One uzza
two dua
three tolo
four upat
five lima
six onom
seven pitto
eight gualu
nine ciam
ten polo [376]
In the midst of that archipelago, [377] at a distance of eighteen
leguas from that island of Zzubu, at the head of the other island
called Bohol, we burned the ship “Conceptione,” for too few men of
us were left [to work it]. [378] We stowed the best of its contents in
the other two ships, and the laid our course toward the south
southwest, coasting along the island called Panilongon, [379] where
black men like those in Etiopia live. Then we came to a large island
[Mindanao], whose king in order to make peace with us, drew blood from
his left hand marking his body, face, and the tip of his tongue with it
as a token of the closest friendship, and we did the same. I went
ashore alone with the king in order to see that island. We had no
sooner entered a river than many fishermen offered fish to the king.
Then the king removed the cloths which covered his privies, as did some
of his chiefs; and began to row while singing past many dwellings which
were upon the river. Two hours after nightfall we reached the king’s
house. The distance from the beginning of the river where our ships
were to the king’s house, was two leguas. When we entered the house,
we came upon many torches of cane and palm leaves, [380] which were of
the anime, of which mention was made above. Until the supper was
brought in, the king with two of his chiefs and two of his beautiful
women drank the contents of a large jar of palm wine without eating
anything. I, excusing myself as I had supped, would only drink but
once. In drinking they observed all the same ceremonies that the king
of Mazaua did. Then the supper, which consisted of rice and very salt
[381] fish, and was contained in porcelain dishes, was brought in. They
ate their rice as if it were bread, and cook it after the following
manner. They first put in an earthen jar like our jars, a large leaf
which lines all of the jar. Then they add the water and the rice, and
after covering it allow it to boil until the rice becomes as hard as
bread, when it is taken out in pieces. Rice is cooked in the same way
throughout those districts. [382] When we had eaten, the king had a
reed mat and another of palm leaves, and a leaf pillow brought in so
that I might sleep on them. The king and his two women went to sleep in
a separate place, while I slept with one of his chiefs. [383] When day
came and until the dinner was brought in, I walked about that island. I
saw many articles of gold in those houses [384] but little food. After
that we dined on rice and fish, and at the conclusion of dinner, I
asked the king by signs whether I could see the queen. He replied that
he was willing, and we went together to the summit of a lofty hill,
where the queen’s house was located. When I entered the house, I made
a bow to the queen, and she did the same to me, whereupon I sat down
beside her. She was making a sleeping mat of palm leaves. In the house
there was hanging a number of porcelain jars and four metal gongs—one
of which was larger than the second, while the other two were still
smaller—for playing upon. There were many male and female slaves who
served her. Those houses are constructed like those already mentioned.
Having taken our leave, we returned to the king’s house, where the
king had us immediately served with refreshments of sugarcane. The most
abundant product of that island is gold. They showed me certain large
valleys, [385] making me a sign that the gold there was as abundant as
the hairs of their heads, but they have no iron with which to dig it,
and they do not dare to go to the trouble [to get it]. [386] That part
of the island belongs to the same land as Butuan and Calaghan, and lies
toward Bohol, and is bounded by Mazaua. As we shall return to that
island again, I shall say nothing further [now]. The afternoon having
waned, I desired to return to the ships. The king and the other chief
men wished to accompany me, and therefore we went in the same
balanghai. [387] As we were returning along the river, I saw, on the
summit of a hill at the right, three men suspended from one tree, the
branches of which had been cut away. I asked the king what was the
reason for that, and he replied that they were malefactors and robbers.
Those people go naked as do the others above mentioned. The king’s
name is Raia Calanao. [388] The harbor is an excellent one. Rice,
ginger, swine, goats, fowls, and other things are to be found there.
That port lies in a latitude of eight degrees toward the Arctic Pole,
and in a longitude of one hundred and sixty-seven degrees [389] from
the line of demarcation. It is fifty leguas from Zubu, and is called
Chipit. [390] Two days’ journey thence to the northwest is found a
large island called Lozon, [391] where six or eight junks belonging to
the Lequian people go yearly. [392]
Leaving there and laying our course west southwest, we cast anchor at
an island not very large and almost uninhabited. The people of that
island are Moros and were banished from an island called Burne. They go
naked as do the others. They have blowpipes and small quivers at their
side, full of arrows and a poisonous herb. They have daggers whose
hafts are adorned with gold and precious gems, spears, bucklers, and
small cuirasses of buffalo horn. [393] They called us holy beings.
