Item: The Portuguese of Malaca carry to the islands many slaves—negroes, for the most part. Those are generally the worst ones that they have, and they are drunkards, thieves, and fugitives, who take to highway robbery; and they endanger the country considerably, because of their number. Will your Highness be pleased to order that no one of the said negroes or slaves be carried thither, when twelve years old or over, under penalty of confiscation; and that that order be rigorously executed.

Item: That when the governor or auditors leave their offices they give their residencias in person; for this is of great importance, so that they may have fear in giving the residencia. [97] It it also advisable that public suits, both civil and criminal, be prosecuted and concluded in course of appeal and petition in the royal Chancilleria of Manila; for it disheartens all to have to come so many thousands of leguas, or to send with so great expense and hardship. Consequently their grievances continue; and many, although they seek redress, have not the means to obtain it. The said governors, inasmuch as they represent your Highness, should treat the citizens with respect, and not use abusive language to them, nor insult and affront them—as they have often done, so that certain men have all but died of grief. The governors have even exposed the citizens to great danger, by not treating them well by word of mouth. Will your Highness please order the said governors to be very restrained; and, should any merit it, that he be punished as your Highness has ordered by your laws.

Item: Because of the increase of business in the city of Manila, and the number of inhabitants, it is necessary for the proper despatch of business to have one or two more notaries-public.

In regard to the prompt despatch and equipment necessary for your Highness's two vessels that sail on that line with the trade and merchandise of that kingdom for Nueva Espana (which involves the most important affairs of that kingdom), the reform and careful management required by that despatch are very necessary and worthy of great consideration; for during the last ten years they have managed that just as they pleased, most often despatching the ships beyond the time when they were formerly despatched, and often poorly equipped and overladen. Consequently many vessels were wrecked with a great amount of property, in which your Highness has also lost much. And the citizens of Manila, when they might be very prosperous and wealthy, are, thanks to him who has despatched the vessels, very needy and poor—so much so, that they could not collect a gratuity to give me. Since it is a matter of so great importance, if your Highness be pleased to order the observance of the plan that I shall set forth in these articles, as a person who has so great experience in it, and which has been for some time in my charge, the necessary remedy will be applied in the following manner.

First, that the ships be despatched by the middle of June, and that this be an inviolable law; that a fine of six thousand pesos be imposed on the governor, to which your Highness shall immediately condemn him if he do not despatch them then. The reason why this is so necessary is because the vendavals generally set in at some time in the month of June; and if they catch the ship in the port, it cannot sail until that first monsoon passes. That usually lasts fifteen or twenty days, or one month. If they are caught outside during this weather, they can sail until they reach the district and altitude where they find the usual winds, with which they can make their said voyage easily. Consequently, they will pass Japon, which is the point where all the difficulties of the said voyage lie, with good weather. If the said monsoon ceases, and the ships are caught inside the bay, as a general thing another wind, the brisa, begins to blow, so that they are detained. Consequently, when they make the said voyage, and reach the neighborhood of Japon, it is already September or October. Accordingly it is necessary to run great risks, and they must suffer many storms, with which the ships lose their rigging, are wrecked, or have to put into port in distress. If they proceed on their course, inasmuch as they encounter the rigor of winter, and because of their high altitude and their departure from a warm land, many men die; their gums decay and their teeth fall out. [98] If so great severity is not exercised, this matter will not be remedied.

Item: The ships sail very unevenly, and heavily laden, so that one-half the ship's stores are left above decks; and as the sailors are unable to attend to necessary duties or to move about in the ships, in the first storm the stores are all carried into the sea; and the men left without necessary food, especially live fowls, which means their very life. On account of their heavy cargoes they are unable to set all sail or to resist squalls, so that they founder, put into port in distress, are wrecked, or are long delayed on the voyage.

Again they often sail poorly repaired, because of the fault of the shore-master [patron de ribera] who has charge of them. It is necessary to remove him from that post; but, although the city has tried to do so, it has been unable to secure redress. Thus, it is said, the ship "San Antonio," which was wrecked in the year six hundred and four, carried rotten timbers throughout; and in it were drowned over three hundred persons. That said year of six hundred and four, General Don Diego de Mendoca made port in distress, and gave the information of which I present a copy here; he said that he was carrying rotten masts. Inasmuch as this matter is very long, it will not be discussed here; for, as I am a priest, it is not advisable for me to do so. In order that the neglect that there has been in this matter may be seen, never have the governors or royal officials investigated who has been the cause, or why the ships have put back in distress or have been wrecked; for that would mean to make a report against themselves. More than four of them would have been punished rigorously had they made reports, and had your Highness known the culprits.

Item: Inasmuch as the said ships sail so unevenly laden, the seamen do not have protection from water and cold. Consequently, they fall sick, and it has even occurred that they die and are frozen, which is great inhumanity. It is very pitiful to see what occurs in that navigation.

Item: The fireplaces in which the food is cooked are left above deck, open to water and air, where the first storm carries them off. It becomes necessary after that to make a fire in earthen jars in various parts of the ship, at a very great risk of all perishing and the ship burning—besides the fact that if it rains they cannot cook their food. For all this it is necessary for your Highness to order that the ships of the said line that shall be built shall carry the fireplaces under the forecastle, and as is the custom in this line of the Yndias; and that the storerooms of the officers of the ship do not occupy that space. The officers sell the storerooms to the passengers for considerable money, and stow goods in them, which is not among the least of all the troubles.

Item: That the freight and cargo that the said ships must contain be stowed in the first hold, and that between decks shall be only the ship's stores, the chests of the sailors, the messrooms, rigging, sails, and all necessary supplies. They should carry even rigging for the port of Acapulco, since there is rigging at Manila which is very cheap; and then your Highness will not have to spend vast sums in taking it from San Juan de Lua to Acapulco overland, which is one hundred and fifty leguas.

Item: That all the passengers who shall come from Filipinas to Nueva Espana in the said ships should pay a fare of two hundred pesos if they have a berth or messroom under deck, and those who do not so have berth or messroom, one hundred pesos, as an aid in the expenses of the ships. This should be understood not on the outward trip [to the islands] but on the return trip. [99]

Item: That the sailors be not allowed to take aboard more than one chest of goods, of the size assigned by the governor; for there is the utmost confusion in this regard, and the sailors are allowed to carry two or three very large chests, larger than common. They overload and embarrass the ship; and, under pretext that they are carrying their clothes, they take those chests full of merchandise.

Item: That all the passengers shall carry swords and bucklers and arquebuses; and that the royal officials shall place on ship arquebuses, muskets, and lances for the sailors. Those weapons are cheap in Manila; and with them, and the artillery carried by the ships, the latter will be well defended. They need no soldiers for the return trip [to Nueva Espana], for rather the ships then carry too many people.

Item: No passengers or sailors shall carry with them slave women, a practice which gives rise to very great offenses against God. Such shall be regarded as confiscated in the port of Acapulco. This is very advisable, for many persons carry these women as concubines—not only the owners of them, but others in the ships. It is not right that there be any occasion for angering God when there is so great risk in the voyage, as I dare to affirm; and it is certain that, in the last ten years, while this has been so prevalent, many disasters have happened.

Item: That there has been great disorder in regard to lading the ships because it has been entrusted at times to very greedy persons, who, having but slight fear of God, sell the toneladas to, and lade for, whomsoever they wish. Thence it generally results that the goods of the poorest and most needy are left ashore, after the poor have invested their capital; and, after they have paid the duties to your Highness, they are left ruined. Consequently, the ships sail laden more with the curses of the poor than with merchandise. That is the greatest pity, and this evil is worthy of reform. Never has that been punished. The reform that can be established is, that the overseers who shall be appointed to assist in the said lading, be appointed by open cabildo; and should such persons refuse the post, they shall be compelled to accept it. If they are chosen in this manner, a mistake cannot be made in the election, since all are known. The governor shall confirm the choice, and he will thus be exempted from trouble and will be freed by this from the complaints that he generally incurs, because the blame is always laid on him. Certainly it belongs to him, since, he does not appoint those that he should, but whomever he wishes to advantage, who are at times his own servants.

