The Philippine Islands, 1493 1898: Volume XVII, 1609 1616 by Various

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In Malaca the ships were very inhospitably received, for soldiers are
wont to commit depredations. But within a few days they were made to
see that the landing there of the galleons was for their relief and
the salvation of their city; for a month after their arrival the king
of Achen came with sixty thousand men to besiege it. Information of
this number and of the other things that will be related, was given by
the Portuguese who were captives in Achen and returned to Malaca. They
had three hundred and fifty sail--among them sixty galleys, each with
three pieces in the bows; the piece in the midship gangway fired balls
of sixty libras, as we saw in those found in the galleons after the
war. Along the sides they carried five falcons, firing balls of six
libras. In the royal galley, called "Espanto del mundo" [_i.e._, Fear
of the world] by the people of Achen, were sixteen hundred soldiers
and one hundred and fifty falcons and half-sized falcons. That king of
Achen, the most powerful on the sea of all this Orient, had concerted
with the Dutch that both should take Malaca. Consequently they took a
few days in arriving. The king of Achen arrived first at the bay of
Malaca with a squadron of eighteen galleys, in order to reconnoiter
the place. Finding our four galleys anchored in the port, and learning
that they were war-vessels, they put to sea to await the Dutch. When
our men saw them depart and go toward the strait, where they might
capture the boats from China and unite with the Dutch, they resolved
to set sail and give battle. They did so with the four galleons and
six galliots--ten small vessels. They encountered the Achen boats on
November 15, and fought for two and one-half days. The enemy carried
a considerable force. They burned one galliot, so that the soldiers
abandoned it and went to the galleons. The flagship grappled eleven
galleys. Fire was set to it many times, but our men extinguished
it. The enemy grappled the galleon of Don Juan de Silveira, which
carried twenty-two pieces of artillery, and set fire to it. They were
unable to extinguish the fire, and so it was entirely burned.

Don Juan de Silvera and Antonio Rodriguez de Gamboa, son of the
commander-in-chief of that fortress of Malaca, and forty other
Portuguese, took to the water; but all were captured by the king
of Achen and placed aboard his galley. A fresh wind began to blow,
wherewith the vessels separated and the men of Achen went to their
country with something less than thirty craft, counting large and
small boats, and with two thousand men killed. Although we did them
damage, it was not so great as that which we received. Accordingly they
regarded it as a victory and entered their kingdom in triumph--where
they feasted the captains, whom they treated courteously, and then
loosed them and gave them liberty.

On December 7 of the same year of 1615, the Dutch reached the bay of
Malaca with seven ships and one patache, coming to join the king of
Achen. They found our three galleons, which, for greater security,
had been anchored between a sandbank made by the sea and a small
island near Malaca. There they said that they were invincible, for
entrance could be had only by a channel near the rampart, which,
by means of its pieces of artillery, would refuse entrance. On the
sea side they were defended by the sandbank and shoals. But the enemy
sounded the port that night with its lanchas and found a new channel,
where they entered without being hindered by the rampart. This was
attributed to the fault and negligence of those who could and ought
to have prevented the lanchas from making soundings, because of the
many galliots in the port.

The enemy having entered and coming within cannon range, opened
a fierce bombardment, which lasted two and one-half days. At this
time our vessels defended themselves with three pieces that could
be fired, and no more, because they were anchored, and the current
threw them in a line toward the Dutch; although had the people on
shore been diligent, they could have brought the vessels about with
cables. The enemy tacked at will and played the majority of their
pieces. We discovered that our galleons were stronger than their
ships, for their balls did not pass through the sides of the galleons,
especially of the almiranta and flagship. The damage inflicted by them
was through the open ports; while we saw that our balls passed through
the Dutch ships from side to side, and then went bounding through
the water. Nevertheless, distrusting the Dutch and their battery,
the men of the galleons began to edge away and to leave them at the
approach of night, especially when they saw Captain Juan Pinto and
Admiral Alfonso Vaez fall; they were killed with four others, by a
ball that entered through a port.

First they abandoned the galleon called "Plata," without taking the
precaution to set it afire when they left, so that the enemy could
not approach with their artillery. This the enemy did, entering and
capturing it, as was well seen; and afterward they set it afire.

