The King. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, my governor and captain-general of the islands of the West: I have received your two letters dated June fifteen and twenty-three of the past year one thousand five hundred and sixty-seven,1 and I have taken note of the detailed account which you gave of the events of your expedition, and of what you have done in it; and it is what has been expected from your loyalty and goodness. In regard to what you say of the islands that have been discovered, and which are being discovered daily, and your sensible policy in not waging war, you have done very well, and we charge and order you to continue the same, striving by all good means to attract the natives to the service of God our Lord and mine, and to the love and friendship which they ought to have with you and with the Spaniards who reside with you. You shall so carry yourself that you may not come to blows with them nor with any other persons unless you should be provoked, and in your own defense.
In regard to your statement that some galleys are needed for the trade and commerce of those islands, we have ordered the matter to be discussed, but as yet no resolution has been taken by which we can advise you concerning our will.
Your son, Melchor de Legazpi, and Juan de la Ysla have asked for certain things necessary for the solid colonization of that land and for your defense and safety.2 You will see what we have supplied by the memorial taken by Juan de la Ysla, and by what our officials in Nueva España will send you. The balance of what is yet to be furnished will be sent in the first fleet that leaves for Nueva España. You will watch over everything in your charge as we expect from your person; and you shall have especial care in furthering the conversion of the Indian natives of that country to our holy Catholic faith, and their good treatment; for that is most important to the service of God our Lord and mine. Since it is so important you shall obtain it by all possible good means.
You shall assign and allot the villages of those islands which may be reduced to our service as you think best, according to the law of the succession of the Indians; provided that you do not assign or allot the capitals, seaports, or places settled by Spaniards, for these must be left for our royal crown, and we order that they be so left.3
We have also been petitioned in your name that, in consideration of the fact that there are islands inhabited by Moros in that land, and that they come to trade and traffic, thus hindering the preaching of the holy gospel, and disturbing you, we grant you permission to enslave such Moros, and to seize their possessions. You must take note that if such Moros are Moros by birth and nation and come for the purpose of spreading their cursed Mahometan worship, or to make war on you or on the Indians subject to us and to our royal service, then you can enslave them. But you shall under no consideration whatever enslave those who were Indians who may have adopted the worship of Mahomet; but you shall endeavor to convert them and to persuade them to accept our holy Catholic faith by good and legitimate means.
Report has been made me on behalf of the conquistadors of that country that many slaves have been made there by the natives of those islands. I have been entreated to grant permission to those conquistadors to purchase them and hold them as slaves in the same manner as the said natives hold them. Inasmuch as I desire to be informed of the custom in this matter and of what it is advisable to do, I order you to submit a report of the causes why slaves are made in that country—whether slaves are made mutually among the natives themselves; whether the Moros who wage war upon the said natives are made slaves; or whether there are various sects among them, so that they wage and maintain mutual warfare among themselves and make slaves mutually of one another. You shall report on the other characteristics of that race in so far as they touch this matter; and when the said report is ready you shall send it to our Council of the Indias, so that, after they have examined it, the most advisable measures may be taken in accordance with justice.4
If there are any Portuguese or foreigners of these kingdoms who have gone with you or who shall have gone afterward, or who should be in the ships sailing from Nueva España to those islands, you shall order them to return to these kingdoms, even if such Portuguese or foreigners be those who are allowed to be in those districts in accordance with my laws, ordinances, and decrees. You must attend to this matter with the greatest possible haste, for you know how dangerous it will be to the welfare, peace, and quiet of the land and to the service of our Lord and mine. The Escorial, November sixteen, one thousand five hundred and sixty-eight.
I the King
Countersigned by Eraso, and signed by Luis Quixada, Vazquez, Don Gomez Çapata, Muñoz, Molina, Salas, Aguilera, Villafañe, and Votello.
[The above document is followed by one entitled, “Title of governor and captain-general of the island of Cubu to Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.” It is almost word for word the same as the document presented in our VOL. III, pp. 62–66 (the few verbal differences not at all changing the sense in any way), but it bears a date eight days prior to that of the above-mentioned document. The ending of this document is as follows: “Neither you nor they shall act contrary to this under any consideration, under penalty of loss of our favor and of a fine of one thousand gold castellanos to be paid to our exchequer and treasury. Given at Madrid, August six, one thousand five hundred and sixty-nine.
I the King
Countersigned by Eraso, and signed by Luis Quixada, Vazquez, Molina, Salas, Aguilera, Votello, and Maldonado.”]
[This document is followed by another one entitled “The said [Miguel Lopez de Legazpi is granted] the lieutenancy of a fortress in Cubu.” It reads practically the same as the above-mentioned document of VOL. III, to the beginning of the last clause on page 62. We translate from that point:]
And inasmuch as we believe that it is thus advisable for our service, and the welfare and preservation of the same island and of the other islands in its vicinity, we consider it fitting and it is our intention and will that now and henceforth you be for all the rest of your life our warden and keeper of the said fortress. You shall perform the service, homage, and act of fidelity which are required in such cases and which you must make. After that has been done, we order any person or persons who may have or shall have charge of the said fortress, that they shall, as soon as they shall be summoned by this our decree, deliver and surrender it to you or to whomever is empowered by you without consulting us further or awaiting any other decree or order from us, or our second or third injunction. They shall give you full and free possession of it in its entire height and depth and strength, together with the arms, equipment, food, and other things that it might contain, in inventory and before a notary. After they shall have done this we do by the present or by a copy thereof, signed by a notary-public, relieve and discharge them of any covenant, homage, act of fidelity, or pledge that shall have been made by the said fortress, and we declare them free and quit of it, both they and their goods, and their heirs and successors forever. They shall do and perform this notwithstanding that no known porter of our exchequer intervenes in the surrender of it, or the other ceremonies that are usual in such cases, under penalty of being condemned and of incurring the other penalties which those who keep fortresses and do not deliver them at the command of my natural kings and seigniors, are exposed to and incur. Further we order the Council, justices, regidors, knights, squires, officials, and good men of the said island of Cubu and of the other islands in its vicinity, to consider and hold you as our warden and keeper of the said fortress for the rest of your life as is said above; and they shall pay and cause to be paid to you the fees annexed and pertaining to it for its lieutenancy. They shall cause to be observed toward you the honors, grace, rewards, exemptions, licenses, preeminences, prerogatives, and immunities, and all other things which you ought to possess and enjoy as our warden and keeper of the said fortress; and which must be kept for you in the same way as they are possessed and held by the wardens and keepers of the fortresses of these our kingdoms entirely and completely, so that no omission shall be made to you. They shall not place or allow to be placed any hindrance or opposition to this or any part of it. Given in Madrid, August six, one thousand five hundred and sixty-nine.