Item: That the said ships are very ill provided with the ship-stores necessary for the sailors; and on that account the poor sailors spend their wages in buying provisions for the voyage. That is a great abuse, and for that reason the ships are also overladen. Likewise they should carry some fowls for those who fall sick, especially the Indian common seamen, who are treated like dogs. The Spanish sailors are more accustomed to provide such things for themselves. Inasmuch as that voyage is so long, and no fresh provisions can be obtained on the way, very many fall sick. For a remedy to that, God has placed, midway in the sea and on the voyage, an island that serves as an inn in the middle of their way, just as the Portuguese in their voyage have one at the island of Santa Elena, where they get fresh food. That island, which I call Rica de Plata, is large, and over one hundred leguas in circumference. Although some ships sight it in passing, inasmuch as its ports are unknown, no one dares to get fresh food there. It is thought to be inhabited, for some signs of habitation have been seen. It is very necessary that a small vessel sail from Manila to explore it, and that it look there for a good port, so that the ships can get water and wood, and reprovision. The exploration of it may be of the highest importance. It is necessary also because near that region the ships generally lose their rigging in storms, and they can be refitted and repaired there, and can continue their voyage without having to put back to Manila. I advised your Highness of that some years ago, as it is so important for that voyage I believe that a decree was sent to the governor in a former year [100] to explore it; but that must be ordered again. A man of experience should be sent, so that he may display the prudence and make the exploration requisite, in accordance with the art and science of hydrography; and likewise so that he may live in Manila and examine the pilots of that line, and make faithful and accurate sea-charts. For that purpose I shall give him considerable enlightenment by giving him the documents on the demarcations, and the information that I possess, on which I have labored much in order to serve your Highness. Nowhere does your Highness need a cosmographer so much as in that land, for many things that arise and may arise.

Item: A plan occurs to me whereby the ships that have to sail in that line may cost your Highness less than half, and a vessel last twice as long, compared with those that are built in Filipinas. Likewise the Indian natives would be saved many hardships and annoyances in the cutting of timber, which they have to do for the building of the ships. This consists in the governor going from Manila to Vengala and Cuchin in India to buy the ships; for they sell them there made from an incorruptible wood together with a quantity of extra rigging made of cayro, [101] which is better than that of hemp. With the rigging alone that can be imported from there, the cost of the ship can be saved. Thence Lascar sailors can be brought, who are cheaper and are very good seamen. All the Portuguese of those parts use them in navigating, and they are very needful in the Filipinas. They will come very willingly and will save your Highness a considerable sum. For that it is necessary to send orders to your viceroy of Goa, and to the chief commandant of Malaca, to protect the Lascars who shall go thither, and not to harm them.

Item: Your Highness granted a concession to the city of Manila of a decree ordering your governor Don Pedro de Acuna to assign to the cabildo of the said city seats in the cathedral, as was befitting the chief municipal body of that kingdom. As yet these have not been assigned, because the wives of the auditors sit inside the principal chapel, where the said cabildo generally sat—that is, opposite the seats of the auditors and governor.

I petition your Highness to have the said seats assigned, and to order the wives of the said auditors to sit elsewhere, since in none of the Yndias do the latter sit in the principal chapel, thus depriving the said cabildo of their seats.

Item: The royal magazines have very few muskets and arquebuses for the defense of that kingdom. I petition your Highness to be pleased to have a quantity of arms sent, and also to order that they be distributed among the citizens; and that the latter pay those who give them those muskets and arquebuses the price that your Highness shall have paid for them there, and the costs [of transportation].

Item: The province of Nueva Segovia, the most northern province of the island of Manila, which is very near China, is a very good and fertile land. It is becoming entirely pacified and quieted. There the Order of St. Dominic is in charge, and they are gathering much fruit. It is the best land in the islands and the most fertile. There, inasmuch as the climate is temperate, the products of this country can be produced, such as wheat, fruits, and other food. It lies in an excellent region, and has there a Spanish city, called Nueva Segovia, which gives name to the said province. It has but few inhabitants now, because the encomenderos of that district go to Manila and desert it. Will your Highness be pleased to order the said encomenderos to live in the said city, and your governor to make efforts to settle it, especially with people who will cultivate and sow the land, so that that district may retain its excellence. For that purpose it is very needful that the said governor appoint an alcalde-mayor for that district, who shall be a lieutenant-governor, and who shall keep his office for three-years; for [the usual] appointments as alcalde are for but one year, and one can learn to know the country but little in so short a time. It is necessary that the judge that shall go there (and so that an influential and satisfactory man might be able to go there) be given a good salary; and that that province and that of Ylocos, which lies next to Nueva Segovia, be subject to him. That is very necessary for the welfare of those two provinces, which are very far from Manila.

Item: Will your Highness be pleased to give me a good master shipbuilder, or authority to look for one, and another intelligent person as shore-master, to assist in the despatch and repairs of ships. He should be a Spaniard and not a foreigner, like the one there now; for in former times, when Doctor Antonio de Morga, your auditor, sailed out against a Dutchman who went to those islands, while two ships were being prepared to attack the Dutch, two holes were bored in one of them one night, and it began to sink, and the sails were taken out and hid in the woods. It was not discovered who did it, nor was any investigation even made. But one may readily presume that some enemy to us did it; and indeed we can not settle our suspicions on anyone. In order to investigate these and many other actions worthy of punishment or correction which have occurred there in these matters, and in others—for instance, that in other parts of those islands they gave that same Dutchman food, and there was some person who communicated with him; while it is even said that they showed him how to get out of a harbor that he had entered, and from which we considered it impossible for him to sail—and finally there are many things to correct and reform, and burdens to be removed from the Indian natives: for all these it is necessary for your Highness to appoint a person there to make official visits through the country. It is as necessary as the inspection itself that such shore-master be a disinterested person and a resident of that country; for if he is after money, he will do no good. Hence, if your Highness be pleased to appoint such an one, there are ecclesiastical persons in the Filipinas, as for instance the bishops, especially he of Cibu, Fray Pedro de Agurto, who is a saintly man; an ecclesiastic, the archdeacon of Manila, called Licentiate Don Francisco Gomez de Arellano, a most zealous servant of God, and a father of that community—one who seeks no money, but rather gives all his income in alms; also a Dominican friar, the commissary of the Holy Office, who is an excellent man; and another friar of the Order of St. Francis, called Fray Juan Baptista. These men, besides having experience in the country, and knowing what demands reform, are men disinterested and wholly competent and capable. Entire faith can be given to any one of them, with assurance. If the visitor be not one of the inhabitants there, it is inadvisable to send him, nor is it my intent to ask for him.

Item: For some years past, some Indians living near by, and our enemies, of the islands of Mindanao, Jolo, Burney, and other neighboring islands, have become emboldened and have gone beyond bounds. They are Mahometans, and have ruined those Filipinas Islands—pillaging and capturing the natives, burning the churches and images, and cutting the images with knives and destroying them, to the great injury of our holy Catholic faith. This has reached so shameless and bold a pass that no one—not only natives but Spaniards—dares to go among the said islands. Those enemies have rendered the said natives very liable to revolt, by coming daily to plunder them, and to carry off their possessions, and their wives and children captive; and in fact they have revolted several times, and taken to the mountains, saying that since the Spaniards do not provide for their defense, they will not pay tribute. Some, who are more loyal, say that, if they are allowed to carry arms as before, they will defend their country. After examining the cause of these troubles with great care, the following considerations have presented themselves.

First, that, according to the command of one of your Highness's royal decrees, such men [i.e., the Moros] cannot be slaves. As they are a race from whom the soldiers can get no other booty, because the Moros do not possess it, they fight unwillingly. If the soldiers could make captives of them, they would become very eager, and that would be a great incentive for the soldiers to destroy them. There is less incentive for them to capture those people than to kill them, as they do now. Again it would be very useful to the said islands, for the natives would also be encouraged to go to war because of their eagerness to possess slaves to cultivate their fields. Therefore, will your Highness be pleased to order that those people be made slaves, since their enslavement is so justifiable and of so great service to God; or that this matter be committed to the royal Audiencia and archbishop and bishops to determine, inasmuch as they have the matter in hand.

Item: There are two other nations in the island of Manila called Zambales and Negrillos. They are a people who live in the mountains. They go naked, and are highwaymen; and their only ambition is to cut off heads, in order to swallow the brains. He is most valiant and influential who has cut off most heads. No woman will marry any one who has not cut off some heads. They are so inhuman and churlish a race that they do not care whether those whom they kill are women, children, or men. They obstruct the most needed road in the island, and occupy the best land. They are near the province of La Pampanga, which is inhabited by an agricultural people, who support Manila. They prevent the latter from cultivating their fields, for seldom can the Indians, whether men or women, go out to cultivate their fields, without their heads being cut off. Although the governors have often sent soldiers to punish them, scarcely have the latter ever killed one of them. For they run like deer, and have no village or fixed abode. They do not sow grain, but live on wild fruits and game. The most efficacious remedy will be for your Highness to order that they be made slaves of the natives of the province of La Pampanga; for with this, through their greed to capture these enemies so as to cultivate their fields, the Pampangos will subdue the country in a very short time, at their own cost. I petition your Highness to commit this matter, as above stated, to the Audiencia, archbishop, and bishops. This is a matter of great importance. Slavery, as practiced among the natives, is such that they are almost not slaves at all; and the system is of great benefit to the country. If this matter be not remedied by the above method, the many depredations that are committed will have no check.

