress being similar to that of the Jesuits, they were through ignorance often mistaken for them. The term was also applied to some of the Jesuits who had been in Florida and afterward went to Manila; to the Jesuit missionaries in Japan; and to the first Jesuits in the Philippines. Paul IV wished to unite his order with the Jesuits, but his request was not acceded to by St. Ignatius Loyola. The Theatins were never widely known outside of Italy.—The editors are indebted for this note to Revs. Jose Algue, S.J., Manila Observatory, E.I. Devitt, S.J., Georgetown College, and T.C. Middleton, O.S.A., Villanova College. See also Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dict., pp. 792, 793.

[17] The preachers of Charles V said to the Council of the Indias, in speaking of the repartimiento system in America: "We hold that this most great sin will be the cause of the total destruction of the state of Spain, if God does not alter it, or we do not amend it ourselves." See Helps's Spanish Conquest, ii, p. 56.

[18] St. John's day is June 26, and St. Peter's June 29.

[19] Span., La puso en el cofrecillo secreto del acuerdo; literally "placed it in the secret drawer of the assembly."

[20] In 1621, the flagship of which Fernando Centeno was commander, "Nuestra Senora de la Vida," was wrecked in Isla Verde. See Colin, Labor evangelica, p. 159.

[21] One may see in this and subsequent marginal notes of this nature, in this and in other documents, the possible working of the Spanish government offices. The memoranda thus made on the margins of the document by the council or government representative in the king's name, evidently formed the basis of the various decrees and orders despatched to the colonies, in regard to points brought out in the document that needed legislation. The document would probably be then turned over to the clerk or notarial secretary, who would have the decrees filled out properly, and in the stereotyped form, from these memoranda. Lastly, they would receive the king's signature (rubrica). Each of the marginal notes on this and other documents, when made by king or council, is generally accompanied by a rubrica, which attests its legality. These notes often consist of two distinct parts, one of matter to be addressed to the governor, in which the second person is used; the other, directions to clerks in regard to what should be done on points called up in the document. These distinct parts have each their rubricas.

[22] See this note at end of the document, p. 167.

[23] See this note, post, p. 168.

[24] See Vol. XII, pp. 53, 54, "four hundred short toneladas of the Northern Sea, which amount to three hundred [of the Southern Sea]."

[25] See this note, post, p. 169.

[26] The report of this expedition, which was effected, will be given later, in a document of 1624.

[27] See a further note to this section, post, p. 171.

[28] See a further note on this section, post, p. 171.

[29] The reservation signifies that absolution from the said censure is reserved exclusively to a superior, as the prior of a convent, a provincial, or general, or even to the supreme pontiff himself. See Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dict., pp. 135, and 717 and 718.—Rev. T.C. Middleton, O.S.A.

[30] The original reads "despues" ("since"), but the sense seems to require "antes" ("before").

[31] An account of this expedition will be presented in a later document.

[32] The words lacking in the above, due to the dilapidation of the MS., render it impossible to translate this passage clearly.

[33] Cf. the three documents (1619-20) by Coronel, on "Reforms needed in the Filipinas," begun in Vol. XVIII, and concluded in this volume. Felipe III died on March 31, 1621, and was succeeded by his son, Felipe IV, to whom this "Memorial" is now addressed.

[34] That is, "those who had come by a round-about way."

[35] Various MSS. by Alonso Sanchez are to be found in the archives of different countries, and will be mentioned in the bibliographical volume of this series.

[36] See, however, Morga's account of this in Vol. XV, pp. 79-92. See Morga also for a full account of the Camboja expeditions.

[37] Thus in the original. A marginal pen correction in faded ink, in the copy from which we translate, reads 608. The Cedulario Indico, consisting of forty-one manuscript volumes of decrees, for the various parts of the Indias, which is preserved in the Archivo Historico Nacional in Madrid, contains a number of decrees of 1608 in regard to the ships from the Philippines.

[38] The decree was of course granted by Felipe II, "your" being used merely as a set phrase to indicate the royal source of the decree.

[39] See Vol. XVI, p. 60, note 31.

[40] April 25, 1610, the fight with Wittert, q.v. Vol. XVII.

[41] See an account of his voyage in Vol. XVII.

[42] Thus in the original, but evidently an error for "Chinese."

[43] Cuatralbo: the commander of four galleys.

[44] Translated: "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein" (Ps. xxiv, v. 1).

[45] In the margin is written, in an ancient hand: "For the singular veneration which the archduke of Borgona showed to the most holy sacrament of the eucharist."

[46] Thus in the text (comprar); but the context would suggest that this was a slip for "sell."