I the King
Countersigned by Eraso and signed by the above.
Don Phelippe, etc. Inasmuch as report has been made me in behalf of you, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, our governor of the islands of the West, that a certain fleet having been prepared at our order in Puerto de la Navidad of Nueva España for the purpose of the discovery of the said islands, our former viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco, appointed and named you by our commission through the satisfaction which he had in your person, to be the captain-general of it and our governor of the said islands. We have heard that you, having gone in search of them, in order to attain the end desired, and having spent a considerable sum of gold pesos from your own property, discovered the said islands and took possession of them in our royal name with the ceremonies requisite in such cases; and made a settlement in the island of Cubu where you are at present with the men whom you took. In that place you have heard of other islands in that vicinity called the Ladrones Islands and of their fertility and wealth. You have desired to explore and colonize them at your own cost and expense, and petition has been made us to have permission given you therefor, as well as the title of governor and captain-general of the said islands, in consideration of the many expenses that you have incurred in their discovery, and the hardships that you have endured. We, respecting the said your services because of the wide knowledge of them, and because of those which we expect that you shall perform from this time on, and having discussed it with our royal person, have considered it fitting. Therefore by the present we grant license and permission to you, the said Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, so that you are empowered to make for us in our name and at your own cost—and you shall make—the exploration and colonization of the said Ladrones Islands. You shall take and seize possession of them in the said name with the ceremony that is requisite in such cases; provided that you observe and cause to be observed in toto the instructions and provisions which have been issued by us in regard to the course to be followed in the said colonizations and explorations. It is our wish and intention to make you our governor and captain-general of the said Ladrones Islands and of all the villages that you shall settle therein for the rest of your life. You shall hold and exercise our civil and criminal justice with the offices of justice which shall be in the said islands of the West. By this our letter, we order councils, justices, regidors, knights, squires, officials, and good men of all the cities, towns, and hamlets that shall exist in the said islands, land, and colony, and those that shall be colonized, and our officials and other persons who shall reside therein—and each one of them—that, as soon as they shall be summoned by this order, they shall take and receive from you, the said Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the oath and ceremony that is requisite in such cases, and that you ought to give, without any further delay or procrastination, and without informing us any farther, or consulting, awaiting, or expecting another order or command from me, or a second or third decree. After you have thus given the oath, you shall be considered and received as our governor and captain-general of the said islands, and their coast, land, and settlements all the days of your life. They shall allow and permit you freely to exercise and enjoy the said offices and to perform and execute our justice therein through yourself or through your subordinates whom you have power to appoint and may appoint to the said offices of governor and captain-general, alguacils, and other offices annexed to or pertaining to the said government. You may remove and set aside any of such officials when it is for our service and the execution of our justice. You may appoint and substitute others in their place; and you may try, despatch, and sentence all the suits and causes, both civil and criminal, which shall arise and occur in the said islands, coast, land, and village that you shall settle, and that you shall have settled, both among the men who went to colonize, and among the other natives of it. You and the said your alcaldes and subordinates shall receive the fees annexed to and pertaining to the said offices. You may make any examinations in the cases of justice, premises, and all the other things pertaining to and annexed to the said offices. You and your subordinates shall attend to that which is advisable for our service, the execution of our justice, and the colonization and government of the said islands, coast, land, and towns that shall be established. In order that you may exercise and enjoy the said offices, and perform and execute our justice, all men shall be in harmony with you as to their persons and property, and shall give and cause to be given to you all the protection and aid that you may ask from them and that shall be necessary to you. They shall respect you in all things, and shall obey and perform your orders or those of your subordinates. They shall place no obstacle or opposition to your orders or any part of them, nor allow any to be placed. Therefore by this present we do receive you and consider you received in the said offices and in the exercise and enjoyment of them. We grant you full power to enjoy and exercise, and to perform and execute, the said our justice in the said islands, coasts, land, and hamlets that you shall colonize and in the cities, towns, and hamlets of the said islands and their limits, either through yourself or through your subordinates as abovesaid. In case that you are not received by them or by any of them into the said offices, we do, by this our letter, order any person or persons who shall exercise the authority of our justice in the villages of the said islands, coast, and land, to deliver and surrender, and use such offices no longer without our license and express mandate whenever they shall be summoned by you, the said Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, under the penalties incurred and suffered by those private persons who exercise public and royal offices for which they have no authority or license. Such persons we do by the present suspend and consider as suspended. Furthermore, the fines pertaining to our exchequer and treasury to which you and your alcaldes and subordinates shall condemn any persons, shall be executed by you, and you shall cause them to be executed, and shall have the fines given and delivered to our treasurer of the said islands. Furthermore, we order that if you, the said Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, consider it fitting for our service and the execution of our justice, that any persons now in, or who may in the future be in, the said islands, coast, and land, be banished and enter them no more or live in them, and that they come to present themselves before us, you may order it in our name and cause them to leave in accordance with the ordinance regarding that matter. You shall give to the person thus exiled the reason for his exile; but if you deem it advisable that the matter be kept secret, you shall give the reason under lock and seal, and you shall on your part send us another person, so that we may be informed of it. But you are to take notice that when you have to exile anyone, it must be only for a very urgent cause. For the abovesaid, and so that you may exercise the said offices as our governor and captain-general of the said islands, coast, land, and villages that you shall colonize, so that you may perform and exercise our justice therein, we delegate you full authority by this our letter, with all their incidences, dependencies, emergencies, annexes, and rights; and it is our will and we order that you receive and be paid the annual salary, together with the said offices, of two thousand ducados (a sum equivalent to seven hundred and fifty thousand maravedis). You shall enjoy them from the day on which you shall set sail to pursue your voyage, and thenceforth for the time that you shall maintain the said government. If that sum is not had during the said time, we shall not be obliged to pay you any part of it. A receipt shall be taken from you, with which, and with the copy of this our provision signed by the notary-public, we order that the said two thousand ducados be received by you and placed on your account. Neither you nor any one else shall act contrary to this under any consideration, under penalty of losing our favor and one thousand castellanos in gold to be paid to our exchequer and treasury. Given in Madrid, August fourteen, one thousand five hundred and sixty-nine.
