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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





_I The King_

By order of his Majesty:
_Don Fernando Ruiz de Contreras_


The King. To Don Juan Nino de Tavora, member of my Council of War, my
governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, and president of
my royal Audiencia therein, or the person or persons in whose charge
their government may be: I ordered you by a decree of September 10,
627, to appoint to the office of protector of the Sangley Chinese
(which was held by the fiscal of that Audiencia) a person who should
prove competent, with the salary that was assigned to him; and to order
that my said fiscal of those regions exercise the office no longer. You
were ordered to charge the person whom you thus appointed to watch
over the said Sangley Chinese most carefully, so that they might not
be troubled or annoyed, or any ill-treatment shown them; and that any
balance left any year in the fund that he keeps should remain there,
in order that the Sangleys may be assessed so much less the following
year. When that order was executed, you were to inform me of what had
been done and what took place in respect to those who are mentioned
in the said decree, as well as the advantages or troubles that its
execution might cause, as is contained more in detail in the decree,
to which I refer. Doctor Don Juan de Quesada Hurtado de Mendoza,
whom I have appointed as my fiscal of that Audiencia, has reported to
me that, having petitioned that the documents be given to him as to
his predecessors, and one of them being the decree that orders that
the fiscal of that my Audiencia be the protector of the natives and
the Sangleys, he found that the above decree had been despatched,
ordering you to appoint a competent person. The cause therefor was
that Fray Melchor Manzano, of the Order of St. Dominic, urged it for
private purposes, until he actually obtained it. The fiscal declared
that it was advisable for my service to have the decree suspended,
and that my fiscals of that Audiencia exercise the said office, as
they had always done; and that the said Fray Melchor Manzano, while he
was in those islands, and other religious of his order, having made
themselves protectors of the said Sangleys, and having petitioned
the governor to order that the fiscal be not the protector of them,
and that the salary of whoever should be protector be moderated,
the said governor did not change the custom of whether the fiscal
should or should not be the protector. In regard to the salary,
it was moderated only to eight hundred pesos. When the matter came
before that my Audiencia, it declared by acts of examination and
review that the said protection pertained to the said my fiscal. In
consideration of that, Don Fernando de Silva, my governor _ad interim_
of those islands, ordered that the said acts be executed; and that, in
conformity with them, the office of protector of natives and Sangleys
be exercised by Licentiate Marcos Zapata de Galvez, my fiscal of that
my Audiencia at that time. I am petitioned, in consideration of that,
to be pleased to have a decree despatched ordering that he and other
fiscals who shall succeed him in that my Audiencia be protectors of
the said Sangleys and natives, as they have been, notwithstanding
the ruling of the said decree of September 10, 627. Having examined
the matter in my royal Council of the Indias, together with what
Licentiate Juan Pardo, my fiscal therein, stated and alleged--for
I wish to know whether the Sangleys have need of that protector and
whether they ask for him--I order you to inform me of what you find
out concerning this; and in case that it appears necessary that they
have one, I order you and that Audiencia to appoint six persons who
may be suitable for such protector. You shall cause such nominations
to be sent to the said my Council, so that it may indicate that one
of the six appointees who is most suitable. He must not have trade
or business relations with the said Sangleys; and the one named by
the said Council shall be, for the time being, the one who shall seem
most suitable to the Council. Madrid, March 27, 1629.


_I The King_

By order of his Majesty:
_Andres de Rozas_





RELATIONS OF 1628-29



I

_Relation of affairs in the Filipinas and in other regions, for the
year of 1628 and 629, sent by the fathers [of the Society]; and of
a victory gained by our men_.



An excellent and large fleet has left this great island of Mindanao
during these last few days to punish the insolence of the Dutch and of
the Joloans, the neighbors of Mindanao, who are robbing the country
from us and capturing the Indians of these Filipinas. The fleet is
there, and I was to embark with it, but in order not to leave this
district alone Father Fabricio Sersali, a Sicilian, went. The fleet
consisted of thirty ships and more, and in them sailed two hundred
Spaniards and innumerable Indian soldiers and rowers. May our Lord
give us the success that we hope. [56]

A fleet of two galleons with high freeboard has also left, and in them
four companies of soldiers, in pursuit of the Dutch enemy who were in
Macan and along the coast of Great China. Advices were received of a
Dutch ship which was carrying one million pesos' worth of wealth. The
result has not been ascertained as yet.

[_Word in MS. illegible_] On March 13, fire fell from heaven upon
the Parian or fair of the Chinese (according to what they themselves
swear, namely, that they saw it fall), and burned it all, without a
single one of the more than eight hundred houses that it contained
being left; and the only thing that was left standing was a church
which was in the Parian. [57] The Parian of Manila and almost all
the city of Zebu were burned, with great loss.

