was brought of the death of Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa in Mindanao,
by Brother Gaspar Gomez of the Society of Jesus. The latter brought
the body for burial in the college of Manila, of which Don Estevan
was patron. Juan de la Xara wrote that he had charge of affairs,
that he had settled in Tampacan, that he intended to continue the
pacification and conquest of the island as should seem most advisable,
and that reënforcements of men and other things should be sent him. It
was learned that he intended to make an ill use of the government,
and would not remain dependent on, and subordinate to, the governor
of the Filipinas; and that he was depriving the heirs of Estevan
Rodriguez of what lawfully belonged to them. It was learned that,
in order to make himself safer in this respect, he was sending his
confidants to the town of Arevalo in Oton where Don Estevan had
left his wife, Doña Ana de Osseguera, and his two small daughters,
with his house and property, to persuade Doña Ana to marry him. This
resolution appeared injurious in many respects, and the attempt was
made to rectify matters. But in order not to disturb the affairs
of Mindanao, the matter was left alone for the present, until time
should show the course to be followed. And so it happened that when
Juan de la Xara left the camp and settlements of Mindanao, and came
hurriedly to Oton to negotiate his marriage in person--although the
widow of Don Estevan had never been favorable to it--Don Francisco
Tello sent men to arrest him. He was brought to Manila, where he died
while his trial was being conducted.
After the imprisonment of Juan de La Xara, Don Francisco Tello
immediately sent Captain Toribio de Miranda to Mindanao, with orders
to take command of the camp and to govern, until some one should
agree to continue the enterprise. When he arrived at Mindanao and the
soldiers saw that Juan de La Xara's schemes had been defeated, and
that the latter was a prisoner in Manila, with no hope of returning,
they obeyed Toribio de Miranda and the orders that he brought.
In Manila the governor was considering carefully the necessary
measures for continuing the war, since the island of Mindanao was so
near the other pacified islands, and the island itself contained some
provinces that professed peace and were apportioned as encomiendas,
and had Spanish magistrates, such as the rivers of Butuan, Dapitan,
and Caragan, so that it was desirable to pacify the whole island and
subject it to his Majesty. The royal treasury was spent and could
not bear the expense; and Estevan Rodriguez had bound himself by a
legal writ, to carry the war to entire completion at his own expense,
in accordance with the terms of his agreement. The guardian of his
children and heirs brought the matter before the court, and refused
to fulfil this obligation on account of Estevan Rodriguez's death. In
order not to lose time, for what had been commenced had to be continued
in one way or another, the governor decided to prosecute it, drawing
the necessary funds from the royal treasury, either on its own account
or on the account of Estevan Rodriguez's heirs, if such should be
according to law. The governor then searched for a person to go to
Mindanao, and selected Don Juan Ronquillo, general of the galleys. The
latter was given the necessary reënforcements of men and other things,
with which he reached Mindanao. He took command of the Spanish camp and
fleet which he found in Tampacan. He confirmed the peace and friendship
with the chiefs and people of Tampacan and Lumaguan, restored and set
in better order the Spanish settlement and fort, and began to make
preparation for the war against the people of Buhahayen. He spent
many days in making a few incursions into their land and attacks on
their forts, but without any notable result, for the enemy were many
and all good soldiers, with plenty of arquebuses [63] and artillery,
and had fortified themselves in a strong position. They had many other
fortifications inland and went from one to the other with impunity,
whenever they wished, and greatly harassed the Spaniards, who were
little used to so swampy a country. The latter found themselves short
of provisions without the possibility of getting them in the country
on account of the war, inasmuch as the camp contained many men,
both Spaniards and the native servants and boatmen, and it was not
easy at all times to come and go from one part to another in order
to provide necessities. [64]
Meanwhile Don Juan Ronquillo, seeing that the war was advancing very
slowly and with little result, and that the camp was suffering, drew up
a report of it, and sent letters in all haste to Governor Don Francisco
Tello, informing him of the condition of affairs. He wrote that it
would be better to withdraw the camp from Mindanao River, so that
it might not perish; and that a presidio could be established on the
same island in the port of La Caldera, which could be left fortified,
in order not to abandon this enterprise entirely, and so that their
friends of Tampacan and Lumaguan might be kept hostile to the people
of Buhahayen. Meanwhile he and the rest of the camp and fleet would
return to Manila, if permitted, for which he requested the governor
to send him an order quickly. Upon the receipt of this despatch,
Governor Don Francisco Tello resolved to order Don Juan Ronquillo,
since the above was so and the camp could not be maintained, nor the
war continued advantageously, to withdraw with his whole camp from
Mindanao River. He was first to make a great effort to chastise the
enemy in Buhahayen, and then to burn the Spanish settlement and fort
and to go to La Caldera, fortify it, and leave there a sufficient
garrison with artillery, boats, and provisions for its maintenance and
service. Then he was to return to Manila with the rest of his men,
after telling their friends in Tampacan that the Spaniards would
shortly return to the river better equipped and in greater numbers.