I the King
Countersigned by Eraso, and signed by Luis Quixada, Doctor Vazquez, Licentiate Don Gomez Çapata, Doctor Luis de Molina, Doctor Aguilera, and Doctor Francisco de Villafañe.
Don Phelipe, etc. Inasmuch as we have granted license and authority to you, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, our governor of the islands of the West, so that you may explore and colonize the said islands of the West for us and in our name, and at your own expense; and because of the expenses which you have incurred in it, and those which you shall incur in the exploration and colonization of the said islands of the Ladrones; and because we have you and your said services in mind constantly, and in order that you and your descendants may be more honored: therefore having reflected upon the matter in our royal person, I have considered it fitting to bestow upon you the title of adelantado of the said Ladrones Islands for yourself and for your heirs and successors forever. Therefore it is our intention and will by this present that you be now and henceforth forever, our adelantado of the said Ladrones Islands, as well as of the villages that you shall colonize therein; and after you, your heirs and successors, and he who shall inherit your house. As such our adelantado, you may exercise—and you shall exercise—the said office in all cases and matters annexed to and concerning it, in the same manner in which they are enjoyed by our adelantados of our kingdoms of Castilla and of the said Indias. In regard to the enjoyment and exercise of the said office and in the payment of the fees pertaining to it, you shall observe and your heirs shall be obliged to observe the laws and ordinances of these our kingdoms imposed in regard to it. All the honors, favors, and rewards, licenses, liberties, exemptions, preëminences, prerogatives, immunities, and everything else—and each one of them singly—which because of being our adelantado, you ought to have and enjoy, and which ought to be kept for you, shall be kept for you. You shall have and receive the fees, salaries, and other matters belonging and pertaining to the said office of adelantado. We do, by this our letter, order councils, justices, regidors, knights, squires, officials, and good men of all the cities, towns, and hamlets of the said islands of the Ladrones to hold, receive, and consider you and your heirs as our adelantado and to extend to you and to them the said office and all causes and things annexed to and concerning it. They shall keep for you and cause to be kept for you, all the honors, favors, rewards, licenses, liberties, preëminences, prerogatives, immunities, and all the other things—and each one of them singly—that you ought to have and enjoy by reason of the said office, and which must be kept for you. They shall pay, and cause to be paid, to you, all the fees and salaries owing and belonging to the said office of adelantado up to their complete value, so that you may suffer no lack in anything, according to and in the manner in which it has been enjoyed and paid, and as it must be enjoyed, paid, and kept for the other adelantados who have been and are in these our kingdoms of Castilla and in the said Indias. They shall place no obstacle or opposition to you in this matter or in any part of it, or allow such to be placed. Therefore, we do, by this present, receive and hold you as received into the said office, and to its enjoyment and exercise. We grant you authority and license to enjoy and exercise it; and in case that you are not received in that office by them or any of them, we order you to give this our letter signed by our hand and countersigned by our secretary mentioned below. Given in Madrid, August fourteen, one thousand five hundred and sixty-nine.
I the King
I, Francisco de Herasso, secretary of his Majesty, had this written by his command. It is signed by Luis Quizada, Doctor Vazquez, Licentiate Don Gomez Çapata, Doctor Luis de Molina, Licentiate Salas, Doctor Aguilera, and Doctor Francisco de Villafañe.
[The above document is followed by one entitled, “The said Legazpi, [granting him] the title of governor and captain-general of the island of Cubu.” It is the same document, and bears the same date as that published in VOL. III, pp. 62–66.]
The King. That which you, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, our governor and captain-general in the islands of the West, are to do and observe in the government, exploration, and colonization of the Ladrones Islands which we charge to you, is as follows.
1. First, after the said islands are explored, you shall select sites and locations for colonization, taking care that the land be healthful and fertile, and abounding in wood, water and good pasturage for cattle. You shall see that the land be apportioned to the colonists, but you shall not occupy or take possession of any private property of the Indians. In order that this may be better performed, you shall for the present, make the said settlement somewhat distant from the districts and locations where the Indians may have their settlements, pastures, and fields, so that all the abovesaid may be done without harming them at all. On the contrary thorough good treatment must be shown them.
