The Philippine Islands, 1493 1898: Volume XVIII, 1617 1620 by Various

V >> Various >> The Philippine Islands, 1493 1898: Volume XVIII, 1617 1620

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22

Among other offices provided in the above manner was that of secretary
of the registers, which is an office of importance. I entreat that
your Majesty will be pleased not to confirm its concession, nor that
of others of the same date, until you can be informed of the pros
and cons regarding it; for it will either be advisable to sell those
offices for the relief of necessities here (although I do not think
that such sale would go far toward that), or else let the matter
take its course as hitherto, so that there be certain offices with
which men who have served may be, with these employments, rewarded
and gratified. Well can your Majesty believe that I shall lose no
occasion to do what I understand to be advisable for your service,
both in this and in whatever else falls to me, and is in my power.

I shall now give Captain Luis de Contreras, whom I found filling
the office of treasurer of the royal revenues here, one thousand two
hundred Indians in encomienda (or a few more or less), and a pension
of two hundred pesos as a gratification to another deserving man. With
that the former will have received a goodly part of the income that
your Majesty orders me, by a royal decree that he presented to me, to
give him in unassigned Indians or in those of an encomienda which may
become vacant. I could well wish that there were more Indians vacant
than there are, in order to fulfil all that your Majesty orders me,
and which the said Luis de Contreras merits by his character and
good qualities.

Having seen the exactness with which I fulfilled the above, I am told
that many are going about looking for decrees and trying to procure
them now from your Majesty, in order to obtain like encomiendas and
other posts. I entreat your Majesty to postpone granting those favors
until you shall first be informed by your governor of these islands
and your Audiencia; for not all of them will be so well employed as
is the aforesaid, if I may judge from the methods by which I have
heard that they are seeking them, as they procure papers by means of
witnesses presented on their part, which make much of what in itself
is nothing. Although the fiscal intervenes in the matter, it is to
be noted that no one attempts to make investigations unless in some
case when he regards the fiscal as quite on his side.

I am told that some persons here are trying to obtain the office of
treasurer. Besides, that the present holder of it has not left it, I do
not as yet know many who could fill the place to be left vacant by him
in this charge, because of the many qualifications necessary--namely,
trustworthiness, accuracy, system, and other qualities. Although I do
not think that there is lack of a person in whom these will be found,
still I think it necessary to consider carefully the one who should
be chosen for this post, to be sure of it.

One of the things that your Majesty needs most in this county is
intelligent clerks for the efficient administration of the royal
revenues. And because it is certain that much would be gained by it,
I petition your Majesty to send half a dozen of them, who shall have
been reared in a good school. Your Majesty should not neglect to
order the supervisor-general, Tomas de Ybio Calderon, to despatch
one; and I trust that the person whom he would furnish may not be
unsuitable. For authority to serve in the more important offices
of this profession which should become vacant here, the inspector
Diego de Castro Lizon would be quite suitable, and the two brothers,
the accountant Francisco Beltran de Manurga and the inspector Matias
Beltran de Manurga. Either of them is, in my opinion, a person as
capable as is necessary for the said offices, as well as for things
of more importance. I entreat your Majesty to pardon my prolixity in
matters in which you have not asked my advice; for my zeal and desire
for your royal service, and also for some one who may aid me therein,
obliges me to do it.

Moved by the same cause, I again petition your Majesty--as I have
done--to send me Admiral Jusephe de Mena with the reenforcements
that are possible, or that you please, whether few or many; for in
his person alone I shall have one who can help me very well. Galleys
are of great importance to these islands, and not less for those of
Terrenate and Mindanao, according to what I have as yet been able
to ascertain. Although they are almost past use, I shall endeavor
to place them in the condition and number advisable. But so that
they may be of greater service, I need that your Majesty command to
have sent to me a dozen good men, who understand galleys thoroughly,
who may serve as captains, boatswains, and masters, who may teach
those who shall serve in those posts to be proficient. For no one
here thoroughly understands that calling except Captain Francisco
Remanico, who I am told has labored very diligently in this matter,
as well as in other affairs of your Majesty's service. I also need
two or three oar-makers who are good workmen.

