adelantado ordered three crosses to be planted, and on Saturday, August
fifth, to weigh anchor and set sail southwest by west. We sailed with
easterly and east southeasterly winds, now southwest by west and now
northwest by west, for about four hundred leguas. One Sunday, August
twenty, we sighted four low islands with sandy beaches, abounding
in palms and other trees. On the southeast side, towards the north,
was seen a great sandbank. All four islands have a circuit of about
twelve leguas. Whether they were inhabited or not, we could not tell,
for we did not go to them. That year appeared to be one of talk, of
which I speak with anger. These islands lie in an altitude of ten and
three-quarters degrees. They were named San Bernardo, [72] because
they were discovered on that saint's day. Thenceforward we began to
meet southeasterly winds, which never failed us, and which seem to
prevail in those regions. With these winds we continued to sail always
in the said direction, never going above eleven or below ten degrees,
until Tuesday, August twenty-nine, when we discovered a round islet,
of about one legua in circumference, surrounded by reefs. We tried
to land there, so that the almiranta could take on wood and water, of
which there was great need, but could find no landing-place. We gave
it the name of La Solitaria [Solitary Island]. It lies in an altitude
of ten and two-thirds degrees, and is about one thousand five hundred
and thirty five leguas from Lima. [73] From this island we continued
to sail in the said course: a thing which drew a variety of opinions
from the men, some saying that we did not know where we were going,
and other things which did not fail to cause some hard feelings; but by
the mercy of God, at midnight on the eve of Nuestra Señora de Setiembre
[Our Lady of September], we sighted an island of about ninety or one
hundred leguas in circumference, which extends almost east southeast
and west northwest, and lies about one thousand eight hundred leguas
from Lima. [74] The whole island is full of dense forests, even to
the highest ridges; and where it was not cleared for the Indians'
fields, not a palmo of earth could be seen. The ships anchored in a
port on the north side of the island, in ten degrees of latitude. About
seven leguas north of that port, there is a volcano with a very well
shaped cone, which ejects much fire from its summit, and from other
parts. The volcano is high and about three leguas in circumference. On
the side toward the sea it is very steep and quite bare, and offers
no landing; and it rumbles frequently and loudly within. Northeast of
this volcano are several small inhabited islets, surrounded by many
shoals. The distance to these islets is seven or eight leguas. The
shoals extend about northwest, and one who saw them said that they
were numerous. Around the large island were several small ones, and
as we sailed around them, we found that they were all inhabited,
even the large one. Within sight of this large island, and to the
southeast of it, we saw another island of no great size. This must
be the connecting link with the other islands. [75] After having put
into port at the great island Sancta Cruz, as it had been named, the
adelantado ordered Captain Don Lorenzo, his brother-in-law, to go with
the frigate in search of the almiranta, of which I have no favorable
conjectures, and which had disappeared on the night that we sighted the
island. It was sought on this and on two other occasions, but nothing
except the shoals above-mentioned were found. What was seen in the
way of food in this bay and port was swine, fowl, bananas, sugar-cane,
some two or three kinds of roots resembling sweet potatoes, which are
eaten boiled or roasted and made into biscuits, buyos [i.e., betel],
two kinds of excellent almonds, two kinds of pine-nuts, ring-doves
and turtle-doves, ducks, gray and white herons, swallows, a great
quantity of amaranth, Castilian pumpkins, the fruit which I mentioned
as being in the first islands, chestnuts, and walnuts. Sweet basil,
of great fragrance, and red flowers, which are kept in the gardens
at that port, and two other kinds of different flowers, also red, are
found. There is another fruit which grows on high trees, and resembles
the pippin in its pleasing smell and savor; a great quantity of ginger
grows wild there, as also of the herb chiquilite, from which indigo
is made. [76] There are agave-trees, abundance of sagia [sago (?)],
[77] and many cocoanuts. Marble is also to be seen, as well as pearl
shells and large snail-shells, like those brought from China. There is
a very copious spring and five or six rivers of small volume. There
we settled close by the spring. The Indians endeavored to prevent
us; but as the arquebus tells at a distance, upon seeing its deadly
effects, their hostility was lukewarm, and they even gave us some of
the things that they possessed. In this matter of procuring provisions,
several cases of not over good treatment happened to the Indians; for
the Indian who was our best friend and lord of that island, Malope
by name, was killed, as well as two or three others, also friendly