2. The site of the place where the settlement is to be made having been chosen, you shall order the colonists to build their houses, making in them a sort of stronghold, where they may defend themselves and their flocks if necessary, in case that the Indians try to attack them.
3. You shall see that the colonists who settle in this way, endeavor to obtain peace and friendship with the Indians who dwell in that land. They shall treat the latter well, and shall endeavor (for such is my will) to have the Indians live near them in villages, and shall defend them and help them to defend themselves against those who try to harm them. They shall reduce the Indians to a civilized life, and shall endeavor to separate them from their vices, sins, and evil customs. They shall endeavor to reduce them and convert them willingly to our holy Catholic faith and the Christian religion by means of religious and other good men.
4. If there shall be any persons among the said Indians who oppose and refuse to listen to our instruction, and convert or illtreat those who do listen to it, you shall endeavor by all good means possible to you to prevent it, so that the preaching of the gospel may not cease for that reason. You shall proceed in this with all manner of discretion, kindness, and moderation.
5. Further, you shall endeavor to have the Indians persuaded to adopt our holy Catholic faith willingly, and to render submission to us. If they do so you shall order that they be exempt from tribute for ten years.
6. Item: You shall order that the Spaniards, who shall settle later in the villages thus established, rule and govern in peace and quiet, and that they shall not molest or injure anyone. They shall appoint their ministers of justice, regidors, and necessary officials, for the meanwhile and until we provide otherwise.
7. Some repartimientos of Indians shall be made to those persons who shall go to make the said settlement, in accordance with their services and the quality of the persons to whom they are made. The chief capitals and the seaports shall be assigned to us, although first and foremost the appraisal of the said tributes of such repartimientos shall have been made. This is understood to be allowed after the expiration of the ten years in which they are to be exempt and free from tribute as abovesaid.
8. You shall also assign salaries to regidors and ministers of justice, and to the seculars and religious. You shall instruct each one in his privileges and duties so that he may know what he has to do, and that those who have charge of the offices shall be obliged to give account for the disorders and excesses that our men commit both against the Indians and the latter among themselves.
9. You shall order that after the abovesaid has been done, the people endeavor to open trade in their districts. You shall provide the Indians with the articles that they need, and shall endeavor also to get from the Indians the things that are needed from them.
10. You shall send religious and other good persons to instruct and persuade the Indians to receive our faith. You shall see to it that if they be sufficient, they endeavor to collect the Indians in villages so that they may be instructed better.
11. You shall always instruct those persons whom you send to spy out the land always to consider where they might find fitting and commodious sites for the new settlements, without any resulting harm to the Indians in accordance with the provision of the first section.
12. You shall provide that after the houses have been built and the fields sown, the people try to discover minerals and other things in which they will be benefited. They shall cultivate the land and enrich it with new plants of vines and fruit trees for its support and gain.
13. Item: If the natives endeavor to prevent the said settlement, they must be told that the men are not trying to settle there in order to do them any harm or wrong, or to seize their possessions, but only to have friendship with them and teach them to live in a civilized manner and recognize God, and to expound to them the law of Jesus Christ by which they will be saved. After that message and warning has been given (which must be made three times as shall seem best to the person appointed by you after consulting with the religious who shall go to such settlement and by the tongue of the religious who shall tell and declare it), then if notwithstanding the abovesaid, the natives refuse to consent to the colony, the colonists shall endeavor to settle and shall defend themselves from the said natives without doing them other injury than that necessary for their defense and for making the said settlement. All the mildness and moderation possible shall be observed in the said defense.
14. Further, after having made such hamlet and settlement you shall see to it that the citizens and religious who shall be there, try to trade and communicate with the natives and to make friends with them, and to make them understand the abovesaid.
15. If the said natives and inhabitants located near the said colony should become friends because of such good efforts and persuasions, so that they give the religious permission to enter to teach them and to preach to them the law of Christ, you shall see that they do it. The religious shall endeavor to convert them and allure them to the faith, and to have them recognize us as sovereign king and lord.
16. Further, if the said natives and the rulers of the Indians refuse to admit the religious preachers, after the announcement of their purpose as above said, and after the natives shall have been petitioned many times to allow the religious to enter to preach and to expound the word of God, you shall make a report of it and send it to our Council with the most justifiable testimony that you have of what has been done, in order that we may have you ordered as to what course you are to pursue. Meanwhile you shall endeavor to retain their friendship and trade, and shall treat them well. You shall endeavor by all possible means to bring them to a knowledge of our Lord.
17. If any of the officials appointed by us die, you shall appoint in each island those that may be lacking, so that in accordance with the instruction and order given them, they may administer our finances and attend to the other things that are entrusted to the other officials of the other provinces of the Indias. You shall make such appointments until we provide for it, and you shall immediately advise us of it so that we may have the proper measures taken.
18. The persons and our officials who shall be entrusted with duties, shall be paid their salaries from the fruits of the land by our treasurer, in accordance with a list made out and signed by the said officials and signed by the governor of the province.
19. Item: You shall endeavor to take the most virtuous and Christian people possible, and those who shall be best fitted for the said colonization.
20. Item: You shall take four of the religious at present in the said islands, and if you do not have them, you shall take two seculars who must be persons of good life and morals, fit to give the instruction, and to administer the holy sacraments.
21. Item: You shall endeavor with great care to see that the Spaniards do no harm and show no force to the Indians, and that they do not wound them or do them any other evil or harm, or deprive them of their possessions, but they shall show them the utmost good treatment. If any of the men offend the Indians, then you and your captains shall punish him rigorously and shall warn him not to continue such actions. If he be careless and negligent in this, then you shall have him punished with great rigor; for this is a matter whose fulfilment we desire greatly, and if this be not obeyed we shall consider ourselves greatly disserved.