The shipbuilding carried on in these islands on your Majesty's account
is the total ruin and death of these natives, as all tell me. For,
in addition to the damage caused by it in withdrawing them from the
cultivation of their lands and fields--whereby the abundance of the
foods and fruits of the country is destroyed--many of them die from
severe labor and harsh treatment. Joined to this is another evil,
namely, that every Indian who takes part in the shipbuilding is
aided by all the neighborhood where he lives with a certain number
of pesos, on account of the small pay that is given them in behalf
of your Majesty. Hence many are being harassed and worn out by
these methods, and a great expense is being caused to your Majesty's
royal treasury. For although the cost of employing the natives seems
moderate, their decrease is a very great detriment; while the planking,
sheathing, and masts are so poor that they must all be renewed every
two years, and sometimes oftener, when the only still useful parts
are the futtock-timbers. But all the above can be found and made so
much better in Portuguese Yndia that, considering the avoidance of
the above wrongs and the bettering and more satisfactory price of
the work, I shall try my utmost to avoid building ships here--sending
to Cochin to have them built, or to buy them ready built; or sending
wherever they may be found better and cheaper in those regions. If,
when this should be negotiated, there should be some cloves to send
on your Majesty's account, the purchase of vessels, as well as that
of slaves for the galleys, would be made very comfortably.

In the construction of ships that private persons are trying to
build in these islands, about which the Audiencia is writing to
your Majesty, I do not find so great an obstacle; for they take no
Indian forcibly from his house and land for this task, and no Indian
works at it unless he consents of his own accord to do so. That is
done without oppression, and the Indian is wholly paid for his work,
without the others having to contribute for it. For the smaller-sized
ships some better woods are found, which, because they are small,
cannot answer for the necessary uses to which they are put in the
larger ships. Since I do not find any noticeable difficulty in this,
I would consider it as very advantageous that leave be granted for
the building of those ships, and for navigation among the islands
and coasts of this archipelago, so long as they do not extend their
voyages to Nueva Espana and Piru. From that it will result that the
inhabitants will get some profit, and it will not be necessary to hold
all the trade with Nueva Espana. It will not be unprofitable for your
Majesty's service to keep some ships here, so that, if need should
arise, they might be employed and made useful with the seamen by
whom they shall have been manned. Since it is necessary that whoever
should have a vessel have paid and well-treated sailors, your Majesty
would come to have all that at no more expense than that of the time
while you would employ them; and these your vassals, the natives of
this country, would have more relief from the burden; and surely it
is pitiful to see the burdens that they carry, and what they endure.

The city has requested me to petition your Majesty to concede that
the encomiendas be for three lives in direct descent, that is,
to the grandchildren; and if not, that there be a succession for
two lives, in the manner that is requested in their name; and also
that they be excused from the necessity of getting confirmations of
such encomiendas from the court there [_i.e._, in Espana], as that
is a matter of great effort and expense to them. What I can inform
your Majesty in regard to it is that I have heard that they have
responded with very great love and loyalty, as excellent vassals,
on all opportunities that have offered for your royal service. At
present the encomiendas are liable to become vacant more quickly than
in the past, even though they are granted for more lives, because of
the danger of losing their lives through the more continuous occasions
for war--to which nearly all of them go, each one according to his
ability. Consequently, for this reason not only do I petition your
Majesty to make them this concession, but also to honor some citizens
who have been soldiers, and always are soldiers ready to risk their
persons and spend their possessions in your Majesty's service. This
many have done, most especially Admiral Rodrigo de Guillestegui, who
has responded to that and to all the needs that have arisen in the
royal service. This relation has been substantiated by public rumor
and reputation, without any dissenting voice. Since it seems just that
services be rewarded, and advisable that those who render them should
be honored, so that others may be encouraged, with such an example,
to try to merit a like reward, I petition your Majesty to be pleased
to have this matter considered, and to have him conceded a [military]
habit that, he has told me, he wishes for his eldest son. By that
it will be evident that services rendered here are also esteemed and
rewarded by your Majesty with your free and generous hand. Inasmuch
as I think that I am serving him in this I petition this for him.

He who goes as commander or head of the flagship this year is Don
Antonio de Leoz, while Captain Juan Baptista de Molina--who has
already served in that capacity before, and who has been castellan of
the fort of this port--fills the post of admiral. They are men who
have rendered much service to your Majesty; and for many years past
they have been enrolled as citizens in this country, so that all the
inhabitants here have applauded their choice.

It has not yet been possible to conclude the suits that I found
docketed against Don Juan Ronquillo, commander of the galleons that
last fought at Playa Onda, and against Don Juan de la Vega, upon and
regarding occurrences in the fleet; consequently, I shall be unable
to inform your Majesty of this matter until a later opportunity.