to us. No more of all the island than about three leguas about the
camp was explored. The people of this island are black. They have
small single-masted canoes for use about their villages; and some
very large ones to use in the open sea. On Sunday, October eight, the
adelantado had the master-of-camp stabbed. Tomas de Ampuero was also
killed in the same way. Alférez Juan de Buitrago was beheaded; and the
adelantado intended to have two others, friends of the master-of-camp,
killed, but was restrained therefrom at our request. The cause of
this was notorious, for these men tried to induce the adelantado to
leave the land and abandon it. There must have been other reasons
unknown to me; what I saw was much dissoluteness and shamelessness,
and a great deal of improper conduct. On October eighteen, after a
total eclipse of the moon on the seventeenth, the adelantado died;
[78] November two, Don Lorenzo, his brother-in-law, who had succeeded
him as captain-general; the priest Antonio de Serpa, seven or eight
days before; and November eight the vicar, Juan de Espinosa. Disease
was rampant among our men and many died for lack of care, and the
want of an apothecary and doctor. The men begged the governor Doña
Ysabel Barreto to take them out of the country. All agreed to embark,
and by the mercy of God, we left this port on Saturday, the eighteenth
of the said month, and sailed southwest by west toward the island of
San Cristoval or rather in search of it, to see whether we could find
it or the almiranta, in accordance with the governor's orders. For two
days nothing was seen; and at the request of all the men, who cried
out that we were taking them to destruction, she ordered me to steer
from our settlement, located in ten and one-half degrees of latitude,
to Manila. Thence I steered north northwest to avoid meeting islands
on the way, since we were so ill prepared to approach any of them,
with our men so sick that about fifty of them died in the course of
the voyage and about forty there in the island. We continued our course
short of provisions, navigating five degrees south and as many north,
and meeting with many contrary winds and calms. When we reached an
altitude of six long degrees north latitude, we sighted an island,
apparently about twenty-five leguas in circumference, thickly wooded
and inhabited by many people who resembled those of the Ladrones,
and whom we saw coming toward us in canoes. From the southeast
to the north and then to the southwest, it is surrounded by large
reefs. [79] About four leguas west of it are some low islets. There,
although we tried, we failed to find a suitable place to anchor; for
the galliot and frigates which accompanied our ship had disappeared
some days before. [80] From this place we continued the said course
until we reached an altitude of thirteen and three-quarters degrees,
and in the two days that we sailed west in this latitude, we sighted
the islands of Serpana [i.e., Seypan] and Guan in the Ladrones. We
passed between the two and did not anchor there, because we had no
cable for lowering and hauling up the boat. This was the third of the
month of January, one thousand five hundred and ninety-six. On the
fourteenth of the same month we sighted the cape of Espiritu Sancto,
and on the fifteenth we anchored in the bay of Cobos. [81] We reached
there in such a state that only the goodness of God could have taken
us thither; for human strength and resources would hardly have taken
us a tenth of the way. We reached that place so dismantled and the
crew so weak that we were a most piteous sight, and with only nine
or ten jars of water. In this bay of Cobos the ship was repaired and
the men recuperated as much as possible. On Tuesday, February second,
we left the above port and bay, and on the tenth of the same month
we anchored in the port of Cabite, etc.
Besides my desire to serve your Grace, I am moved to leave this brief
relation for you, by the fact that if, perchance, God should dispose of
my life, or other events should cause me or the relation that I carry
to disappear, the truth may be learned from this one, which may prove
a matter of great service to God and to the king our sovereign. [82]
Will your Grace look favorably upon my great desire to serve you,
of which I shall give a better proof, if God permit me to return to
this port. Will your Grace also pardon my brevity, since the fault
lies in the short time at my present disposal. Moreover, since no man
knows what time may bring, I beg your Grace to keep the matter secret,
for on considering it well, it seems only right that nothing be said
about the first islands until his Majesty be informed and order what
is convenient to his service, for, as the islands occupy a position
midway between Peru, Nueva Españia, and this land, the English,
on learning of them, might settle them and do much mischief in this
sea. Your Grace, I consider myself as the faithful servant of your
Grace. May God our Lord preserve you for many years in great joy and
increasing prosperity, etc. Your Grace's servant, PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE
QUIROS To Doctor Antonio de Morga, lieutenant-governor of his Majesty
in the Filipinas.