Also, the reason why the enemies have become emboldened beyond their wont is for the lack in those regions of ships fit for that warfare. For that, it must be known that those people use certain light craft called caracoas. Those craft are short and undecked. They have one palmo, more or less, of freeboard; and they carry eighty or one hundred Indians who act as rowers, who use certain oars one vara in length. Each of these vessels carries ten or twelve fighting Indians, no more. They cannot take the open sea, except when it is very calm weather, nor do they carry provisions for even one fortnight. When we Spaniards used those craft, and others called vireys, which resemble them, they greatly feared us; for, since those craft were as light as their own, we made great havoc among those people. And finally—although at great cost to the natives who were drafted as rowers—those ships made the country safe; for they fought after the manner of those people. Those vessels are not used so much now, for in truth they cause great injuries to the natives. I do not know whether I can say that they even care any longer for the damage inflicted by the enemies, one reason being that they are badly paid and badly treated, while their wives and children are left to starve to death, and their crops go to ruin. The governors of the Filipinas, in their effort to avoid that trouble [i.e., of hostile raids] have built galleys there since the time of Doctor Francisco de Sande until now. As I have seen personally, and as all the inhabitants of that country know, the galleys of the Filipinas are their destruction. The reason is that the rowers are a weak people, and their food is not very nourishing. Accordingly, it has happened, even lately—during Don Pedro de Acuna's term, when the galleys were best supplied—that the crew have continued to row a galley for six hours, and that two convicts fell dead, while the others stretched themselves on the deck exhausted; and even if the overseers killed them, they could not make them move. For that reason, and because the seas have strong currents between those islands, and continual winds, the galleys are of little use.

Another reason is that, since the galleys draw much more water than the enemy's vessels, when the former try to make land they can cause no injury. Another reason is that the galleys are generally anchored in the river of Manila, and, when any necessity arises, before they can leave the port they have to get provisions for the crew. Often it is necessary to seek contributions of food from house to house, because there is none in the royal magazines. If the wind is only slightly contrary, which is generally the case, the ships cannot move, and when they finally begin to look for the enemy, the latter are at home, and laughing at us. Another reason is that the galleys are an intolerable burden, which it is impossible to sustain. They have so consumed the supplies, and so endangered the royal treasury, that other very necessary things cannot be attended to. Further, they cause the ships of the line, to be short of necessities and poorly equipped, because in attending to the construction of the galleys, they neglect the ships. And since there are many ship-worms there in the river, which eat the ships, it is necessary to rebuild them every year, and to be continually repairing them. Further, they are dens of thieves, who are always assaulting and plundering the Indians. In short, they are the destruction of that community; and hitherto have accomplished nothing, either good or bad, that is of any importance. Further, your Highness is under great expense with them in paying their many salaries. Consequently, as there is little cloth in the Filipinas with which to clothe so many, everything is, of necessity, going to ruin, where the expenses are not measured by the revenues. All the above evils can be corrected by ordering ships made according to the plan and model that I left with the governor at my departure; for, considering the said wrongs, and wishing to remedy them, I made a ship at my own cost, which has the following peculiarities, of which I give a description.

They are vessels that carry no more than seven oars to a bench, although larger or smaller ones can be made. Each one will cost your Highness two hundred and fifty ducados to build; and will with two-thirds as many or even fewer rowers, carry twice as many soldiers as do the caracoas. The men are protected from sun and shower in excellent quarters which neither the caracoas nor the galleys have. They carry food for six months, a thing which those other vessels cannot do. They are very swift sailers, so that there is no ship that can pass them when there is not a contrary wind that prohibits sailing. They respond so readily to the oar, that while testing that ship before the governor and all Manila, against the swiftest galley of all, I left the galley more than half-way behind. They carry sufficient artillery to destroy the vessels of all the enemies that we have there, except those of pirates when such should go there. For the latter it is necessary to have large ships; and it would be advisable to keep there a couple of fragatas like those built in Habana by Pedro Melendes.

Those ships above mentioned are not only useful for war, but can save your Highness many expenses in ships, in carrying food and the tributes; for, in the time while I had it, about two months, until after I had given it to the governor, it alone accomplished more than did all the other vessels. Consequently, a vast sum can be saved, and the soldiers will be more eager, if they find themselves in so advantageous a vessel. Also the natives will be spared injuries; and innumerable other benefits will follow, which, in order to avoid prolixity, I shall refrain from mentioning. Your viceroy of Nueva Espana had me make a model of the said vessel for the exploration of the sea of California in Mexico.

Item: The garrison soldiers of Manila are a cause [of the ruin of the country], for many are killed, and they are lessened in numbers; and they commit many vile acts, by which the Spanish nation suffers great loss of reputation among those pagans. Inasmuch as they are paid there in three yearly installments, the result is that, as soon as they have received their money, most of them gamble it away in their quarters, and then go about barefoot and naked. Many sell their arquebuses to the natives, which is a great evil. They have to go about begging alms and commit innumerable acts of meanness among the pagans themselves—who, in contempt, call them "soldiers." Further, will your Highness be pleased to order your viceroy of Nueva Espana not to allow any mestizos or mulattoes to be admitted among the men sent as reenforcements to the Filipinas; for such men give themselves up to intoxication, and injure us greatly.

It is possible to remedy the needs of the soldiers in this manner. Your Highness has imposed a situado of two reals on all the tributes of those islands, in order to pay one and one-half reals to the soldiers and one-half real to the prebendaries of the church. This amount is paid into the royal treasury. As the treasury always falls short, and the Audiencia has to be preferred in the payment of its salaries; and as the galleys and many other things cause a shortage, eight or ten months or one year are wont to pass without the soldiers receiving any pay; consequently, one can imagine their sufferings. It will be very important to have that situado placed in a separate fund. Since there are three royal officials and in the said treasury two are sufficient if one of them performs two duties (as has often been done), the third official could take charge of that situado. He could purchase food at the harvests which would be cheap, and every week he could give the soldiers a ration of rice—the ordinary bread of that country—or wheat, which is also produced there, besides giving them in money one real per day. The amount still remaining could be paid to them every four months in order that they might clothe themselves. If their pay were increased by eight reals more, they could live well; and one-half of those who die now would not die, which is much more costly to your Highness. If your Highness is not willing to have the royal official to whose charge that duty must fall perform it there, a rich and very intelligent citizen should be charged with it; and in cases of need he should have to supply what will be often necessary.

Item: Manila lacks artillerymen—I mean men who understand artillery when need arises; for men are not lacking to take the pay of artillerymen, some of whom have never heard a gun fired all their life, but only enjoy that salary as a favor. Consequently your Highness's revenues are spent uselessly, for such men are artillerymen only in name. I petition your Highness that artillerymen be made to pass an examination, or that on demand they furnish a certificate of examination; and that whoever shall pay their salary or order it to be paid [to incompetent men] shall incur a severe penalty; and that any person who shall apply for a position in the artillery service when one becomes vacant, shall, if a capable artilleryman, be preferred to the others, and that no posts shall be granted by favor to those who do not understand artillery.

Item: That camp needs a founder of artillery, who must be an efficient and good workman; for during the last fourteen years nothing else has been done than to spend your Highness's royal revenues in salaries and making estimates of cost, and they have accomplished nothing useful. There is a good supply of metals and everything else necessary. It is extremely advisable that those islands have some one who understands founding artillery, in order to fortify the city.

Item: Inasmuch as that city is so far from your Highness's eyes, and where journeys to and fro are made with so great difficulty, it is necessary for the good government of spiritual affairs, according to the customary method in Yndia, that, in case of the decease of the archbishop of Manila, his successor be appointed there; or that at least the senior bishop, or whoever your Highness may choose, shall govern the archbishopric. For, the first time when the archbishopric was vacant, that city was seven years without a prelate; and the second time, three or four years. In this matter, I must tell your Highness that you could avoid having so many bishops there—especially those of Caceres and Nueva Segovia, who are in that same island of Manila; for they have no churches of importance, nor even any place wherein suitably to keep the most holy sacrament. Neither do the bishops do more than to confirm, and for that a bishop in partibus [102] would be sufficient. Considering that the royal treasury is poor and cannot attend to many other necessary things, it is very inadvisable to increase those expenses in other ways. And considering the future—for there might happen to be persons in those bishoprics who do not think of or profess the poverty and bareness now maintained by those who are there—that would be a great burden on the Indian natives, and of no use.

