ANNO DOMINI, 1571.
Of the Government of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi.
Manila being founded, and most of the towns of the surrounding
district, in amity with the Spaniards, the Governor sent the Colonel
to Pampanga, to reduce that province to the Spanish yoke, but he
had no sooner arrived at the river Betis, on his way thither, than
he was compelled to return, without being able to reduce either the
town of Betis or that of Lubao; for it appeared that Rajah Soliman and
Lacandola, who had gone with him to serve as interpreters between the
Indians and him, had conducted themselves treacherously. This fully
appeared by Lacandola leaving the Colonel, and returning to Manila
without leave, for which the Governor ordered him to be put in irons,
and, to increase his punishment, told his relations that he would
not let him at liberty but at the Colonel's request; even then he did
not accede to it without confiscating all his artillery, consisting
of fifteen pieces of cannon, large and small. About this time Rajah
Matanda fell sick, and requesting to be baptized, a clergyman of
the name of Juan de Vivero administered this sacrament to him by
the name of Philip: he died of his disorder, and was buried with
great solemnity. On the 17th of July, Don Diego Legaspi, a nephew
of the Governor, arrived; he was sent by Captain Juan de Aguirre to
the aid of his uncle, having a short time before come to Panay with
two ships, which the Viceroy of Mexico had sent to these islands as a
reinforcement. The Governor ordered the Colonel to proceed to Panay,
and despatch these ships to Manila, and afterwards go to Zebu, and
bring his family to the capital. Whilst the Colonel was executing this
commission, Juan de Salcedo was sent to reduce the people of Cainta and
Taytay, two small towns high up the river Pasig, which had refused to
acknowledge the Spanish authority, and had strengthened their position
by some fortifications covering their towns. He carried Cainta by
assault, with the loss of only two killed and five wounded, but with
great slaughter on the part of the Indians, upon hearing which, the
inhabitants of Taytay immediately surrendered. He afterwards marched
to a town on the borders of the lake Bay, and of the same name, and
summoned the inhabitants, but they answered him with their arms in
their hands. He had with him Padre Friar Alonso de Albarado, who had
accompanied Ruy Lopez de Villalobos in his expedition; had returned
a second time to Mexico; and again had accompanied the other five
religious, of the order of San Augustine, to Manila. This venerable
person the Colonel sent, to assure the Indians, that he did not wish to
employ his arms against them, and that he had commissioned the Padre
Friar Alonso, to accommodate matters, requesting them immediately to
deliver up their town of Bay. This in the end was acceded to, and was
followed, by the submission of many small towns, on the borders of
the lake. Juan de Salcedo went further up the country behind them,
and found the people of Mahayhay, fortified by nature so securely
on a hill, that they could defend themselves against a great force,
with no difficulty, by rolling down immense stones. Having, however,
reconnoitred it, he perceived a path less rugged than the rest,
and where they seemed more negligent. By this path he surmounted
the difficulty, and appeared above them, when they were seized
with such a panic, that they fled precipitately, without making
any resistance. For two days more, Juan de Salcedo was detained
in this part of the country, passing through the villages, which,
however, he found deserted, the inhabitants having taken refuge in the
mountains. He in consequence returned to Bay, where he had left most of
his people. It was understood, that in the country of the Camarines,
there was a town called Paracale, where there were mines of gold. He
sent back to Manila Padre Albarado, and some of the Spaniards; and
having a few soldiers only, he encountered a great many difficulties,
in undertaking the conquest of this town. Many days having elapsed,
without hearing from them at Manila, the Governor despatched Major
Antonio Hurtado in search of them, and he found Juan de Salcedo in
Paracale, with all his people, very much weakened, in consequence of
the hardships they had been exposed to, and the sickness with which
they had been attacked. Salcedo returned with Hurtado to Manila, on
which occasion there were great rejoicings, as he had been supposed
dead, and the loss of a man so much loved and respected would have
been severely felt.
