Ethel M. Dell - "The Odds"

Edward Ruppelt - "The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects"

William Fitzgerald Jenkins - "Operation Terror"

John Kline - "Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary"

Various - The Philippine Islands, 1493 to 1898: Volume XXII, 1625 to 29

V >> Various >> The Philippine Islands, 1493 to 1898: Volume XXII, 1625 to 29




After all that had been accomplished, the commander, Don Cristobal
de Lugo, sent a letter to the king which had been sent him from
Manila by the governor, in reply to that which the king had written
him. The governor had ordered that the letter should not be sent
until after the punishment had been accomplished. The king replied,
as the senate of Venecia might have done, with more courtesies and
reasons of state. For writing it he employed as secretary the Spanish
woman whom he had captured at the shipyard, who is named Dona Lucia,
of whom he is very fond. Consequently, although the Spanish commander
tried to ransom her and offered as much as six hundred pesos for her,
the king would not surrender her--answering that it was not consistent
with his greatness to give her up for money; but that he would send her
freely, if they would give him in recompense the falcons and versos
which they had captured from him, and one of the slave women who was
in our power. The slave woman was sent him, but not the artillery,
and a fine thing it would have been to arm the enemy to ransom one
woman. Thus did she remain in their power, but made half a queen. Some
of the enemy were killed, and others captured. Some of those whom
the king had captured from us came to us, but not all, for most of
them had been sold in other kingdoms. Great was the booty, and the
Indians who went on that expedition were rich and eager for other
expeditions. Not a single one of our men was killed or wounded. Thus
all of them returned to embark, laden with spoils and happy. The
enemy were left chastised and ruined for many years. Then our fleet
went to another island near there, called Taguima, whose inhabitants
went out to pillage with the Joloans. They had already been advised,
and accordingly fled to the mountains. Our men landed, and burned a
large village, in which there was nothing but common things. They laid
waste all the palm-trees, and did them all the damage possible. Then
the fleet went to the island of Mindanao. A letter was despatched
from the port of La Caldera to the sultan of that island, notifying
him to come to see our commander, but he refused to do so, and made
excuses; but the truth was, that he was afraid. He sent an ambassador
and wrote a letter to the governor of Manila, in which he begged for
fathers of the Society and one hundred infantrymen to build a fort
(which is the thing that we desire), from which to destroy the Joloans,
who are also his enemy at present.

A great portion of the province of Cagayan, which is located in this
island of Manila, has been in revolt for some years. An extensive
raid was made this year by our Spaniards and two thousand friendly
Indians. Some of the enemy were killed, and eight villages burned. The
country was laid waste, with the fields that the enemy had there;
and thus were they punished for the insolent acts that they had
committed. Consequently, these islands have four wars on the tapis at
present: in the island of Hermosa, with the natives and the Dutch;
in Terrenate and the Malucas Islands, with the Dutch also; in Jolo
and other near-by islands whose inhabitants infest our seas; and in
Cagayan with the insurgents. For so much war we must have greater aid
from Espana and Nueva Espana, so that the condition of these islands
may not fall lower.

I will conclude this relation with the fires that we have experienced
this year, which have been many and important.

The convent of St. Francis, the hospital, and other houses were burned
in Maluco. The convent of St. Nicolas (which belongs to the Recollects)
in Cebu was burned March 29; and that of St. Augustine and a great
portion of the city on April 8. It was a miracle that our residence
escaped, for the fire was near it.