When Governor Don Francisco Tello entered upon his office, in the
year ninety-six, he found the "San Geronymo," the ship in which Don
Fernando de Castro and his wife Doña Ysabel Barreto were returning
to Nueva España, preparing for the voyage in the port of Cabite. He
also found there the galleon "San Felipe" laden with Filipinas goods,
preparing to make its voyage to Nueva España. As soon as Governor
Don Francisco Tello entered upon his administration, both ships were
despatched and set sail. Although the "San Geronymo" sailed last,
it made the voyage, reaching Nueva Españia at the end of the said
year of ninety-six. The vessel "San Felipe," which was a large ship
and heavily laden with merchandise and passengers, and whose commander
and general was Don Mathia de Landecho, encountered many storms on the
voyage, so that at one time it became necessary to throw considerable
cargo overboard, and they lost their rudder while in thirty-seven
degrees of latitude, six hundred leguas from the Filipinas, and a
hundred and fifty from Xapon. Seeing themselves unable to continue
their voyage, it was decided to put back to the Filipinas. They set
about this and changed their course, but experienced even greater
difficulties and trials. Many times they gave themselves up as lost,
for the seas ran high, and as the vessel had no rudder, the rigging
and few sails were carried away, and blown into shreds. They could not
hold the vessel to its course, and it worked so often to windward that
they were in great danger of foundering, and lost all hope of reaching
the Filipinas. Xapon was the nearest place, but not sufficiently near
to enable them to reach it or to venture near its coast which is very
wild, and unknown to them even by sight; and even should they have the
good fortune to reach it, they did not know how the Japanese would
receive them. At this juncture arose confusion and a diversity of
opinion among the men aboard. Some said that they should not abandon
the course to Manila, in spite of the great peril and discomfort that
they were experiencing. Others said that it would be a rash act to do
so, and that, since Xapon was much nearer, they should make for it,
and look for the port of Nangasaqui, between which and the Filipinas
trade was carried on. There they would be well received and would find
means to repair their ships, and of resuming the voyage thence. This
opinion prevailed, for some religious in the ship adopted it, and the
rest coincided with them, on the assurance of the pilots that they
would quickly take the ship to Xapon. Accordingly they altered their
course for that country, and after six days sighted the coast and
country of Xapon, at a province called Toça; [83] and although they
tried by day to reach the land, at night, when they lowered the sails,
the tide carried them away from it. Many funeas [84] came to the ship
from a port called Hurando, and the Spaniards, persuaded by the king
of that province, who assured them of harbor, tackle, and repairs,
entered the port, after having sounded and examined the entrance, and
whether the water was deep enough. The Japanese, who were faithless,
and did this with evil intent, towed the ship into the port, leading
and guiding it onto a shoal, where, for lack of water, it touched and
grounded. Therefore the Spaniards were obliged to unload the ship and
take all the cargo ashore close to the town, to a stockade which was
given them for that purpose. For the time being the Japanese gave the
Spaniards a good reception, but as to repairing the ship and leaving
port again, the latter were given to understand that it could not be
done without permission and license from Taicosama, the sovereign of
Japon, who was at his court in Miaco, one hundred leguas from that
port. General Don Matia de Landecho and his companions, in order
to lose no time, resolved to send their ambassadors to court with a
valuable gift from the ship's cargo for Taicosama, to beg him to order
their departure. They sent on this mission Christoval de Mercado,
three other Spaniards, Fray Juan Pobre, of the Franciscan order,
and Fray Juan Tamayo, of the Augustinian order, who were aboard the
vessel. They were to confer concerning this affair with Taico in Miaco,
and were to avail themselves of the Franciscan fathers who were in
Miaco. The latter had gone as ambassadors from the Filipinas to settle
matters between Xapon and Manila, and were residing at court in a
permanent house and hospital, with Taico's sufferance. There they were
making a few converts, although with considerable opposition from the
religious of the Society of Jesus established in the same kingdom. The
latter asserted other religious to be forbidden by apostolic briefs and