When the enemy saw that the soldiers were deserting the almiranta,
they lowered their lanchas and entered it. One Dutchman, climbing up to
the maintopsail, lowered the banner of Christ and ran up that of Count
Mauricio, the sight of which caused us great anguish. Throughout that
battle our men did not fire a musket or espingarda, [76] and they had
none on the second day, for they tried to escape by swimming. Our men
set fire to this galleon, the almiranta; and when the Dutch saw that it
was burning, they left it, and the fire did its duty until it converted
the vessel into ashes. The flagship held out longer, but the soldiers
did not wait for the Dutch to board, for some of them escaped from
the galleon by swimming. Thirteen or fourteen of them were drowned,
among them Christobal de Fegueredo. Some jumped into a small skiff
belonging to the galleon, for they had taken all the boats from the
city, so that they had none in which to come thence. The galleon was
left with a few men, who were no longer firing and were silent. At this
juncture, the general left by a port, as best he could. Reaching shore,
he ordered the galleon to be set afire, which was done. It began to
burn, to our very great sorrow and to the exultation of the enemy,
for it was an unusually fine vessel; it carried thirty-six pieces
of artillery and a quantity of ammunition. When the fire reached the
powder-magazine, so great was the noise made, that the island of Malaca
trembled and the houses shook. A cloud of smoke arose to the heavens
which hid the clouds, and in that instant we lost sight of the galleon.

In the four galleons ninety-two pieces of artillery were lost. The
wounded and dead reached one hundred. The enemy were insolent
and victorious, and, although we had done them some damage, they
nevertheless attained their purpose, not only of preventing the
relief of Maluco, but of destroying the Portuguese squadron--and that
without the necessity of boarding any galleon, for which there was
no such need; because, before they could reach the galleys, these
were abandoned.

As soon as the enemy were discovered, many said that it would be
advisable to mount some pieces on the island, with some gabions, in
order to attack the enemy, and defend the galleons, which would have
been an admirable relief. But it did not have the desired effect,
for only one piece was mounted, and that late; and no one cared to
guard it, until Antonio Pinto de Fonseca, inspector of forts and one
who insisted urgently that the pieces be mounted, found a homicide,
who with other criminals, guarded the piece. He did considerable
injury to the enemy, for he fired from a short distance and with
safety. Had there been six guns, they would have sunk the enemy;
but that was not the first or the last act of carelessness.

On the twelfth of the month, the galleons were converted into ashes,
and the Maluco relief expedition was destroyed. After the battle and
disaster many quarrels arose among the nobles by land and sea, over
the question who was to blame. Each one blamed the other, attributing
the loss to many excesses that they mentioned. The truth is that such
excesses existed, and they and our sins were the cause of so great
a chastisement.

On February 25, Don Juan de Silva, governor and captain-general of
the Filipinas, reached the strait with ten galleons, four galleys,
and one patache. The Dutch were informed of his coming, for having
captured Juan Gallegos, a pilot who came from Macao in a patache, he
told them the plans of the governor. Thereupon the enemy took refuge a
week beforehand. They had been awaiting two vessels that were coming
from China with all the wealth of Yndia; and the Portuguese considered
it a foregone conclusion that these would fall into the hands of the
enemy. They had resolved to land on the island of Bintan or Pulo
Timon and burn the galleons, so that the enemy should not benefit
therefrom. For that purpose they sent Captain Fernando Acosta to
Malaca. But at the news of the governor's coming, the enemy abandoned
their station and left a free passage to the ships, which arrived one
day after the governor. It is reported that the two vessels had ten
days of contrary southeast winds which prevented them from reaching the
strait sooner, where their danger was. But God our Lord did better,
and He deprived the enemy of the prize, which would have enriched
them enormously, and allowed them to make war on Europe.

For that good result and benefit given to all Yndia by Don Juan de
Silva, the Portuguese were extremely thankful, and accordingly received
him in Malaca under a pall and with great acclamation. On March 26
all confessed that God had delivered them from the Dutch by his means;
and they hoped that he would drive the enemy from these seas later. But
death, which comes when God pleases, finished all their hopes; for it
brought him to his bed, and from that to a grave on April 19, 1616,
of a fever that carried him off in eleven days. During the course of
his sickness, the city made a procession from the _asse_ or cathedral
to [the church of] La Misericordia, [77] praying our Lord for his
health. At his death, they bewailed him with extreme sorrow.