Fire caught, at one o'clock at night on March 13, in the Parian or
alcaiceria of the Chinese, where more than twelve thousand Chinese
live, outside the walls of this city of Manila. Inside of five hours
it was all leveled. It naturally seems impossible that so large a
settlement, with wooden pillars which two men could not encircle,
could have burned in so short a time. But that must have been the
fire and punishment of heaven for the so horrible sins by which those
heathen Chinese have provoked the wrath of God. The church and convent
of St. Dominic, which is one of the most splendid wooden buildings
that there can be, escaped from the midst of this fire of Sodom. A
house owned there by the Society, which was even yet unfinished, was
also unburnt. All the rest was burned to the very foundations. The
inhabitants of Manila, who owned many of the houses, lost considerable
in that fire. But in the space of four months, most of that alcaiceria
has been rebuilt in squares and straight streets and uniform houses. It
presents a very beautiful appearance, and is as large as the city of
Manila itself. It is no wonder that a city should be built entire in
so short a time, when more than three thousand men have worked on
it. I do not know whether there can be any other part of the world
than Manila where there are so many workmen and so abundant materials.

[Volume i of the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library) contains the
following synopsis of another relation for the years 1627-1628.]



_Events in the Filipinas Islands from August, 1627, until June, 1628._


In August, 1627, Governor Don Juan Nino de Tabora left the bay of
Manila with the fleet, going toward the island of Hermosa in order to
drive away the Dutch who had established themselves there two years
before the Spaniards.

The fleet sailed out of season, for the relief ships from Nueva
Espana arrived a month later than they ought. Accordingly, the fleet
encountered northerly winds when they reached Cape Bojeador. They
remained there for some days, beating to windward, until after several
storms they had to put back to Manila.

The galleys joined the fleet at Bangui, which is located at the same
cape. The smaller vessels, not being able to withstand the weather,
became separated from the fleet; and one of them, with the heavy
storm that overtook them, ended its voyage at a port of China, in
the province of Fo-chiu, and another at the island of Hermosa. The
galleys lost their moorings at Bangui, where the earth and even the sea
trembled fourteen times in one day. Hills were toppled over; and one
called Los Caraballos, which was on the road to Nueva Segovia, and was
inaccessible, sank and became very level. Some of the convents of the
Dominican religious (who instruct that province) fell. The hurricane
wrecked immense numbers of trees, which covered the beaches of the
sea. By the middle of September the weather moderated. The commander
of the galleys, not knowing that the galleons had put back, continued
his voyage, and reached the point on the island of Hermosa, and
entered the Dutch port without knowing it. He went within cannon-shot,
reconnoitered the port, and sounded the coast. He observed the fort,
and the preparations made by the Dutch, who were fearful of some
attack. Then he went to a small island inhabited by Chinese fishermen,
who received him cordially; they expressed hatred for the Dutch, and
their desire to aid the Spaniards to drive them from the island of
Hermosa. They had some Dutch prisoners, who had been shipwrecked from
a galleon that had been lost on their coasts, or on the reefs of the
said island. The galleys sailed thence toward our port in the island
of Hermosa, but so furious a north wind caught them, when near it,
that they were carried to Cape Bojeador in five days; and they were
able to make the port called Japones. There another storm struck them
on the first of October, and the two galleys were smashed to pieces,
although the artillery and men were saved.

The ship that put in at Fo-chiu returned to the port of the island
of Hermosa with whose infantry and that of another small patache,
which had arrived before, and with some silver and clothing which it
carried, the fort was relieved; and its garrison were able to punish,
as they did, the Chinese who had killed two captains, with twenty-five
or thirty Spaniards.

The governor, having returned to the bay of Manila with his galleons,
was notified from Macao, before he had disembarked, that four Dutch
vessels had been sighted, whose intention was to make prizes and
prevent the commerce. He sent two galleons as a convoy for the
Portuguese galleys of that port; but when they reached Macao the
Dutch vessels were no longer there, the battle having already occurred
which was referred to in the preceding document.