22. Item: Upon your arrival at the land you shall report to us the events of your expedition and the manner in which you shall be received, also what you ascertain and discover of the said land, and everything else of which you think we should be advised. You shall accompany it with your opinion of what you think ought to be done, so that we may better order what is necessary for the service of God and our own service; and you shall do the same whenever you deem it necessary.
We charge and order you to observe and perform the above inviolably, for if the contrary be done we shall consider ourselves disserved. Given in Madrid, August xxviii, one thousand five hundred and sixty-nine.
The King. Our officials of the Western Islands, whose colonization we have entrusted to General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi: Know that in consideration of the services of the said Miguel Lopez, past and present, in his expedition, and the loss that he has received to his property in a caravel which sunk, I have after consultation with the members of my Council of the Indias, considered it fitting to concede to him, for one time, as I do by this present, a gift of two thousand ducados (a sum equivalent to seven hundred and fifty thousand maravedis). I therefore order you that from whatever gold or silver or any other kind of property you may have in your possession and which may be in charge of you our treasurer, you give and pay to the said Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, or to whomever shall have his powers of attorney, the said two thousand ducados of which we thus make him a concession for this one time for the abovesaid reason. Deliver and pay them to him, and take his receipt, with which and with this my decree, I order that the said two thousand ducados be received from you and placed on your accounts. Given at Madrid, August twenty-nine, one thousand five hundred and seventy.
1 These must be the letters dated July 15 and 23, q.v. VOL. II, PP. 233–239. The error in the month in the present document could easily arise through carelessness of the royal secretary or clerk. ↑
3 By a decree dated at Burgos, February 22, 1512, Fernando orders that no encomendero may have more than three hundred Indians; for if they have more than that number, “they cannot be well treated, aided, maintained, or instructed in the matters of our holy Catholic faith, as would be proper.” In the Philippines, encomenderos had sometimes as many as one thousand two hundred natives. See Doc. Ined. Amer. y Oceania, i, pp. 237–241, and Census of Philippine Islands, i, p. 423. ↑
4 See Lavezaris’s report on slavery in the Philippines, VOL. III, pp. 286–288; also the memoranda of Augustinians, post, pp. 273–285; and Rada’s letter, post, pp. 286–294, where the king’s order is mentioned. ↑
Your Excellency: May the grace and consolation of the Holy Ghost dwell forever in the soul of your Excellency. Last year I wrote a report and an account to your Excellency of the affairs of this region, in fulfilment of the directions given me by your Excellency when I came to this country. Since in the previous report I wrote at length, I shall be brief in this one, referring to the other one and to the statements in it for the explanation of some things which I say here. I ratify anew everything that I have said, and purpose now to give information to your Excellency of what has happened in this country since my last writing. I have accordingly to inform you that on August 13, of last year, there set sail two vessels named “Santiago” and “San Juan.” One week later, namely, the twenty-first of the said month, our Lord took from this life by sudden death the adelantado and governor, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (may he be in glory). His death was greatly deplored and is so even at the present day, for doubtless his valor and wisdom have been greatly needed. Those who regarded him as wicked in his life will now canonize him as a saint. I believe that he is in glory or on the way to it, for he was a good Christian and if he erred in some things, I believe that he desired to do right, while in some other things he did the best he could. He died poor, which is a great evidence of his goodness. That was a cause for great confusion to those who regarded him as very rich, and who were murmuring about him saying that he had a chest of gold and more than 25,000 pesos in tostons. All that he was found to have on the day of his death was 460 pesos in two little sacks. These he had asked as a loan a few days before. He had also in gold about 120 pesos not counting one large chain and one small one which he brought from his own land. He had also the wrought silver of his table service. All the rest of this was not worth 500 pesos. This is the whole of the wealth and treasure which he had. Of this fact I am practically an eyewitness, for I was present at his death and at the inventory of his property. Three days after he had died his grandson, Captain Joan de Salzedo, came from the opposite coast of the island, where he had been three months, having gone by the direction of the governor to explore that country and to pacify the people who lived in it. He brought back very good news from there, though he could not give it to him who had sent him out, and hence great sorrow was caused to him who brought the news and even to the rest. They reported that the population there was large and that there were many good settlements close to one another and that they were better ordered and governed than in the other parts. They said that there were villages with 300 or 400 houses together, some more and some less, and that there was among them one village that seemed to contain more than three thousand houses, and another with 800, where he left his alférez with thirty-five soldiers while he came to tell the news and to make an extended report. He accomplished one thing which astonished everybody, because without doubt it was a very daring and courageous exploit. This was to attempt to circumnavigate the island, which he accomplished in two tiny boats with 15 soldiers. These boats did not draw one palmo of water. They are called barangays in this country and are rowed with very short oars by Indians seated in the boat. Though these vessels are of this character, and the sea of that coast is so rough that not one of the natives, as they say, has ventured to navigate it, still he dared to do it in order to know and see what there is on the opposite coast. He suffered great hardships but God delivered him from all of them. His boat was ofttimes almost swamped, and he and the others with him on the point of drowning. Finally he sailed one hundred leguas, coasting along the island to the point of his settlement, and he has explored and circumnavigated it. In all the length of that coast there was not a single village nor one Indian, for the whole country is desolate where they supposed there would be a great many people.