Item: That in the trade of the Filipinas with the kingdom of Japon, in exchange for the merchandise shipped there they carry silver to Manila; for Japon has quantities of silver, and many rich mines have been discovered. The said silver is of the quality required by law, its fifth is taken, and the Japanese emperor's duties are paid as they are here paid to your Highness. Inasmuch as silver money is used in those kingdoms and districts only by weight—and thus the citizens of Manila receive it, while the same is usual in Piru and Nueva Espana, wherever there are mines, in buying and selling with pieces of silver marked by weight instead of being coined; and inasmuch as this is very useful to the citizens of Manila, since, if this trade increases as it is increasing now, it will not be necessary to trade at all with the coined money of Nueva Espana: therefore I petition your Highness to be pleased to allow the said silver to pass as it has always passed; and that table service and other articles may be made of it without new duties being demanded, since these are not due.

Item: That during the war with the Sangleys, when they revolted, the Indian natives about Manila and La Laguna de Bay, and especially those of the province of La Pampanga, fought with great valor against the Sangleys, and aided us with great loyalty and willingness. It was at a juncture when, had they joined the side of the enemies, the Filipinas would have been ruined. Will your Highness be pleased to order the governor to thank them for it in your Highness's name. They will greatly esteem that, especially certain chiefs—as, for instance, Don Guillermo, who on that occasion was master-of-camp of the Pampanga Indians; and Don Ventura, master-of-camp of those of Bay. I also request that the governor be commanded to order the religious who have missions under their charge to treat the Indians well; for they are wont to lash the natives for slight causes, and equally with them even the chief Indian women. This is very necessary, both for the conversion and for good example, and in order to incline them to us and make them devoted to us. For they are a race, who, with little effort on our part and with reasonable treatment, will do whatever we desire. The same thing should be ordered to the alcaldes-mayor; and your Highness should order the royal Audiencia to have any injuries committed on the Indians rigorously punished—for, inasmuch as these have not been so punished, many troubles have happened.

Fernando de los Rios Coronel

(To be concluded)



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA

Most of the documents in this volume are obtained from MSS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla; their pressmarks are as follows:

1. Letter from Alcaraz.—"Audiencia de Mexico; expedientes sobre el apresto de la armada que salio de Nueva Espana para las islas Filipinas; anos 1612 a 1617; est 96, caj. 1, leg. 22."

2. Memorial regarding hospital.—"Simancas—Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes del gobernador de Filipinas vistos en el Consejo; anos de 1600 a 1628; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 7."

3. Letter from Tenza.—The same as No. 2.

4. Letters to Fajardo.—"Audiencia de Filipinas; registros de oficios; reales ordenes dirigidas a las autoridades del distrito de la Audiencia; anos 1597 a 1634; est. 105, caj. 2, leg. 1."

5. Filipinas menaced.—"Simancas—Secular; cartas y expedientes del presidente y oidores de dicha Audiencia vistos en el Consejo; anos 1607 a 1626; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 20."

6. Philippine shipbuilding.—"Simancas—Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes de personas seculares vistos en el Consejo; anos 1619 a 1621; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 38."

7. Decree regarding religious expelled.—The same as No. 4—save "anos 1605 a 1645," and "leg. 12."

8. Proposal to destroy Macao.—"Simancas—Eclesiastico; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes de personas eclesiasticas de Filipinas; anos 1609 a 1644; est. 68, caj. i, leg. 43."

9. Letter from Pedro de Arce.—"Simancas—Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes de los obispos sufraganeos de Manila; anos de 1579 a 1679; est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 34."

10. Letter from Fajardo.—The same as No. 2.

11. Grant to seminary.—The same as No. 6.

12. Reforms needed.—"Simancas—Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes del cabildo secular de Manila vistos en el Consejo; anos 1570 a 1640; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 27." Three documents are combined in this one; of these the first is in the original a printed pamphlet with MS. additions.

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

13. Trade with the Far East.—"Tomo 15, no. 19."

14. Relation of 1617-18.—"Tomo 84, no. 7."

15. Description of islands.—"Tomo 84, no. 22."

16. Dutch factories.—"Tomo 135, no. 34."

17. Relation of 1618-19.—"Tomo 112, no. 55."



NOTES

[1] Spanish, se hierra; an allusion to the branding of convicts with a hot iron; that is, a defeat on the part of the Spaniards would be an irremediable damage to their reputation.

[2] See Vol. XIV, p. 314, note 53.

[3] The property of deceased persons was carefully guarded by law, as numerous decrees show; see Recopilacion de leyes, lib. ix, tit. xiv, which contains twenty-five ordinances, devoted to "the property of persons who have died in the Indias, and its administration and accounts in the House of Trade at Sevilla;" and lib. ii, tit. xxxii, with seventy ordinances regarding "the courts in charge of such property, and its administration and accounts in the Indias, and on vessels of war or trade." Two of these laws (ley xxii in the former group, and ley lix in the latter) give definite and unqualified command that the funds in the probate treasury shall not be used for any purpose whatsoever, even for the needs of the royal service; and another (ley lx, second group), dated December 13, 1620, commands that the proceeds of estates left by persons dying in the Philippines shall be accounted for and paid (to the heirs) at the royal treasury in the city of Mexico.

[4] Juan Ronquillo was a relative of Gonzalo Ronquillo de Penalosa. After the death of Rodriguez de Figueroa, he conducted an expedition to Mindanao in 1597 at Governor Tello's order (see description of that expedition, Vol. XV). In 1617 he defeated the Dutch at Playa Honda, as above described.

[5] Playa Honda (signifying "a low beach") is the name of an extensive plain in Batalan or Botolan mountain, 1,847 feet high, on the coast of Zambales province, Luzon, to the northwest of Manila. In the text, this name is applied to a road or anchorage on that coast; its early name was Paynauen.

[6] This was Miguel Garcia Serrano; he made his profession as an Augustinian friar in 1592, at Agreda, Spain. Three years later, he arrived in the Philippines, where he was minister in several native villages, and held various important offices in his order, being provincial in 1611. Then he went to Spain and Rome; and, when the see of Nueva Segovia became vacant, Serrano was appointed to it. After ruling this bishopric for two years (June, 1617-August, 1619) he became archbishop of Manila. His death occurred in June, 1629.

[7] "At this time (i.e., late in the sixteenth century], also, political and religious war was almost universal in Europe, and the quarrels of the various nationalities followed the buccaneers, pirates, traders, and missionaries to the distant seas of Japan .... All foreigners, but especially Portuguese, were then slave traders, and thousands of Japanese were bought and sold, and shipped to Macao, in China, and to the Philippines. Hideyoshi repeatedly issued decrees threatening with death these slave-traders, and even the purchasers. The seaports of Hirado and Nagasaki were the resort of the lowest class of adventurers from all European Nations, and the result was a continual series of uproars, broils, and murders among the foreigners, requiring ever and anon the intervention of the native authorities to keep the peace." (Griffis's Mikado's Empire, p. 254.)

[8] A small island—the name meaning "Vay Island," Pulo being simply the Malay word for "island"—situated near the island of Banda. The English post thereon which is mentioned in the text was of little consequence, according to Richard Cocks—see his Diary, 1615-22 (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1883), i, pp. 269, 274, 275, 292; he states that there were "5 or 7 English men in that iland," and that they were slain by the Dutch and the natives. The editor of the Diary, E.M. Thompson, cites (p. 269) mention of this event in Purchas His Pilgrimes. The name Pulovay is also applied to a small island north of Achen, Sumatra.

[9] This document is also contained in the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library), i, pp. 443-471. Certain variations occur therein from the text we follow, which is transcribed from the original MS. in the Real Academia de Historia, Madrid; and that of Ventura del Arco purports to be taken from the same MS. This apparent discrepancy probably arises from the two transcriptions being made from different copies of the same document. In the collection of the Real Academia more than one copy exists, in the case of certain documents; and there may be more than one copy of the one here presented. It should be remembered, in this connection, that in the religious houses in Europe manuscript copies of letters from distant lands were largely circulated, at that period, for the edification of their members (as we have before noted); and these copies were often not verbatim, the transcriber sometimes making slight changes, or omissions, or adding information which he had received later or by other channels. Our own text has been collated with that of Ventura del Arco, and variations or additions found in the latter are indicated as above, in brackets, followed by "V.d.A."—omitting, however, some typographical and other slight variations, which are unimportant. In the Ventura del Arco transcript there are considerable omissions of matter contained in the MS. that we follow.