The two galleons having been freed [from the convoy] went--after
suffering a severe storm in which they were nearly wrecked, from
the effects of which they had to be repaired--in accordance with the
orders of the governor, to scour all the coast as far as Malaca in
pursuit of the Dutch. For that purpose they equipped a patache before
leaving Macao, while another patache was despatched from Manila to
join them. During the eight months while the voyage lasted, those
four boats scoured all the places where the Dutch are accustomed
to go, without omitting any save to enter Jacatra [51] itself. They
went first to the island of Aynao [_i.e._, Hainan], which has four
cities, and is the pearl fishery of Great China. Then they skirted
the coast of Cochinchina, where the king sent to request them,
through a Spaniard who was there and the superior of the mission
which the fathers of the Society have there, not to attack them,
since he was our friend. They did not meddle with his possessions,
but, before leaving the coast, captured a junk belonging to the king
of Siam, which was coming from Canton laden with silks, earthenware,
and tobacco, which was valued at more than fifty thousand ducados.

Between the islands of Pulo Condor and Puluibi, which are opposite
the kingdom of Camboja, one of the two pataches met a very large
Dutch ship, which it was thought was going to Siam, where the galleons
were awaiting it. But it was not so, and it was believed to have gone
to Japon.

The raid of the fleet, and especially of those galleons, was feared
by all the kings of the coast and by those of Java and Borneo, and
they desired peace with the Spaniards. Even the mandarin of Fo-chiu
thought that the fleet was going to attack China, and ordered an
agent to go to the island of Hermosa to find out about it.

The relief expedition sent to Maluco had the outcome mentioned in
the preceding document.

During that year, the old king of Ternate died at Manila. He had
been captured at the recovery of the Malucas. He was a Moro, of royal
appearance and speech; and died in the Moro belief, of which he had
always been most observant. He thoroughly understood the teachings of
our holy faith, and said that the only reason that he did not embrace
it was because it was not fitting for a king to change his religion
because he had been captured.

This document refers to the invasion of the islands by the king of
Jolo, in the same manner as the preceding document; and concludes by
saying that after he had been punished, the Spaniards began to build
three galleys, four brigantines, and forty large caracoas at the
order of the governor; and that they must be preparing themselves to
take vengeance on the Moros of Borneo, and the Camucones and Joloans,
for the damages sustained from them during the preceding years.





REPORT OF APPOINTMENTS MADE BY GOVERNOR TAVORA


Sire:

Proceeding in conformity with what your Majesty orders me by royal
decree, dated at Madrid on the twentieth of January, one thousand six
hundred and twenty-five, and countersigned by Senor Don Fernando Ruiz
de Contreras, directing that I should send a relation of the places,
offices, encomiendas, gratuities, incomes, allowances, additional
pay, and whatsoever other advantages I might confer, making a special
record for this; after having complied with this, and sent an account
in the ships which left this island for Nueva Espana in the year six
hundred and twenty-seven, I have thus far made appointments to the
following encomiendas, places, and offices:

Captain Blas Lopez Baltadano was granted, in the name of your
Majesty, the encomienda of natives at Agonoc and its dependencies in
the province of Camarines, which was left vacant by the demise and
death of Don Diego Arias Xiron; it contains four hundred and sixty
tributary Indians, each one of them paying every year ten reals, two
for the royal revenue, and the rest for the encomendero. Four reals
of the latter are paid in kind--a hundred and ten gantas of rice in
the husk, fit for sowing and cooking; and two fowls for one real;
the rest being in money, of which two reals are paid to the minister
who instructs them. This grant was extended to him in conformity with
the law of succession, for services which he has rendered your Majesty
during the twenty-eight years past while he has been in these islands,
at first as a soldier in the company of Captain Juan de Laxara. He
was in the expedition for the discovery of the province of Tuy, as
an adventurer and head of the veteran soldiers. He was corregidor
of Butuan, and afterward went to the coast of Caraga, against the
natives of Mindanao, as commander of a caracoa which belonged to him;
and likewise in other parts of Mindanao, where he burned six caracoas
and protected and defended the natives of his jurisdiction. Later,
while corregidor of Ybalon, he attended to furnishing provisions for
the galleys which were sent there to await the ships from Nueva Espana,
as the Dutch were there again. He spent therein a great deal of labor,
as he was obliged to bring the supplies from another jurisdiction,
since there were not sufficient in his own. Twice he was alcalde-mayor
of Pangasinan, where he brought about the reduction of the rebellious
Indians, through the wise counsels of war which he gave. A few of them
were executed, and they surrendered and sued for peace. He was in the
expedition which Governor Don Luis Perez das Marinas made to Camboxa,
holding a captaincy and paying his own expenses. In the port of Pinal
he performed great labors in seeking supplies and money for the troops
of another fleet. At that time he was appointed royal alferez, and came
out wounded in his left arm from an encounter which he had with the
Portuguese of Macan, in attempting to capture their commander. After
his arrival at this city, he was made captain of Spanish infantry in
the said province of Pangasinan, and twice their commander-in-chief,
beside being alcalde-mayor and corregidor of Butuan at two other
times. During this time he performed other services, as appears from
the documents which he presented before me. On the said encomienda
there was levied and exacted from him fifty pesos of pension, each
year, which are to be given and paid to Alferez Juan Gomez, these being
a part of the hundred which he holds from the encomienda of Yguey and
its dependencies, belonging to Captain Juan Bautista Perez de Helquera,
in the said province of Camarines, by a grant which was made of that
sum to the said Alferez Juan Gomez by the royal Audiencia of these
islands, when their government was in its charge through the death
of Governor Juan de Silva. The said fifty pesos are taken away from
the said encomienda of Yguey that it may be free from them, as it has
few tributarios; and I have imposed them upon this said encomienda
so that the said Alferez Juan Gomez may enjoy them, comformably
to the grant which was made him. The said Captain Baltadano must
secure a confirmation of this grant from your Majesty inside of four
years, reckoned from the day of sailing of the first ships which are
despatched from these and the other islands for Nueva Espana--as is
ordered by the royal decrees of the twelfth of October, six hundred
and twelve, and the twelfth of July, six hundred and twenty-five,
under the penalties therein provided. He must likewise send a special
power of attorney to petition for the said confirmation, in the form
which is provided by another decree dated at Madrid, the twenty-eighth
of May, one thousand six hundred and twenty-five; and he must send and
remit to that court [a statement of] the amount of his monthly income,
when he sends for the said confirmation--in failure whereof the said
confirmation will not be accorded him, as your Majesty commands by
another decree of the eighth of June, one thousand six hundred and
twenty-six. I sent him the commission on the twenty-ninth of October,
one thousand six hundred and twenty-seven, having previously posted
notices in public places in the said city, for the benefit of those
who might have claims on the said encomienda, as is ordered by another
royal decree of the twenty-fifth of June, one thousand six hundred and
twenty-six; and have found by investigation that it is not included
in the royal decree which treats of the appointment to encomiendas
and offices in the form which is therein provided.