In the villages to which he went on this exploring and pacifying expedition, he collected 800 gold taes in tribute. A tae is a weight of one onza or a little more. Of this amount he gave half to the soldiers and the other half to his Majesty’s treasury. This is the largest amount of treasure that had hitherto been received in these islands. Three months after his alférez, who had remained behind, arrived. The reason of his coming was that almost all his soldiers were taken sick and that they had no ammunition. He brought back a thousand taes of gold in addition to as many more which he shared between himself and the soldiers. All this was put in the royal treasury under the control of our new governor, Guido de Lavezaris. Because of what he heard of the country and its people and their wealth, the latter decided to send the master-of-camp there with one or two captains to inspect the population and the villages which were to be divided into repartimientos. He who should not have gone, went [on that expedition], and with him Captain Lorenço Chacon with more than 130 soldiers and more than 800 Indians who rowed the boats in which they went. Without discovering any new lands or seeing any new villages besides those which Captain Joan de Salzedo had discovered and pacified, they collected in tribute three thousand taes or more. It is fitting that your Excellency should know the manner in which these tributes are collected, and the way in which they are demanded before the time, contrary to the law of God and the directions of his Majesty. The first thing they do when they reach any village or province is to send them an interpreter or two, not with gifts or presents, not to preach to them or to speak to them of the things of God, but to order them to bring tribute immediately and to be friendly to the Castilians. Since this is a so new and strange thing for them, as being something to which they have not been accustomed, as they have not been either subjects or vassals of any native king or lord (of whom they have none in any part of these islands, as was written in my other letter to your Excellency), all this is confusion to them and causes them much evil by forcing them to give as tributes the necklaces which they wear about their necks and the bracelets which they and their women wear on their arms. For few or none of them have any other property but what they wear on their persons. When these so evil abuses are inflicted upon them, some of them refuse to give the tribute or do not give as liberally as those who ask it desire. Others, on account of having to give this and of their fear at seeing a strange and new race of armed people, abandon their houses and flee to the tingues [i.e., hills] and mountains. When the Spaniards see this, they follow them, discharging their arquebuses at them and mercilessly killing as many as they can. Then they go back to the village and kill all the fowls and swine there and carry off all the rice which the poor wretches had for their support. After this and after they have robbed them of everything they have in their miserable houses, they set fire to them. In this way they burned and destroyed more than four thousand houses in this expedition to Ylocos, and killed more than five hundred Indians, they themselves confessing that they committed that exploit. Your Excellency may infer how desolate and ruined this will make the country, for those who have done the mischief say that it will not reach its former state within six years and others say not in a lifetime. Will your Excellency determine whether this is consistent with law, divine or human, with religion or Christian charity. Your Excellency will also consider that in these invasions and explorations the law of Mahomet is followed rather than the law of God; for no account is taken of His precepts and there is no care to follow His law and the Christian instructions conformable with and akin to them, which have been given by our Catholic and very Christian king and lord Don Ffelipe. The latter commanded that by love and kindly treatment and with gifts and presents the natives should be caressed and attracted to love and friendship for us, so that in this manner they might come to the knowledge of our God and Creator, and might subject themselves to his royal protection and might recognize him as their king and lord. For all these purposes, he spends most freely from his royal treasury, buying fine scarlet cloths, stuffs, caps, silks, and other things suitable for this purpose, as your Excellency knows better than I. Yet they do not follow his will but invade the country of the Indians, killing and robbing, burning their villages and houses, and collecting as enemies what his Majesty commands us to take and receive from them as friends. In place of engendering in their breasts and souls love and goodwill, they create and engender hate and abhorrence against us and against the name of Jesus Christ crucified whom they ought to teach and preach to the natives. If by such pilgrimages and pacifications and services God our Lord and his Majesty are pleased, let your Excellency judge.1
They also said in the beginning that in the province of Ylocos and in the other three provinces which were explored on the opposite coast and which they declare that they have pacified, there were more than four hundred thousand Indians, and that there were enough to afford repartimientos for all those who are in these regions. Now they declare that there are not enough for forty soldiers, according to the account which they bring back from there, for according to them there are not as many as 40,000 Indians. I say this so that your Excellency may see how closely this report conforms to the others which I wrote in my former letter, and that your Excellency may be informed and may know the truth if it should not be written [by others] from here.
It seems to me also desirable to inform your Excellency how and in what manner they send the present of gold to his Majesty, that you may understand the wealth of this country and the service rendered him in it by them, and how that gold was got. In accordance with what has been related and declared above, the quantity would be at most about 30,000 pesos; and how little appropriate it is to send this quantity of pesos as a present, and to send as many more debts to the royal treasury of this country is very clear. It is also very clear and plain that this present is a trifling one after the royal treasury has spent more than two millions or but little less as I am informed, within the fifteen years since the expense of this expedition [i.e., Legazpi’s] began. How far from the royal magnanimous, Caesarean, and more than Alexandrine heart of our king, Don Ffelipe, this present is, is so plain that the blind could see it and the most ignorant judge it; hence on this point I do not ask your Excellency to form a judgment, but I do ask you to decide what reward it deserves from a king so Catholic as ours to make him a present and a payment into his treasury of what has been robbed and wrung [from the natives] contrary to what God and the king himself have commanded. In conformity with what your Excellency with your delicate and most Christian conscience may feel and judge in this matter, will you send thanks in the royal name. How much more would God our Lord and his Majesty be served if the gold which is sent to him as a present were worn on the arms of the Indians of the Ylucos to whom it belonged, than that the ladies of our lady the queen should wear it about their necks in the court.