The fleet which went from the province of Oton to punish Jolo has
arrived at this very moment. I shall relate here a very fortunate
result that our Lord gave them. It is as follows. The island of
Jolo is next to that of Mindanao. The fleet left here, as I said,
on the first of April. At dawn of Holy Saturday it reached the mouth
of the river of Jolo, and entering it and attacking the village,
the enemy fled as a single man to the mountain, so that the energy
of all our men was directed to pillaging. The sack amounted to thirty
thousand pesos. What was pillaged from the house of the king amounted
to six thousand pesos in silk, cloth, wax, huge quantities of wax,
innumerable weapons, and other things of great value. It was all
divided among the villagers. That news was one of the best which
this country has heard, as that enemy was the one who does us most
harm. Father Fabricio Sersali, who was with the fleet, preceded them
all with an image of St. Francis Xavier raised on a spear. In this
manner did the aged saint enter the mosque, and leap for joy. Now boats
are being prepared in this town of Arebalo to complete the uprooting
from these islands of those nations who disturb them. They burned the
town, and the house of the king, the mosque, and the rice which they
could not carry away. They felled the palm trees, so that they might
deprive those people of support. They did all that in one day. They
burned one hundred and forty ships--forty large ones and the others
of less burden. Such and such people were captured; and then they set
out on their return in high spirits, in order to go out another time,
for which they are preparing. Oton, May 30, 628.

_Hernando Estrada_ [58]

Will your Reverence aid me with your holy sacrifices and prayers, so
that I may imitate many apostolic laborers whom we have had here, and
of whom we have at present many, who have come from all those provinces
of Espana; they have made and are making gardens pleasant to the sight
of God, from the obscure forests which the devil has possessed so many
thousands of years and still possesses in these islands. For, as we
have been told, there are eleven thousand islands, of which that of
Manila is the largest and most important. It has more Christians [than
the others], and yet even in it there are many infidels, who make war
on us. Among the other islands there are very few [with Christians]
because of the many which are so full of infidel people who profess
the devilish worship of Mahoma. I cannot depict to your Reverence how
surrounded we are by that canaille on all sides, and the wars that
they so frequently make upon us--so that, in the summer especially,
no one can be safe in his house. Daily do they enter our villages,
burn them and their churches, break into bits the saints and images,
and capture the poor Indians.

I left Manila in a champan, which is a boat used by the Chinese, and
in which they come from their country here. We were four of the Society
who embarked in it, and God was pleased to give it so favorable a wind
that by means of it we escaped from the hands of the enemy, who were
in ambush, watching for an opportune moment. The father-provincial
[59] took the same route in a caracoa--a boat used in this country;
but that craft was knocked to pieces before reaching the place where
the enemy had established themselves. Hence it was necessary for
him and his associate to come overland, suffering extraordinary
hardships, over mountains and through rivers, for more than one
hundred leguas. Thus does it seem that they escaped as by a miracle,
as well as did the champan.

Soon thirty or more boatloads of Camuzones Indians arrived here. They
were naked, having only a bit of cloth with which they cover,
etc. Their weapons are certain pointed bamboos, but those bamboos
are very strong. They entered a village which was under my charge,
and burned it, together with its house and church. They broke the
saints into pieces, although the ornaments were saved. Nine persons
were captured here.

Another brother and I were going to another village, without thought
of enemies. We entered the bar of a river at about one in the
afternoon. That afternoon the enemy entered the same river. The next
day, while we were giving thanks, they made a sudden attack on the
village, whereupon all the people fled. We two went to the mountains,
where we remained eleven days. Thence the enemy took their way toward
another village, where the father-provincial was, together with Father
Juan Lopez, [60] his associate, and other fathers. Before the enemy
arrived, they received the warning which I sent them. Consequently,
all took to the mountains, and the father-provincial and the other
fathers were among the mountains for a number of days, where they
suffered hardships. But our Lord was pleased to order that the enemy
should not reach that village nor the village where I was staying,
for fear of the narrowness of the rivers, lest they could not get
through them when they departed. But they went thence to another town
located on the seashore, and burned it entirely. The enemy also went
to other villages of our missions and burned them, and the fathers
escaped as by a miracle from their hands. When the enemy capture the
fathers they cut off their heads, as they did two years ago with a
father whom they captured. They treat the Spaniards whom they capture
in the same way. Consequently, we all go about as if we were soldiers;
our ships are laden with arms; and forts have been built in the chief
villages and fortified with firearms, with which to defend ourselves;
while forts are being built in the other villages.