[10] For account of the arrival of these vessels in Japan, and various details regarding their exploits in the Philippines, see Cocks's Diary, i, pp. 259-281. The name "Leon Rojo" signifies "Red Lion;" and "Fregelingas" is apparently a Spanish corruption of "Vlissingue" ("Flushing").

[11] This word is written Tono in the Ventura del Arco transcript. The ruler of Firando (the local form of Hirado, as it is more correctly written) was then Takanobu, who became daimio—"king," in the English and Spanish writers; but equivalent to "baron"—of that island. The name Tono Sama, applied to the daimio, is not a personal name, but a polite form, equivalent to "your Lordship." See Satow's notes on Voyage of Saris (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1900), p. 79. Cocks speaks of this ruler as Figen Sama.

The "history of Hirado as a commercial port" up to 1611 is recounted by Satow (ut supra, pp. xliv-li).

[12] This commander is mentioned by Cocks as John Derickson Lamb. The ship called "Galeaca" in our text is "Gallias" in that of Cocks.

[13] Evidently Ilocos, as is shown by another mention near the end of this paragraph.

[14] Name of the Moro pirates who inhabit the little islands of the Sulu group east of Tawi-tawi, and the islands between these and Borneo; but on the last the name Tirones is also conferred—derived from the province of Tiron in Borneo, to which these islands are adjacent. See Blumentritt's list of Philippine tribes and languages (Mason's translation), in Smithsonian Report, 1899. pp. 527-547.

[15] "In 1611, Iyeyasu obtained documentary proof of what he had long suspected, viz., the existence of a plot on the part of the native converts and the foreign emissaries to reduce Japan to the position of a subject state... Iyeyasu now put forth strenuous measures to root out utterly what he believed to be a pestilent breeder of sedition and war. Fresh edicts were issued, and in 1614 twenty-two Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian friars, one hundred and seventeen Jesuits, and hundreds of native priests and catechists, were embarked by force on board junks, and sent out of the country." (Griffis's Mikado's Empire, p. 256.)

The priests mentioned in our text were put to death in June, 1617, at Omura (Cocks's Diary, i, pp. 256, 258).

[16] Vicente Sepulveda was a native of Castilla, and entered the Augustinian order in that province; he was a religious of great attainments in knowledge and virtue. He arrived in the Philippines in 1606, became very proficient in the language of the Pampangos, and was a missionary among them for five years. In 1614 he was elected provincial of his order in the islands. "Thoroughly inflexible in character, he undertook to secure the most rigorous observance of the decrees and mandates of the latest father-visitor, on which account he incurred the great displeasure and resentment of many. By the death of Father Jeronimo de Salas, Father Sepulveda became a second time the ruler of the province, as rector provincial; but he did not change in the least his harsh and rigid mode of government. A lamentable and unexpected event put an end to his already harassed life, on August 21, 1617." (Perez's Catalogo, p. 76.)

[17] Jeronimo de Salas made his profession in the Augustinian convent at Madrid, in 1590, and reached the Philippines in 1595. He was a missionary to the Indians for some fifteen years, and was afterward elected to high positions in his order. "So exceptional was the executive ability of which he gave proof in the discharge of these offices that in the provincial chapter held in 1617 he was unanimously elected prior provincial. Most unfortunately, when so much was hoped from the eminent abilities of this very judicious and learned religious, an acute illness ended his valuable life; he died at Manila on May 17 of the same year." (Perez's Catalogo, p. 49.)

[18] Alonso Rincon was one of the Augustinians arriving in the Philippines in 1606. He was minister in various Indian villages until 1617, when he was appointed prior of the Manila convent. He was sent as procurator to Spain and Rome in 1618, and returned to Manila four years afterward. He died there in 1631.

[19] The Ventura del Arco transcript ends here; but it is followed by a note, thus:

Note by the transcriber: "The court of Rome was greatly offended at the just and proper procedure of the definitorio of the Order, giving them to understand that they should have concealed the crime and the criminals; but that, besides being against all morality and the necessity of making a public example of offenders, would have been impossible in this case, so notorious in Manila from the hour when the crime and the delinquents were discovered."

[20] Cf. the brief account of this tragic occurrence given by the Augustinian chronicler Juan de Medina, in his Historia (1630), which will be presented in a later volume of this series.

[21] A fleet of five caravels arrived at Manila in 1612, which had come from Cadiz via the Cape of Good Hope; they were commanded by Ruy Gonzalez Sequeira, and brought reenforcements of nearly six hundred men.

[22] This was Alonso Fajardo y Tenza; for sketch of his career as governor, see appendix at end of Vol. XVII.

[23] These italic sidebeads represent marginal notes in the MS. from which this document is translated.

[24] So in the transcription, but apparently a copyist's error of sesenta ("sixty") for setenta ("seventy "). See Vol. III, p. 153.

[25] Evidently referring to the statement above (under the heading "Camarines") as to the use of gold by the Indians for their ornaments.

[26] Achen is at the northwest extremity of Sumatra, and Jambi is a state in the northeast part of the same island. Sumatra is the principal source of the black pepper of commerce. See articles "Sumatra," "Jambi," and "Pepper," in Crawfurd's Dictionary of Indian Islands. Negapatan is on the eastern coast of Hindustan, not far from Cape Comorin.

[27] Better known by its modern name of Johor; it is the Malay state at the southern end of the Malayan peninsula, and the British territory of Malacca and the Malay state of Pahang lie north of it. The town of Johor was founded in 1511, by the Malays who were then expelled from Malacca by the Portuguese. Johor was not an island, but part of the mainland: the text probably refers to one of the islands off its coast on which a Dutch post may have been located; some of these islands are still possessed by the Dutch.

[28] Apparently a corruption of the name Masulipatam, a city on the Coromandel coast of India—not, as Heredia calls it, an island.

[29] This last paragraph decides the authorship of this document, plainly indicating that of Pedro de Heredia, who filled the post he mentions in the last sentence, and captured the Dutch commander van Caerden.

[30] Evidently a reference to the hospital at Los Banos (see Vol. XIV, p. 211).

[31] Achotes [hachotes] para los faroles: A large wax candle, with more than one wick, or a union of three or four candles, which was used for the lanterns.

[32] The bahar (from bahara, a word of Sanscrit origin) has long been in quite general use in the East. The word is found variously spelled, "bahare," "bare," and "vare." Its value varies in different localities, there being two distinct weights—one, the great bahar, used for weighing cloves, other spices, etc.; and the small bahar, about 150 kilos or 400 pounds avoirdupois, used for weighing quicksilver, various metals, certain drugs, etc. John Saris, writing of the commerce of Bantam, says: "A sacke is called a Timbang, and two Timbanges is one Peecull, three Peeculls is a small bahar, and foure Peeculls and an halfe a great Bahar, which is foure hundred fortie fiue Cattees and an halfe."

At Malacca and Achen, the great bahar is said by an old Dutch voyageur to contain 200 cates, each cate containing 26 taiels or 38 1/2 Portuguese ounces, weak; the small bahar, also 200 cates, but each cate of only 22 taiels or 32 1/2 ounces, strong; while in China the bahar contained 300 cates, which were equivalent to the 200 cates of Malacca. Instructions to Francois Wittert, commissary at Bantam, gives the following table for weights: 1 picol = 2 Basouts or Basauts = 100 catis; 1 hare = 9 basauts = 4 1/2 picols—which should have amounted to 600 Dutch pounds, but in the equivalent then rendered was only 540 pounds. Dutch annals also give equivalents in Dutch pounds as 380, 525, 550, and 625. Modern English equivalents in pounds avoirdupois for various places are: Amboyna, 597.607; Arabia—(Bet-el-falsi), 815.625, (Jidda), 183.008, (Mocha), 450; Bantam—(ordinary) 396, (for pepper) 406.780; Batavia, 610.170. See Satow's notes on Voyage of John Saris to Japan (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1900), pp. 212, 213; Recueil des voyages (Amsterdam, 1725); and Clarke's Weights, Measures, and Money (N.Y., 1888).

[33] Apparently referring to the hostilities in the preceding year between the Dutch and English at Pulovay, a small island near Banda (see ante, note 8). See list of Dutch forts in 1612-1613 in the Moluccas, in Voyage of John Saris.