royal decrees to undertake or engage in the conversion of Japon. The
king of Hurando, although to all appearances friendly and kind to
the Spaniards in his port, took great care to keep them and their
merchandise secure. He immediately sent word to court that that ship of
foreigners called Nambajies [85] had been wrecked there, and that the
Spaniards had brought great riches. This kindled Taicosama's greed,
who, in order to get possession of them, sent Ximonojo, one of his
favorites and a member of his council, to Hurando. Ximonojo, upon his
arrival, took possession of all the merchandise, and imprisoned the
Spaniards within a well-guarded palisade, after having forced them to
give up all their possessions and what they had hid, under pain of
death. Having exercised great rigor therein, he returned to court,
after granting permission to the general and others of his suite to go
to Miaco. The ambassadors who had been sent before to Miaco with the
present, were unable to see Taico, although the present was accepted;
nor did they succeed in making any profitable arrangement, although
father Fray Pedro Baptista, superior of the Franciscan religious
residing there, employed many methods for the purpose of remedying the
grievance of the Spaniards. These attempts only served to intensify
the evil; for the favorites, who were infidels and hated the religious
for making converts at court, on seeing Taico so bent upon the riches
of the ship and so unwilling to listen to any restitution, not only
did not ask him to do so, but in order to make the matter easier, and
taking advantage of the occasion, set Taicosama against the Spaniards;
telling him that the religious and the men from the ship were all
subjects of one sovereign, and conquerors of others' kingdoms. They
said that the Spaniards did this by first sending their religious
to the kingdoms, and then entered after with their arms, and that
they would do this with Xapon. They were aided in this purpose by
the fact that when the favorite, who went to seize the property of
the ship, was in Hurando, its pilot, Francisco de Sanda, had shown
him the sea-chart in which could be seen all the countries which had
been discovered, and España and the other kingdoms possessed by his
Majesty, among which were Piru and Nueva España. When the favorite
asked how those distant kingdoms had been gained, the pilot replied
that the religious had entered first and preached their religion,
and then the soldiers had followed and subdued them. It is true that
the said pilot imprudently gave those reasons, which Ximonojo noted
well and kept in mind, in order to relate them to Taicosama whenever
a suitable opportunity should present itself, which he now did.
All this, together with the persistency with which the religious begged
Taico to restore the merchandise to the Spaniards, resulted in angering
him thoroughly, and like the barbarous and so avaricious tyrant that
he was, he gave orders to crucify them all and all the religious
who preached the religion of Namban [86] in his kingdoms. Five
religious who were in the house at Miaco were immediately seized,
together with another from the "San Felipe" who had joined them, and
all the Japanese preachers and teachers. [87] It was also understood
that the persecution would extend to the other orders and Christians
in Japon, whereupon all received great fear and confusion. But later
Taico's wrath was moderated, for, allowing himself to be entreated,
he declared that only the religious who had been found in the house
at Miaco, and their companions, the Japanese preachers and teachers,
who were arrested, would be crucified; and that all the others,
together with the Spaniards of the ship, would be allowed to return
to Manila. Fonzanbrandono, brother of Taracabadono, governor of
Nangasaqui, was entrusted with the execution of the order. He placed
all those who were taken from the house of the Franciscan religious at
Miaco on ox-carts, under a strong guard; namely, Fray Pedro Baptista,
Fray Martin de Aguirre, Fray Felipe de las Casas, Fray Gonçalo,
Fray Francisco Blanco, Fray Francisco de San Miguel, and twenty-six
[sic] Japanese preachers and teachers with two boys who were in the
service of the religious. Their right ears were cut off, and they were
paraded through the streets of Miaco and through those of the cities
of Fugimen, Usaca, and Sacai, [88] to the great grief and sorrow
of all Christians who saw their sufferings. The sentence and cause
of their martyrdom was written on a tablet in Chinese characters,
which was carried hanging on a spear; and read as follows.
Sentence of the Combaco, [89] lord of Xapon, against the discalced
religious and their teachers, whom he has ordered to be martyred
in Nangasaqui.