[47] In this connection may be cited the following statement from Sawyer's Inhabitants of the Philippines, p. 129: "The great wealth of the Archipelago is undoubtedly to be found in the development of its agriculture. Although the Central and Ilocan Mountains in Luzon and parts of Mindanao are rich in gold, it is the fertile land, the heavy rainfall and the solar heat, that must be utilized to permanently enrich the country. The land is there and the labour is there, and all that is wanting is capital, and a settled government ... The sun, the rain, the soil, and the hardy Philippine farmer will do the rest—a population equal to that of Java could live in affluence in the Philippines."

See also Sawyer's remarks (pp. 145-152) on gold and gold-mining in the islands.

[48] See the document, "Expeditions to Tuy," at end of Vol. XIV.

[49] The Augustinian Fray Miguel Garcia Serrano.

[50] An ancient Spanish coin, which in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella was worth 14 reals 14 maravedis of silver; but its value varied in subsequent reigns. See the work of Fray Liciniano Saez, Monedas que corrian en Castilla durante el reynado del Sr. D. Enrique IV (published by the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, 1805), pp. 408-426.

[51] In Spain the name cinamomo is popularly given to the Melia acedarak; but now in Manila that name is applied to a species of Lausonia, L. inermis. This latter grows in Arabia and Egypt, and is cultivated in Europe; it is there called alchena or alhena, and its root is employed as a cosmetic by the Turks, and a paste of its leaves, known as henna, is used by them to dye the teeth or hair. See Blanco's Flora (ed. 1845), pp. 206, 241.

[52] Probably referring to the springs at Jigabo, province of Albay, the waters of which carry in solution a gelatinous silica, which is quickly incrusted on any object placed therein. See Report of U.S. Philippine Commission, 1900, iii, p. 222.

[53] The "geometrical pace" is, in English measure, roughly estimated at five feet; in Spanish measure, according to Los Rios's reckoning—the tercia (or "third"), being one-third of a vara, is equivalent to 11.128 English inches—the geometrical pace would be 55.64 English inches. The length of the wall, accordingly, would be a little less than two English miles.

[54] Of this name Crawfurd says (Dict. Indian Islands, p. 283): "The collective name, which the Portuguese write Maluca, and is correctly Maluka, is equally unknown, although said to be that of a place and people of the island of Gilolo. No such name is, at present, known to exist in that island ... All that De Barros tells us of the name is, that it is a collective one for all the islands." He cites (pp. 101, 102) various names for the clove that are current in the Indian islands, and some found in early writers but among them is none resembling Maluca.

[55] See the detailed description of the clove tree, its product, the mode of gathering cloves, their properties, and the extent of the trade in this spice in Recueil des voiages Comp. des Indes Orientales, i, pp. 503-507. The price at which the Dutch bought cloves from the natives (in 1599) is there stated at fifty-four reals of eight. The extent of the crop is thus stated: "According to what the inhabitants of Ternate say, the Molucca Islands produce annually the following quantity of cloves: the islands of Ternate and Tidore, each 1,000 bares; Bassian Island, 2,000 bares; and Motier Island, 600 or 700 bares." Crawfurd says (Dict. Indian Islands, p. 503): "In England, before the discovery of the passage by the Cape of Good Hope, a pound of cloves cost 30s., or 168l. per cwt."

[56] Spanish, entretenidos; persons who were performing certain duties, in hope of obtaining permanent positions, or waiting for vacancies to occur in certain posts.

[57] The ancient city of Ormuz was on the mainland, but was removed to the opposite island, Jerun, because of repeated Tartar attacks. Its fame almost rivaled that of Venice from the end of the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. It was owned by the Portuguese during 1507-1622, when it was taken by Shah Abbas, with the aid of the English East India Company. It was next to Goa the richest of Portuguese possessions. See Voyage of Pyrard de Laval (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1888), ii, p. 238, notes 1 and 2.

[58] The editors of Voyage of Pyrard de Laval (ii, p. 357, note) say of the clove: "It is curious that this spice seems not to have been known to the Romans, nor to any Europeans till the discovery of the Moluccas by the Portuguese." Duarte Barbosa, in East Africa and Malabar (Stanley's trans., Hakluyt Society edition, London, 1866), pp. 219-220, quotes cloves from Maluco as worth per bahar in Calicut 500 and 600 fanoes; and, when clean of husks and sticks, 700 fanoes, 19 fanoes being paid as export duty. At Maluco they were worth from one to two ducats per bahar, and in Malacca as much as fourteen. Captain John Saris (see Satow's edition of Voyage of Capt. John Saris, Hakluyt Society publications, p. 33) bought cloves for "60 rials of 8 per Bahar of 200 Cattyes."

[59] See Satow's Voyage of Capt. John Saris, ut supra, pp. 224, 225, 228, 229, for names and prices of various kinds of silks.

[60] Cuarto: a copper coin worth four maravedis.

