A pilot and three other sailors—all Dutch—escaped from this port The Indians of Yndan killed the three sailors, and captured the pilot, who confessed and was awaiting the gallows. But Don Sebastian pardoned him, and promised to send him to Terrenate or the island of Hermosa, if he wished; or, if he preferred to serve the king again, to give him employment. He chose to serve the king, and was very grateful. The three Dutchmen whom your Reverence left in our house were converted to the Catholic faith. They came to this port, and were given places as sailors. One of them was one of those who ran away and was killed; the other two remain quiet. Two pilots and sixteen Spanish sailors fled in a champan; and another champan, with twenty soldiers, was sent in their pursuit. The latter encountered a large champan at Playa Honda, and tried to reconnoiter it, believing that it was the one in which the men had fled. The other champan, which was full of Chinese, prepared for defense, and fought; they wounded the [Spanish] commander and other soldiers with clubs, stones, and fragments of crockery ware. Six of the Sangleys were killed, and others wounded, whereupon they surrendered, and were brought to this port, where liberty was given to those left alive. Nothing was heard of the other champan. But it is already known, by way of China, that they arrived at Macan.

Another large gang of sailors were afterward discovered, who had a champan in the river of Caas [104] in order to flee. They were caught, and some of them were punished, although mercifully; as a result, those flights have ceased. A friar came here, clad as a secular priest, who had been punished and exiled by the Inquisition at Goa. He attempted here to flee to Cochinchina with a number of negroes—one of whom was the one whom your Reverence left in the office of the procurator for the province, and a good interpreter. They were caught, although by chance, while within the river, and are in prison.

The island of Hermosa

Last year a champan left there for Manila with seventeen Spaniards aboard. A Franciscan friar who had been for two or three years in China was also coming, who was still wearing his hair long. His name is Fray Antonio. [105] They suffered great storms and hardships, and at the end of twenty days they found themselves before the fort owned by the Dutch in that island. They were captured and sent to Jacatra, and from thence to Maluco, with orders that they be set at liberty—but only on condition of a signed statement from the governor of those forts that a like number of Dutchmen would be returned to them when opportunity offered, which was done. They came with the galleons that carried the renforcements. I saw here Fray Antonio, who is a native of Balladolid and who was still wearing his hair long. I have lately heard it said that he has returned to China with other friars. He affirms that it is very easy to enter Ucheo, and that a hold has been obtained among the people; and that it is openly known that they are Europeans and priests, without anyone molesting them. He said in regard to Jacatra that the Dutch have deeply offended the emperor of Java; and that no Dutchman leaves their fort without the natives cutting off his head. That prince has begged aid from the viceroy of India, in order to drive the Dutch thence. He told, us also that while he was there, a fleet sailed for Ambueno, where the natives had revolted, with the intention to reduce them by force. The relief ship which went last year to the island of Hermosa was, while returning, wrecked at Ilocos by the strength of the currents. No one was drowned. There is nothing else to narrate concerning that place.

Maluco

The relief ships for Terrenate sailed in January of this year. Their commander is Hieronimo Enriques Sotelo, who sailed in the galleon "San Luis." As admiral goes, in the "San Ambrosio," Don Pedro de Almonte, who came from Acapulco as captain the year before. Don Alonso de Acoer was commander of the patache which came from Acapulco as almiranta; and Rafael Ome was commander of a galley which had just been finished on the stocks, named "San Francisco Xavier." Father Marcelo Mastril said mass in it and blessed it, on the day of its launching. A number of large champans went also. The Dutch were awaiting them with two galleons; but seeing our fleet, they retired under shelter of their fort of Malayo. The supplies having been disembarked, a feat never before performed was accomplished—namely, the galleons and galleys went out to fight with the Dutch ships where they were stationed. Our ships did some damage to them, and also to the fort of Malayo. Our almiranta also received some damage, but only one sailor was killed. Considerable reputation was gained by this attack. The Tidorans, our allies, were very proud and happy; and their king sent presents to the commander and admiral, together with his congratulations. The galleons and the patache returned; they brought no cloves, for there had been no harvest. The galley remained there, with another stationed at those forts. After the departure of the galleons, the two Dutch ships left, and during a calm were attacked by the two galleys. One of them came near being defeated; but, a wind springing up, they escaped by the favorable opportunity thus afforded. On that occasion, Don Agustin de Cepada was commander of the old [106] galley. He has two brothers who are in Mexico, and your Reverence will find another brother in our professed house at Madrid. The above was learned from a champan which came after the ships of the relief expedition. In another champan, the last to leave those forts, came news regarding the king of Manados, forty leguas from Terrenate. Manados is a point of Macasar. He had sent to request help from the governor [of Terrenate], Don Pedro de Mendiola, against some who had revolted against him. He also sent his son and heir, some sixteen or seventeen years old, to be educated among the Spaniards, and asked for fathers to baptize his vassals. The youth is being instructed in our house, together with the prince of Siao, who is of his own age. The aid [which he asked] was sent, and Father Pantaleon, of our Society of Jesus. Another contingent of Dutchmen from Malayo deserted to us, and were brought here by the relief galleons.

Camucones

Many caracoas sailed out from this enemy this year. Committing depredations, they went in among these islands so far that they reached and pillaged Palapag, outside the Embocadero, and passed the cape of Espiritu Santo. They captured in Baco, in Ybabao, more than one hundred Christians. There they separated into two divisions, one of which went to Albay. The corregidor, who was Captain Mena, of the Order of St. George, sailed from the island of Manila to attack them, with some Spaniards and six Franciscan friars. They pressed the Camucones so closely that they drove ashore seven of their caracoas at Capul, where they freed many Christian captives, and some Camucones were slain by the natives. The enemy abandoned three other empty caracoas on the high sea, after their crews had been transferred to other caracoas in order to get away faster. Of our men, a musket-ball wounded only one friar, who died later. The father provincial went to visit Pintados, and passed in sight of the Camucones, as was learned afterward from a captive who escaped. But they did not pursue him, as they thought that it was an armed war caracoa of the Spaniards. The other division [of the Camucones] returned to the channel, and, coasting the island of Ybabao, entered Bangahun, where they captured more than one hundred Christians. Those two things have left us very full of wrath, both on account of the captives, and because we see that there is no place, however remote it be, that is safe. A caracoa of soldiers from Zibu fought with this division, and some damage was inflicted on them; and some of the Camucones were killed, and some captured. On returning to their own country, the Camucones suffered a great reverse from a furious gale, while they were coasting along Panay. Three caracoas were driven ashore; and of those pirates who escaped alive, many are in galleys in this port. Having crossed over to the Calamyanes, while they were sailing in much confusion some Spaniards captured two caracoas there, and delivered twenty captives from our mission of Mindoro. Fifteen caracoas were voyaging together, and while coasting along Paragua, two days before arriving at Burney, they met thirty caracoas of Joloans, who for some little time have been hostile to the Borneans. The thirty caracoas from Jolo attacked the fifteen, and captured them all. They took captive in them more than one hundred and fifty Camucones alive, and more than one hundred Christians. The latter were ransomed at a moderate price at Sanboangan. I have seen some of our missions, where I heard all about the affair. It is feared, however, that the Camucones will make a raid this year also. Accordingly, Don Sebastian is sending twenty-five soldiers to our missions of Catbalogan, etc., so that, aided by other Spaniards who are going there in some caracoas—which the Indians have built at their own cost, and which are large and good—the Camucones may be opposed and even chastised.

Mindanao

The captain-general of Cachil Corralat, one Tagal, left Mindanao with eight good caracoas [107] to pillage these islands. He remained among them for a matter of seven months, at full ease, committing many depredations. At Cuyo he captured Don Diego de Alabes, who was corregidor there. He also captured the father prior of Cuyo, an Augustinian Recollect, and two other friars; and although they had hidden themselves with all their ornaments and chalices, that did not avail them, for the enemy knew not how to find them. Tagal went to Mindoro, and everywhere he pillaged a great quantity of goods, and took a great number of captives. He left Don Diego Alabes in Mindoro, so that he might come [here] to get his ransom and that of the three Recollect fathers. They demanded two thousand pesos and thirty taes of gold—the latter amounting to more than three hundred pesos in addition—for each person. Don Diego arrived exhausted with his hardships, from which he died shortly after his arrival at Manila. He narrated most insolent acts of Tagal, who blasphemed greatly, and who threatened that he would enter this bay and pillage and burn its coasts. Don Sebastian already bore in his breast the resolution to go to Mindanao, and this occurrence increased further his desire to humiliate that enemy. When the so great ransoms were proposed to him, he answered that he would like to raise them, but that until he should go, he would not discuss this point. Even before anything had been ascertained, he sent Bartolome Dias de la Barrera as governor of San Boangan, and Nicolas Gonsales as captain and sargento-mayor. They set out at the beginning of November, and shortly after their arrival [at Zamboanga] they learned that Tagal had passed on the inside [108] of the island of Taguima with eight caracoas [109] laden with captives and spoils. Although the pirates were one day in the lead, the Spaniards made haste, and inside of two hours equipped six caracoas; [110] and Nicolas Gonsales sailed in pursuit of the enemy, thinking that, as they were so heavily laden with booty, he could overtake them.