Before dying he saw that his end was near, and accordingly prepared
himself by acts of faith and penitence, receiving the sacraments. He
ordered his body to be embalmed, and taken on the royal galley to
Manila, and thence to Jerez de los Caballeros, [78] where he founded
a convent of discalced Carmelite nuns. In the meanwhile the body
should be deposited in the residence or houses of the Society of
Jesus. Accordingly, in the residence of Malaca they celebrated the
church services for him. At the end of nine days, the body was taken to
the galleys anchored in the strait of Sincapura. There it was received
with a salute on May 2. On the fourth, sail was set toward Manila.

The fleet was composed of ten galleons, four galleys, one patache, and
three frigates. It carried three hundred pieces of artillery, eight
companies of Spanish soldiers, five hundred Japanese, two hundred
volunteers, sixty artillerymen, and two hundred sailors. [Without
signature. [79]]

_Letter from Father Juan de Ribera, [80] rector of the residence of
the Society of Jesus at Manila, in which he gives account of his
voyage to and from India, and of the unfortunate fate of the four
galleons that he took thence._

We set sail at Cabite November twenty-one, the day of the Virgin. In
a fortnight we entered the strait of Sincapura, having followed
the new route, which is called that of China. It is a very wide
channel, some forty or fifty brazas deep. We anchored at Malaca on
Tuesday, December nine, by our account, but on Wednesday by that of
Malaca. We left there on Christmas eve, with favorable weather. In
the neighborhood of Punta de Gale [or Galle], which is located in
Ceylan, we experienced a heavy storm. When that had subsided, the
currents carried us to the islands of Mal-Divar [_i.e._, Maldives],
a voyage from which few emerge in safety. We lost our reckoning,
and were in great need of wood and water. But by God's help, after
having approached one of those islands, our necessity was relieved
by some Malabar pirates for money. We were sailing among that great
forest of islands when we became becalmed, the peril most feared by
pilots. When we were all grieving over that, the chief of the Lascars,
a Moro by nation, and religion, arose. Taking a dish in his hand,
he begged us all for an alms for our Lady of Guadalupe of the city
of Cochin, [81] assuring us that she would give us wind. He pledged
himself to give double the alms collected, even if she did not give
the wind. Much surprised in so great confidence in a Moro, and all
of us being encouraged, he collected in a short time eighteen pesos,
and after folding them in a cloth, he tied them to the mizzen-masthead
begging the Virgin to fulfil her promise. The fact was that from that
day the wind to navigate (little or much) never failed us, until we
reached Cochin. That was on January twenty-three, and on entering the
bar there, we met a fleet of Malabar pirates who were sufficiently
powerful to oppose us. But God so disposed that we came upon them
when they were tired out, as we afterward learned, by a battle that
they had waged for the space of two days with another pirate, also a
Malabar--who, conquered by them at last, scuttled his ship and went
down with all on board, in order not to fall into their hands. For
that reason they did not attack us so quickly, and we had time to
enter Cochin.

The fathers provincial received us on the beach--the present father
Francisco, [82] and the past Alberto Laercio [83]--accompanied by
the most grave fathers with music and other kindnesses. We stayed
two months in Cochin, where we received singular kindness and
entertainment from all. They took me to Caranganor, five leguas from
there, along very pleasant rivers, in a boat like a house, belonging to
the archbishop of Sierra, Father Don Francisco Ros [84] of our Society,
a native of the city of Girona in the principality of Cataluna, whose
hand I desired to kiss. We found him at Peru. He seemed a saint to
me. When I remarked to him, a propos of the retirement and poverty
in which I found him, at the first salutation, "_Qui Episcopatum
desiderat, bonum opus desiderat_," he replied, "Our Chaldean answers,
_Bonam servitulem querit_." [85] He is learned in that language,
in which his priests pray and celebrate the mass with peculiar
ceremonies. We found him living so apostolic a life that he did not
have room to entertain the eight of our Society who were there--among
whom was the rector of Cochin, Father Gaspar Fernandez [86]--nor did
he have any food to give us. Consequently we returned to the boat,
which was more comfortable than the house. We went to Caranganor, a
Portuguese fortress, and a residence of ours, just opposite Samorin. I
saw some doors and windows that had been broken with volleys, and
they told me that a father who was praying in the window had been
killed. The father rector of the residence there had a carved image
of the child Jesus asleep in a little gilded bed, which had been
sent him by a pagan Malabar pirate, who stole it from a Portuguese,
believing it to be gold. But when he had carried it to his house,
he found that it was only gilded wood, and gave it to his children
for a toy. The sleeping Child, however, did not allow his owner to
sleep, for according to his account, He kept him awake every night,
and placing Himself in front of him, said to him, "Take me to the
land of the Christians." He communicated the matter to his wife,
and by her counsel sent Him to the father rector of Caranganor. We
went to Vaypicota, a residence of our Society, which formerly had a
greater number of our members. That field of Christendom has become
lessened through the little favor [shown to the Christians by] the
pagan king to whom it is subject. It is a wonder to me that within
a stone's throw of our church is a Moro mosque, a pagan temple, and
a Jewish synagogue, without one harming another, although they annoy
us greatly by their shouting, when they invoke the devil.