All those coasts of this sea have been crowded with sentinels this
year, for it was rumored that many Dutch ships were to come, and they
always come to sight land at the cape of Espiritu Santo.

When we go from some villages to others, we cross many deep rivers,
which are all generally full of caymans or crocodiles. These [reptiles]
swallow a bull, a cow, or a deer even to their horns, thus causing
great loss. They also catch and eat the Indians daily.

There is a most abundant quantity of snakes, almost all of which
cause death when they sting. There is but one remedy for the wounds,
namely, if they happen to have a little of the earth from San Pablo. By
having it blessed, they are infallibly cured; and he who is treated
with this remedy does not die. There are other snakes which are not
poisonous. They are so large that they can swallow a large wild boar,
or a large deer, horns and all. A father and some Indians killed one
which was eating a hog; they ran up on hearing the grunts of the hog,
and speared and killed the snake.

There is great abundance of material products, and the country is very
fertile. The grain of these regions is rice, and as a rule each fanega
of grain sowed yields one hundred fanegas, and many yield two hundred
fanegas, especially if it is irrigated and transplanted. There are
oranges of many varieties, some of them resembling large melons. Honey
and wax is found in the trees, where the bees make it. The wax is worth
sixteen or twenty reals an arroba, and a jar of honey one real. I
saw a tree which had many honeycombs hanging on the branches. The
mountains are fuller of wild boars than are the commons of Espana
of swine and cattle in acorn time. One of those swine, if it is fat,
is worth two reals, but only one if not fat; and a deer is worth the
same sum. There are almost no fruits of Espana. There are melons,
cucumbers, pumpkins, and radishes of the country, and quantities of
cabbages and lettuce. There are many native fruits, some of which are
excellent, but they are not so many or so good as those of Espana,
while the food does not have the same nourishment as in Espana. The
swine here are excellent, and better and more healthful than those
of Espana; for they are eaten like mutton, and are given to the sick
as mutton is in Espana.

God is ever our physician and apothecary in sickness, and but few times
does one fall grievously sick when our Lord does not supply the lack
of medicines, without which [_MS. holed_: we?] get along very well,
and God helps [us]. Panbohen, July 6, 1629.

_Pedro de Prado_

We received a letter from Eastern India which gives very good news of
its condition; for the Dutch are now in small numbers and are very
much disaccredited, with both the Moros and the heathen, and these
have revolted against the Dutch and driven them from their lands and
from the houses of trade that they owned, because they have found
them false in their commerce and deceitful in their trading. Our men
went to help drive out the Dutch.

Good news comes from Zeilan and Tebet of the great conversion to
Christianity that is being effected there and in other regions,
and that the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ continues to increase.

Ruy Freire went to besiege Ormuz with some ships, and the viceroy told
him that he was going in person with [_MS. holed_] ships to capture it.

Father Geronimo Perez [61] had cut down, at a residence, a tree
which was called nino, in order to dispel the superstitions of the
Indians. That tree was twenty-five brazas in circumference, and there
are other trees of this species whose trunks are used by the Indians
as houses. [62]

Father Muxica writes from Macan that Father Trigautio had come from
China to Macan, and said that there were many highborn and influential
people in China who were being converted, and that they were living
very exemplary lives. Manila, July 5, 1628 [_sic_].




II

_A relation of events in the Philipinas Islands, and other neighboring
kingdoms, from the month of July, 1628, to July,1629._



Continuing my project begun last year, I will proceed in this account
to relate the events which have happened this year, without observing
any other order than that in which they occur to me.

At half past one on the night of November 25, Our church fell,
with so terrible a crash that it seemed as if the heavens were
falling. It was due to God's great providence that it did not happen
several hours later, for without doubt some of our fathers would have
been caught in the ruins. It is the third time that this church has
fallen; for years ago, just as they finished saying the last mass,
and locked the doors, the whole vault, which was built of brick,
fell in a great earthquake. If it had happened an hour before, it
would have wrought great injury, by imprisoning beneath it all the
people who were in the church. Then six years later, in the month of
September, on the same day, just as they were beginning to decorate
the church for celebrating the feasts of St. Ignatius and St. Xavier,
one large pillar and two arches fell, leaving the roof in the air,
without any means of support for more than eight yards--a thing which
seemed miraculous; two of Ours were caught, but neither received
much harm. On this last occasion the ruin was greater, because one
pillar, when it fell, carried with it half of the church. Thus it
remained, without repairs being possible; there was nothing to be
done but to finish the work of destruction, and build a hut in which
to accommodate our fathers in their ministries, until we finish the
new church building and house--which is a very good one, and well on
its way to completion. [63]