This happened, for he met them at Punta de Flechas. It was called so because the natives believed that a great war divinity was there, who considers it a grateful sacrifice for them to offer him arrows; and this is the reason why they land at that point when they go out armed and on their return, discharging many arrows in honor of the divata or idol whom they adore there: Nicolas Gonsales and his men fought valiantly; they killed Tagal, and captured the flagship and three other caracoas. The other caracoas escaped by taking flight. Many Mindanaos were killed, and only twenty were captured alive. In the flagship was the father prior of Cuyo, who was so badly wounded by our balls that he died two hours after the defeat. A brother of Tagal was also mortally wounded. He very anxiously begged baptism of the father; and, after his baptism, they both died. The other two fathers were in the caracoas which escaped. There were one hundred and thirty-two Christian captives liberated there, and some others were also killed by our balls. Not one of our men was killed. A remarkable circumstance occurred at the time of the fight—namely, that there was a great earthquake at that time, which caused in that height prodigiously loud roaring sounds, which terrified both our men and the enemy. The Spaniards drew out their rosaries and reliquaries, and, holding them in their hands, begged God for mercy; and the cliff fell into the sea. That was an announcement of the fortunate victory which Don Sebastian was to have afterward, who gave this point the name San Sebastian, both for his saint, and on account of the arrows with which that saint was martyred. Among the spoils was found a large sheet on which was painted a figure of the Christ, and before him St. Augustine kneeling. The Mindanaos had cut off one arm of the Christ, and had beheaded St. Augustine, in order to be able to make a mantle of it after their fashion—mocking, and saying that they were carrying the God of the Christians captive. They spit in the chalices, and committed other outrages, and uttered other great blasphemies. Before receiving this news, Don Sebastian left Manila with twelve champans, in which were embarked his company, as well as that of the sailors of the port of Cavite, and another company of Pampangos. He chose St. Francis Xavier as patron saint of his expedition. With him he took Father Marcelo de Mastril, which was the reason for his detaining the latter; he also took his confessor, Father Juan de Barrios. He left on February 2, and passing by Oton, landed at the city and fort, where he learned of the victory of Nicolas Gonsales, and saw the mutilated Christ. His desire to take satisfaction for the insults offered to God increased with this sight; and, pursuing his voyage, he arrived at Sanboangan February 22. [111] There in a very brief time, Don Sebastian arranged his voyage to La Mitan, as the chief village of Cachil Corralat is called. Although he had, it is true, been advised at Pintados that Captains Juan Nicolas and Juan de Leon, who were going with eighty Spaniards and one thousand volunteer Indians to take part in this war, had not even yet arrived, nevertheless with his champans and other oared vessels of Sanboangan (in which went as captain Nicolas Gonsales, who was sick), he immediately set out, leaving orders for the volunteers to follow him when they arrived. On account of the contrary weather, the vessels were unable to go in a body; and hence Don Sebastian de Corcuera arrived first, with only seventy Spaniards in a few champans. The Moro Corralat had heard of the arrival of the governor, and talked of submission; but he was dissuaded from it by six Javanese trading vessels that were stopping there. Although those vessels were already laden and about to sail, they offered to remain and aid in the defense. Thereupon they all took position ready to receive the Spaniards and to fight with them. They had a fort in the village with good [112] pieces of artillery and a matter of ten versos, and many muskets and arquebuses. Don Sebastian, thinking that the rest of the fleet was delayed, had two field pieces disembarked; and with fifty Spaniards, the remainder being left in the ships, he made an attack upon the enemy. It was a matter which was regarded as a miracle, that with so few men he should conquer so many Moros. He gained the fort and the village, and sent the people in flight to the hill, which they had fortified. There was a great slaughter of Mindanaos, but not one Spaniard was killed in this fray. Father Marelo was carrying the standard, which was placed on a spear—the mutilated Christ on one side, and St. Francis Xavier on the other, back to back. There they found about three hundred ships, great and small, and a great amount of property. The governor set a guard over it; and, the Moros having fled to the hill, the Christian captives continued to come in, and the rest of the fleet arrived. The governor purified the mosque, and a solemn procession was made through the village with great pomp as a thank-offering; and mass was heard in the mosque. This village has a sheltered hill which the Indians call Ylihan; it is a natural fort. The Moros had in it some pieces [113] with ladles, and sixteen or seventeen versos and other firearms. The ascent is very narrow, so that it is difficult to mount it single file. At its sides are steep precipices and heights. There Corralat had taken shelter with all his men, and, confident in his arms and the ruggedness [of the place] was proudly awaiting the Spaniards. At his rear was a rough and very secret ascent, which did not alarm our commander; for, six days after the surrender of the village, Don Sebastian had despatched Nicolas Gonsales with spies and good soldiers around by the rear, while his Lordship was resolved to attack from the front, which was one and one-half leguas from the village. Nicolas Gonsales set out, although very much impeded, and Don Sebastian marched with his men, after leaving a guard in the village. The plan was to attack at the same time from both sides. On coming to the hill, the vanguard immediately attacked, with over-confident spirit. But as it was so well defended, and the Moros were behind works, while the Spaniards were in the open, and there was no path by which to mount, the Spaniards began to fall dead and wounded; while the Moros received no damage, until the arrival of Don Sebastian, who made them retire. About twenty valiant Spaniards were killed. The Moros, encouraged by this, were more careless of the other approach, by which Nicolas Gonsales mounted the following day, and gained the eminence before he was perceived. When they were discovered, Corralat hastened to the defense, but he soon turned and fled, having been wounded in one arm. The others fled with him. His wife, with a child in her arms, threw herself over a precipice, as did many other people; and thus the hill was won for the king our sovereign. Two Recollect fathers [114] were found, all mangled with wounds that they had just received; one of them was already dead, the other lived two days. Don Sebastian was immediately advised of the result, and mounted the hill. The booty found there was immense. The houses were burned; the artillery and versos were taken down the hill. With those below, they numbered twelve pieces with ladles, twenty-seven versos and falcons, and one hundred and twenty muskets and arquebuses. Many Moros were captured, and many Christians set free. La Mitan and three other neighboring villages were burned, and their boats were burned, with the exception of some that were taken to Sanboangan. This enterprise concluded, the governor returned with all his fleet, having first sent Sargento-mayor Palomino to Cachil Moncay—an own cousin to Corralat and his keen antagonist, and a son of the great pirate Silongan—offering him friendship, and asking that he would try to get Corralat into his power. Don Sebastian met the volunteers under Juan Nicolas at sea. He ordered them to follow Palomino in order that the treaty might be given greater encouragement. Shortly after the arrival of Don Sebastian at Sanboangan, they returned with a brother of Moncay as ambassador. Moncay offered to pay tribute, and to free all the Christian captives in his lands. Upon the conclusion of these matters, Don Sebastian returned to Manila; of his triumphal entrance therein, with the thank-offering to God for the victory, and the honors made to the dead, I shall say nothing here, as I wrote a special relation of it which I enclose herewith. [115] Don Sebastian ordered Juan Nicolas, with the eighty Spaniards and one thousand volunteer Indians, to return to La Mitan, and to sail round the island as far as Caragan, committing all possible hostilities upon the people tributary to Corralat. He did this admirably, pillaging and burning many villages, beheading many of the people because they defended themselves, capturing others, and burning a great number of ships. In consequence Corralat has been greatly humbled, and all those Moros are fearful. News was received later that Moncay is sending us a number of captives, and others of the captives held by Corralat are also coming.

Xolo

What has somewhat disturbed the satisfactory course of affairs is Xolo. It is an island which is even nearer to Sanboangan than the [village of] La Mitan belonging to Corralat. That Moro has held as his tributaries the people of the island of Taguima and Basilan, [116] which is four leguas from our fort of Sanboangan. After the many plundering raids which he has made among our islands, he was very desirous of peace. A letter was written to him, saying that peace would be considered; and among other conditions which were imposed on him was one, namely, that he should evacuate [the island of] Taguima (which was to be tributary to the king), and that ministers of the gospel should be established there in order to baptize the natives. In fact, Father Francisco Angel had been sent thither, so that he might administer to them the holy sacraments. To this he replied that he did not want peace, and with this declaration and action the Joloans have fortified themselves. Dato Ache, who is the greatest pirate of that island, has gone to Cachil Corralat, in order to unite with him against the Spaniards. As a result, the chiefs of Taguima and Basilan—who were apparently very contented, and were on very friendly terms with us—have retired; and Father Francisco Angel writes that he has not been able to go there. The chiefs of the mainland of Mindanao, who were dancing attendance on the Spaniards at Sanboangan, have become somewhat impertinent. But Don Sebastian is preparing for the chastisement of Xolo, and intends to go in person by the end of December to conquer it, as he did the opposition of Corralat. May God grant him a good voyage and a happy outcome. If this Moro is humbled, all the island of Mindanao will be very peaceable.

