Sire:
In the ships which came this year to these islands from Nueva España,
came the president, Don Pedro de Acuña, who thereupon took up the
government; and in the ships which were afterward despatched to Nueva
España, account was given to your Majesty of this, and of what else
occurred on all sides.
A few days afterward, the president supplied himself with ships,
military stores, and fighting men in the provinces of Pintados,
in order to go against the hostile Mindanaos and Joloans--who, with
the help of the Terrenate Moros of Maluco, are infesting them and
overrunning those islands every day, with a great deal of damage. Just
then word came from Andrea Furtado de Mendoca that with a number of
galleons and a fleet of your Majesty's, he was descending upon the
fortress of Terrenate to capture it; and conformably with a letter to
the president from Arias de Saldaña, viceroy of India, which he sent
at the same time, he begged that reënforcements of vessels and some
men, which he needed, might be sent him, in order that the purpose of
the undertaking might be assured. Recognizing the great importance of
this, and considering that, if that fortress were taken, besides the
great profit from the cloves, [13] these regions would be safe from
so fierce an enemy as that which is harassing and overrunning it,
and especially that these islands would root out those Mindanaos
and Joloans--it seemed to him expedient and necessary that part of
what had been prepared for Pintados should be sent to the aforesaid
fleet. In order to carry this out well, the president decided that
he would go in person to the island of Sibu. May fervent prayers be
offered to our Lord that He may give them the good fortune which is
needed, in order that by it service may be rendered to Him, and that
of your Majesty may be entirely fulfilled.
Of the ships which this year set out from these islands for Nueva
España, the flagship and one other put in at these islands at the
end of four months of stormy sailing, having lightened a quantity
of merchandise and then having suffered damage to the goods, very
much to the sorrow and loss of the residents of this realm. The
commander of the flagship, Don Lope de Ulloa, a relative of the Conde
de Monterrey, and an experienced and courageous knight, thought to
make repairs in Xapon and from there, having made ready, to continue
his voyage. So he went in search of a harbor in that kingdom, in the
province of Toca, near the place where, in the year 96 just past,
the galleon "Sant Felipe" entered. The natives gave him assurances
of safety and all facilities for his departure; but when he had
entered a harbor there came a governor of Dayfusama, with a number
of fighting men--arquebusiers, musketeers, and archers. After having
given the men on the ship the same promise of security, and after
having had six Spaniards sent to Miaco with a present for Dayfusama,
[14] according to the custom of the country, he captured on land some
religious and some other Spaniards who had ventured to go out from
the ship; and then made extraordinary efforts to stop the entrance
of the harbor and to seize the ship with all its cargo. Seeing the
deceit and violence which was being committed, it became necessary
for the Spaniards to defend themselves, and to get out of the harbor
by fighting, with loss to both sides and with great difficulty; and
so, through the mercy of God, they came to these islands. When the
Japanese saw themselves deprived of the capture of the ship which they
doubtless already thought their own, we do not know what decision they
may have reached regarding those who remained on land--nor, above all,
what Dayfusama may have done. It appears only that all friendship
with these infidels is dangerous, and that at least the religious
who interfere in this, and consider it certain, allow themselves
to be deceived easily by their ardent desire to enter these lands,
which is caused by their zeal for the conversion [of the infidels];
and thus they facilitate certain matters, and are more confident in
them than is desirable.
It seemed to be necessary, considering the absence of the president
from this city and the arrival of the two ships of this expedition,
to give an account to your Majesty of what was to be known about these
matters, by way of India, in a Portuguese ship which is setting out
from here for Goa. In this I have been influenced only by what is
for the service of your Majesty and in order that your Majesty may
be informed of what is being done in these remote regions, by every
route. I beg your Majesty to pardon my boldness, and I pray our Lord
to guard your Majesty for many long years. From Manila, on the first
of December in the year 1602.
_Doctor Antonio de Morga_