The departure of Don Hieronimo de Silva has been suspended, because
certain witnesses, whom he calls his rivals, have accused him in the
investigation that I said was being made in regard to him, in such
manner that we have been compelled to come to this resolution. He is
compelled to clear himself; and although he desires to do so, and
to challenge the witnesses by making a counter-charge against them
in such manner as he can, I do not know how he will manage it. For,
on the one hand, he wishes a judge to try and admit his pleas; and,
as for what he does not answer so suitably, he says that he is a
religious of the holy order of St. John, and that all those who enter
and take part in anything against him are excommunicated. He is seeking
for this matter a judge conservator who may punish with censures; and
yesterday the provincial of the Dominicans came to me to say that Don
Hieronimo had nominated him. We are now halting at this point. Will
your Majesty cause decision to be made as to what it is advisable
to do; and whether the residencia of the said Don Hieronimo must be
taken here, and who shall take it; and if possible to excuse me from
it, I petition your Majesty to commit it to another, inasmuch as I
have as yet done nothing touching residencia because I had not your
Majesty's license or order for it. Those who are plaintiffs against
the said Don Hieronimo are complaining that I might do more for their
satisfaction. He is also complaining and is angry because he is not
to go now to Espana. Truly I have done what I could without failing
in my duty to justice, and have endeavored to pacify each party. Had I
not done that, they would have brought incriminating documents against
one another, each one tarnishing the other's reputation--as is wont to
happen whenever there is any passion, even though it be with little
cause. I confess that, in order to be surer of the relief for these
obstacles, I would rejoice if there were some way so that Don Hieronimo
may go; but the best means for it should be sought. In everything I
shall proceed as I think is most advisable to your Majesty's service.

The archbishop of Manila, I am told, is writing to your Majesty,
petitioning you to command that his stipend be increased. Having
considered the reasons that he gives--and that, even if there were
no other than his residing here in the gaze of so many pagan nations
and those of different sects, as the representative of the greatest
ecclesiastical dignity--his desire for the means to discharge so many
obligations as he has seems as just, for this reason and for the
others regarding the archbishopric, as would be unjust my neglect
to petition your Majesty for the same on my part, because of my
ever-present obligations to represent to you whatever I think to be
advisable for your royal service.

With this letter I send your Majesty the declaration of a notary
who was prisoner among the Dutch, and a document written to me by
a father of the Society, which came together day before yesterday
from Terrenate; and also two copies of letters from Lucas de Vergara
Gaviria, governor of those forts, and from the king of Tidore, which
were received a few days before. Will your Majesty have them examined,
for they contain the latest news from Maluco.

The two vessels that are being despatched to Nueva Espana are now
able to set sail, and will do so (God willing), when the weather is
favorable. They go well equipped for the voyage, and the lading well
adjusted--more so than has yet been usual here. They carry excellent
crews, artillery, sufficient arms, and good rigging, and a great
quantity of that, in order to spare your Majesty the expense that
is incurred in Nueva Espana--where each quintal [of rigging] costs,
delivered in Acapulco, about fifty pesos; while here it costs only
one-tenth as much. As great preparation has been made in the candles
for the lanterns, [31] and other things, for the same purpose of
lessening the expense. And, while discussing this matter, I cannot
refrain from again petitioning your Majesty, in order to fulfil
my obligations and my desire for your royal service, to order that
the clerks and the treasury employees that I have requested for this
place be sent to me; for they are very necessary in order to aid more
efficiently the service of your Majesty, whose Catholic person may
our Lord preserve, as is necessary to Christendom. In this port of
Cavite, and bay of Manila, August 10, 1618.

Already on this day (the above date) the ships are to leave this bay,
because of the favorable weather that has come. All the pilots are of
opinion that they will not be lost, and that our Lord will guide and
convey them with all safety. It has seemed best to the Audiencia that
a certain report be sent to your Majesty in this letter, of which
it took charge, made against Don Hieronimo de Silva; consequently
I am sending it in accordance with their opinion, since they are
lawyers. Nevertheless, my opinion was that it should be suspended
until the trial of the said Don Hieronimo, and the truth were known
with certainty; and not to discredit him beforehand with depositions
of certain persons, by whom he has been accused, without allowing
him any opportunity to defend himself.

_Don Alonso Faxardo de Tenca_

[Appended to the letter are the following letters on Moluccan affairs,
mentioned by Fajardo.]