Japon

Since ships have come neither from that kingdom nor from Macan, we have not had any letters giving a detailed report of events. But we have learned from Chinese ships that the Portuguese of Macan went to the fairs in that country, and made great profits. It is also said that the emperor has ordered the Dutch that they shall not be permitted at any time or place to harm the ships of Macan that sail to Japon. A renegade mestizo priest—of a Portuguese father and a Japanese mother—gave as his opinion that, in order to extinguish more completely the Christianity of that kingdom, they should exile all those who had any blood of the Portuguese or Castilians. That was done, and they were delivered to those from Macan, so that these people might be taken to their city, and there be kept until further orders. They ordered that renegade also to go to Macan, since he was also concerned by this. He begged them to send him to Jacatra with the Dutch, and his request was granted. It has also been said that a cousin of the king, [117] who is seignior of five kingdoms, is making war on him, and that many Japanese are following him.

Various

A letter was received from the father of the Society of Jesus who is in Camboja, a short time ago. He says in it that the Dutch have established a factory in that kingdom, which has certainly given us much anxiety. The island of Tabuca lies midway between Mindanao and Maluco; I have been told by the father guardian of St. Francis, who came from Terrenate, that on arriving at it on his way hither, to take in a supply of water, the chiefs of it told him that three caracoas full of men tributary to Corralat had just arrived; that they were fearful because of what had happened to their seignior, and that they were trying to send a despatch to Terrenate in order to establish friendship [with the Spaniards], and to request priests to baptize them. The commander of the galleys, Antonio Carreo de Baldes, died at this port; and that post of commander was given to Nicolas Gonsales, and he is at the same time governing the port.

Don Francisco de Balderrama, although so young a lad, went to Mindanao with Don Sebastian; and, while near his Lordship, it happened that a musket-ball struck the governor's page (who was at his side) in the flap of his helmet. The ball went in his cheek and came out through his mouth, and struck Don Francisco in the breast, knocking him down immediately. However, he received no hurt; for on examining him, it was found that the ball had passed through his clothing and shirt, and had struck in some altar-linens which he carried next his breast through devotion, without its having left any mark on them. That is esteemed as a miracle. This is what has occurred to me to write your Reverence. I shall be careful to do the same, God helping, every year, providing that your Reverence writes me of occurrences there. May our Lord preserve your Reverence, and give you a prosperous voyage, etc. Cavite, July 23, 1637. [118]

Juan Lopez [119]



CORCUERA'S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO MANILA

An account of the reception given in Manila to Seor Hurtado de Corcuera, when he returned triumphant from Mindanao. [120]

Yesterday, a little before eleven a.m., we left Cavite in a row-boat with Don Sebastian, and reached Santiago at one p.m. A short time before our arrival, some Japanese Christians came out to meet him, in two champans—the sides of which were entirely surrounded with shield-shaped forms of white linen cloth adorned with green crosses; they bore also many white flags, with fresh flowers; and they welcomed his arrival with blasts from the trumpet that they carried. The governor received them very cordially; and they, falling behind, accompanied him. We landed [121] at the house of Amaro Diaz, where the military headquarters were located. From that place Father Juan de Barrios and myself went to our house, where we found the father provincial Father Juan de Bueras, Father Roa, [122] and father Marcelo [i.e., Mastrilli], who had all come to the reception, (but before I give an account of it, it is to be known that a quarter of an hour after the arrival of Don Sebastian, there came the champan of Don Graviel Nio, the only one who was missing.)

At the head [of the troops] marched Nicols Gonzalez with his famous and victorious company of the buff doublets; around his shield-bearer walked many other pages, carrying the weapons that Don Nicolas had taken away from the Mindanaos in the naval battle. We gave him a thousand congratulations for his notable success. This company was followed by that of the sailors under the command of Alfrez A. Mezquita. They marched in two files, and between these went first the friendly Indians and Sangleys who had been delivered from captivity to Corralat; and indeed the sight of some of these Indians, of both sexes, moved us to compassion, as they walked carrying their rosaries. At a little distance behind them, in the midst of the same company, came the Mindanao captives, of both sexes; the women and the children were not bound, but the men marched in chains and shackles. This company was followed by a large body of men who carried the weapons taken from the enemy: shields, breastplates, campilans, spears, and two war-trumpets which seemed to be of Dutch make. Then came the company of Pampangos [123] who also took part in the expedition. Captain Carranza followed, on horseback; and as he is the captain of artillery, he was in charge of the carts with the firearms taken from the enemy. In three of these carts were the muskets and arquebuses; in one were the culverin-chambers and three small church-bells, and in another followed twelve or fourteen small culverins; then came a large falcon which could easily be taken for a culverin, and five or six gun-carriages, each carrying two small pieces and some falcons. These were followed by large artillery pieces, one by one, which the natives dragged with ropes; and the last and largest of these was drawn by four horses. All these weapons were accompanied by the artillerymen; and directly after them came six boys, carrying six flags taken from Corralat. Behind these marched the company of the governor with great splendor; Don Sebastian himself rode before them on horseback, in plain attire, and almost treading upon the flags of the enemy. Behind him came his shield-bearer, carrying his helmet, on which was a large tuft of white plumes; his chaplain and his secretary followed, also on horseback. As the governor was seen advancing toward the city, a salvo of artillery was fired from the forts at the Bagunbaya gate; and as he entered the city, a merry peal of bells rang from our house, the wind-instruments began to play, and the choir sang a festal song [villancico]. All the inmates of our house [124] stood, clad in our priestly mantles, waiting for him under a fine triumphal arch, handsomely adorned with silk and with scrolls containing verses. There we gave him welcome, and congratulated him on the victory won; to which he responded very courteously. As the governor came under the arch, Don Josepito de Salazar, [125] elegantly dressed, came out from behind some screens which were on a platform, and recited a poem [126] written by Brother Liorri, in which he extolled the victory, thanked and congratulated the governor and his soldiers, and ended by saying that according to the name Corquera—that is, corda qurens ("seek for breasts and hearts")—he had found them in all of us who were there, since we held him in our hearts, and wished him all prosperity and happiness. The governor listened attentively to this address, and at the end he turned toward the fathers and thanked them. [127]

Then the procession marched to the square, where a squadron of six companies, under arms, was awaiting it. All of us, in order to see the affair, went to the balconies of the master-of-camp, Pedro de Heredia, arriving there in time to see the governor alight before the great church, where the royal Audiencia and the ecclesiastical and secular cabildos awaited him. He entered the church and, humbly prostrated on the floor, offered a prayer of considerable length, attributing his entire success to God. Again he mounted his horse, and approached the squadron; there, hat in hand, he addressed both captains and soldiers with great display of kindness; and the army answered him with a general salute, while the standard-bearers lowered the flags. Then he proceeded to his palace; but when he was descried from the fort of Santiago, its warden, General Don Fernando de Ayala, saluted him with a volley from all the artillery of the fort. The six companies of the camp followed the governor's company; and thus ended this magnificent triumph, which has greatly delighted people of all nations. The master-of-camp, Pedro de Heredia, regaled us with a bountiful and choice repast, with several kinds of conserves; after which we returned to our house, thanking God for having seen what we have desired to see during so many years. The multitude of people who filled the streets, windows, and balconies could not be numbered; and words cannot tell the tender feelings which the joy and the sight of so grand and new a spectacle caused in every heart. There was scarcely a person from whose eyes the joyful tenderness of the heart did not draw tears. At night all the walls around were illuminated, as well as many other places both within and without the city. Many sky-rockets were fired, and at about ten or eleven o'clock at night the soldiers in masquerade went through the streets on horseback with many torches, to display their joy; both men and horses were elegantly and splendidly adorned. May God send us many days like this, on which Christ Jesus may triumph over his enemy; and may He preserve your Reverence, etc. Manila, May 25, 1637.



Last night, May twenty-sixth, the city masquerade came out; it was so large and magnificent that, from whatever side it was viewed, it made a fine appearance. All the windows and balconies were brilliantly illuminated. Before the door of our church huge bonfires were built, and we ourselves went down to see the procession a little nearer. This took place about nine o'clock at night.