This has been said partly that your Excellency might know what takes place here and might understand the way in which this present was sent to his Majesty, and partly to state again that, in spite of the wealth which they will say and write to your Excellency as existing in Ylucos and the other provinces, when his Majesty shall have paid the expenses of this region, he will receive no lawful and Christian profit from these islands, except perhaps the cinnamon which is taken from the island of Bindanao as it is now taken, unless the gold mines in these regions are worked. I believe that they will not be worked except with the great oppression and loss of the natives, and that will mean their total destruction, for experience has undeceived us in this matter by what has happened in the island of Española and in other regions.
As for the government of the new governor, Guido de Lavezaris, I shall discuss or say nothing; for your Excellency can learn about it there from the people who go [there] from here, and by the letters which will be written. Only I beg your Excellency not to take your information from Joan Pacheco alone, for, according to his statement and opinion, because of his obligation to the governor, and his affection and friendship, and the things that the governor has done for him, he will say that he is fit to rule and govern the kingdom of Napoles and the state of Millan. It is no wonder that he says that, for the governor has given him more than four thousand Indians in repartimiento, so that there is not a better encomienda in this region, though Pacheco is but a private soldier, and one of those who has seen least service in this country. He has done nothing but act as sentinel for the adelantado—may he be in glory—and that not for very many years, though he is a man of wealth and of noble birth, as your Excellency will have heard. Your Excellency may obtain specific information regarding him, and that from father Fray Diego de Herrera2 who is on his way to inform your Excellency and his Majesty of affairs in this country and of the events therein. He deserves great faith and credit on account of his great goodness and devotion, for without anger or bias or self-interest, he will tell your Excellency truthfully and with a zealous Christian heart desirous to serve God and his Majesty, the state of affairs here. He will give you a particular account of the small favor in which the religious and the ministers of God are now held here more than ever, and how insulted and little regarded they are by the governor and his followers and allies and by those who have any command and power here now. He will tell you how little is done for them, and how little aid and favor is given to the instruction and the things of God, and also how little favored and protected are these natives and how oppressed and molested they are ordinarily. He will also inform your Excellency how under color of sending his Majesty a very rich present from everything brought from China by the Sangleys, he has demanded a loan in the camp of more than four hundred taes, taking from one ten, and from another twenty, and from another fifty, in accordance with what he is sending, and what each one possessed. I do not understand how the judge who receives loans as gifts or pledges from those whom he must punish, can rightly judge and enforce justice. He will also inform your Excellency of the many revolts and riots, the factions and enmities which arise among the people here, how much complaint all have in general to make of the new governor, and how they are irritated by his policy and government and murmur at it, and how well known he is to have a passionate temperament, as is manifest by those whom he is sending to that country under arrest, which will appear in the records of the process. He is also known to be very biased and partial, and that not to the older, the more prudent, and leading persons in the camp. For his companions he has an open door and has always time to spend three or four hours talking with them, while his door is shut to the religious and to the minister of God and to the poor soldier who has any occasion to do business with him, and he has no time to listen to the poor Indian about the wrongs that have been done to him, or to the Spaniard who comes to state his complaints and troubles, or to listen calmly and kindly to what is affirmed and declared regarding a demand for justice. Upon these and other matters of the same kind and quality one might say much and might write a long document. This I do not do, but refer to those who are going there to tell your Excellency that never have the forces in this camp been so disturbed and divided as at present. In almost nine years during which the good old man now departed—may he be in glory—governed us, there were not so many dissensions and disturbances, nor so much discontent, as there have been and are during the nine months in which Guido de Lavezaris has been governing us. On this account, and since he is now more than seventy years of age, and I think desires quiet, it is necessary to provide a remedy; and that is for your Excellency to send from there any person soever that is suitable for such a duty and fit for the present necessity. For I believe before God and my conscience, casting aside all bias and partiality, which in this matter have no control over me, that this is desirable for the service of God our Lord, and of his Majesty, the good of the natives, and the pacification and preservation of this country. Believing this with honest purpose and with a Christian heart desirous of the common welfare and of the service of God and of his Majesty, I give your Excellency this advice, so that, as a pious and most Christian prince you may, with your great prudence and liberality, quickly provide the remedy. If your Excellency does not see fit to send another new governor, it would be desirable in my judgment for your Excellency to send an auditor of that royal Audiencia and some person learned in the law, a man of character and a good Christian, to visit and inspect this country and to undeceive your Excellency with regard to some matters which have been written to you there with perverse reports. It will be better to send a rich advocate than a poor knight who as is suspected is pledged by gifts and by the grant of a good repartimiento. This last point, however, I know only by hearsay. If it is true, your Excellency will ascertain it there and will judge if it is right that the encomienda should not be given to those who have been here in service nine years pacifying the country, and that it should be given to a man who came and goes back again with a good salary without having been engaged in the pacification and without any of the labor of conquest. At the same time I think it is necessary that your Excellency in the name of his Majesty, or his Majesty in person should confirm the repartimientos and grants which the new governor has made without having had special permission therefor and without special command from his Majesty. Your Excellency will also decide if the regranting in encomienda of the villages which became vacant, and were in his Majesty’s hands, has been proper. All that I know of this is that the adelantado (may he be in glory) was often importuned to have this done, but never could it be brought about because he said that he had a command from his Majesty to the contrary. What the other, in his great prudence and matured wisdom did not do, he who now governs us has done with great promptness and liberality. The cause which I believe has moved him to this is the lack of Indians to be given in encomiendas to the soldiers; if this is true, it is very clear and may easily be perceived and understood that there is not in these islands the population which has been reported to your Excellency by letter, though there has been no lack of Indians for him and for the officials of the king, contrary to his Majesty’s prohibition.