Silonga and other chiefs of Buhahayen were not neglecting their
defense, since, among other measures taken, they had sent a chief to
Terrenate to ask assistance against the Spaniards who had brought
war into their homes. Thereupon the king of Terrenate despatched a
numerous fleet of caracoas and other boats to Mindanao with cachils
[65] and valiant soldiers--more than one thousand fighting men in
all--and a quantity of small artillery, in order to force the Spaniards
to break camp and depart, even could they do nothing else. When the
news reached Buhahayen that this fleet was coming to their defense and
support, they made ready and prepared to attack the Spaniards, who
also having heard the same news were not careless. Consequently the
latter turned their attention more to the main fort, and reduced the
number of men in the smaller forts on Buquil River and other posts,
mouths, and arms of the same river. These served to strengthen the
garrison of the main fort and the armed galleys and other smaller
craft, in order to use the latter to resist the expected attack of
the enemy. The enemy having gallantly advanced to the very fort of
the Spaniards with all their vessels and men, attacked and stormed it
with great courage and resolution, in order to effect an entrance. The
Spaniards within resisted valiantly, and those outside in the galleys
on the river assisted them so effectively that together, with artillery
and arquebuses, and at times in close combat with swords and campilans,
they made a great slaughter and havoc among the men of Terrenate and
those of Buhahayen, who were aiding the former. They killed and wounded
a great number of them and captured almost all the caracoas and vessels
of the enemy, so that very few boats escaped and they were pursued and
burned by the Spaniards, who made many prisoners, and seized immense
booty and many weapons from the enemy. As soon as possible after this,
the Spaniards turned against the settlements and forts of Buhahayen
where some of their results were of so great moment that the enemy,
seeing themselves hard pressed and without anyone to help them, sent
messages and proposals of peace to Don Juan Ronquillo, which were
ended by their rendering recognition and homage, and the renewal
of friendship with the people of Tampacan, their ancient enemy. In
order to strengthen the friendship, they sealed it by the marriage
of the greatest chief and lord of Buhahayen with the daughter of
another chief of Tampacan, called Dongonlibor. Thereupon the war was
apparently completely ended, provisions were now to be had, and the
Spaniards with little precaution crossed and went about the country
wherever they wished. The people of Buhahayen promised to dismantle
all their forts immediately, for that was one of the conditions of
peace. Then the Spaniards returned to their fort and settlement at
Tampacan, whence Don Juan Ronquillo immediately sent despatches to
Governor Don Francisco Tello, informing him of the different turn
that the enterprise had taken. In view of the present condition he
requested the governor to issue new instructions as to his procedure,
saying that he would wait without making any change, notwithstanding
the arrival of the answer which he expected to his first report,
for conditions had now become so much better than before that the
governor's decision would be different.