For those who died in the war, the governor caused solemn funerals to be held in the new military church, on June fifth. Eight altars were erected, and, beginning before dawn, masses were said at these altars to which office all had been invited, both the secular clergy and those of the orders; and this lasted throughout the morning. To each priest who would accept it, a gratuity of a peso was given for the mass celebrated, but many refused to take this. At the proper time was celebrated a mass followed by a sermon, at which were present all the city, the clergy, and the religious orders. The sermon was very appropriate for the occasion, and was well delivered; it was preached by Father Francisco Pinelo, of the Order of St. Dominic. His text was very opportune, taken from Job 12, verse 6: Abundant tabernacula pradonum, et audacter provocant Deum cum ipse dederit omnia [in manus eorum]—"The dwellings of pirates are full of riches; they become haughty and bold at their strength; they scorn and provoke God; but it is He who gives them success, in order to punish and correct the Christians." [128] All this has happened in the present case; for the Moros insolently ill-treated God and His saints in their holy images, cutting off the arms of the crucified Christ, and saying that they had taken captive the God of the Christians. The preacher added this from verse 13, which says: Apud ipsum est sapientia et fortitudo, ipse habet consilium et intelligentiam, [129] etc.—"The wretched ones do not know that God unites in Himself a council of state and one of war; in the former He decrees their ruin, and by the latter He carries it out," as has been clearly seen in this expedition.

The thanksgiving fiesta was held on the seventh of June, in the cathedral, on account of the great concourse of people to hear it; but even that had not room for them. The procession started from the cathedral and passed through the same streets as it does on Corpus Christi day. These streets were all adorned with handsome arches and green branches, and many altars laden with decorations and rich ornaments. The final touch was given by the citizens, who adorned the streets with hangings. It is generally affirmed that never have there been seen in Manila so many and so rich draperies, so that, even after seeing them, people hardly believed that the city contained so many of them, and so elegant and valuable—besides those which hung from the balconies, which latter were those that ordinarily have been displayed. From the balconies upward was erected an awning of bamboo, and that also was filled with hangings, and ribbons, and pieces of silk.

In the procession marched a body of pikemen in two files, their pikes held aloft. Between these files came first the captives who escaped from Corralat's power; they were well dressed and marched thus, three soldiers, and then six captives, and so on, observing always the same order. Then followed the citizens, and, after them, all the religious orders. The procession was enlivened by a great variety of dances and similar exhibitions, accompanied by various musical instruments and two portable organs. Toward the end of the procession came four floats, so made as to form a sort of doubly-sloping roof. On the float were placed [the sacred things] which the Mindanaos had plundered: on each slope lay the chasuble, choristers' mantles, frontals, and other sacred ornaments; on the ridge stood the chalices, monstrances and patens; and at the edge were hung the chrismatories and small bells. This sight moved the people to pity, and many tears were shed. The students in our college of San Jos carried three of these floats on their shoulders, and the fourth was carried by our brothers who were students, clad in surplices. Immediately after the floats came Father Marcelo Mastril, with the banner which he carried when the town of Cachil Corralat was taken; he had also borne it in another procession, which was made there in thanksgiving after the surrender. On this banner were depicted, standing back to back, that figure of Christ which had been stabbed and insulted by the enemy, and our father San Francisco Javier, the patron saint of the whole expedition, whose eyes were bent upon the blessed sacrament. Then followed the royal standard, which was carried at first by the governor, and then in turn by the gentlemen of the royal Audiencia and the alcaldes-in-ordinary. These were followed by the city magistrates, who carried the poles of a canopy under which advanced a stately car directed by robed priests, and bearing the blessed sacrament. When this car was seen entering the street, the blessed sacrament received a joyous salute from the nine ladled cannon and the twenty-seven culverins and falcons which stood in the Plaza de Armas. All these weapons, except three large pieces that were left in the fort of Samboangan, had been taken from Corralat. Not less solemn and magnificent was the salute made by the corps formed of eight companies of arquebusiers in the city square. Mass was celebrated by the ecclesiastical chapter, and sung with great solemnity; and Father Juan de Bueras preached a very appropriate sermon in three quarters of an hour. The text on which the sermon was based was taken from Genesis 14, verse 14—when Abraham with three hundred and eighteen of his servants defeated the hostile kings who had taken captive his nephew Lot; and took from them all the plunder and the captives, together with all the precious and valuable things they possessed. For this victory Melchisedec, priest of the Most High, in thanksgiving offered a sacrifice of bread and wine; and it is to be noticed that Abraham asked nothing of the plunder for himself, content to give God the thanks for so great a victory.

In order that there might not be lacking a pleasant interlude to so grave a drama, I shall relate what happened in this port of Cavite on the same day, June seventh. On Saturday afternoon, June sixth, the children, having been dismissed early from the two schools, went to play at the fort which has been begun at the outer edge of the town, and there began a game, some being Moros and others Christians—one party defending the fort, and the other rushing on to capture it. Not satisfied with this, they made arrangements to carry on the game in a more fitting manner the next day. In the meantime they provided themselves with flags and with wooden and bamboo swords. He who played Cachil Corralat hoisted his flag on the fort, incited his men to defend it, and even insulted the Christians by calling them "Spanish blusterers," and "hens." The latter, eager to assault, boldly attacked them, but were so bravely repelled by the Moros that some were wounded and roughly handled. This threw the Christians into such rage that they furiously attacked the fort again, desisting only when they had gained entrance to it. Cachil Corralat, who fell into their hands, was flung down from the wall, and was badly hurt on the head, so much so that it required five stitches in dressing the wound; but now I see him walking the streets, but with his head bandaged.

Finally a very agreeable drama on the conquest of Mindanao, written by Father Hieronimo Perez, was presented in the evening of July fifteenth, in our church. [130] The play told the story of the campaign as it occurred—not, however, without certain devices in which was displayed the holy zeal, faith, and piety of the Society of Jesus. These kindled in Don Sebastian's mind the purpose to take vengeance for the insults offered to God, and to put a stop to the injuries which the Christians of these islands, and especially our missions in Pintados, are suffering. The play ended with a tourney-dance, for which prizes were given. Thus everything was as well and splendidly performed as one could desire.

The crowning touch was given to the pleasure of the audience by the news, which was brought to the governor while the prologue was being spoken, that the ships from Castilla had arrived.

Laus Deo Virginis Mariae (sic)



ROYAL AID REQUESTED BY THE JESUITS AT MANILA

Most potent Sir:

I, Father Francisco Colin, rector of the residence of the Society of Jesus of this city, declare that his Majesty was pleased to order the issue of the royal decree which I present directed to this royal Audiencia—ordering that it inform him of the condition of the work on the said my residence, what is still to be done, and whether the said my residence has enough funds to enable it to continue the said work without his Majesty granting the ten thousand ducados payable in unassigned Indians, which was asked from him on the part of the said my residence. In that work have been spent the ten thousand ducados which his Majesty granted to the said my residence in the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-five; and besides the said ten thousand ducados have been spent forty thousand six hundred and eighty-one pesos. In order to be enabled to meet the said expense, because of the great need in which the order stood of a house and church, and because it had no money with which to do this, it obtained a loan of twenty thousand two hundred, pesos, for which it pays one thousand and ten pesos interest annually. The other twenty thousand four hundred and eighty-one pesos this residence owes to various persons, who, because they wish us well, have lent those amounts to the said residence. Besides that, all the legacies and alms that have fallen to it in the course of fourteen years have been spent, as appears more in detail in the certification which I present. As is evident and well known, the said work is yet to be finished. There still are lacking the construction of the porter's lodge, the principal stairway of the house, the school, and the infirmary, with which the said work will be preserved and extended. It is in danger of ruin from earthquakes, for a part of the said building is now open for lack of connecting walls, as appears more in detail from the certification of Miguel Sanchez Marufo, architect of this city, which I present. Therefore, I petition and beseech your Highness to be pleased to make the said report, so that it may be despatched in this patache, paying heed to the fact that all the aforesaid in this writing is accurate and true. Thereby will this residence receive grace and alms.

Francisco Colin

Manila, at the meeting of August three, one thousand six hundred and thirty-seven. Let his Majesty be informed according to the royal decree.



[The certification presented was as follows:]

I, Father Francisco Colin, rector of the residence of the Society of Jesus of this city of Manila, certify that it appears, from the account-books for the work of the church and house of the said residence, that there has been spent on the works the ten thousand ducados which his Majesty granted it in the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-five, and which were collected in the time of Governor Don Juan Nio de Tavora. In addition to the said sum, it also appears that there has been spent in the same work, forty thousand six hundred and eighty-one pesos, which this residence now owes: twenty thousand two hundred of borrowed money, on which it pays one thousand and ten pesos interest; and the other twenty thousand four hundred and eighty-one in coin, which are due to various persons, who lent them to this residence because they favor us; besides, the legacies and alms that have fallen to it, in the course of fourteen years since the first stone was laid, have also been consumed in the same work. All the above is apparent to me, both by the account-books of this residence, and because most of them were in my time and partly by my authority. And, inasmuch as this is true, I affixed my signature to the same in this residence of Manila, July twenty-eight, one thousand six hundred and thirty-seven.