If your Excellency should not send and provide another governor for these islands, it would be just for your Excellency to have our present governor ordered to take care to protect the affairs of the adelantado, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (may he be in glory), since he governed this country with so great quietness and prudence, spent upon it his own property, and died poor in the service of his Majesty. That is very just, as is also that particular care be taken to show kindness and favor to Captain Joan de Salzedo, inasmuch as he is one of those who have labored most in this country and have shown the greatest zeal in the service of his Majesty. He is very spirited and energetic, and for a man so young, very cautious and prudent, and he has good desires and purposes to serve God and his Majesty. Hence some office might be assigned and entrusted to him. Therefore, any favor that your Excellency may extend or may command to be shown him will be very well conceded; although the governor has given him but scant reward, since he has given as much or more to a private soldier, as has already been said, by which he has given rise to comment and occasion to murmuring.
It is also just that your Excellency should show all possible favor to the sargento-mayor, Joan de Moron, who is going to that country under arrest on grounds which seem very slight, besides being imprisoned here for ten months in his house and being burdened by the expenses of the suit. Everybody thinks that there has been more passion than reason or justice in this case, as may be seen there by the report of the process.3 He is a man of very good qualities, and though he is not at all a courtier, he is prudent and very careful and diligent in the service of his Majesty, and very useful. There is no one in this region who has seen more service than he. If your Excellency is about to send forces to this country, he might well be put in command of them, because he is one of the first who came to this region, and because he has served his Majesty so well in it, as is well known to all, and as your Excellency will already have received report. If it should be necessary for your Excellency to appoint a new captain of experience in matters here, I think it would be the best thing for your Excellency to assign to him and to the inferior captains whatever your Excellency may be able to provide here, for there are many of them and few soldiers. In this and in all other matters will your Excellency decide upon that which is most for the advantage of the service of God and of his Majesty.
The voyage to explore China has not been carried out, because of the death of Governor Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who was very obedient to the command of his Majesty and your Excellency. After his death there was little goodwill in him who had the duty of ordering the execution of this command, since he and other captains had done what they could to prevent it from the beginning. Hence, they gave their votes against carrying it out. In spite of this, the adelantado—may he be in glory—was determined to accomplish what your Excellency had directed. After his death it happened that the ships which were going to that country put back, and since the ship “Santiago” arrived at Çubu without rigging or equipment, they took advantage of the occasion to strip and dismantle one vessel in order to equip another. Thus they did away with that which was necessary for the journey to China. However, if they had not had this opportunity, I believe that they would not have gone on with the voyage because of the little disposition which the governor had for it. Upon this point, I believe that they have sent full reports to your Excellency. What I am able to say from the little that I know, and from what those say who judge the matter dispassionately, is that it was a very desirable thing and a very important matter, and one from which great service might result to our Lord and to his Majesty, profit to the royal treasury, and increase to the royal estate, and that this might all be done in a lawful and Christian manner as is commanded and directed by his Majesty and by your Excellency in his royal name. When it was supposed that the voyage would he carried out, our father provincial commanded me to go with the forces which were about to depart on this voyage of discovery. Although the voyage is uncertain and the dangers and hardships are certain, I had offered myself for the undertaking because of my desire to serve our Lord and my king and your Excellency and would go with great willingness. If the said voyage is undertaken again, I offer myself anew to go on the expedition if your Excellency will regard that as a service and will send me a command to that effect. Should it be the will of your Excellency that the voyage should be prosecuted, it would be necessary to send from there two or three thousand pesos in tostons and to carry from here fifty quintals of wax and as many more of cotton, which are the articles of barter that have the greatest value there. It seems to me also very desirable that there should be two ships in the squadron, so that if one of them suffer any mishap, such as often occurs at sea, the men may be assisted and saved in the other. It would also be possible for them to make their voyage with greater safety from enemies, if any strive to do them harm. If it should be your Excellency’s decision and if it should seem desirable to you for two ships to go, the two above named, the “Santiago” and the “Espiritu Santo” may go. By bringing from that country what is necessary in the way of sails, rigging, and equipment, they may very well be fitted out in this country with carpentry and calking. A brigantine or pinnace may also be made for the return voyage to that country. Your Excellency may discuss there with the pilots whether they can go to the island of Cauchill4 if the voyage is made; for it is a matter of the greatest importance for this island to be explored and examined, for it is said to be very rich and to have a great trade. According to what is said, a great deal of pepper and Moluccan cloves are exported every year. It is very near China and is also near Sian, and I think not very far from Burney. In that island the king of China has a governor and maintains a garrison. Yet as that race goes, 300 Spanish soldiers could take by assault twenty or thirty thousand of them. They say that there are horses and elephants there, and that it is a very rich and very important island. With reference to this matter will your Excellency examine it and command what is of greatest advantage to the service of his Majesty and to that of God our Lord. May God preserve the very excellent person of your Excellency for many years in His holy service with an increase of prosperity for the good of that country and the preservation and increase of this, and after this life may He grant you eternal and everlasting life. Amen. From the city of Manila, June 6, 1573. Most excellent Lord, your Excellency’s unworthy chaplain and suppliant kisses your hands.
Fray Francisco de Ortega5
1 On the question of the tribute, see VOL. VII, pp. 267–318, and VOL. VIII, pp. 25–69. ↑
2 See post, the memoranda of the Augustinians, regarding the various questions to be discussed in Spain by Diego de Herrera. ↑
3 See the viceroy’s report to Felipe II, regarding the arrest of Mirandaola and Moron, VOL. III, p. 210. The viceroy appears to have formed his judgment regarding the matter from the present letter. ↑
4 Evidently a reference to Cochinchina, and hence not an island, but part of the mainland. See VOL. IV, p. 131, note 14. ↑
5 For sketch of this religious see VOL. IX, p. 95, note 18. See also his reports on the Philippines in the same volume, pp. 95–119. ↑