From Cochin we went to Goa on April three of this year, one thousand
six hundred and fifteen, in a galley of the fleet. We coasted along
the shore and visited the fortresses of Malabar. We spent Holy Week
in Mangalor. We lodged in the convent of St. Francis, and helped
confess the soldiers. We spent forty days in the voyage, until we
reached Goa, where Father Francisco Vergara, rector of the college,
and all the others received us with great charity. Four of them
took me to visit the viceroy, who showed us great courtesy. After I
had been talking with him for almost an hour, the chief chancellor
entered, who is at the same time auditor for the reports in causes,
and is a knight of the habit. Having given him a seat of honor, such
as we were occupying, the viceroy said to him: "I am surprised, sir,
that all the fathers of the Society are all so much alike; for the
father rector of Manila, whom we have here, is just like the fathers
here, even in speech." He determined immediately what could be done in
accordance with the present state of India, in respect to the aid that
I was come to request--namely, to give four well-equipped galleons,
with as many as four hundred soldiers and ninety pieces of artillery
among them all. As commander of this fleet, he assigned Francisco de
Miranda Enriquez, a gentleman who has had good fortune in war; and,
as admiral, Alfonso Vaez Coutino.

We left Goa on the twelfth of May. We were one hundred and two days
on the voyage for the lack of good weather, and on account of the
poor route chosen by the pilot, who took us to the land of Achan; and
as its inhabitants are hostile to the Portuguese, the latter did not
dare land there. The men were dying with thirst, and had it not been
for some showers, and the final resolution to get water on a desert
island, we would have suffered even death. We had many _samatras_,
or hurricanes, on the coast of that great land, which broke topmasts,
tore sails, and broke moorings, causing us to lose anchors and other
necessary articles.

On July thirty, on the eve of our Father St. Ignatius, in the district
of Pulu Parcelar, our capitana galleon fought two Dutch vessels,
without the other galleons being able to render aid, as they were to
leeward. Our galleon made two vain attempts to grapple--one because
of too much wind, and the other for lack of wind--for the one was
a samatra or hurricane, and the other so great a calm, that neither
we nor the Dutch could manage our ships. But inasmuch as we remained
within cannon-shot of one another, we fought until night deepened,
and they fled battered to pieces; for our balls had gone clear through
them, while theirs made scarcely any impression on us. Accordingly
we only lost two men in the fight.

On the eve of the Assumption [87] we ran upon a shoal three brazas
under water, where the galleon remained all night, tossing up and down
frightfully. In the morning a boat came from one of our other ships
in response to the numerous pieces that we discharged, and helped us
get off the shoal; but we were in so bad condition that from then on
the boat made thirty palmos of water every twenty-four hours.

We finally reached Malaca August twenty-two. Although it was thought
that the monsoon or favorable wind was already ended, we attempted
to make the voyage to Manila. We passed the strait of Sincapura,
and on the fifth of September, because of the little progress that
we made, called a council, in which we all resolved to winter at
Malaca. However, on the next day, the commander attempted to continue
the voyage to Manila, until the soldiers and sailors mutinied and
forced him to put in at Malaca, on the nineteenth of the same month.