Juan [sic; sc. Francisco] Colin



[The certification of the architect is as follows:]

I, Miguel Sanchez Marrufo, architect of this city, having examined at the petition of Father Francisco Colin, rector of the residence of the Society of Jesus of this city, the work on the said residence, find that, although that part of the building which contains most of the residence-quarters of the religious is now finished, there is still another part yet to be constructed—namely, the porter's lodge, the principal stairway of the house, the schools, and the infirmaries, with which the quadrangle of buildings will be completed, and the said work will be extended and continued. What is finished is in danger of ruin from earthquakes, for, by lack of connecting walls, one part of the building finished is still open. This will cause greater injury if it be not remedied, making the edifice secure by completing the quadrangle of the said house. Inasmuch as this is true, I affixed my signature to the same. Manila, today, July twenty-eight, one thousand six hundred and thirty-seven.

Miguel Sanchez Marrufo

[The archbishop, Hernando Guerrero, wrote the following letter in regard to the matter:]

Sire:

By a decree of July ten, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, your Majesty orders me to inform you on the first opportunity, and to send my opinion, in regard to an alms of ten thousand ducados in unassigned Indians which is asked for in behalf of the residence of the Society of Jesus in this city of Manila, for the work on the said residence and church, in addition to another of like sum which your Majesty was pleased to grant it in June, one thousand six hundred and twenty-five, for the same purpose. Having made the investigations in fulfilment of the mandate of your Majesty, I find that the first ten thousand ducados have been consumed in the said work, as well as another large sum which citizens of this city have given as alms and loans. Although the principal part of the building is finished, it is in danger because the fourth arch is wanting, which will join together what has been built. This ten thousand additional ducados which is now petitioned will be very necessary; and although the said residence has some revenues, I am informed that these do not cover the expense of their ordinary support, because it is the seminary for study, the infirmary, and the hospitium of all the province. Consequently, I opine that it will be a work very proper for the royal kindness of your Majesty, and for the service of the Divine Majesty, to grant the residence the alms of the said sum—or greater, if your Majesty be so pleased. Its being in unassigned Indians, with which grant the soldiers are rewarded, is not a [mere] favor to the said fathers, since they embark with the soldiers on all the occasions demanding a fleet, and are employed in the rearing of the youth of this community, and all their ministers are engaged in the service of the community, gaining much fruit, and signalizing themselves among the other orders. With them and with me the said fathers are now in excellent harmony, and are the instrument of the peace between the tribunals, of which I am giving your Majesty a special account, so that you might have in your royal Council an account of the dissensions which, as I advised you, we had last year. May our Lord preserve the Catholic and royal person of your Majesty as He can, and as is necessary to Christendom. Manila, August six, one thousand six hundred and thirty-seven.

Fray Hernando, archbishop of Manila.



LETTERS FROM CORCUERA TO FELIPE IV

Sire:

When your Majesty, through your grace and condescension, sent me to serve you in these Filipinas Islands, you were pleased to give me your commands in one of your royal decrees, dated at Madrid, on the sixteenth of February in the past year, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five—issued on account of the information which you had from this royal Audiencia of the losses which these islands have suffered, during the past thirty years and more, from Cachil Corralat, king of the great island of Mindanao, from the kings of Jolo and Burney, and from the Camucones. They have plundered the islands, and taken captive the poor Christian Indians, selling them as their slaves from one country to another, seizing the religious and the ministers of the holy gospel, burning the villages, and devastating everything. The royal Audiencia has given your Majesty but scant information of the great and excessive injuries which these poor islands have experienced from these Moro enemies. For in the year when I arrived here, they did not content themselves with taking captive more than twenty-five or thirty thousand vassals of your Majesty; at this time which I mention they seized and carried away captive from the island of Calamianes Don Diego de Alabez, your Majesty's alcalde-mayor in that island and province, together with three religious, Recollects of the Order of St. Augustine, who in various places were furnishing instruction to the vassals of your Majesty. At the same time when they made this notable seizure, they sacked the churches, and afterward burned them, carrying away the monstrances with the most holy sacrament, the chalices, and other sacred vessels, with all the ornaments that they could find—even taking the bells. All together, this booty was worth more than two or three thousand pesos—which for churches so poor, and for poor Indians, was a considerable loss.

Having made inquiries as to what measures had been taken by my predecessors in so many years to check such lawless acts, I was assured by this royal Audiencia, and by all the oldest and most experienced residents of this colony, that in the past thirty-four years there had been expended from your Majesty's royal exchequer more than two hundred thousand pesos, in equipping fleets in Cebu, Oton, this city, and other places, against these enemies. But these fleets were never able to come up with the pirates because of the swiftness of the Moro vessels, and because of the negligence of the commanders who were sent on these expeditions; consequently, all that was accomplished was to go to the islands where these enemies had been, and to live on the tender chickens and other supplies which the poor Indians had carried away to the hills. All these things, and the commands that your Majesty was pleased to lay upon me in your royal decree above mentioned, constrained me to summon a council of war. It included all the old soldiers who are in this city, not only those in active service, but those on half-pay; also the royal Audiencia, and the royal officials of your Majesty. I told them how important it was to put an end to these raids, as your Majesty had commanded, and proposed to go in person to punish these Moros. All the members of the council uttered opinions contrary to mine, deeming it to be of greater importance that I should remain in this city. Only one thought that I should go to render this service, and that was my nephew, Captain and Sargento-mayor Don Pedro Hurtado de Corcuera; and some one among them said that your Majesty's power was not sufficient to conquer the height of Mindanao, where the king Cachil Corralat was.

Considering what your Majesty had commanded me in your royal decree, and the blasphemies which these Moros had uttered—saying that by carrying away the monstrances with the most holy sacrament they were carrying the God of the Christians captive, trampling upon them, and mocking them in other ways; spitting in the chalices; and using the patens as receptacles for the saliva from their buyo-chewing—all these things obliged me, Sire, [to go on this quest]. After having sent to Terrenate two galleons well armed, two pataches, and six champans, with two hundred infantry and two hundred mariners, to carry supplies to those forts, together with one new galley which the governor of those forts, Don Pedro de Mendiola, had requested from me that it might accompany the one which he maintained there (of which enterprise and of those islands I will give your Majesty an account in a separate letter), I embarked with eleven champans—vessels which were indeed frail and weak, but the other galley had not been completed. I had my own company of infantry, of one hundred and fifty soldiers; another, of a hundred Pampango Indians; and that of Captain Lorenco de Orella y Ugalde, containing another hundred men, mariners. With these two hundred and fifty Spaniards and one hundred Pampango Indians, I sailed as far as the fort of Camboanga, which (as I wrote to your Majesty last year) Don Juan Cereco de Salamanca had begun, or had ordered to be built, in that very island of Mindanao; by way of this port sail the ships which go to Terrenate for the relief of those forts. I made the decision which I have stated to your Majesty, in order to see if that port was of so much importance as they were all assuring me it was, and whether the expenses which that fort has caused your Majesty were being checked; I also went in order to visit the rest of the islands, which lie on that route, and to repair the wrongs which certain persons are inflicting on the poor Indians. A few months before, I had sent to that fort a new governor and a new commander, judging that those officers who had until then been stationed there had accomplished nothing of importance with their flotilla. After Sargento-mayor Bartolome Diaz Barrera arrived as governor, and Sargento-mayor Nicolas Gomez as captain of both companies, those Moros withdrawing [to their own country] with the rich prize of those religious and the consecrated vessels which I have mentioned to your Majesty, and a friendly Moro having informed us that the pirates had passed, two leguas from there, by the island of Basilan (or Taguima, for the island has both names), Bartolome Diaz Barrera sent Sargento-mayor [Gomez] with five caracoas and his company of soldiers. They encountered the Moros in the middle of their voyage, with their booty, and fought with them. One of our own balls, strangely, struck one of the missionary fathers, who tried to see how the Spaniards were fighting; and he was killed. Out of seven caracoas which were conveying the enemy with their spoils, the said sargento-mayor captured four and burned one; and he rescued more than one hundred and twenty Christian captives, the rest being killed by our bullets. There were also some Moros who, as those people are so stubborn, would not stop killing our men, and perished by drowning. As soon as our men captured two of the caracoas, the rest took to flight, and by hard rowing reached their own lands, with the two priests and the greater part of the sacred vessels which they were carrying away as plunder.