Little food was to be found in that island, but [there were] immense
trees. It lies in a latitude of seven and one-half degrees toward the
Arctic Pole, and is forty-three leguas [394] from Chippit. Its name is
Caghaian. [395]
About twenty-five leguas to the west northwest from the above island we
found a large island, where rice, ginger, swine, goats, fowls, figs
one-half braza long and as thick as the arm [i.e., bananas] (they are
excellent; and certain others are one palmo and less in length, and are
much better than all the others), cocoanuts, camotes [batate],
sugarcane, and roots resembling turnips in taste, are found. Rice is
cooked there under the fire in bamboos or in wood; and it lasts better
than that cooked in earthen pots. We called that land the land of
promise, because we suffered great hunger before we found it. We were
often on the point of abandoning the ships and going ashore in order
that we might not die of hunger. [396] The king made peace with us by
gashing himself slightly in the breast with one of our knives, and upon
bleeding, touching the tip of his tongue and his forehead in token of
the truest peace, and we did the same. That island lies in a latitude
of nine and one-third degrees toward the Arctic Pole, and a longitude
of one hundred and seventy-one and one-third [397] degrees from the
line of demarcation. [It is called] Pulaoan. [398]
Those people of Polaoan go naked as do the others. Almost all [399] of
them cultivate their fields. They have blowpipes with thick wooden
arrows more than one palmo long, with harpoon points, and others tipped
with fishbones, and poisoned with an herb; while others are tipped with
points of bamboo like harpoons and are poisoned. [400] At the end of
the arrow they attach a little piece of soft wood, instead of feathers.
At the end of their blowpipes they fasten a bit of iron like a spear
head; [401] and when they have shot all their arrows they fight with
that. They place a value on brass rings and chains, bells, knives, and
still more on copper wire for binding their fishhooks. They have large
and very tame cocks, which they do not eat because of a certain
veneration that they have for them. Sometimes they make them fight with
one another, and each one puts up a certain amount on his cock, and the
prize goes to him whose cock is the victor. They have distilled rice
wine which is stronger and better than that made from the palm. [402]
Ten leguas southwest of that island, we came to an island, which, as we
coasted by, seemed to us to be going upward. After entering the port,
the holy body [i.e., St. Elmo’s fire] appeared to us through the
pitchy darkness. There is a distance of fifty leguas [403] from the
beginning of that island to the port. On the following day, July nine,
the king of that island sent a very beautiful prau to us, whose bow and
stern were worked in gold. At the bow flew a white and blue banner
surmounted with peacock feathers. Some men were playing on musical
instruments [cinphonie] and drums. Two almadies [404] came with that
prau. Praus resemble fustas, while the almadies are their small fishing
boats. Eight old men, who were chiefs, entered the ships and took seats
in the stern upon a carpet. They presented us with a painted wooden jar
full of betel and areca (the fruit which they chew continually), and
jessamine [405] and orange blossoms, a covering of yellow silk cloth,
two cages full of fowls, a couple of goats, three jarsful of distilled
rice wine, and some bundles of sugarcane. They did the same to the
other ship, and embracing us took their leave. The rice wine is as
clear as water, but so strong that it intoxicated many of our men. It
is called arach [i.e., arrack].
Six days later the king again sent three praus with great pomp, which
encircled the ships with musical instruments [cinphonie] playing and
drums and brass gongs beating. They saluted us with their peculiar
cloth caps which cover only the top of their heads. We saluted them by
firing our mortars without [loading with] stones. Then they gave us a
present of various kinds of food, made only of rice. Some were wrapped
in leaves and were made in somewhat longish pieces, some resembled
sugar-loaves, while others were made in the manner of tarts with eggs
and honey. They told us that their king was willing to let us get water
and wood, and to trade at our pleasure. Upon hearing that seven [406]
of us entered their prau bearing a present to their king, which
consisted of a green velvet robe made in the Turkish manner, a violet
velvet chair, five brazas of red cloth, a cap, [407] a gilded drinking
glass, a covered glass vase, three writing-books of paper, and a gilded
writing-case. To the queen [we took] three brazas of [red: crossed out
in original MS.] yellow cloth, a pair of silvered shoes, and a silvered
needle-case full of needles. [We took] three brazas of red cloth, a
cap, and a gilded drinking-glass to the governor. To the herald who
came in the prau we gave a robe of red and green cloth, made in the
Turkish fashion, a cap, and a writing book of paper; and to the other
seven chief men, to one a bit of cloth, and to another a cap, and to
all of them a writing book of paper. Then we immediately departed [for
the land].