[61] Saris (Voyage, pp. 216, 225) mentions the following Chinese goods: "Veluet Hangings imbroydered with gold, eighteene Rialls; vpon Sattins, fourteene Rials." "Imbrodered Hangings, called Poey, the best ten Rials the piece."

[62] Spanish, palo de China; also known as "China root;" the root of Smilax china. It is not now used, but formerly had great repute for the cure of venereal diseases as well as for gout. Linschoten has a long account of its virtues and mode of use, in Voyage (Hakluyt Society's edition), ii, pp. 107-112; see also i, p. 239. Cf. Pyrard de Laval's Voyage, i, p. 182.

[63] The cruzado was an old coin of Castilla and Portugal. The Castilian coin was of gold, silver, or copper, and of different values. The Portuguese coin, evidently the one of our text, was worth ten reals de vellon in Spain. See Dicc. nacional ... de la lengua Espanola (Madrid, 1878).

[64] So in the copy which we follow. Literally translated this is "butter," which causes doubt as to the correctness of the copy.

[65] The larin was a silver coin that takes its name from the city of Lar in Persia. It has been current in a number of eastern countries and districts, among them Persia, the Maldives, Goa, and the Malabar coast, Ceylon, and Kandy. It has gone out of circulation, although the name is preserved in certain copper coins at the Maldives. The ancient coin was of various shapes, that of the Maldives being about as long as the finger and double, having Arabic characters stamped on it; that of Ceylon resembled a fishhook: those of Kandy are described as a piece of silver wire rolled up like a wax taper. When a person wishes to make a purchase, he cuts off as much of this silver as is equal in value to the price of the article. Its probably first mention by an European writer occurs in the Lembrancas das Cousas de India (Subsidios iii, 53), in 1525, where the following table is given: 2 fules = 1 dinar; 12 dinars = 1 tanga; 3 tangas 10 dinars = 1 new larin; 3 tangas 9 dinars = 1 old larin. At Cambaye (p. 38) 1 tanga larin = 60 reis, and 45 larins weighed 1 Portuguese marco, or 50 grammes. Antonio Nunes (1554) in his Livro dos Pesos, says: "At the port of Bengala, 80 couries = 1 pone; 48 pones = 1 larin. The Portuguese marco of the time of Joao III, being equivalent to 2,500 reis, would make the larin worth 51,012 reis." Davy says that the larin of Kandy was worth about 7d. in English currency. For detailed information about the larin, see Voyage of Pyrard de Laval, ut supra, i, p. 232 and note 2; and ii, p. 68.

[66] "Next, many watered camlets of Persia and Ormus, of all colours, made of the wool of large sheep that have not curled fleeces like ours. Of it they make also good store of cloaks and capes, called by the Indians Mansans, and by the Portuguese 'Ormus cambalis;' they are made of the same wool, in bands of different colours, each four inches wide. Everyone takes these to sea for a protection from the rain. The tissue is the same as of cloth." It was called "camlet," because made originally of camel's hair. See ut supra, ii, p. 240.

[67] The Venetian sequin, worth about 50 sols, which was silver money and circulated at Goa. See ut supra, ii, p. 69.

[68] Crawfurd (Dict. Indian Islands) says that this is the eagle-wood of commerce. Its name in Malay and Javanese is kalambak or kalambah, but it is also known in these languages by that of gahru, or kayu-gahru, gahru-wood, a corruption of the Sanscrit Agharu. This sweet-scented wood has been used immemorially as an incense throughout eastern countries, and was early introduced into Europe by the Portuguese. The perfumed wood is evidently the result of a disease in the tree, produced by the thickening of the sap into a gum or resin. The tree is confused with the aloes, but properly speaking has no connection with that tree; and the word agila has been wrongly translated into "eagle" [see above "aguila"]. The tree probably belongs to the order of Leguminosae. The best perfumed or diseased wood is found in the mountainous country to the east of the Gulf of Siam, including Camboja and Cochinchina. Castenheda says that at Campar, on the eastern side of Sumatra, are "forests which yield aloes-wood, called in India Calambuco (kalambak). The trees which produce it are large, and when they are old they are cut down and the aloes-wood taken from them, which is the heart of the tree, and the outer part is agila. Both these woods are of great price, but especially the Calambuco, which is rubbed in the hands, yielding an agreeable fragrance; the agila does so when burned." See Crawfurd, ut supra, pp. 6, 7, and Yule's Cathay, ii, p. 472, note 1.

[69] Calambac: the kalambac, or normal form of the wood called agila, is evidently meant here; see preceding note.

[70] See Vol. IV, pp. 99, 100.

All the old books of voyages of eastern countries contain much on the buying and selling prices of various commodities. See especially the notable Hakluyt Society publications.

THE END