[34] A court minute of the English East India Company, dated November 12, 1614, has the following in regard to Dutch opposition to the English in the East Indies: "Yett he [i.e., John Saris] found the Dutch very opposite to hinder the English in their proceedings all that ever they might, as well by vndersellinge, contrarye to their promyse, at [sic] by all other means of discouradgement, makeinge shewe of waunte without any occasion."

(See Voyage of John Saris, p. lxiv.) Regarding the competition and hostility between the Dutch and English in the trade of the Indies, which often led to open warfare (as at Banda in 1617-1618), see Voyage of Sir Henry Middleton (Hakluyt Society's publications, London 1855), and Kerr's Collection of Travels and Voyages (Edinburgh, 1824), viii and ix. The attempts of James I of England to win alliance with Spain lend some color to the proposed English-Spanish alliance in the Moluccas.

[35] Apparently referring to the importation of quicksilver (via Manila) from China to Nueva Espana. (Sec Vol. XVII, p. 237.)

[36] These islands were discovered in 1568 by Alvaro de Mendana; but for various reasons nothing was done to make them available as a conquest, and their location became so doubtful that many geographers disbelieved their existence, and even removed them from the maps. These islands were not rediscovered until late in the eighteenth century. See the Hakluyt Society's publication of the narratives of Mendana and others, Discovery of the Solomon Islands (London, 1901), with editorial comments by Lord Amherst of Hackney and Basil Thomson.

[37] From internal evidence it is apparent that this relation is written from Nueva Espana, a thing which the reader must constantly keep in mind; also that it was written in 1619—probably in January or February, as it was considered by the Council in May of that year.

[38] Delgado (Historia, pp. 418, 419) and Blanco (Flora, pp. 428-429) describe a tree called dangcalan, or palo maria (calophyllum inophyllum—Linn.), which is probably the tree referred to in the text. While generally a tree of ordinary size, it is said to grow to huge dimensions in Mindanao. Besides its use as above mentioned, an oil or balsam is distilled from the leaves, or obtained from the trunk, which has valuable medicinal uses, in both external and internal application. This oil sometimes serves to give light, but the light is dim, and to anoint the hoofs of horses. It blooms in November, the flowers growing in bunches of seven or nine each; and its leaf is oval and tapering. The wood is light, exceedingly tough, and reddish in color. It is very plentiful in the Visayas, and generally grows close to the water. It is known by a number of different names, among them being bitanhol or bitanjol, and dincalin.

[39] Perhaps the guijo (also spelt guiso or guisoc; Dipterocarpus guiso—Bl.), a wood of red color, which is strong, durable, tough, and elastic; it produces logs 75 feet long by 24 inches square, and is now used in Hongkong for wharf-decks and flooring, but in Manila for carriage shafts (U.S. Gazetteer of Philippine Islands). Blanco says that this tree is much esteemed for carriage-wheels, and is also used for topmasts and keels. The Indians call it guiso, but the Spaniards have corruptly called it guijo. It is common in Mindoro.

[40] Probably the lauan (also called lauaan and sandana; Dipterocarpus thurifera—Linn.), a reddish white or ashy wood with brown spots, used chiefly in the construction of canoes, and producing logs 75 feet long by 24 inches square (U.S. Gazetteer). Blanco says that this tree yields a fragrant, hard, white resin, which is used instead of incense in the churches. San Agustin, quoted by Blanco, says that the planks of the sides of the ancient galleys were of lauaan, for balls do not chip this wood. Delgado mentions two species: lauaan mulato, in color almost dark red; and lauaan blanco (white), which was used as planking for boats.

[41] That is, the cubit; a measure of length equal to the distance from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. The codo real, or royal cubit, is three fingers longer than the ordinary codo. The geometrical codo is equivalent to 418 mm., and the codo real to 574 mm. See Velasquez: New Dictionary of Spanish language (New York, 1902).

[42] The banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa—Pers.; Munchausia speciosa; Lagerstroemia flos reginae—Retz.) grows to a height of thirty to fifty feet, and varies in color from reddish white to dull red. Its flowers are red and very beautiful, and bloom in March. The tree is very common and used for many things, especially for ship and house construction, particularly the red variety. It is strong and resists the elements well. See U.S. Gazetteer and Blanco's Flora.

[43] Perhaps a colloquial name given by the Spaniards, or a corruption of the native name.

[44] See ante, note 39.

[45] Also called the dungol and dungon (Sterculia cimbriformis; D.C.). It yields logs 50 feet by 20 inches square. It is pale reddish in color, and is used for roof-timbers and the keels of vessels. It is strong but does not resist the seaworms. It blooms in March and December. See ut supra.

[46] U.S. Gazetteer mentions the various woods used for shipbuilding as follows: Yacal or saplungan (Dipterocarpus plagatus—Bl.), betis (Azaola betis—Bl.), dungon, and ipil or ypil (Eperua decandra—Bl.), for keels and stern-posts; antipolo (Artocarpus incisa—Linn.), for keels and outside planking; molave (Vitex geniculata—Bl.), for futtock-timbers and stem-crooks for frame-work; banaba, for outside planking and beams; guijo, for beams, masts, and yards; batitinan (Lagerstroemia batitinan), for keelsons and clamps; mangachapuy or mangachapoi (Dipterocarpus mangachapoi—Bl.), for water-ways and decktimbers; amuguis (Cyrtocarpa quinquestila—Bl.), for upper works and partitions; palo-maria, for futtock-timbers, masts and yards.

[47] The offices of those in charge of the building of ships would seem, from the following law, to have been a sinecure in the islands. This law is taken from Recopilacion de leyes, lib. v, tit. xv, ley viii. "The governors of Filipinas appoint persons to build the galleons or boats, who are wont to cause great thefts and injuries to our royal treasury, and on the Indians. For their occupation they are given ten or more toneladas of cargo in the trading ships, on account of being relatives or followers of the governors. Some have had as many as forty toneladas, and have filled them with gold at forty reals per tae, or seven and one-half castellanos—forcibly seizing it from the Indians at an unjust price, in order afterward to sell it at ninety-six reals per tae. Inasmuch as they are persons of influence, their residencia is never taken. We order that the residencias of such builders, and of the others who shall have received and had money from the royal treasury for shipbuilding or any other sea or land expense, shall be taken, at the same time as those of the presidents and ministers who are obliged to give them. In respect to the governors not employing their relatives and kinsmen, servants, or followers, or those of the auditors, in these matters or in any others, they shall keep the rules and ordinances." Felipe IV, August 19, 1621.

[48] Short, round-headed tarpauling nails.

[49] Apparently another name for the palm-tree called by the Tagals cauong (Arenga saccharifera—Labill.; Caryota onusta—Bl.), also known as negro cabo ("black head"). The leaf yields fibers that are long, black, and very strong; the cordage made from them is very durable, resisting even salt water. This is evidently the product elsewhere mentioned as "black cordage." See U.S. Gazetteer, p. 72; Blanco's Flora, p. 511. Concerning the abaca, see Vol. III, p. 263.

[50] That is, the natives were drafted from their respective villages for public works—nominally for wages paid them, but in reality, as this document alone would show, kept in a condition of practical slavery. Cf. the royal decree of May 26, 1609 (Vol. XVII, p. 79), regulating the services of the Indians.

[51] Habas: a species of bean. Garbanzos: see Vol. XII, p. 88, note 17.

[52] Gerguetas, for jerguetas: a coarse frieze or other coarse cloth.

[53] Our transcript reads at this point: "quedaron en la ciudad de manila y puerto de cabite siete galeones los seis el uno de los quales." We omit translation of the words "los seis," "the six," as being apparently a lapsus calami.

[54] See description of this naval contest ante, p. 37.

[55] See Vol. XVI, p. 272, note.

[56] The prebends of Spanish cathedrals directly above the prebends of canonries; or, the incumbents thereof.

[57] The racionero and medio racionero are prebendaries of Spanish cathedrals, ranking in the order named.

[58] The fourth vow of the Jesuits binds to implicit obedience in going wherever the pope orders them to go for the salvation of souls. The other three vows are the same as those professed by other religious.

[59] The original is "todos alcaran luego de eras," literally "all will immediately finish their harvesting of grain."