When we reached the city, we remained about two hours in the prau,
until the arrival of two elephants with silk trappings, and twelve men
each of whom carried a porcelain jar covered with silk in which to
carry our presents. Thereupon, we mounted the elephants while those
twelve men preceded us afoot with the presents in the jars. In this way
we went to the house of the governor, where we were given a supper of
many kinds of food. During the night we slept on cotton mattresses,
[408] whose lining was of taffeta, and the sheets of Cambaia. Next day
we stayed in the house until noon. Then we went to the king’s palace
upon elephants, with our presents in front as on the preceding day. All
the streets from the governor’s to the king’s house were full of
men with swords, spears, and shields, for such were the king’s
orders. We entered the courtyard of the palace mounted on the
elephants. We went up a ladder accompanied by the governor and other
chiefs, and entered a large hall full of many nobles, [409] where we
sat down upon a carpet with the presents in the jars near us. At the
end of that hall there is another hall higher but somewhat smaller. It
was all adorned with silk hangings, and two windows, through which
light entered the hall and hung with two brocade curtains, opened from
it. There were three hundred footsoldiers with naked rapiers at their
thighs in that hall to guard the king. [410] At the end of the small
hall was a large window from which a brocade curtain was drawn aside so
that we could see within it the king seated at a table with one of his
young sons chewing betel. [411] No one but women were behind him. Then
a chief told us that we could not speak to the king, and that if we
wished anything, we were to tell it to him, so that he could
communicate it to one of higher rank. The latter would communicate it
to a brother of the governor who was stationed in the smaller hall, and
this man would communicate it by means of a speaking-tube through a
hole in the wall to one who was inside with the king. The chief taught
us the manner of making three obeisances to the king with our hands
clasped above the head, raising first one foot and then the other and
then kissing the hands toward him, and we did so, that being the method
of the royal obeisance. We told the king that we came from the king of
Spagnia, and that the latter desired to make peace with him and asked
only for permission to trade. The king had us told that since the king
of Spagnia desired to be his friend, he was very willing to be his, and
said that we could take water and wood, and trade at our pleasure. Then
we gave him the presents, on receiving each of which he nodded
slightly. To each one of us was given some brocaded and gold cloth and
silk, which were placed upon our left shoulders, where they were left
but a moment. [412] They presented us with refreshments of cloves and
cinnamon, after which the curtains were drawn to and the windows
closed. The men in the palace were all attired in cloth of gold and
silk which covered their privies, and carried daggers with gold hafts
adorned with pearls and precious gems, and they had many rings on their
hands. We returned upon the elephants to the governor’s house, seven
men carrying the king’s presents to us and always preceding us. When
we reached the house, they gave each one of us his present, placing
them upon our left shoulders. We gave each of those men a couple of
knives for his trouble. Nine men came to the governor’s house with a
like number of large wooden trays from the king. Each tray contained
ten or twelve porcelain dishes full of veal, capons, chickens,
peacocks, and other animals, and fish. We supped on the ground upon a
palm mat from thirty or thirty-two different kinds of meat besides the
fish and other things. At each mouthful of food we drank a small cupful
of their distilled wine from a porcelain cup the size of an egg. We ate
rice and other sweet food with gold spoons like ours. In our sleeping
quarters there during those two nights, two torches of white wax were
kept constantly alight in two rather tall silver candlesticks, and two
large lamps full of oil with four wicks apiece and two men to snuff
them continually. We went elephant-back to the seashore, where we found
two praus which took us back to the ships. That city [413] is entirely
built in salt water, except the houses of the king and certain chiefs.
It contains twenty-five thousand fires [i.e., families]. [414] The
houses are all constructed of wood and built up from the ground on tall
pillars. When the tide is high the women go in boats through the
settlement [tera] selling the articles necessary to maintain life.
There is a large brick wall in front of the king’s house with towers
like a fort, in which were mounted fifty-six bronze [metalo] pieces,
and six of iron. During the two days of our stay there, many pieces
were discharged. That king is a Moro and his name is Raia Siripada. He
was forty years old and corpulent. No one serves him except women who
are the daughters [415] of chiefs. He never goes outside of his palace,
unless when he goes hunting, and no one is allowed to talk with him
except through the speaking tube. He has x scribes, called Xiritoles,
[416] who write down his deeds on very thin tree bark.