_Letter from Manuel Ribeyra, S.J._

As I arrived from this voyage from Maluco ailing and crippled in
one foot, I have not gone to pay my respects to your Lordship and
to welcome you, in accordance with my obligations, to these islands,
whither in a time of so great need our Lord has brought you for the
relief of all of them. I give a thousand thanks to your Lordship for
the so signal grace that you do me in ordering me to advise you briefly
of the condition of Maluco, and of whatever I deem in need of reform,
trusting that I shall only pay attention in this to the question how
their two Majesties, the Divine and the human, may be better served;
and that I shall proceed throughout truthfully and with integrity,
as a religious of the Society, which I am. In order that I may comply
with what your Lordship orders, I declare, sir:

That the forts of Terrenate, Tidore, Gilolo, Tafongo, and Payagi (which
are all that the king our sovereign possesses in the Maiucas Islands)
are in the best condition in which they have ever been; because for
a year past, since Master-of-camp Lucas de Bergara Gaviria has been
governing them, he has labored at their fortification, so that all
are in an excellent state of defense. At present there is no cavalier
in Maluco that is not built of stone, although until now many were
built of fascines, and whenever it rained heavily they were washed
down, and at times with the death of those in them. Besides that,
he has had the island of Tidore and the post of Socanora fortified;
this is very important, as the enemy try so hard to take them. Thus
it is in security, and he has also enclosed and surrounded the two
towns in the respective islands of Tidore and Terrenate, which were
outside our forts, with two curtains of rampart which are very good
and very strong.

Although our forts in Maluco have at present the artillery necessary
for their defense, still that does not prevent the very great need
that is experienced there for three or four good pieces of long range,
so that they may be placed in Tidore, Don Gil, and Tomanira. Those are
the three forts that we have on the three channels where the hostile
ships generally enter and leave, without our being able as yet to do
them any damage.

Not less necessary do I consider it that we should always have galleys
in Terrenate; for lack of them our reenforcements this year were so
hindered, and the flagship was lost.

Since no pay has been given the soldiers in Maluco for many years,
and since all the food and clothing that is sent from Manila is very
little, they are in great need. Accordingly it appears, advisable
for your Lordship to aid them liberally, since they merit it.

In order that the soldiers in Maluco may not become desperate, and
so that one may find men there who will offer to serve your Lordship
in that camp willingly and gladly, it will be very advantageous for
you to send one or two new captains with their companies every year,
and to withdraw a like number.

Since operations in the forts of Terrenate arc carried on among Moros,
and they know very well the dignity which each one has on his entrance
into the country, we have seen by experience that it is a very great
cause of trouble to give there the dignity of captain to those who
entered as soldiers; for the natives do not esteem them as is right,
and continually lose respect for them. Not only are all those who
are now there of that class, but there are some among them of whom
the Moros say--of one, that they have little acquaintance with him,
and that in the markets, when he was buying fowls and all the other
things used at his master's house; of another, that they know that
they insulted him. Thence arose the saying of the king of Tidore,
that he wondered that such men were made captains of the king of
Espana. To all this is added the fact that little dependence can be
placed on them for any occasion where honor is concerned. Consequently,
I judge that after accommodating such men here, it is advisable to
give those posts to new captains.

In Maluco are many old and deserving alferezes, whom it seems that
your Lordship should summon and grant favors here.

All the infantry was giving as a whole great satisfaction, and
throughout this year not one has gone over to the enemy, although
that was formerly very common, and although the captains and
other persons complain or the temper and harshness with which the
master-of-camp, Lucas de Bergara Gaviria, treats them. I affirm,
sir, that even so zealous a servant of the king ought to show some
toleration; and, moreover, that can be remedied with a word from your
Lordship. I remember also that last year, by his going to Terrenate,
he resuscitated that country, and since then until now the soldiers
have had food, obtaining all that is sent them from Manila. This,
sir, is what I can briefly say of the condition of Maluco, which
through His Divine Majesty, I hope is to make progress since the
happy arrival of your Lordship, whose person may God, our Lord,
preserve to us for long years, as He can do, and as is necessary to
us. From this house of the Society of Jesus at Cavite, August 10, 1618.