In the province of Camarines there was another piece of good-fortune; for Don Pedro Mena, alcalde-mayor of that province, burned eighteen of the Moro caracoas; and of the rest more than ten were wrecked by a storm, in which were drowned the Moros and the Christian captives whom they were carrying away. In the island of Leite, two other officers, half-pay alfrezes, sailed out in different vessels after the rest of the Moro horde; and they captured from the pirates a caracoa, and slew many of their men. With these two successes, then, I arrived, Sire, at Camboanga with the troops whom I have mentioned; and from that fort I took Sargento-mayor Nicolas Gomez, with his company. With these, I had a force of three hundred and fifty Spaniards and one hundred and fifty Pampangos, and with them proceeded to Lamitan, the principal village of the king, Cachil Corralat; but only four caracoas and two champans could arrive at the same time with me, on account of stormy weather. Confiding more in the goodness and mercy of God than in the number of my soldiers, and having left those vessels well guarded, I landed with about seventy Spaniards and two small field-pieces (which they themselves fired). They engaged the enemy, in both the village and the fort; and God was pleased to give your Majesty a great victory, although by the means of forces so weak and so few soldiers. The village and fort were gained in less than half an hour; in them were two pieces of bronze artillery, for six- and eight-libra balls respectively; thirteen bronze versos, and some forty or fifty muskets and arquebuses; and in the mosque were found two bells. In the river were more than three hundred barks and other vessels; four of these, belonging to some merchants, were laden with wax, oil, and other goods, which made rich booty for the soldiers. I reserved for your Majesty only the wax and oil, and the arms. If I had had more men, I would have followed the king to the top of the height; and it might be that before he reached the height he would have fallen into the hands of your Majesty's soldiers. I thought it best to give thanks to God for what had been accomplished, and to content myself with that until the rest of the men should arrive. This was Friday, the thirteenth of the month; on the sixteenth the rest of the vessels arrived. Having made all the soldiers confess and receive communion, I distributed among them ammunition, and biscuit and cheese for four days. I sent Nicolas Gomez with one hundred and fifty Spaniards by way of the rear of the hill, two hours before daybreak, and fifty Pampangos, and some Indians to carry the supplies. I myself set out with about two hundred Spaniards, fifty Pampangos, and as many more Indians, by the route in front, and arrived at the foot of the hill, a distance of about a long legua. I found a large village built below, and abandoned by the Moros, who had retreated up the hill. I set out over the rugged slopes, and although the Moros uttered many shouts and outcries, they did not interrupt my progress until we were at a musket-shot from their fortification. I had given orders to the captains who were leading the vanguard, Lorenzo de Ugalde and Don Rodrigo de Guillestigui, and to my nephew the sargento-mayor, to make observations and reconnoiter when they reached the fort, instructing them to win the fight, with hearts all the more courageous since they had seen that in the assault on the village not one man had been killed, and no more than two or three wounded. They laid siege to the hill before I could reach the scene of conflict, to which I proceeded with your Majesty's colors. The Moros awaited us with a good supply of muskets and versos; at the first volley they killed some of the more daring soldiers, and wounded others. Our men reached the stockade, shouting "Santiago!" and asking for more men from the detachment which was still ascending the hill, by one of slopes and paths as rugged and narrow as any which I ever saw in the Alarbes or the Pirineos, or in any places where I have served your Majesty. On account of the haste with which he had tried to reach me, Captain Ugalde had lost an arm; and Captain Don Rodrigo de Guillestegui, alfrez in my company, had been several times struck by stones, so that he could hardly move. My nephew Don Pedro had received a musket-shot in the right leg, across the shin-bone. There were twenty-three killed, officers and men, and more than fifty wounded. Although your Majesty's soldiers fought with great valor, the enemy could not have received much damage, even from our musketry, on account of the great strength of their stockades, which were everywhere pierced with holes from our musket-balls; and, because we were unable to carry up the hill our two small field-pieces (which carry two-libra balls), the musketry could not accomplish much. Seeing that we could not carry the fort, and the number of men I had lost, so that there were hardly a hundred effective men left, and knowing that on the hill the Moros numbered four thousand, well armed, I took command of the rearguard, ordered that the wounded be carried away, and went down from the hill, uniting my troops with the guard of Pampangos whom I had left with the cannon. Although I desired to hold that post, I had not men for this; on that account, and in order that the Moros should not harass me by cutting off the heads of the wounded men, I had to escort them as far as the fort of San Francisco Xabiel, which had been gained below. I reached it at night, with the troops discouraged, and reduced to the small number that I have mentioned to your Majesty. On this occasion I had not the support of Sargento-mayor Nicolas Gomez and his men—who went as the rearguard, on account of pains in his legs—although he had not more than three leguas to go from four o'clock in the morning to eleven, when the battle commenced. They were reconnoitering, carrying Nicolas Gomez in a hammock because he could not, on account of his foot, climb paths so rugged. He did not come back until the morning of the next day, when I had sent eighty men who survived from the vanguard, to which Nicolas Gomez had to go, setting out as soon as the men had heard mass. They went at that time because the enemy had not fortified the rear of the hill. Captain Gastelu, who led Nicolas Gomez's vanguard, gained a good position, and killed some Moros who were defending a passage across which they had only felled a tree. Captain Gastelu passed this obstruction, and gained the top of the hill and the rear of the king's main stronghold, where he had his house, and four pieces of artillery. Of these, one was bronze, with your Majesty's arms on it, carrying an eight-libra ball; the three others were of cast iron, for six- and eight-libra balls. They were loaded up to the mouth with balls, chains, and spikes, in order [to destroy us] if we had gone up the hill by that route, on which the guide whom I took with me had already started us. But God influenced my choice, in order that we should go by the other road; for although I did not get off very cheaply, yet by this road it would have cost me far more dear. At the time when we were fighting above on the seventeenth of March, the eve of St. Joseph's day, the eighty men whom I sent with Captain Rodrigo de Guillestigui, my alfrez, arrived at the foot of the hill on this other side; and, as a result of the pious haste which Father Marcelo Mastrilo used in saying mass in order that we might pursue our march, the news was soon brought to me that the Moros had flung themselves down from their heights in flight, and that your Majesty's banners were flying over their three forts and our chaplains singing the Te Deum laudamus. Other arms were secured there—twelve or thirteen versos, and more than a hundred arquebuses and muskets; everything else was given to the soldiers as booty, as a reward for their labors. Thus your Majesty gained a victory, as others will write you. As the king, Cachil Corralat, is very influential in those regions, I have made public an offer to give three thousand pesos for his head. The captives and his wife's servants tell me that the king was wounded in an arm by a musket-ball; with that, I understand, he will not be able to keep up his people's courage; and, if he does not go away into those rugged mountains, he will not escape me. His wife threw herself from the walls, with a little child in her arms; and many other women belonging to the leading families were sold here on your Majesty's account—fifty of them, besides as many more men; while more than two hundred Christian captives were set free. Of the two Augustinian fathers, one had been slain in revenge because we had killed, in the assault from below, the commander of that fort, who was a nephew of the king, and two others of their chiefs. On the day when the height was carried by our men, the Moros, when they took to flight, inflicted so many wounds on the other father that, although they brought him to me alive, he had seventeen mortal wounds, so that within thirteen hours he died, in my quarters. His death left us all as envious as compassionate of his fate. Thus all the three fathers, Sire, have died, at various times. I brought away the ornaments and sacred vessels, and returned them to their owners, after having displayed them in a procession which was made as a thank-offering to the most holy sacrament—from which, as I firmly believe, your Majesty received this favor [of the victory], on account of the fiestas which had been celebrated a few months before, in accordance with your royal decree. I send an official statement of this, in order that your Majesty may know in what manner your commands were obeyed. I had intended to make this relation more concise, but I have not been able to do so. Others will give a more detailed account of the campaign; but I am telling your Majesty only the substance of the service that has been rendered to you.

I returned to amboanga, after I had sent Sargento-mayor Pedro Palomino with five caracoas to the king of Buayen, to reduce him to a vassal of your Majesty, and to make him pay tribute, or else wage war against him as we had done to Corralat. He yielded what was demanded from him, and became tributary to your Majesty. He and all his vassals pay the annual tribute: every married man, three eight-real pesos; and each single man, a peso and a half. To some persons it has seemed that I have imposed a heavy tax on them; but they do not consider the great expenses which these Moros have caused to your Majesty's treasury, nor my granting them the favor, in your Majesty's royal name, of remitting half the tribute to those who shall become Christians. I doubt much whether they will do so; for they are a fierce and obstinate people. The king of Buayen will allow the fathers of the Society to supply instruction, under the condition that they baptize only children, and do not annoy or urge the adults; I granted this, as being so in accord with the holy gospel, since God does not bring any one by force to His holy law; and gradually both the children and their grandparents will become Christians. I have therefore brought to settle and live in the fort of Camboanga nearly four hundred Moros; and I hope that within a year all that island (which is larger than the whole of Espaa) will pay tribute to your Majesty.

I sent Captain Juan Nicolas with eighty Spaniards and twenty Pampangos, with a thousand fighting Indians from among your Majesty's Christian vassals; and he harried all the coast of more than half of the island—burning villages and grain-fields, and destroying the trees, and cutting off more than seventy heads—until he reached the fort of Caraga in the same island. That fort (which I have now finished) is built of stone, without any expense from the royal treasury of your Majesty; and that at amboanga will cost very little. Thus, between Juan Nicolas and myself, we made the entire circuit of the island.

This coming year I will go, or I will send some one, to explore the country inland to the lake of Manala [i.e., Malanao], around which there are more than seventy houses, I mean villages, containing many people. They are not supplied with firearms, although the Moros are well provided with long arrows and other missile weapons. I hope in God to carry on that enterprise as promptly and easily as this other one; and even to bring down from his lofty stronghold the king of Jolo, and reduce him to obedience to your Majesty. And I will try to send an expedition—if not next year, then the year after—against the king of Burney, who shelters and favors the Camucones, who by themselves and alone are of no account. When that is done, in all this archipelago there will remain no enemy except the Dutch. God knows that if I had a thousand more Spaniards, I would give them enough in which to earn reward; but I have so much territory to guard, and in so many posts, that, with the small forces that there are in these islands, one thousand five hundred men, I cannot attempt to render your Majesty this service.