On Monday morning, July twenty-nine, we saw more than one hundred praus
divided into three squadrons and a like number of tunguli [417] (which
are their small boats) coming toward us. Upon catching sight of them,
imagining that there was some trickery afoot, we hoisted our sails as
quickly as possible, abandoning an anchor in our haste. We expected
especially that we were to be captured in between certain junks which
had anchored behind us on the preceding day. We immediately turned upon
the latter, capturing four of them and killing many persons. Three or
four of the junks sought flight by beaching. In one of the junks which
we captured was the son of the king of the island of Lozon. He was the
captain-general of the king of Burne, and came with those junks from a
large city named Laoe, [418] which is located at the end of that island
[i.e., Borneo] toward Java Major. He had destroyed and sacked that city
because it refused to obey the king [of Burne], but the king of Java
Major instead. Giovan Carvaio, our pilot, allowed that captain and the
junks to go without our consent, for a certain sum of gold, as we
learned afterward. Had the pilot not given up the captain to the king,
the latter would have given us whatever we had asked, for that captain
was exceedingly feared throughout those regions, especially by the
heathens, as the latter are very hostile to that Moro king. In that
same port there is another city inhabited by heathens, which is larger
than that of the Moros, and built like the latter in salt water. On
that account the two peoples have daily combats together in that same
harbor. The heathen king is as powerful as the Moro king, but is not so
haughty, and could be converted easily to the Christian faith. When the
Moro king heard how we had treated the junks, he sent us a message by
one of our men who was ashore to the effect that the praus were not
coming to do us any harm, but that they were going to attack the
heathens. As a proof of that statement, the Moros showed him some heads
of men who had been killed, which they declared to be the heads of
heathens. We sent a message to the king, asking him to please allow two
of our men who were in the city for purposes of trade and the son of
Johan Carvaio, who had been born in the country of Verzin, to come to
us, but the king refused. That was the consequences of Johan Carvaio
letting the above captain go. We kept sixteen of the chiefest men [of
the captured junks] to take them to Spagnia, and three women in the
queen’s name, but Johan Carvaio usurped the latter for himself. [419]
Junks are their ships and are made in the following manner. The bottom
part is built about two palmos above the water and is of planks
fastened with wooden pegs, which are very well made; above that they
are entirely made of very large bamboos. They have a bamboo as a
counterweight. One of those junks carries as much cargo as a ship.
Their masts are of bamboo, and the sails of the bark of trees. [420]
Their porcelain is a sort of exceedingly white earth which is left for
fifty years under the earth before it is worked, for otherwise it would
not be fine. The father buries it for the son. If [poison] is placed in
a dish made of fine porcelain, the dish immediately breaks. [421] The
money made by the Moros in those regions is of bronze [metalo] pierced
in the middle in order that it may be strung. On only one side of it
are four characters, which are letters of the great king of Chiina. We
call that money picis. [422] They gave us six porcelain dishes for one
cathil [423] (which is equivalent to two of our libras) of quicksilver;
one hundred picis for one book of writing paper; one small porcelain
vase for one hundred and sixty cathils of bronze [metalo]; one
porcelain vase for three knives; one bahar (which is equivalent to two
hundred and three cathils), of wax for 160 cathils of bronze [metalo];
one bahar of salt for eighty cathils of bronze [metalo]; one bahar of
anime to calk the ships (for no pitch is found in those regions) for
forty cathils of bronze [metalo]. [424] Twenty tahils make one cathil.
At that place the people highly esteem bronze [metalo], quicksilver,
glass, cinnabar, [425] wool cloth, linens, and all our other
merchandise, although iron and spectacles [426] more than all the rest.
Those Moros go naked as do the other peoples [of those regions]. They
drink quicksilver—the sick man drinks it to cleanse himself, and the
well man to preserve his health.
The king of Burne has two pearls as large as two hen’s eggs. They are
so round that they will not stand still on a table. I know that for a
fact, for when we carried the king’s presents to him, signs were made
for him to show them to us, but he said that he would show them next
day. Afterward some chiefs said that they had seen them.
Those Moros worship Mahomet. The latter’s law orders them not to eat
pork; as they wash the buttocks with the left hand, not to use that
hand in eating; [427] not to cut anything with the right hand; to sit
down to urinate; not to kill fowls or goats without first addressing
the sun; to cut off the tops of the wings with the little bits of skin
that stick up from under and the feet of fowls; then to split them in
twain; to wash the face with the right hand, but not to cleanse the
teeth with the fingers; and not to eat anything that has been killed
unless it be by themselves. [428] They are circumcised like the Jews.
Camphor, a kind of balsam, is produced in that island. It exudes
between the wood and the bark, and the drops are as small as [grains
of] wheat bran. [429] If it is exposed it gradually evaporates
[literally: becomes nothing]. Those people call it capor. Cinnamon,
ginger, mirabolans, oranges, lemons, nangcas, watermelons, cucumbers,
gourds, turnips, cabbages, scallions, cows, buffaloes, swine, goats,
chickens, geese, deer, elephants, horses, and other things are found
there. [430] That island is so large that it takes three months to sail
round it in a prau. It lies in a latitude of five and one-fourth
degrees toward the Arctic Pole, and in a longitude of one hundred and
seventy-six and two-thirds degrees from the line of demarcation, and
its name is Burne. [431]
Leaving that island, we turned back in order to find a suitable place
to calk the ships, for they were leaking. One ship ran on to some
shoals of an island called Bibalon, [432] because of the carelessness
of its pilot, but by the help of God we freed it. A sailor of that ship
incautiously snuffed a candle into a barrel full of gunpowder, but he
quickly snatched it out without any harm. [433] Then pursuing our
course, we captured a prau laden with cocoanuts on its way to Burne.