Captain Francisco de la Haya was granted the encomienda of natives at
Lobo and Galban, and their dependencies, in the province of Balayan,
which was vacated by the demise and death of Don Joseph Arnalte. It
has three hundred and eighty-three tributarios, each one paying
every year ten reals, two for the royal revenue, and eight for the
encomendero. Four reals of these are in kind--sixty gantas of rice
in the husk, fit for sowing and cooking; and one fowl for one real;
and the other three reals in money, two of which are given to the
minister who instructs them. If they are paid in white cotton blankets,
of the ordinary size of three baras and a half in length and three
quarters of a bara in width, these are to be counted at two reals
apiece; and if they are of _soyol_, which are fine, at four reals;
and if hand-worked for altar cloths, at five reals. The grant was
made him in conformity with the law of succession, on account of his
meritorious acts and services which he has rendered to your Majesty
during the twenty-five years past, having enlisted as a soldier in
those kingdoms, in the company of Captain Don Fernando de Silva. In
that company he came to these islands, where he continued to serve,
being present in such occasions for service as occurred. In particular
he was present at the battle which was fought by Governor Don Juan
de Silva against the Dutch enemy in Playa Honda, in the year six
hundred and ten, where he received a wound, a musket-ball traversing
his right thigh. Afterward he accompanied the said governor in the
fleet which he took to the ports of Terrenate. He was at the capture
of Sabugo. [52] He was alferez in the company of Captain Antonio de
Morga. He was present with Governor Don Juan de Silva in the fleet
which the latter took to the strait of Sincapura; and afterward was
likewise in that of General Don Juan Ronquillo, who fought against
the said Dutch at the said Playa Honda, he being present on the
admiral's galley. He was a second time made alferez in this camp,
and resigned from service in the infantry to embark in the fleet which
Governor Don Alonso Fajardo prepared to oppose that of the Dutch, in
the year six hundred and nineteen, where he served as a soldier in
the company of Master-of-camp Don Geronimo de Silva. The next year
he was in the fleet of General Don Luis Fajardo, for the protection
of these coasts; and in the said position of soldier he served three
years, one hundred and eighty-four days, until he was advanced to
fill the place of adjutant sargento-mayor of this camp. Serving in
this capacity, he went in the fleet which left in the year six hundred
and twenty-five to oppose the Dutch who were upon this coast, having
as commander the said Master-of-camp Don Hieronimo de Silva. Finally
he was captain of infantry in this camp, and during this time has
rendered other services, as appeared more at length by his papers
which he presented before me. On the said encomienda there was levied
and exacted from him fifty pesos of pension each year which were to be
paid to Alferez Juan Gomez, which are a part of the hundred which he
holds as a pension from the encomienda of Yguey and its dependencies,
belonging to Captain Juan Baptista Perez de Helquerra, by a grant
which was made to the said Alferez Juan Gomez by the royal Audiencia
of these islands, while the government was in its charge through the
death of the said Governor Don Juan de Silva. I have taken the said
fifty pesos from the encomienda of Yguey, so that the said Captain
Bautista Perez may be free therefrom, as the tributarios which he
has are few; and I have imposed it upon this said encomienda so that
the said Alferez Juan Gomez may enjoy it, comformably to the grant
which was made him. The said Captain Francisco de la Haya is bound
to secure a confirmation thereof from your Majesty inside of four
years reckoned from the day of sailing of the first vessels which are
despatched from the islands for Nueva Espana, as is ordered by the
said two royal decrees cited, and under the penalties there provided;
and likewise he must send special power of attorney to petition for
and secure the said confirmation; and when he shall send for it he
must remit to that court the amount of his monthly income, failing
which the said confirmation will not be given him, as is provided
in the said royal decrees cited. I sent him the commission on the
twenty-ninth of October, one thousand six hundred and twenty-seven,
having previously posted edicts in public places in this city for
a reasonable length of time, for the benefit of those who may have
claims on the said encomienda, as is ordered by another said royal
decree cited. I have ascertained by investigation that it does not
come under the provisions for the appointment to encomiendas and
offices in the form therein provided.