The governor had already answered Don Joan Ronquillo's first despatch,
as we have said above, when the second despatch arrived with news
of the successes in Mindanao. Suspicious of the men in the camp who
had constantly shown a desire to return to Manila, and little relish
for the hardships of war, and fearing lest they would return at the
arrival of the first order, executing that order and abandoning the
enterprise which had reached such a satisfactory stage; and thinking
that it would be unwise to abandon the river: the governor made haste
to send a second despatch immediately by various roads, ordering them
to pay no attention to his first orders, but to remain in Mindanao, and
that he would soon send them what was necessary for further operations.
It seems that this message traveled slowly; for, the first having
arrived, they obeyed it without any further delay, and camp was
raised and the country abandoned. To their former enemy of Buhahayen
they gave as a reason that the governor of Manila had summoned them;
and to their friends of Tampacan, they said that they would leave men
in La Caldera for their security, and that assistance would be sent
them from Manila. This news caused as much sorrow and sadness to the
latter, as joy to the people of Buhahayen. Then after burning their
fort and settlement, the Spaniards embarked all their forces as soon as
possible, left the river, and went to La Caldera, twenty-four leguas
farther down in the direction of Manila. Having entered port, they
built a fortress and left there a garrison of one hundred Spaniards,
with some artillery, provisions, and boats for their use.
At this juncture, the governor's second message to General Don Joan
Ronquillo arrived, to which the latter replied that he was already
in La Caldera, and could not return to the river. Then, without any
further delay, Don Juan Ronquillo went to Manila with the balance of
his fleet, by way of the provinces of Oton, and Panay. The governor,
having heard of his coming, sent to arrest him on the road before
he entered the city, and proceeded against him by law for having
withdrawn the camp and army from Mindanao River, without awaiting the
orders he should have expected after the favorable turn that affairs
had taken. Don Juan Ronquillo was set at liberty on showing a private
letter from the governor, which the latter had sent him separately
with the first instructions, to the effect that he should return
to Manila with his troops in any event, for they were needed in the
islands for other purposes; and because of this letter Don Juan had
determined not to await the second order.
Captain and Sargento-mayor Gallinato crossed from Cochinchina to Manila
in the flagship of his fleet, and informed Don Francisco Tello whom he
found governing, of the events of his expedition; and that Blas Ruyz
and Diego Belloso had gone by land to Lao from Cochinchina in search
of King Langara of Camboja. Thus by their absence he avoided the blame
of leaving Camboja, although there were not wanting many of his own
followers who angrily gave information of the opportunity that he had
lost by not showing himself or staying in Camboja when he had so good
an opportunity; and they stoutly asserted that if he had done so,
all that had been hoped in that kingdom would have been attained.
The other ship of his convoy, to which the balance of his fleet
had been reduced, of which he made Alférez Luys Ortiz commander,
could not pursue the voyage on account of heavy storms, and put in at
Malaca. Some of the Spaniards remained there, and Ortiz with the rest
of the crew, was able to set sail after a few months, and returned
to Manila.
Coincident with the above, and at the beginning of Don Francisco
Tello's administration, two Indian chiefs of the province of Cagayan,
the more powerful of whom was called Magalat, were detained in Manila,
because they, with their kinsmen, and others who followed their
party and opinion, often incited the settlements of that province to
rebellion; and it had cost no little trouble to subdue them; besides
the daily murder of many Spaniards and other injuries inflicted upon
the peaceful natives and their crops. Magalat was captain and leader
of these men, and since he, with his brother and other natives, was
in Manila, and unable to leave it, that province became more secure.