Its crew sought refuge on an islet, until we captured it. [434] Three
other praus escaped behind certain islets.
At the head of Burne between it and an island called Cimbonbon, which
lies in [a latitude of] eight degrees and seven minutes, [435] is a
perfect port for repairing ships. Consequently, we entered it; but as
we lacked many things for repairing the ships, we delayed there for
forty-two days. During that time, each one of us labored hard, one at
one thing and one at another. Our greatest fatigue however was to go
barefoot to the woods for wood. In that island there are wild boars, of
which we killed one which was going by water from one island to another
[by pursuing it] with the small boat. Its head was two and one-half
palmos long, [436] and its teeth were large. There are found large
crocodiles, both on land and sea, oysters and shellfish of various
kinds. Among the last named we found two, the flesh of one of which
weighed twenty-six libras, and the other forty-four. [437] We caught a
fish, which had a head like that of a hog and two horns. Its body
consisted entirely of one bone, and on its back it resembled a saddle;
and it was small. [438] Trees are also found there which produce leaves
which are alive when they fall, and walk. Those leaves are quite like
those of the mulberry, but are not so long. On both sides near the
stem, which is short and pointed, they have two feet. They have no
blood, but if one touches [439] them they run away. I kept one of them
for nine days in a box. When I opened the box, that leaf went round and
round it. [440] I believe those leaves live on nothing but air.
Having left that island, [441] that is, the port, we met at the head of
the island of Pulaoan a junk which was coming from Burne, on which was
the governor of Pulaoan. We made them a signal to haul in their sails,
and as they refused to haul them in, we captured the junk by force, and
sacked it. [We told] the governor [that] if [he] wished his freedom, he
was to give us, inside of seven days, four hundred measures of rice,
twenty swine, twenty goats, and one hundred and fifty fowls. After that
he presented us with cocoanuts, figs [i.e., bananas], sugarcanes, jars
full of palm wine, and other things. Seeing his liberality, we returned
some of his daggers and arquebuses to him, giving him in addition, a
flag, a yellow damask robe, and xv brazas of cloth; to his son, a cloak
of blue cloth; to a brother of the governor, a robe of green cloth and
other things; and we parted from them as friends. We turned our course
back between the island of Cagaian and the port of Cippit, and laid our
course east by south in order that we might find the islands of
Malucho. We passed by certain reefs [literally: small elevations] near
which we found the sea to be full of grass, although the depth was very
great. When we passed through them, it seemed as though we were
entering another sea. Leaving Chipit to the east, we found two island,
Zolo and Taghima, [442] which lie toward the west, and near which
pearls are found. [443] The two pearls of the king of Burne were found
there, and the king got them, as was told us, in the following manner.
That king took to wife a daughter of the king of Zolo, who told him
that her father had those two pearls. The king determined to get
possession of them by hook or by crook. Going one night with five
hundred praus, [444] he captured the king and two of his sons, and took
them to Burne with him. [He told] the king of Zolo that if he wished
freedom, he must surrender the two pearls to him.
Then we laid our course east by north between two settlements called
Cauit and Subanin, and an inhabited island called Monoripa, located x
leguas from the reefs. [445] The people of that island make their
dwellings in boats and do not live otherwise. In those two settlements
of Cavit and Subanin, which are located in the island of Butuan and
Calaghan, is found the best cinnamon that grows. Had we stayed there
two days, those people would have laden our ships for us, but as we had
a wind favorable for passing a point and certain islets which were near
that island, we did not wish to delay. While under sail we bartered two
large knives which we had taken from the governor of Pulaoan for
seventeen libras [of cinnamon]. The cinnamon tree grows to a height of
three or four cubits, and as thick as the fingers of the hand. It has
but three or four small branches and its leaves resemble those of the
laurel. Its bark is the cinnamon, and it is gathered twice per year.
The wood and leaves are as strong as the cinnamon when they are green.
Those people call it caiu mana. Caiu means wood, and mana, sweet,
hence, “sweet wood.” [446]
Laying our course toward the northeast, and going to a large city
called Maingdanao, which is located in the island of Butuan and
Calaghan, so that we might gather information concerning Maluco, we
captured by force a bigniday, [447] a vessel resembling a prau, and
killed seven men. It contained only eighteen men, and they were as well
built as any whom we had seen in those regions. [448] All were chiefs
of Maingdanao, among them being one who told us that he was a brother
of the king of Maingdanao, and that he knew the location of Malucho.