On the twentieth of December, at eight o'clock in the evening, they
omitted the holy sacrament in the Cathedral church of this city,
because it had been stolen, together with the monstrance in which
it was kept. Diligent search was made for it, arresting some and
putting others to the torture, and making earnest prayers to placate
the wrath of God, but no trace of the thief could be found in these
or any other ways, even to the present day. [64]

On the twentieth of June an eclipse of the sun began at eleven o'clock,
and at thirteen minutes after twelve it was so far eclipsed that it
could not be seen at all. It seemed as if it were night, and the stars
were seen in the sky, so that we were forced to light candles in order
to eat; for there was a dinner that afternoon, on the occasion of a
certain feast. As far as I know, this eclipse was not seen in Nueva
Espana; it is the most complete one that I have ever seen, though I
have seen many.

On the eighteenth of July last, in the village of Guiguan, which is
a mission of the Society, an image of the Immaculate Conception of
Our Lady with a gilded face, began to weep piteously--in the sight
of all, and of the father who was expounding Christian doctrine in
that village--with a saddened countenance, to the great terror of
all who were present. It seemed as if this was the announcement of
the disasters and calamities which have been suffered by those poor
islands of the Pintados (which are in our missionary charge) from
their enemies the Camucones and the Joloans, who have become very
insolent--plundering many ships on the sea, some of them valuable;
robbing and burning towns, capturing the people, and destroying the
images, which the fathers have kept well until their flight and refuge
in the mountains. It has been considered a singular providence that
no one of our fathers has been captured (although there are fears
about one, but nothing certain is known about it). The enemy suddenly
landing, one father was surprised in bed, but made his escape almost in
his shirt; they surprised another while saying mass, and he was obliged
to make his escape in his chasuble, fleeing through the marshes;
another they found sprinkling with holy water the whole population
of the town in the church; another they met on the sea, and having
given chase to his vessel, the father leaped overboard and finally
escaped. The father provincial was in great danger several times, but
in the end God preserved him and all the other fathers. The greatest
hardship is, that it seems as if those who conduct the government do
not endeavor to check these raids; may the Lord do so by restraining
the enemies.

Relief was sent this year to the Malucas Islands, as has usually been
done in past years, in several pataches and a galley. The Dutch enemy
had at their Malayo fort (which is almost within sight of our fort
at Terrenate), a very powerful ship which passed in front of our fort
several times discharging their artillery as if defying us to come out
and fight. After this bravado our men and Pedro de Heredia, governor
of those fortifications, armed two pataches and the galley (a force
much inferior to that of so powerful a ship) and went out to meet the
enemy. He boarded it and began to attack the soldiers in it; the enemy,
seeing that the fight was going against them, cut loose from our ship,
and retreated or fled to their fort. There their people arrested the
captain, because, although he had had the advantage on his side, he
had not sunk our little pataches, but instead had taken to flight. Some
of the Dutch and some of our men were killed in this fight.

At Xacatra, which is the capital of the Dutch possessions in all
these eastern regions, and at which their governor and captain-general
resides, there have been many harassing wars this year, because King
Xabo with a very powerful army had besieged them for many months,
seized and burned the suburbs, and killed many men. However, on account
of the many winter floods, Xabo had to retreat; but the Dutch are left
in considerable fear lest he will return, with the Portuguese giving
him assistance. On that account they have still further fortified their
forts, made greater provision of all necessaries, and detailed there
six galleons from the great fleet, which they maintain at Ormus for
the aid and defense of the Persian, [65] in order that the Portuguese,
who are threatening that fortress, may not recover it.

With the aim of relieving these islands and their natives from
the suffering that they endured in building galleys and ships, the
governor decided to send some Spaniards to the kingdom of Camboja,
which abounds in fine woods, to establish dock-yards; this purpose
was carried out. With the Spaniards it was decided to send some of
the Society, but for certain reasons this was not done, nor would
we permit it. The fathers of St. Dominic, however, permitted it;
and so some of them went there with the Spaniards, and were very well
received by the king of Camboja. They immediately commenced to carry
out their plans for the ships, while the religious built a church. The
king gave them permission to baptize and convert to Christianity any
persons in his kingdom who wished it.

I wrote last year, that, annoyed by the injuries which these islands
had received from the king of Sian, who had seized in one of his ports
a ship of ours richly laden with silks, our galleons had gone there
and made reprisals on some of his ships. The latest news is that
a ship was sent there with some of the Sianese who were captured,
and some Spaniards, to give an account of the affair; and to tell the
king that our people desired to continue in peace and friendship, but
that he must satisfy us for what he had seized from us, and in return
we would satisfy him for what we had seized from his people. As yet
we have had no answer from there, nor have we heard how the matter
was concluded--much less if our fathers who reside there lost their
lives when our galleons did so much damage to the Sianese ships.