Some Dominican religious bound for Segovia, the capital of that
province, where they give instruction, moved with pity, persuaded
the governor to let Magalat and his brother return to their country
with them. To such an extent did they importune the governor, that
he granted their request. Having reached Cagayan, the chiefs went
inland by the Lobo River and again incited the whole country to
rebellion. With the help of other chiefs of Tubigarao, and other
settlements, they so stirred up things, that it was impossible to
go to those settlements or a step beyond the city. Magalat was the
leader of the rebels, and he committed cruel murders and injuries
even upon the natives themselves, if they refused to rise against the
Spaniards. This reached such a point that the governor was obliged
to send the master-of-camp, Pedro de Chaves, from Manila with
troops, in order that he might suitably remedy the evil. In spite
of many difficulties, the latter had so good fortune that he seized
many insurgent leaders upon whom he executed justice and public
punishment. As for Magalat himself, the governor caused him to be
killed in his own house and land where he had fortified himself, by
the hand of his own Indians, who had offered to do it for a reward;
for in no other way did it appear possible. Had Magalat not been
killed, the war would have dragged on for many years, but with his
death the province became quiet and the peace secure.
In April of the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-five,
Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira sailed from Callao de Lima in
Peru, to colonize the Salomon Islands, which he had discovered many
years before in the South Sea, [66] the principal one of which he had
called San Christoval. He took four ships, two large ones--a flagship
and an almiranta--a frigate, and a galliot, with four hundred men
in all. He was also accompanied by his wife, Doña Ysabel Barreto and
his three brothers-in-law. On the way he discovered other islands at
which he did not stop; but not finding those which he had previously
discovered, and as his almiranta had been lost, he anchored with the
other ships at an island near Nueva Guinea, inhabited by blacks,
to which he gave the name of Santa Cruz [Holy Cross]. There he
settled--little to the satisfaction of his men. The adelantado, two of
his brothers-in-law, and many of his people died there. Doña Ysabel
Barreto abandoned the colony, on account of sickness and want, and
embarked the survivors aboard her flagship, frigate, and galliot. But
while they were sailing toward the Filipinas the frigate and galliot
disappeared in another direction. The flagship entered the river of
Butuan, in the island of Mindanao, and reached Manila after great
want and suffering. There Doña Ysabel Barreto married Don Fernando de
Castro, and returned to Nueva España in his ship, the "San Geronymo,"
in the year ninety-six. The events of this voyage have been only
lightly touched upon here, so that it seems fitting to reproduce
literally the relation, to which Don Pedro Fernandez de Quiros,
chief pilot on this voyage, affixed his signature, which is as follows.
Relation of the voyage of Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira for
the discovery of the Salomon Islands
On Friday, the ninth of the month of April, one thousand five hundred
and ninety-five, Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña set sail with his fleet
for the conquest and settlement of the western islands in the South
Sea, sailing from the port of Callao de Lima, which lies in twelve and
one-half degrees south latitude. Laying his course toward the valleys
of Santa, Truxillo, and Saña, and collecting men and provisions, he
went to Paita. [67] There he took in water and numbered his forces,
which amounted to about four hundred persons. Then with his four
vessels, two large and two small, he left the said port, which is
five degrees higher than the former port, and directed his course
west-southwest in search of the islands that he had discovered. He
took Pedro Merino Manrique as master-of-camp; his brother-in-law,
Lope de la Vega, as admiral; and Pedro Fernandez de Quiros as
chief pilot. Following the above-mentioned course he sailed to the
altitude of nine and one-half degrees, whence he sailed southwest by
west to fourteen degrees, where he changed his course to northwest
by west. On Friday, the twenty-first of the month of July, having
reached an altitude of ten long degrees, we sighted an island to
which the general gave the name of Madalena. [68] From a port of this
island, about seventy canoes came out, each containing three men,
or thereabout, while some came swimming and others on logs. There
were more than four hundred Indians, white and of a very agreeable
appearance, tall and strong, large-limbed, and so well made that
they by far surpassed us. [69] They had fine teeth, eyes, mouth,