Through his directions we discontinued our course toward the northeast,
and took that toward the southeast. At a cape of that island of Butuan
and Caleghan, and near a river, are found shaggy men who are
exceedingly great fighters and archers. They use swords one palmo in
length, and eat only raw human hearts with the juice of oranges or
lemons. [449] Those shaggy people are called Benaian. When we took our
course toward the southeast, we lay in a latitude of six degrees and
seven minutes toward the Arctic Pole, and thirty [450] leguas from
Cavit. [451]
Sailing toward the southeast, we found four islands, [namely], Ciboco,
Biraham Batolach, [452] Sarangani, and Candighar. [453] One Saturday
night, October twenty-six, while coasting by Birahan Batolach, we
encountered a most furious storm. Thereupon, praying God, we lowered
all the sails. Immediately our three saints appeared to us and
dissipated all the darkness. [454] St. Elmo remained for more than two
hours on the maintop, like a torch; St. Nicholas on the mizzentop; and
St. Clara on the foretop. We promised a slave to St. Elmo, St.
Nicholas, and St. Clara, and gave alms to each one. Then continuing our
voyage, we entered a harbor between the two islands of Saranghani and
Candighar, and anchored to the eastward near a settlement of Sarangani,
where gold and pearls are found. Those people are heathens and go naked
as do the others. That harbor lies in a latitude of five degrees nine
minutes, and is fifty leguas from Cavit.
Remaining one day in that harbor, we captured two pilots by force, in
order that they might show us where Malucho lay. [455] Then laying our
course south southwest, we passed among eight inhabited and desert
islands, which were situated in the manner of a street. Their names are
Cheaua, Cauiao, Cabiao, Camanuca, Cabaluzao, Cheai, Lipan, and Nuza.
[456] Finally we came to an island at their end, which was very
beautiful to look at. As we had a contrary wind, so that we could not
double a point of that island, we sailed hither and thither near it.
Consequently, one of the men whom we had captured at Saranghai, and the
brother of the king of Maingdanao who took with him his small son,
escaped during the night by swimming to that island. But the boy was
drowned, for he was unable to hold tightly to his father’s shoulder.
Being unable to double the said point, we passed below the island where
there were many islets. That island has four kings, [namely], Raia
Matandatu, Raia Lalagha, Raía Bapti, and Raia Parabu. The people are
heathens. The island lies in a latitude of three and one-half degrees
toward the Arctic Pole and is 27 leguas from Saranghany. Its name is
Sanghir. [457]
Continuing the same course, we passed near six islands, [namely],
Cheama, Carachita, Para, Zanghalura, Ciau (which is ten leguas from
Sanghir, and has a high but not large mountain, and whose king is
called Raia Ponto), and Paghinzara. [458] The latter is located eight
leguas from Ciau, and has three high mountains. The name of its king is
Raia Babintan. [459] [Then we found the island] Talaut; and we found
twelve leguas to the east of Paghinzara two islands, not very large,
but inhabited, called Zoar and Meau. [460] After passing those two
islands, on Wednesday, the sixth of November, we discovered four lofty
islands fourteen leguas east of the two [abovementioned islands]. The
pilot who still remained with us told us that those four islands were
Maluco. Therefore, we thanked God and as an expression of our joy
discharged all our artillery. It was no wonder that we were so glad,
for we had passed twenty-seven months less two days in our search for
Malucho. [461] Among all those islands [among all those islands:
doublet in original MS.], even to Malucho, the shallowest bottom that
we found was at a depth of one or two hundred brazas, notwithstanding
the assertion of the Portuguese that that region could not be navigated
because of the numerous shoals and the dark sky as they have imagined.
[462]
Three hours before sunset on Friday, November eight, 1521, [463] we
entered into a harbor of an island called Tadore, and anchoring near
the shore in twenty brazas we fired all our artillery. Next day the
king came to the ships in a prau, and circled about them once. We
immediately went to meet him with the small boat, in order to show him
honor. He made us enter his prau and seat ourselves near him. He was
seated under a silk awning which sheltered him on all sides. In front
of him was one of his sons with the royal scepter, and two persons with
two gold jars to pour water on his hands, and two others with two
gilded caskets filled with their betel. The king told us that we were
welcome there, and that he had dreamt some time ago that some ships
were coming to Malucho from remote parts; and that for more assurance
he had determined to consult the moon, [464] whereupon he had seen the
ships were coming, and that we were they. Upon the king entering our
ships all kissed his hand and then we led him to the stern. When he
entered inside there, he would not stoop, but entered from above. [465]
Causing him to sit down in a red velvet chair, we clothed him in a
yellow velvet robe made in the Turkish fashion. In order to show him
greater honor, we sat down on the ground near him. Then when all were
seated, the king began to speak and said that he and all his people
desired ever to be the most loyal friends and vassals to our king of
Spagnia. He received us as his children, and we could go ashore as if
in our own houses, for from that time thenceforth, his island was to be
called no more Tadore but Castiglia, because of the great love which he
bore to our king, his sovereign. We made him a present which consisted
of the robe, the chair, a piece of delicate linen, four brazas of
scarlet cloth, a piece of brocaded silk, a piece of yellow damask, some
Indian cloth embroidered with gold and silk, a piece of berania (the
white linen of Cambaia), two caps, six strings of glass beads, twelve
knives, three large mirrors, six pairs of scissors, six combs, some
gilded drinking-cups, [466] and other articles. To his son we gave an