The fleet was very ill received by the inhabitants there, because
of the harm that soldiers generally do. But our going there was soon
seen to have been a providence of God; for within one month the king
of Achen came to attack that city with a fleet of one hundred and
fifty sail and forty thousand men, and had not he found our galleys
there would surely have captured it. And further, according to rumors
(and as was shown in the result), he had agreed with the Dutch to join
them, since they came only twenty days apart, as I shall immediately
relate. In my opinion the same thing that had happened to the prophet
Abacuc [_i.e._, Habakkuk] happened to me. For he having prepared
the food for his reapers, the angel bore him by the hair to Babylon,
to relieve the necessity of Daniel, who had been locked in the den
of lions. I took that aid from Goa for Manila, and the Lord took us
to Malaca, and conveyed us as if by the hair, since we put in with
great repugnance; and at last all that reinforcement was consumed in
helping Malaca.

A squadron of galleys came ahead to reconnoiter. Finding our galleons
anchored, and taking note of the soldiers in them and in the city,
it went ahead to the strait to await (as was heard) the Dutch. Our
men feared lest they should attack the trading ships which generally
come at that time from China. Accordingly it was resolved that four
galleons, six galliots, and other oared craft should sail out to drive
the enemy from the coast. They engaged on the fifteenth of November,
and fought all that day, and the one following. The enemy's force
was large. They burned one galliot and forced the men to desert the
others and enter the galleons, which now were in need of men. The enemy
attacked our flagship and surrounded it with twelve large galleys. It
caught fire many times, but our men always extinguished the fire
and defended themselves valiantly. They attacked the galleon of Don
Juan de Silveyra, which was a fine vessel, and a fort of twenty-two
cannons. It caught fire and burned so furiously that the flames could
not be extinguished; and it was accordingly burned to ashes. The said
Don Juan de Silveyra and Antonio Rodriguez Gamboa--his brother-in-law,
and son of Juan Cayado de Gamboa, commandant of that fortress of
Malaca--leaped overboard. They and thirty or forty other Portuguese
were captured by the people of Achen and taken to their king, who
treated them courteously and gave them liberty. Those gentlemen
declared to me, in writing, in Malaca that the fleet of the people
of Achen consisted of three hundred and fifty craft, among which were
sixty large galleys, each with three pieces of artillery at the bow,
while that of the midship gangway had the caliber of sixty libras;
that the royal galley carried one thousand six hundred men, with one
hundred and twenty falcons and half-falcons; and that they lost ten
large galleys in the fight, besides twenty other lesser craft. They
also stated that after returning to his country the king punished
certain of his captains because they had not burned all the galleys;
and that having given liberty to the captives he sent them to Malaca,
with che message that he desired peace with his brother, the king of
Castilla and Portugal.

Our good fortune resulted in his not having effected a meeting with the
Dutch, who arrived the next month, on the seventh of December, with
seven ships and one patache. Our three galleons had been stationed
in a cove between the small island of Malaca and a sandbank--a
place that seemed impregnable, as it was defended on the sea side
by the sandbank and shoals, and on the land side by the artillery
of its ramparts. But the enemy, having thoroughly reconnoitered the
sandbank and shoals, discovered a channel where they could enter,
and thereupon entered on the morning of the next day, flying their
red rear-admiral's banners. The flagship remained outside, although
within cannon-shot. Then began a cruel bombardardment that lasted
three days. Our galleons could not play all their artillery, for they
were anchored, and the currents were dragging them toward the Dutch,
who were free, and maneuvered at will. Our artillery was heavier than
theirs, consequently the few pieces that we fired did them great
damage. The building of a protection for the cannon was discussed,
and the planting of some pieces on the island, in order to defend
the galleons. That would doubtless have been of great importance
for they would have fired from a covered battery and at very close
range, as was seen by the effect produced by only one piece that
was mounted there. It was fired by a man who had been condemned to
death, and who was awaiting justice for having pillaged two Chinese
vessels. He was promised pardon if he would take charge of that piece,
as he did, to the damage of the enemy. But as he was alone and the
enemy were bringing to bear all the artillery of their ships, they
finally prevailed. On the first day, Juan Pinto, captain of a galley,
being killed, and his uncle, a valiant soldier, having broken his leg,
his men were disheartened, and deserted the galleon; but they did not
take the precaution to burn it, so that the enemy could not profit,
as they did, by its artillery, food, and other things that it was
carrying; afterward the enemy set it on fire.

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