[60] Pyrard de Laval says—in his Voyage (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1887-88), ii, pp. 256, 257: "When one is making a voyage from Goa, one says to which quarter one is going, whether to the south or the north coast. 'The north' is from Goa to Cambaye, 'the south' from Goa to the Cape of Comori.... From Bassains [Bacani of our text; the modern Bassein] comes all the timber for building houses and vessels; indeed, most of the ships are built there. It also supplies a very fine and hard free stone, like granite; ... All the magnificent churches and palaces at Goa and the other towns are built of this stone." The editors of the Voyage add: "Bassein, twenty-six miles north of Bombay, was ceded to the Portuguese in 1536. It became the favorite resort of the wealthier Portuguese, the place being noted for handsome villas and pretty gardens. It was taken by the Mahrattas in 1739, after a siege of three months, in which the Portuguese, for the last time in India, fought with stubborn courage." Bassein was captured by the British in 1780. The term "Mogors" in the text refers to some of the kings who were vassals of the Great Mogul (Vol. XVII, p. 252).

[61] Diego de Pantoja, born in 1571, became a novice in the Jesuit order at the age of eighteen. Seven years later he embarked to join the mission in Japan; but on reaching Macao he was assigned as companion to the noted Jesuit missionary, Mateo Ricci, and the two founded the mission of Pekin. Being later expelled from the kingdom, Pantoja died at Macao in January, 1618 (Sommervogel). Ricci died at Pekin in May, 1610. In the archives not only of Spain, but of Italy, France, and England, are many and voluminous documents referring to the Catholic missions in China. The Jesuit missions there are very fully recounted in Lettres edifiantes.

[62] See Henry Yule's account of "Nestorian Christianity in China," in his Cathay and the Way Thither (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1866), pp. lxxxviii-ci; cf. pp. clxxxi-iii, and 497. Regarding the Jews in China, see ut supra, pp. lxxx, 225, 341, 497, 533.

[63] In 1618 the Manchu leader Noorhachu invaded the province of Liaotung—now a division of the province of Sheng-King, and lying on the northern coast of the Korean Gulf; its southern extremity forms a long, narrow peninsula which terminates at the entrance of the Gulf of Pe-chili, and on it are the fortified posts of Dalny and Port Arthur, important strategic points commanding the entrance to that gulf, and prominent in the present war (May, 1904) between Russia and Japan. In Liaotung are also the important towns of Mukden and Niuchuang (Newchwang). In 1621 Noorhachu captured Mukden, and soon conquered the rest of the province; and, about twenty-five years later, his successors completed the conquest of China, expelling the Ming dynasty (which had begun in 1368), and establishing that of the Manchus, which still rules in China. For a detailed description of this conquest, see Boulger's History of China (London and New York, 1900), pp. 97-125.

[64] There is an apparent hiatus here; perhaps it should read "before the last invasion."—Trans.

[65] Boulger says (History of China, p. 107): "During this campaign it was computed that the total losses of the Chinese amounted to 310 general officers and 45,000 private soldiers." Noorhachu defeated three Chinese armies, and captured the towns of Fooshun, Tsingho, and Kaiyuen.

[66] A phonetic rendering of Wanleh (Vol. III, p. 228). See account of his reign in Boulger's History of China, pp. 97-107.

[67] The Christian religion was first introduced into Cochinchina (a kingdom founded in 1570, by a Tonquin chief) by Spanish Franciscans, in 1583; but little was accomplished for the conversion of the heathen until 1615, when both Franciscans and Jesuits entered upon that work. See Crawfurd's account of the country, in his Dictionary of Indian Islands, pp. 105-112.

[68] See letter by Bishop Arce, post.

[69] This name is not to be found in Sommervogel.

[70] That is, Yedo; then, as now (but with the modern name Tokio), the capital of the Japanese empire. The Castle of Yedo, first built in 1456-57, was the abode of the Tokugawa Shoguns from 1591—when it was assigned to Iyeyasu, who greatly enlarged it—until the close of that dynasty in 1868. See historical and descriptive account of this edifice, by T.R.H. McClatchie, in Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vi (Tokyo, ed. 1888), pp. 119-154.

[71] The daimios constituted, under the old feudal organization of Japan, a class of territorial nobility, who numbered about two hundred and fifty. Under Iyemidzu (1623-51) the daimios were obliged to live in Yedo half the time with their families; and, before this, those nobles had been in the habit of visiting the reigning monarch at the capital. For account of the daimios and their vassals, the samurai, see Rein's Japan, pp. 318-328; and Griffis's Mikado's Empire, pp. 217, 321, 322.

[72] For a narrative of the persecutions of Christians in Japan and the suppression of that religion there, with the causes of that action on the part of Japan's rulers—Iyeyasu, Hidetada, and Iyemidzu, 1600-1650—see Rein's Japan, pp. 304-311; Griffis's Mikado's Empire, pp. 252-259; and J.H. Gubbins's "Introduction of Christianity into China and Japan," in Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vi (Tokyo, ed. 1888); pp. 1-38—with supplementary information thereon by E.M. Satow (who reproduces Iyeyasu's celebrated proclamation of 1614), pp. 43-62.

[73] Cf. the account of these episodes (the maltreatment of Englishmen by the Dutch, and the loss of the Dutch ship) given by Richard Cocks in his Diary, pp. 51-76.

[74] Probably alluding to one of the two Franciscans captured by the Moros nearly two years before (Montero y Vidal's Hist. pirateria, i, p. 154), but afterward ransomed by the Spaniards—Fray Domingo de los Martires and Fray Alonso de la Soledad.

[75] Apparently a reference to the beri-beri, a disease common in India and other lands of Southern Asia. A similar or identical disease, prevalent in Japan, is there known as kak'ke; see William Anderson's account of this disease in Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vi (Tokyo, ed. 1888), pp. 155-181.

[76] In the text this is a curious double play upon words, which cannot be exactly reproduced in translation. The Spanish reads, y que multos por dar en el clavo an de dar en la herradura—literally, "many in striking the nail will strike the horseshoe," clavo meaning both "nail" and "clove."—Trans.

[77] Cocks mentions in his Diary (i, p. 268) the arrival of French ships at Bantam in 1617.

[78] Spanish, amplitud ortiva, meaning an angle measured on the eastern horizon. The term amplitude, thus used (by English writers also), is an old one in astronomical terminology. In the description of the second comet, al pie refers apparently to the head of the comet, which is here called its foot because sometimes this point was nearer to the horizon.—Rev. Jose Algue, S.J. (director of Manila Observatory).

[79] Referring to the ancient astronomical notion that a comet was an exhalation.—Harry T. Benedict (professor of astronomy, University of Texas).

[80] "Evidently the modern province of Awa or Boshiu (its Chinese name), which is situated in the eastern part of Shikoku Island, in Tokaido or "the eastern sea-road." See J.J. Rein's Japan, p. 9.

[81] That is, one of the fixed number of notaries assigned or allowed to Manila.

[82] See Vol. x, p. 230, note 30.

[83] See Vol. xvii, p. 145, note 44.

[84] Recopilacion de leyes contains the following law in regard to the rations of rice: "Inasmuch as the presidents and auditors of the Audiencia of the Filipinas Islands, and the officials of our royal treasury are accustomed to divide among themselves all the tributes of rice belonging to us in La Pampanga for the expense of their houses, taking it at the price at which the tributarios give it at the harvest, whence it happens that the rations given on our account are lacking, and that they must be bought at excessive rates; and as such procedure is very prejudicial to our royal treasury: therefore we order the president and royal officials to avoid it and stop so pernicious a custom, for thus is it advisable for our royal service." [Felipe III, Madrid, December 19, 1618 —lib. ii, tit. xvi, ley lxxii.]

[85] The following document, preserved in Archivo general de Indias with the same pressmark as Fajardo's letter (see Bibliographical Data, post), was probably ordered to be copied as a help toward solving these doubts.

The King: To the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia of the Filipinas Islands. I have heard that, [the command of] a company of infantry having become vacant because of the death of Don Tomas Brabo, and my governor and captain-general of those islands, Don Pedro de Acuna, having appointed to it Captain Juan de Billacon—who in order that he would accept had to be urged by the said Don Pedro, both because he was a very worthy and deserving man and one who had done many services, and because there was no one else to select, and because it was an occasion when a great number of boats were expected from China which it had been rumored were to come to attack the islands, to revenge the Sangleys who had been killed in the insurrection of the year six hundred and three—you issued an act, in which you ordered that the said governor should appoint the said company in conformity to the ordinance, and that in the meantime there should be no innovation in anything—just as if such a matter were the chief that should be attended to then, since it was an occasion in which the governor was toiling so arduously in fortifying districts and strongholds of those islands, raising ramparts, and making ditches in order to be as ready as possible for the awaiting of so great a multitude of men as rumor said were to attack those islands. Inasmuch as it is proper that matters pertaining to war be solely in the charge and care of the said my governor and captain-general, I have, after examination of the matter by my royal Council of the Indias, considered it fitting to issue the present, by which I order you not to interfere and oppose the said governor in anything pertaining to war and government matters; and when any case arises, in which any doubt may exist as to the form and execution of it, it is my will that the orders of the said my governor be followed and obeyed, and that you advise me, through my said Council, of the doubt, and what shall be your opinion regarding it; so that after my Council has examined it, the measures most advisable to my service may be ordered and commanded. Given Ventocilla, November four, one thousand six hundred and six years.