Indian cloth of gold and silk, a large mirror, a cap, and two knives;
[467] and to each of nine others—all of them his chiefs—a silk
cloth, caps, and two knives; and to many others caps or knives. We kept
giving presents until the king bade us desist. After that he declared
to us that he had nothing else except his own life to send to the king
his sovereign. We were to approach nearer to the city, and whoever came
to the ships at night, we were to kill with our muskets. In leaving the
stern, the king would never bend his head. [468] When he took his leave
we discharged all the guns. That king is a Moro and about forty-five
years old. He is well built and has a royal presence, [469] and is an
excellent astrologer. At that time he was clad in a shirt of the most
delicate white stuff with the ends of the sleeves embroidered in gold,
and in a cloth that reached from his waist to the ground. He was
barefoot, and had a silk scarf wrapped about his head [his head,
doublet in original MS.], and above it a garland of flowers. His name
is Raia Sultan Manzor. [470]
On Sunday, November x, that king desired us to tell him how long it was
since we had left Spagnia, and what pay and quintalada [471] the king
gave to each of us. He requested us to give him a signature of the king
and a royal banner, for then and thenceforth, he would cause it that
his island and another called Tarenate (provided that he were able to
crown one of his [sons: crossed out in original MS.] grandsons, [472]
named Calonaghapi) would both belong to the king of Spagnia; and for
the honor of his king he was ready to fight to the death, and when he
could no longer resist, he would go to Spagnia with all his family in a
junk [473] which he was having built new, carrying the royal signature
and banner; and therefore he was the king’s servant for a long time.
He begged us to leave him some men so that he might constantly be
reminded of the king of Spagnia. He did not ask for merchandise because
the latter would not remain with him. [474] He told us that he would go
to an island called Bachian, in order sooner to furnish the ships with
cloves, for there were not enough dry cloves in his island to load the
two ships. As that day was Sunday, it was decided not to trade The
festive day of those people is our Friday.
In order that your most illustrious Lordship may know the islands where
cloves grow, they are five, [namely], Tarenatte, Tadore, Mutir,
Machian, and Bachian. Tarenate is the chief one, and when its king was
alive, he ruled nearly all the others. Tadore, the one where we were,
has a king. Mutir and Machian have no king but are ruled by the people,
and when the two kings of Tarenate and of Tadore engage in war, those
two islands furnish them with men. The last island is Bachian, and it
has a king. That entire province where cloves grow is called Malucho.
[475] At that time it was not eight months since one Francesco Seranno
[476] had died in Tarenate. [He was] a Portuguese and the
captain-general of the king of Tarenate and opposed the king of Tadore.
He did so well that he constrained the king of Tadore to give one of
his daughters to wife to the king of Tarenate, and almost all the sons
of the chiefs as hostages. The above mentioned grandson of the king of
Tadore was born to that daughter. Peace having been made between the
two kings, and when Francesco Seranno came one day to Tadore to trade
cloves, the king of Tadore had him poisoned with the said betel leaves.
He lived only four days. His king wished to have him buried according
to his law [i.e., with Mahometan rites], but three Christians who were
his servants would not consent to it. He left a son and a daughter,
both young, born by a woman whom he had taken to wife in Java Major,
and two hundred bahars of cloves. He was a close friend and a relative
of our royal captain-general, and was the cause of inciting the latter
to undertake that enterprise, for when our captain was at Malacha, he
had written to him several times that he was in Tarenate. As Don
Manuel, then king of Portugal, refused to increase our
captain-general’s pension by only a single testoon per month for his
merits, the latter went to Spagnia, where he had obtained everything
for which he could ask from his sacred Majesty. [477] Ten days after
the death of Francesco Seranno, the king of Tarenate, by name, Raya
Abuleis, having expelled his son-in-law, the king of Bachian, was
poisoned by his daughter, the wife of the latter king, under pretext of
trying to bring about peace between the two kings. The king lingered
but two days, and left nine principal sons, whose names are Chechili
Momuli, Jadore Vunighi, Chechili de Roix, Cili Manzur, Cili Pagi,
Chialin, Chechilin Cathara, Vaiechu Serich, and Calano Ghapi. [478]
On Monday, November xi, one of the sons of the king of Tarenate, [to
wit], Chechili de Roix, came to the ships clad in red velvet. He had
two praus and his men were playing upon the abovementioned gongs. He
refused to enter the ship at that time. He had [charge of] the wife and
children, and the other possessions of Francesco Seranno. When we found
out who he was, we sent a message to the king, asking him whether we
should receive Chechili de Roix, since we were in his port, and he
replied to us that we could do as we pleased. But the son of the king,
seeing that we were hesitating, moved off somewhat from the ships. We
went to him with the boat in order to present him an Indian cloth of
gold and silk, and some knives, mirrors, and scissors. He accepted them
somewhat haughtily, and immediately departed. He had a Christian Indian
with him named Manuel, the servant of one Petro Alfonso de Lorosa,
[479] a Portuguese who went from Bandan to Tarenate, after the death of
Francesco Seranno. As the servant knew how to talk Portuguese, he came
aboard our ship, and told us that, although the sons of the king of
Tarenate were at enmity with the king of Tadore, yet they were always
at the service of the king of Spagnia. We [480] sent a letter to Pietro
Alfonso de Lorosa, through his servant, [telling him] that he could
come without any hesitation.