Although your Majesty has not authorized me to grant extra pay, when I saw how your soldiers fought in my presence, and how at the cost of their blood and their lives they won credit for your Majesty's arms, I granted in your royal name an increase of pay to the wounded, to each one a peso more than his usual wages; and to some I gave two pesos. This will be, in all, ninety-seven pesos of extra pay. In order to compensate for this new expenditure from your Majesty's revenues, I placed in the royal treasury two hundred and fifty pesos which will be vacant at this time in every year, in order that from this sum may be paid the twenty-one and thirty pesos which an adjutant had who died in the campaign; these amounts also will remain on the half-pay list. Accordingly, the only extra expense thus incurred from your Majesty's revenues is the other forty-six pesos; and from that I have cut out more than twenty pesos, by means of offices which I have given to those soldiers—while within a year, or sooner, I will have given offices to the rest of them, and thus will have canceled all the extra pay which I granted them.

The royal official judges made objections to doing this, alleging their obligations. I replied that nevertheless they must confirm these grants, and that I would give account of them to your Majesty; and that, in case you were not pleased to approve them, I would pay them from my own salary. For I consider it a grievous thing to see before me your soldiers fighting, and being crippled in your Majesty's service, and I not able to encourage them with the reward of a peso of extra pay, which is very little gain for them. I entreat your Majesty to be pleased to command that this be examined and approved; and, in case objection is made, to be pleased to let me know of it, so that—although in like cases I may grant other favors to the soldiers in your royal name—I may not give them extra pay; and so that the royal official judges may pay this amount from my salary, deducting from it what shall have been thus spent. May our Lord protect the Catholic person of your Majesty, as Christendom has need. Manila, August 20, 1637. Sire, your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera



Sire:

Master-of-camp Pedro de Heredia has by your Majesty's grace governed the forts of Terrenate for twelve years, and you have commanded that his residencia be taken; but he has ingenuity and shrewdness, and always has been able to make gifts to my predecessors. It is reported that he is accustomed to say among the soldiers that he has 30,000 pesos to close one eye of any governor who shall send to take his residencia, and, if it should be necessary, as many more pesos to close the other eye; but he has found the door to this shut. He is availing himself of his ingenuity, as he has done before, to make the residencia which I have taken of his government suit his wishes. After I came here (or before), a Portuguese resident in Malaca demanded from him 60,000 pesos, which Don Pedro had seized from his property. I appointed Auditor Don Antonio Alvarez de Castro as judge in this suit. The sentence having been pronounced, on sufficient evidence, that he must repay 12,000 pesos to this Portuguese, Simon Texeira, Don Pedro appealed to your Majesty's royal Council of the Indias; but as you have here your royal Audiencia, the affair was placed in its hands. He challenged Auditor Marcos apata and all the lawyers of this city; his plea was that in Terrenate he had brought to trial Sargento-mayor Don Marcos apata, son of the auditor, because he had punished with the cudgel a subordinate of his for a certain shameless act, and because officially, without having complained to any one, he upbraided him for holding illicit relations with a married woman, without having corrected or punished him. This might be true, because, in order to cover up his own evil proceedings, there was not a captain, nor a commander of the relief ships, nor a private soldier, with whom he did not pick a quarrel, in order to keep that man under guard during his term there, defending himself by saying that they were his enemies, on account of his quarrel with them. Besides this, Sire, is the money which has come into his hands and those of the accountant during these twelve years, together with the military supplies of all kinds which are carried to him every year. The provisions he distributed among the soldiers, without charging these against their pay; and he has, according to assertions made to me, charged large quantities of supplies to many men who had fled to the enemy on account of the bad treatment that they experienced, and to others who had died of sickness; it cannot be known, therefore, whether these men actually received them. All these things are made public by the soldiers whom I have had exchanged from those forts, which have held these men as slaves for twenty or twenty-four years, without their being allowed to come to this city. On account of all these things, I have ordered that all the papers of the accountancy for those forts shall be brought here, so that it may be seen how so great an amount of your Majesty's properly has been spent. Since the old soldiers have come back, there is no end to the petitions against him—for having taken away from some of them honor, from others their possessions.

As I found last year your Majesty's royal treasury in a needy condition, and the citizens not only had no money to lend it, but instead had asked me for more than 60,000 pesos from the Sangley licenses in order to relieve their own needs, I managed through an intermediary person to inform Don Pedro that he could make a donation to your Majesty of 100,000 pesos, which would adjust his residencia and his affairs, rendering satisfaction to the parties concerned, so that his reputation might be saved and that he might have opportunity to receive grace from your Majesty; for the universal opinion is that he possesses wealth amounting to 400,000 pesos. Not only did he refuse to do this, but he even undertook to offer only 15,000 pesos; so I ordered that nothing more be said in this matter. This man is so subtle that if your Majesty does not send an official to take his residencia, he will come out from it with everything just as he desires, as every one says. I assert that it is necessary for your Majesty to send some one, because with all the officials here Don Pedro is so shrewd and crafty and suave that he sways every one at his will, and will attain all his desires. I have fulfilled my duty in placing this before your Majesty; now you will be pleased to command what is most expedient to your royal service. May our Lord protect the Catholic person of your Majesty, as Christendom has need. Manila, August 20, in the year 637. Sire, your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera

[Endorsed: "Manila; to his Majesty; 1637. Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, August 20; contains particulars regarding the master-of-camp Pedro de Heredia." "February 5, 1639; hand to the fiscal." "The fiscal says that this letter comes alone, and without any accompanying proofs of the allegations. This residencia could be awaited, if an account of it comes in the fleet; and if it is delayed in the Audiencia it can be entrusted to the auditor whom the Council shall be pleased to appoint, so that the residencia may be taken in a thoroughly satisfactory manner and referred to the Council for its decision. Let the governor be informed that he must endeavor most carefully to administer justice in such cases, without giving any opportunity for composition of offences, which is so injurious to justice, which should be administered with the utmost equity and uprightness to all persons. Madrid, February 22, 1639." "February 28; wait for the coming of the fleet, to see what information about this matter shall arrive; and if any comes, let it be brought with this letter."]



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA

The following documents are obtained from MSS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla:

1. Letter by Corcuera, June 30, 1636.—"Simancas—Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y espedientes del gobernador vistos en el Consejo; aos de 1629 1639; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 8."

2. Royal decrees.—The first of these is in "Audiencia de Filipinas; registros de oficio, reales ordenes dirigidas las autoridades y particulares del distrito de la Audiencia; aos 1605 1645; est. 105, caj. 2, leg. 12."

3. Auditorship of accounts.—"Simancas—Secular; cartas y expedientes de los oficiales reales de Manila vistos en el Consejo; aos 1623 1641; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 30."

4. Letters by Corcuer, 1637.—The same as No. 1.

The following documents are obtained from the Academia Real de la Historia, Madrid (the first being a printed book, the others original MSS.):

5. Informatory memorial to king.—This is collated with the MS. copy in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid—pressmark, "MSS. 8990, Aa 47, fol. 273-350."

6. Defeat of Moro pirates.—In "Papeles de los Jesuitas; tomo 84, n. 31."

7. Conquest of Mindanao.—The same as No. 6, save "n. 24."

8. Events in Filipinas.—The same as No. 6, save "n. 26."

The following documents are taken from the "Cedulario Indico," in the Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid:

9. Letter to Corcuera.—In "tomo 39, fol. 219b, n. 210."

2. Royal Decrees.—The second and third decrees, "tomo 39, fol. 226b, and 225," respectively.

The following document is taken from Barrantes's Guerras piraticas:

10. Corcuera's entry.—pp. 303-310.

The following document is taken from Pastells's edition of Colin's Labor evanglica:

11. Aid requested by Jesuits.—Vol. iii, pp. 757, 758.



NOTES

[1] "Costa" in Barrantes; but Sommervogel gives the name of no Jesuit, under either form, who could have gone from Manila in 1636.

[2] The mass of contemporary material in Spanish archives on the contest between Corcuera (the civil arm of the government) and the Jesuits on one side, and the bishop and friars on the other, shows how important the matter was considered, and the virulence with which the fight was waged on both sides. The various documents relate the affair pro and con, and it is narrated in official, semi-official, and religious documents. The facts of the case are stated, somewhat succinctly, in a printed document, undated (although probably 1636 or 1637), signed by Licentiate Ruiz de la Vega, and addressed to the king, in which many of the letters between the various parties concerned (all given in this series) are given in full or extract, but nothing new is told. This document is in Archivo general de Indias, at Sevilla, in the patronato "Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y espedientes del gobernador de Filipinas, vistos en el Consejo; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 8."