The outlook for Christianity in Cochinchina was very promising, and
in the year 1627 eight hundred adults were baptized; but this year
we have had news that the fathers had encountered adverse fortune,
and were fearing expulsion from that kingdom--but now they write that
the tempest has already abated, and the skies are clearing.

In late years, there have been many wars in the kingdom of Tongin,
which adjoins that of Cochinchina; but the Christians have been
left in peace, and thus many have been converted to Christianity. It
is even reported that this same king and a brother of his had been
or were to be baptized. Would to Heaven that it were so! although
hitherto there has been no certainty of anything, because we have
had no letters from our fathers, on account of the said wars.

The Tartars have again revolted against the Chinese, who are so hard
pressed that they have sent to Macan for artillerymen and artillery
for the war. The Portuguese lent them two heavy guns, and thirty men
to go with them, among whom was Father Palmerin, the visitor of that
province [_in the margin_: in the secular habit], to visit, on this
occasion, the houses and the residences in China.

As to the condition of Christianity in Japon, I cannot better give
account than by inserting here letters and relations sent from
there. The first, dated 1627, reads as follows:

"The persecution of the Christians here, which was begun several
years ago, continues without any remission of its vigor, but rather
increases with every day--not throughout the whole kingdom, however,
but in certain parts of the Xymo or Tacab, in which the Christians
are persecuted more than they have been hitherto. It commenced among
the Christian converts of Tacacu and the lands of Arima, by soliciting
the tono of that region, Gentir, to return to the favor of the lord of
Japon, of which he has been deprived for some time, and to dissuade
from the faith all the Christians who should enter his lands. An
official was sent to all places with orders that they should not
fail to go through every village, and to cause everyone, by any way
or means whatever, to renounce the faith, in order that they might
instead adopt one of the Japanese sects. The officials obeyed their
orders and searched out all, whether steadfast or wavering; and some,
in order not to risk their faith, left their homes secretly. Some of
the strong ones were rigorously treated, and others gently, among
whom some exiled themselves. Those Christians suffered, for their
constancy, various and extreme torments never before seen in Japon,
which at the said tono's command were inflicted in order to subdue
them--stripping both men and women, and hanging them in their shame;
hurling them from a height into cold water, in the depth of winter;
placing them near a fire so that they would burn; and burning them
with lighted torches. Two of them they roasted on burning coals, as
St. Laurence suffered. Others were left so that they died in a few
days. They also burned the men with a hot iron upon the forehead,
leaving the word "Christian" stamped upon it. They cut the fingers
from the hands, even of children, inflicting other indignities that
cannot be written. The inhuman pagan, not content with this, had
some men and women conducted through the streets of certain villages
with insignia of dishonor commonly applied among the heathen to
criminals, but of great glory to our Lord God, for whose love they
suffered. When the servants of the Lord arrived at some of these
places, they bound them in a shameful manner to stakes, in order
to frighten the Christian inhabitants in this fashion; but with all
their efforts they were not strong enough to conquer any Christian,
or make him recant. Forty-seven, of all ages, were condemned to death;
three were beheaded, and the rest drowned in the sea. Eighteen others,
of all ages, they took to a mountain, where there were some very hot
baths; and, binding them with ropes, they put them into the water,
asking them again and again if they would not recant. Seeing their
constancy, they bound them to stones, with which they were sunk in the
sea. Twenty-six others, of varying ages, they also took to the said
baths; and having especially distinguished ten of these by torments,
they kept them for some time on the edge of the baths, repeatedly
asking them if they would give up their religion. At the same time
they poured upon their shoulders jars of that boiling hot water,
drawing from them cries of pain; until, becoming convinced of their
constancy, they drowned them in the said baths. Because the body of
one of them was not burst open like the rest by the heat of the water,
they cut it open in various places with a knife. In this torture he
died, and, like the others, was flung into the baths. Adding to these
two others who died of the terrible torture inflicted upon them, the
number of those who died in the province of Tacacu, by fire, blood,
and water was forty-seven. They went to rest and abide with Christ,
and will always be able to say with David: _Transivimus per ignem et
aqua e reduxisti nos in refrigerium_. [66] We would never finish if we
undertook to tell in detail all the particulars of these martyrdoms,
which we shall leave for a more extended relation, in which they may
be viewed; and great consolation will be had from the fact that those
Christians have endured such atrocious and unheard-of torments with
such constancy, for the love of Christ.

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