The humble chaplain of your Lordship,

_Father Manuel Ribeyra_

_Copy of a letter written by Lucas de Vergara Gaviria, Governor
of Terrenate_

On the eleventh of the present month I despatched the ship "San Buena
Ventura," in which I informed your Lordship of occurrences here. That
same night the ship "Santa Margarita" reached this port from Manados
with the cargo brought by the fragata "San Miguel," which returned to
those islands. This ship brought the orders that its commander says
were given him by Francisco Rosales, master of the "San Miguel," in
which your Lordship orders a quantity of cloves to be prepared to send
to Eastern Yndia, in order that it may be exchanged for the supplies
necessary for the fleet; and that two thousand three hundred pieces of
Chincheo cotton are sent for it. I answer that I have them, and assert
that your Lordship ought to have that master punished; for he did not
give those orders to the accountant, Pedro de Almansa, when he left the
ship at Manados to come here. Had he done so, there would have been,
notwithstanding the season, some cloves which could have been bought,
although not all the quantity ordered, and although it could not have
been done when they arrived. At that time the selling had already
been finished, and the Spaniards who lived there had a great quantity
of goods in their houses on account of the scant supply of cloves;
for the harvest was not so great as was expected. Consequently,
as soon as I received the order sent me, I ordered a factory [i.e.,
trading post] to be established, and your Lordship's orders to be
executed. However, these four months no cloves can be traded; for
until the end of that time the trees will not bear. Consequently,
although great efforts be made, we shall not be able to send to Yndia
until next December or January. Besides that, there would be great
delay in buying forty-five bares [32] of cloves with cotton alone,
which would be the amount at the prices current this year. In order
that this may be done more quickly, it has been decided to put with
them other kinds of cloth bought in Yndia, since these Moros wish
to have a choice, some asking for one kind of cloth, and others for
another. Thus all manner of care possible will be given to this matter.

Today when I was with the king of Tidore, he told me that he had
heard sure news from the Ternatans that the natives of the islands
of Vanda, together with the English who have a fortress there, had
given poison to the Dutch who live there, from which many had died;
[33] that their commander Lorenco el Real, was very much reduced;
that the Dutch had taken two English ships which were cruising about
there, and had put the Englishmen in the galleys; and that the Dutch
fleet is coming to these islands to the number of eighteen ships and
two galleys. He also said that the fort of Ambueno was burned, where
that fleet has stopped until it can be rebuilt; but that they consider
it certain from what they write that they will be here sometime in the
month of July next. I am putting these forts into as good a condition
of defense as is possible with the few men that I have. For never
were there fewer Spaniards in these islands; since, if occasion should
arise, I have not twenty men with whom I could reenforce any fortress,
without creating a notable scarcity in the others. It cannot be less,
since last year only thirty soldiers came, whom I brought; while in
the two companies of this year have come forty-six. A like number of
sick and crippled men have gone to that city [of Manila]; while there
are others here who have died; and many are sick, who with more reason
would be occupying the hospital than the sentry-boxes, were not the
necessity so pressing. Although, thanks to God, as they are provided
with food, they get along reasonably well on the little clothing that
has come, yet I am continually having their garments patched. Thus
everything possible is being done to encourage and please them, and
I think they are in that condition. I have, glory to God, as I wrote
to your Lordship, rice in the magazines to last until the end of next
April, with the precautions that I am taking, making use of that which
came from Macasar. My greatest cause for anxiety at present is my lack
of a galley or two in order to oppose to those that they say that the
enemy is bringing; for I have nothing but one rotten galliot--and that
without crew, as I have written--which is the vessel that I seized
from Pedro Alvarez de Abreo. I am repairing it, in order to do what is
possible with it, and to attend to the communication with these forts,
which are situated at points so dangerous. Will your Lordship send me
a galley or two as quickly as possible, in order that I may do this
better, and work what harm I may to the enemy (for these boats are the
necessary things in this island, as your Lordship knows; and the enemy,
knowing this, are not afraid of us). I need also some money and clothes
for these poor soldiers; and some cloth from Yndia, if there is any,
in order to put it in the factories as agreed upon, at the account
of his Majesty; and some men, since they are so necessary. Therefore
with what the galley or galleys that may come can bring, since I
have rice for the time above stated your Lordship will not need to
be in haste to send me help in defective vessels. But then I hope,
God helping, that the fleet will have arrived from Castilla, and
that it and that of those regions will come, even though somewhat
late, both to bring that aid safely and to achieve the results that
his Majesty desires, since these Dutchmen are quite stripped of men;
and although they have many ships, and those from Olanda, they do not
expect reenforcements as abundant as hitherto. It appears that all
the natives are already turning against them, and are continually
supporting the English in these regions with greater forces. The
latter are so very hostile to the Dutch, that they will hasten to
profit by a very good opportunity. [34] I regard it as certain, that
in case that we wish to avail ourselves of the forces of the English,
if our own are insufficient to destroy these Dutchmen, they will
aid us in it very willingly, by short agreements that might be made
with them. I know that this cannot be a bad thing for his Majesty,
but very good. This English captain who is here has told me that if
we wish to bring this about, his nation will do it. I advise your
Lordship go that should necessity, perchance, compel us to undertake
this, you may know what we are doing here about it.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22