[3] See Cerezo's letter of that date, in Vol. XXIV, p. 308.

[4] In the present translation we follow the printed original—using the copy belonging to the Academia Real de la Historia, Madrid—as per the above title-page. Our transcript was collated with the manuscript copy in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, which may possibly be a contemporaneous copy of the original manuscript of the Memorial; but this manuscript (which bears pressmark MSS. 8990, Aa-47, of which it occupies folios 273-350), which appears to have been done hastily, bears the mark of inaccuracies that make the printed Memorial preferable. Where the difference is considerable, the reading of the manuscript is inserted in brackets after the other reading, and signed "MS." These variations are here noted mainly as a guide to those who may use that manuscript. In almost every case the number of the paragraph is omitted in the manuscript, as are also sometimes the marginal headings of the paragraphs, and most of the other marginal notes. Reference has also been made in the translation to the published edition of the manuscript Memorial in Doc. ind. Amr. y Oceana, vi (Madrid, 1866), pp. 364-484, which has been edited somewhat; and to an evident reprint from the printed edition of 1637, in Extracto historial (Madrid, 1736), folios 215-264. Matter taken from the latter is signed "Ex. his."

[5] Avera was the tax or duty levied on goods shipped from Spain to America, or from America to Spain, to meet the expenses of the naval convoy to protect the fleet from pirates. See tit. ix of lib. ix, Recopilacin de leyes de Indias which treats of the avera, entitled, "Of the tax, administration, and collection of the duty of avera."—Edward G. Bourne.

[6] Note in margin of Extracto historial: "Note: The numbers cited in these margins refer to this same memorial."

[7] At this point the manuscript and printed original both contain a partial reduplication, as follows: los vexinos y cargadores de Filipinas, que sin reconocer—es digo por solo no verse sujetos denunciationes. It may possibly be regarded as a parenthetical expression added for the sake of force, and is translated: "the citizens and exporters of Filipinas, who without recognizing—it is, I say, for the sole purpose of not becoming liable to denunciations." This clause is dropped in the Extracto historial reprint.

[8] See Vol. xvi of this series, pp. 225-227.

[9] The manuscript at this point contains a duplicate or confusion of words, as follows: Reyes tienen vnos Estados, porque los han menester, y otros digo el embiarles ministros della aunque los. This proves the manuscript only a clerical copy, as does also the fact that it is copied in the same hand as other manuscripts of this same collection; and it shows the carelessness with which this copy was made.

[10] The progress made by the Mahometans in the eastern part of Asia was very slow. The inhabitants of Malacca were converted in 1276, those of the Moluccas in 1465, and those of Java in 1478, and those of the Celebes one year before Vasco da Gama rounded the cape of Good Hope. Nevertheless, after 1521, many of the inhabitants of these islands began to be converted to Catholicism.—See Doc. ind. Amr. y Oceana, vi, p. 375, note.

[11] Empeo: This transfer, as may be seen from the treaty of Zaragoza (vol. 1, pp. 221-239), was part of the sale by Spain to Portugal of the spice-trade, right of navigation, and islands then in dispute between the two crowns; but various stipulations were made regarding it, so that the Maluco Islands were, in a sense, held as a pledge for the observance thereof.

[12] This word is lacking in the manuscript.

[13] At this point occurs a doublet of nine words in the manuscript—simply an error of the transcriber.

[14] See this decree in vol. III, pp. 250, 251.

[15] See this decree, with illustrations, in vol. IX, pp. 211-215.

[16] See Vol. iv, p. 108.

[17] This is the date in the original printed edition, but both the manuscript and the reprint in the Extracto historial give 1626.

[18] At this point there is another lapsus calami by the transcriber of the manuscript, resulting in another reduplication.

[19] Both the manuscript and the Extracto historial reprint say May 16.

[20] See Vol. XX, p. 257.

[21] This word is omitted in the manuscript.

[22] Singapore signifies, in Malay, "place of lions"—although it would be more apropos to call it "the place of tigers," which are so plentiful there (Doc. ind. Amr. y Oceania, vi, p. 383, note).

[23] This sentence is very blindly worded, but perhaps indicates, by anticipation, the point made in section 40, post—where India and the Philippines are mentioned as the "extremes" of the Spanish empire in the Orient. Or it may refer to the alternative presented near the end of section 2.

[24] Grau y Monfalcn evidently made use of Leonardo de Argensola's Conqvistas de las Islas Malvcas in this review of Oriental commerce.

[25] Referring to Ptolemy Neus Dionysus, surnamed Auletes ("the Flute-player"), who ruled over Egypt from b. c. 80 to 51. One of his daughters was the famous Cleopatra VI, who so infatuated the Roman Csar and Antony.

[26] This date in the manuscript is 1457, which is misprinted 1417 in the reprint of 1866 (Doc. ind.).

[27] See Sir Henry Middleton's Voyage to Bantam (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1855); that voyage took place in 1604-06.

[28] This word is missing in the manuscript.

[29] The cate is equivalent to 1.8 English pounds; 87 pounds equal one quintal, 100 cats one pico, and 40 picos one koyan (Doc. ind. Amr. y Oceana, vi, p. 390, note).

[30] See the description and prices of precious stones found in the appendix to Duarte Barbosa's East Africa and Malabar (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1866), pp. 208-218.

[31] Apparently referring to some plant of the genus Strychnos, several species of it having the reputation of curing the bites of serpents. Blanco says (Flora, p. 61) that he himself has witnessed several cures by this means.

[32] A dried fruit, resembling a prune, which contains tannin; formerly used in medicine, now mainly in tanning and dyeing. It is the product of various species of Terminalia.

[33] The manuscript is mutilated at this point, and contains only the first part of this name, "Vera."

[34] The manuscript reads "29."

[35] Apparently an error for "November;" see vol. xvii, p. 252.

[36] Cf. Heredia's list (1618?) of Dutch factories and posts, vol. xviii, pp. 107-110; and Los Rios's mention of them, vol. xix, pp. 288-290.

[37] Tacomma, where the Dutch erected Fort Willemstadt.

[38] This word is omitted in the manuscript.

[39] The capital of the island of Gilolo bears the same name. Batochina is properly a part of the island (Doc. ind. Amr. y Oceana, vi, p. 400, note 1).

[40] The island of Amboina was discovered about 1515 by the Portuguese, and taken by the Dutch February 23, 1603. See Doc. ind. Amr. y Oceana, vi, p. 400, note 2.

[41] This word is lacking in the manuscript.

[42] See, in Vols. V and VI of this series, the ordinance of May 5, 1583, giving form to the Audiencia, the establishment of which was decreed by royal order of the above date (March 5).

[43] An imaginary money used in the Indias, which serves as a standard for valuing the ingots of silver; it is differentiated from the value of the real-of-eight, or coined peso, in order to allow for the amount of seigniorage and other expenses at the mint. (Dominguez's Dict. nac. lingua espaola.)

In Morga's time the governor received eight thousand pesos de minas annually (see Vol. XVI, p. 188; also II, p. 97, note 43).

[44] Spanish, santas; one would expect sanativas, "healing."

[45] Spanish, seis mil aremilas. Mil is an obvious error, probably typographical; and aremilas is apparently a misprint for acmilas, "mules."

[46] Comitre: an officer in the galleys of that epoch, who had charge of the working of the ship, and the punishment of the rowers and convicts. See Doc. ind. Amr. y Oceania, vi, p. 421, note 1.

[47] This word is omitted in the manuscript.

[48] This word is lacking in the manuscript.

[49] Cf. financial statements of the Philippine colonial government found in Vols. VI, pp. 47-49: XIV, pp. 243-269; XVI, pp. 188-193; XIX, pp. 248-250, 292-297.

[50] The manuscript is much confused at this point, reading y assi el Real instead of y assi al Per—the idea of the copyist evidently being "Accordingly the royal [Council] concedes one ship annually to Nueva Espaa," etc., which does not make sense with what follows.

[51] Annuity assigned upon the revenue of the crown.

[52] Grau y Monfalcn leaves out of account the expeditions of Loaisa and Villalobos.

[53] This word is lacking in the manuscript.

[54] Spanish, angeos; i.e., Anjou linen, because it was obtained from that duchy; a coarse, heavy cloth of the poorer quality of flax. The linen of Rouen was fine.

[55] These words, lo mas, are omitted in the manuscript.

[56] See Ceza de Leon's account of the mines of Potosi, in his Chronicle of Peru (Markham's translation, Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1864), pp. 386-392. He says that he himself saw (1549) the amount of the royal fifths, 25,000 to 40,000 pesos each week; and that these for the years 1548-51 amounted to more than 3,000,000 ducados. Cf. Acosta's description, in his History of the Indies (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1880), i, pp. 197-209; he reckons the fifths as 1,500,000 pesos (of 13 1/4 reals each) yearly. Both writers state that much of the silver was never reported to the royal officials.