I The King

By order of the king, our sovereign:

Juan de Civica

I, Pedro Muno de Herrera, who exercise the office of scrivener of the assembly of the royal Audiencia and Chancilleria of the Philipinas Islands, had this copy drawn and drew it from the original royal decree which is in my possession, by order of Don Alonso Faxardo de Tenca, comendador of the redoubt in the order of Alcantara, governor and captain-general of these Philipinas Islands, and president of this royal Audiencia. It is a certified copy and is thoroughly revised and collated with its original. In the city of Manila, on the twentieth day of the month of August, one thousand six hundred and twenty, witnesses being Ambrosio Corrales and Pedro Munoz de Herrera, junior.

Pedro Munoz de Herrera

[86] In the preceding document, this name appears as Juan Saenz de Hegoen.

[87] The original if read strictly requires the above translation. It reads "porque son gente de mucho fruto y no se buelven tantos dellos como de otras Religiones y particularmente la de Santo Domingo que e entendido sean ydo delta mas de los que yo quissiera." "Della" should refer then to "la" and thence back to "religiones." But the meaning cannot be that the religious left the order, but rather their brethren in the islands and returned to Nueva Espana or Spain. Fajardo's language throughout this letter is loose and complicated, and it is possible that, "della" refers to the word "tierra" ("country") understood, in which case the translation would be "have left the country."

[88] Alonso Baraona was a native of Quintanario, of the province of Bargos. He took his vows in the Augustinian college of Burgos in 1596, and was prior of the college of Santo Nino in 1607. He ministered in Dumangas (1608), Batan (1609), Jaro (1616), Aclan (1613), and Passi (1614); and became definitor ami prior provincial in 1617. In 1623 he was at Bay, and died, in 1626. See Perez's Catalogo.

[89] The cardinal archduke Albert of Austria was the sixth son of Maximilian II and Maria of Austria, and was born in Austria November 13, 1559. In 1570 he was sent to Spain, where he rose rapidly in Philip's favor. In 1577 he received the cardinal's hat from the pope and was made archbishop of Toledo by Philip in 1594. He was viceroy of Portugal from 1584-1595, when Philip, thinking to appease the people of the Low Countries, made him commander or regent there, and determined to marry him to his daughter Isabel. The sovereignty of all the Netherlands was to be left jointly to them and their heirs, and, in case of no issue, to revert to the Spanish crown. Philip formally abdicated his authority over the Low Countries, May 6, 1598, and their marriage was solemnized jointly with that of Philip III, April 13, 1599, after Albert had renounced his cardinalate and archbishopric. He died July 13, 1621, after ruling his provinces humanely and generously, although unable to stem the current toward Dutch independence. See Moreri's Dictionnaire.

[90] Jacques (Jakob) le Maire (Lemaire), the Dutch navigator, and the first to double Cape Horn, was born at Egmond, and died at sea, December 31, 1616. His expedition to the South Seas was undertaken at the instigation of his father, Isaac le Maire, a well-known merchant, and the ships were to reach the South Seas by Magalhaes's or any other route. The two vessels were placed in command of Wilhelm van Schouten, and Le Maire was chosen director-general. The ships were equipped at the port of Hoorn, and set sail June 14, 1615, from the Texel. Passing by the south-eastern corner of Tierra del Fuego, they entered and passed through the strait that now bears Le Maire's name January 24-26, 1616. Between January 27 and 31, they doubled the Horn, which they named for the port of Hoorn. October 28 of the same year after various adventures among the East Indian Islands, they cast anchor at Jacatra in Java, where the "Concorde," the only vessel left, was sequestered as not having been sent by the Dutch East India Company; while van Schouten and Le Maire were sent to Holland to be tried, Le Maire dying as above stated. A relation of the expedition was written by one of the participants. See vol. iv, pp. 531-618, Recueil des voyages ... de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales (Amsterdam, 1725).

[91] The viceroy of Nueva Espana at this time was Diego Fernandez de Cordoba, marques de Guadalcazar. He began his term October 28, 1612, and in 1621 was appointed viceroy of Peru.

[92] The lacuna at this point—sections 10 to 14 inclusive—with some duplications and other peculiarities in numbering, are precisely as in the original document.

[93] See the letter written to the king by Fajardo, August 10, 1619, ante. where this same abuse is mentioned.

[94] See the royal decree following this document, which was probably issued in consequence of this section of Los Rios's letter, and which will appear in Vol. XIX.

[95] See the various letters relating to the controversy between the calced and discalced religious of the Order of St. Francis, in Vol. XX of this series.

[96] An early law of Recopilacion de leyes (lib. v, tit. viii, ley xxix) thus rules the taking of fees: "In the Filipinas Islands all the notaries and officials entitled to them shall collect their fees, according to, and in the quantity provided and ordained for our Audiencia of Mejico, so far as it shall not have been altered by the laws of this book." [Felipe II; Toledo, May 25, 1596, ordinance 61.]

[97] The residencia of the governor was later ordered to be taken in accordance with the following law, found in Recopilacion de leyes, lib. v, tit. xv, ley v: "The governor and captain-general of the Filipinas appointed by us, shall, as soon as he enters upon the exercise of his duties, take the residencia of his proprietary predecessor, or his predecessor ad interim, even should he not hold our special commission. But shall he have been so entrusted by us, he shall proceed by virtue of it, in accordance with law. In either case, he shall send a report of the residencia to the Council, as is usual." [Felipe IV; Madrid, December 4, 1630.]

[98] See descriptions of the disease called scurvy, in Pyrard de Laval's Voyage (Hakluyt Society's translation, London, 1890), ii, pp. 390-392; and Jesuit Relations (Cleveland reissue), iii, pp. 51, 53.

[99] See the full and interesting description given by Pyrard de Laval (Voyage, ii, pp. 180-214) of the Portuguese trading vessels on the India line (naus de carreira), practically the same as the Spanish vessels described by Rios Coronel; and of their construction, equipment, crews, lading, management, etc. On p. 214 is an engraving of one of these great ships.

[100] See decrees relating to this in Vol. XIV, pp. 182, 270.

[101] This is the fiber obtained from the husk of the cocoanut; the word is of Indian origin, and from it is derived the English "coir." See, with description of the manner in which this fiber is manufactured into rope in India, Pyrard de Laval's Voyage, i, pp. 250, 285: ii. pp. 374, 443.

[102] Obispo de anillo: a bishop in partibus (see Vol. VIII, p. 68). The Spanish dictionaries define obispo de anillo as auxiliary or suffragan, bishop. The Academy's dictionary adds: "To these bishops the pontiff assigns one of the churches formerly owned by them, but now in the power of heathen." Consequently the de anillo becomes equivalent to in partibus infidelium. A bishop in partibus is one consecrated to a see which formerly existed, but which has been, chiefly through the devastations of the followers of Mahomet, lost to Christendom. The creation of such bishops exists from the time of Leo X; but they existed de facto from the time when the first Christian see became vacant from hostile inroad or through the action of a hostile government. The Moorish conquest in Spain resulted in many of such bishops fleeing to the still unconquered parts, where they wandered from place to place, with no particular duty, but officiating as opportunity offered. This state of affairs led to great abuses, for a bishop whose see was in partibus would often enter some remote portion of the diocese of a more fortunate brother, and there exercise, in various ways, without the permission of the bishop of the diocese, his episcopal office. Clerks whom their own bishop would not have promoted to priests' orders often received through the agency of these wandering bishops the ordination which they desired. A decree of the Council of Trent forbade that abuse. The title in partibus was often given in Protestant countries, where to appoint a bishop to a local see would have aroused hostility. Besides the vicars apostolic in a non-Catholic country, the vicars of cardinal-bishops, auxiliary bishops in countries where it is usual to appoint them, and papal nuncios, usually have their sees in partibus infidelium. They can attend general councils, and, since they are considered as truly wedded to the churches of which they bear the titles, they cannot be appointed to other sees except upon the conditions common to all episcopal translations. By a decree of the Propaganda, February 28, 1882, the formula in partibus infidelium was abolished, and non-resident bishops are to be known as "titular" bishops of their sees. See Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary.

THE END