hands and feet, and beautiful long flowing hair, while many of them
were very fair. Very handsome youths were to be seen among them;
all were naked and covered no part. Their bodies, legs, arms, hands,
and even some of their faces, were all marked after the fashion of
these Bissayans. And indeed, for a barbarous people, naked, and of
so little reason, one could not restrain himself, at sight of them,
from thanking God for having created them. And do not think this
exaggeration, for it was so. These people invited us to their port,
and were in turn invited to our flagship, and about forty of them
came aboard. In comparison with them we appeared to be men of less
than ordinary size. Among them was one who was thought to be a palmo
taller than the tallest man of our fleet, although we had in the
fleet men of more than average height. The general gave some of them
shirts and other things, which they accepted with much pleasure,
dancing after their fashion and calling others. But being annoyed
at the liberties that they took, for they were great thieves, the
general had a cannon fired, in order to frighten them. When they
heard it they all swam ashore, seized their weapons, and at the sound
of a conch threw a few stones at the ships and threatened us with
their lances, for they had no other weapons. Our men fired their
arquebuses at them from the ships and killed five or six of them,
whereat they stopped. Our fleet sailed on and we discovered three
other islands. This island has a circumference of about six leguas. We
passed it on its southern side. On that side it is high and slopes
precipitously to the sea, and has mountainous ravines where the
Indians dwell. There seemed to be many inhabitants, for we saw them
on the rocks and on the beach. And so we continued our course to the
other three islands. The first, to which was given the name San Pedro,
is about ten leguas from Magdalena, and like it extends northwest by
north. It has a circumference of about three leguas. The island is
beautiful, and rich in woods and fine fields. We did not ascertain
whether it was inhabited or not, for we did not stop there. To the
southeast and about five leguas from it lies another island to which
the general gave the name of Dominica. It is very sightly, and to
all appearances thickly populated, and has a circumference of about
fifteen leguas. To the south and a little more than one legua from
it lies another island with a circumference of about eight leguas,
which received the name of Sancta Cristina. Our fleet passed through
the channel that separates the one island from the other, for all that
we saw of these islands is clear sailing. On the west side of Sancta
Cristina, a good port was found, and there the fleet anchored. [70]
These Indians did not seem to me to resemble the first; but many
beautiful women were seen. I did not see the latter, but some who did
assured me that in their opinion, they are as beautiful as the women
in Lima, but light complexioned and not so tall--and the women in Lima
are very beautiful. The articles of food seen in that port were swine
and fowl, sugar-cane, excellent bananas, cocoanuts, and a fruit that
grows on high trees. Each of the last is as large as a good-sized
pineapple, and is excellent eating. Much of it was eaten green,
roasted, and boiled. When ripe it is indeed so sweet and good that,
in my estimation, there is no other that surpasses it. Scarcely any
of it, except a little husk, has to be thrown away. [71] There was
also another fruit with a flavor like that of chestnuts, but much
larger in size than six chestnuts put together; much of this fruit
was eaten roasted and boiled. Certain nuts with a very hard shell,
and very oily, were also found, which were eaten in great quantities,
and which, according to some, induced diarrhoea. We also saw some
Castilian pumpkins growing. Near the beach there is a fine cascade
of very clear water, which issues from a rock at the height of two
men. Its volume is about the width of four or five fingers. Then
near by there is a stream, from which the boats drew a full supply
of water. The Indians fled to the forests and rocks, where they
fortified themselves and tried to do some mischief, by throwing
stones and rolling down rocks, but they never wounded anyone, for
the master-of-camp restrained them, by placing outposts. The Indians
of this island, on seeing one of our negroes, made signs toward the
south, saying that there were men like him there, and that they were
wont to go there to fight; that the others were armed with arrows; and
that they make the journey thither in certain large canoes which they
possess. Since there was no interpreter, or much curiosity to learn
more, no further investigations were made, although, in my opinion,
this is impossible for Indians so remote, unless there be a chain of
islands; for their boats and their customs in other things show that
they have not come from any great distance.