Those kings have as many women as they wish, but only one chief wife,
whom all the others obey. The abovesaid king of Tadore had a large
house outside of the city, where two hundred of his chief women lived
with a like number of women to serve them. When the king eats, he sits
alone or with his chief wife in a high place like a gallery whence he
can see all the other women who sit about the gallery; and he orders
her who best pleases him to sleep with him that night. After the king
has finished eating, if he orders those women to eat together, they do
so, but if not, each one goes to eat in her own chamber. No one is
allowed to see those women without permission from the king, and if
anyone is found near the king’s house by day or by night, he is put
to death. Every family is obliged to give the king one or two of its
daughters. That king had twenty-six children, eight sons, and the rest
daughters. Lying next that island there is a very large island, called
Giailolo [i.e., Gilolo], which is inhabited by Moros and heathens. Two
kings are found there among the Moros, one of them, as we were told by
the king, having had six hundred children, and the other five hundred
and twenty-five. [481] The heathens do not have so many women; nor do
they live under so many superstitions, but adore for all that day the
first thing that they see in the morning when they go out of their
houses. The king of those heathens, called Raya Papua, is exceedingly
rich in gold, and lives in the interior of the island. Reeds as thick
around as the leg and filled with water that is very good to drink,
grow on the flinty rocks in the island of Giaiallo. [482] We bought
many of them from those people.
On Tuesday, November twelve, the king had a house built for us in the
city in one day for our merchandise. We carried almost all of our goods
thither, and left three of our men to guard them. We immediately began
to trade in the following manner. For x brazas of red cloth of very
good quality, they gave us one bahar of cloves, which is equivalent to
four quintals and six libras; for fifteen brazas of cloth of not very
good quality, one quintal and one hundred libras; for fifteen hatchets,
one bahar; for thirty-five glass drinking-cups, one bahar (the king
getting them all); for seventeen cathils of cinnabar, one bahar; for
seventeen cathils of quicksilver, one bahar; for twenty-six brazas of
linen, one bahar; for twenty-five brazas of finer linen, one bahar; for
one hundred and fifty knives, one bahar; for fifty pairs of scissors,
one bahar; for forty caps, one bahar; for x pieces of Guzerat cloth,
[483] one bahar; for three of those gongs of theirs, two bahars; [484]
for one quinta of bronze [metalo], one bahar. [Almost] all the mirrors
were broken, and the few good ones the king wished for himself. Many of
those things [that we traded] were from the abovementioned junks which
we had captured. Our haste to return to Spagnia made us dispose of our
merchandise at better bargains [to the natives] than we should have
done. [485] Daily so many boatloads of goats, fowls, figs [i.e.,
bananas], cocoanuts, and other kinds of food were brought to the ships,
that we were surprised. We supplied the ships with good water, which
issues forth hot [from the ground], but if it stands for the space of
an hour outside its spring, it becomes very cold, the reason therefor
being that it comes from the mountain of cloves. This is quite the
opposite from the assertion in Spagnia that water must be carried to
Maluco from distant parts. [486]
On Wednesday, the king sent his son, named Mossahap, to Mutir, so that
they might supply us more quickly. On that day we told the king that we
had captured certain Indians. The king thanked God heartily, and asked
us to do him the kindness to give him their persons, so that he might
send them back to their land, with five of his own men, in order that
they might make the king of Spagnia and his fame known. Then we gave
him the three women who had been captured in the queen’s name for the
reason already advanced. Next day, we gave the king all the prisoners,
except those from Burne, for which he thanked us fervently. Thereupon,
he asked us, in order thereby to show our love for him, to kill all the
swine that we had in the ships, in return for which he would give us an
equal number of goats and fowls. We killed them in order to show him a
pleasure, [487] and hung them up under the deck. When those people
happen to see any swine they cover their faces in order that they might
not look upon them or catch their odor.
(Continued in Vol. XXXIV, page 39.)