Captain Pedro de Navarrete was granted the encomienda of natives in
the villages of Tabuco and its subjects, in the province of La Laguna
de Vay, which was vacated by the death of Captain Don Luis Enrriquez
de Guzman. There are five hundred and two tributarios, each one of
them paying every year ten reals, two for the royal treasury and
eight for the encomendero. Four of these are paid in kind--fifty-five
gantas of rice in the husk, half of which is cleaned for sowing and
cooking; and one fowl at one real; and the other three in money. Of
this the minister who teaches them is paid each year at the rate of a
hundred pesos of eight reals, a hundred fanegas of rice in the husk,
and one arroba of wine for the celebration of mass, for every five
hundred tributarios to whom they minister. This grant was made to
him for his merits, and the services which he has rendered your
Majesty during more than twenty-five years since he came over to
these islands with Governor Don Pedro de Acuna, in the capacity of
a soldier in the company of Don Thomas Bravo de Acuna. He served in
the said employment in this camp, and afterward went to the province
of Zibu, in the Pintados, where he remained more than four years,
connected with the company which was in Zibu, going out on all the
armed expeditions which occurred--namely, six times, against the enemy
from Mindanao, Caraga, and the Sanguiles, who were robbing and harrying
those regions, causing much damage, death, and pillage. He was present
at the taking of the fort of Sagao and the islands of Caraga, when
the natives there rebelled, and refused obedience to the king. He
was one of the soldiers who distinguished themselves, and climbed
to the crest of the ridge, until it surrendered, and many Indians
were captured, bringing the rebels back to the royal obedience. On
this occasion he received a wound in the head, from the many stones
which they threw. He served at his own expense and voluntarily, on
the said occasions; and in the said garrison of Zibu he performed
watch and sentinel duty with the other soldiers. He was present at
the rebellion of the Japanese against this city outside of its walls,
and was one of those who went out to fight against them in the year
six hundred and eight, and in that of six hundred and sixteen. He
was alferez of a Spanish company in this camp, and served in that
capacity in the post at Cavite, for its protection and defense, when
the Dutch had come with six ships to the harbor mouth of Mariveles,
intending to enter the bay, at the time when Governor Don Juan de
Silva had gone with his royal fleet to the strait of Sincapura. He
was personally present on the rampart of the curtains of the said
fort, which were breached at four points. He expended much of his
property, maintaining therewith a number of soldiers of his company
on account of the poverty of the royal treasury. In the year six
hundred and eighteen, he was made captain of infantry of the company
which was in garrison in the said fort of Cavite; and the next year
he was made a second time captain of another company of this camp,
where he served until it was disbanded. On many occasions when the
royal treasury was embarrassed, he has lent it a great quantity of
money. He is married to Dona Augustina de Morales, legitimate daughter
of Captain Pedro Navarro and Dona Luisa de Morales, and granddaughter
of Captain Gaspar Ruiz de Morales, one of the first conquerors and
settlers of these islands, prominent people of rank. During this
time he has rendered other services to your Majesty, all of which
appears more at length from his papers which he has presented before
me. Beside this, command is given by a royal decree dated at Madrid
on the nineteenth of June, six hundred and twenty-six, countersigned
by Senor Don Fernando Rruiz de Contreras, to the effect that in every
possible way should be furthered the work for the protection and aid
of orphan children and those lacking support, which was administered
and managed by Brother Juan Geronimo Guerrero in this city, as that
is so pious and charitable a cause, and it is so necessary to secure
its perpetuity and the support of the said children, whose fathers
have died in these islands in the royal service. As means were to be
sought for this, since they could not come from the royal treasury, the
said Captain Pedro de Navarrete, as one of the benefactors of the said
work, offered and bound himself to give as alms five thousand pesos of
eight reals at the coming of the ships which were expected from Nueva
Espana this present year; that sum is to be distributed and expended
in the said work, and to erect a building for the orphans, as that
which they have is in danger of falling. He bound himself to deliver
the said amount to the person who should be designated by myself. In
consideration of all which has been recounted, I have extended to
him this grant, charging him to secure a confirmation thereof from
your Majesty within four years reckoned from the day of sailing of
the first ships from these islands for Nueva Espana, and to send a
special power of attorney to petition for the said confirmation in
that court. Likewise he must remit there the amount of his monthly
income when he sends for the said confirmation, as is ordered
and commanded by the royal decrees cited, and under the penalties
therein provided. I had previously posted notices in public places
of this city for those who might have claims to the said encomienda,
a reasonable time before, as is ordered by the said royal decree
cited, which treats of this matter. I have found by investigation that
this is not included in the provisions for the order of appointments
to encomiendas and offices, as is therein provided. I sent him the
commission on the fourth of December, one thousand six hundred and
twenty-seven.

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