Inasmuch as these men came from the Luzones, from the island of Manila,
in the capacity of ambassadors, and were allowed to remain in the city
of Miaco, preaching the Christian religion, which in former years I
have strictly forbidden: I order that they be executed together with
the Japanese who embraced their religion. Therefore these twenty-four
[sic] men will be crucified in the city of Nangasaqui. And whereas
I again forbid the teaching of this religion henceforward: let all
understand this. I command that this decree be carried out; and should
any person dare to violate this order, he shall be punished together
with his whole family. Given on the first of Echo, and second of the
moon. [90]
Thus these holy men were taken to Nangasaqui. There, on a hill sown
with wheat, in sight of the town and port, and near a house and
hospital called San Lazaro, established in Nangasaqui by the said
religious on their first coming from the Filipinas, before going
up to the capital, they were all crucified in a row. The religious
were placed in the middle and the others on either side upon high
crosses, with iron staples at their throats, hands, and feet, and
with long, sharp iron lances thrust up from below and crosswise
through their sides. [91] Thus did they render their souls to their
Creator for whom they died with great resolution, on the fifth of
February, day of St. Agueda, of the year one thousand five hundred and
ninety-seven. They left behind in that ploughed field, and through it
in all that kingdom, a great quantity of seed sown, which they watered
with their blood, and from which we hope to gather abundant fruit of
a numerous conversion to our holy Catholic faith. Before these holy
men were crucified, they wrote a letter to Doctor Antonio de Morga,
in Manila, by the hand of Fray Martin de Aguirre, which reads word
for word as follows.
To Doctor Morga, lieutenant-governor of Manila, whom may God protect,
etc., Manila.
Farewell, Doctor! farewell! Our Lord, not regarding my sins, has,
in His mercy, been pleased to make me one of a band of twenty-four
[sic] servants of God, who are about to die for love of Him. Six of
us are friars of St. Francis, and eighteen are native Japanese. With
hopes that many more will follow in the same path, may your Grace
receive the last farewell and the last embraces of all this company,
for we all acknowledge the support which you have manifested toward
the affairs of this conversion. And now, in taking leave, we beg
of you--and I especially--to make the protection of this field of
Christendom the object of your special care. Since you are a father,
and look with favor upon all things which may concern the mission of
the religious in this conversion, so may your Grace find one who will
protect and intercede for you before God in time of need. Farewell
sir! Will your Grace give my last adieu to Doña Juana. May our Lord
preserve, etc. From the road to execution, January twenty-eight,
one thousand five hundred and ninety-seven.
This king's greed has been much whetted by what he stole from the
"San Felipe." It is said that next year he will go to Luzon, and that
he does not go this year because of being busy with the Coreans. In
order to gain his end, he intends to take the islands of Lequios [92]
and Hermosa, throw forces from them into Cagayan, and thence to fall
upon Manila, if God does not first put a stop to his advance. Your
Graces will attend to what is fitting and necessary. [93]
FRAY MARTIN DE LA ASCENCION
The bodies of the martyrs, although watched for many days by the
Japanese, were removed by bits (especially those of the monks)
from the crosses as relics by the Christians of the place, who very
reverently distributed them around. Together with the staples and
the wood of the crosses they are now scattered throughout Christendom.
Two other religious of the same band, who were out of the house at
the time of the arrest, did not suffer this martyrdom. One, called
Fray Geronimo de Jesus, [94] hid himself and went inland, in order
not to leave the country; the other, called Fray Agustin Rodriguez,
was sheltered by the fathers of the Society, who sent him away by way
of Macan. General Don Mathia and the Spaniards of the ship, naked
and stripped, left Japon. They embarked at Nangasaqui and went to
Manila in various ships which make that voyage for the Japanese and
Portuguese. The first news of this event was learned from them in the
month of May of ninety-seven. Great grief and sadness was caused by
the news, in the death of the holy religious, and in the disturbances
which were expected to take place in future dealings between Japon
and the Filipinas; as well as in the loss of the galleon and its
cargo en route to Nueva España. The value of the vessel was over one
million [pesos?], and caused great poverty among the Spaniards. After
considering the advisable measures to take under the circumstances,
it was ultimately decided that, in order not to allow the matter to
pass, a circumspect man should be sent to Japon with letters from the
governor to Taicosama. The letters were to set forth the governor's
anger at the taking of the ship and merchandise from the Spaniards,
and at the killing of the religious; and were also to request Taicosama
to make all the reparation possible, by restoring and returning the
merchandise to the Spaniards, and the artillery, tackle, and spoils of
the vessel that were left, as well as the bodies of the religious whom
he had crucified; and Taicosama was so to arrange matters thenceforth,
that Spaniards should not be so treated in his kingdom.