About this time the Colonel returned from Zebu, having first subdued
the province of Pampanga. The Governor now apportioned the conquered
districts and towns, among the respective officers, who had so well
earned that reward, reserving to his Majesty the usual tribute
only. He directed, that the Indians should pay a moderate rent,
to those new proprietors of land, and the Spaniards were enjoined,
not to exact any thing above the rent so settled. In a little time
it was discovered, that the Indians would not pay the tribute; and
that the Spanish proprietors, had been guilty of many vexatious acts
against them, which had produced revolts in various places. In Bohol,
Panay, and in Marinduque, the Indians had killed several Spanish
factors and soldiers. To prevent these disturbances from spreading,
the Governor sent Captain Luis de la Haya, to examine into the matter,
and to punish the aggressors. He executed his commission with such
prudence, that, without exasperating the Indians, he chastised the
murderers, and left the towns in complete subordination.
At the beginning of the year 1572, there arrived, with a great deal
of rich merchandize, those Chinese whom the Spaniards had saved from
shipwreck, in the island of Mindoro, together with many others of that
nation, who brought damasks, satins, taffeties, silks, porcelain,
and other things, with which the foundation of a lucrative commerce
with Acapulco was laid. These Chinese, whom we call Sangleyes,
from two Chinese words, hiang, lay, which signifies travelling
merchants, continue to this day the commerce with Manila, and many
have settled in these islands, where, however, they have frequently
been troublesome, as will be seen in the sequel. About the time these
merchants arrived, the Augustine friars intended to hold their second
provincial chapter, and the first which had been celebrated at Manila;
and at this it was determined, to send some of their order to China,
to establish a religious intercourse between the two nations. The
Governor agreed to this, and was desirous, at the same time, to send
an embassy to the Emperor; but the Chinese would not agree to take it
to China. The Friar Alvarado, however, who was the most desirous of
the undertaking, began to study the language, that he might be able
to convert and baptize the Chinese merchants, who seemed disposed
to settle in Manila; this plan he had adopted in Tondo, where he had
administered the sacrament to numbers. In this provincial chapter it
was agreed, that Padre Herrera should be sent a second time to Mexico,
in order to bring more clerical aid to this province; they likewise
chose as provincial, the Padre Friar Martin de Rada, and elected a
capitular of the convent of Manila; they established clergy in Zebu,
Masbate, Otong, Mindoro, Tondo, Calumpit, and Lubao. Soon after this,
convents were founded in the districts of Taal, Bay, and Pasig, and
many visitations were made, by which it was ascertained, that the
number of the clergy increased so much, that it became necessary,
to separate the parish priests from the friars.
The greater part of this quarter of the island, being reduced to
complete obedience, to the King of Spain, and nothing being known of
the northern part of it, Juan de Salcedo offered to make the discovery,
at his own risk. He collected men and ships, the Governor allowing
him forty-five soldiers, with necessary ammunition. He sailed from
Manila on the 20th of May, 1572; on the third day, he arrived at
Cape Bolinao, in the province of Zambales, where he found a Chinese
junk or sampan, and a party of Chinese, who had got possession of a
chief and some Indians, with an intent to carry them to China. Juan
de Salcedo re-took them from the Chinese, and gave them their liberty,
which action so gratified the feelings of the natives, that they became
immediately vassals of the King of Spain, and solicited to be placed
on the same footing, as the people of the other districts. Passing
from thence to Pangasinan, he coasted the whole of that province,
and that of Ylocos, until he arrived at Cape Boxeador, examining all
the ports, bays, and landing places, near which his squadron was able
to approach, and it consisted of many, but very small vessels. He
was desirous, of preserving a good understanding with the Indians,
and most of the towns on the coast, received him in a very friendly
manner, and supplied him with provisions, which he stood in need of;
but on his entering the rivers and creeks, he found great resistance
from the inhabitants of the districts bordering on them. He attacked
them on several occasions, putting them to flight with great ease,
and sent to them, desiring them to leave the mountains, with a promise
of his friendship. Some, however, not relying on the promises of the
Spaniards, could not divest themselves of their apprehensions, while
others readily came down, submitted, and agreed to pay the tribute. In
this manner he was proceeding, and had almost subdued these two large
provinces [19], intending to pass on to Cagayan; but he was opposed by
his own people, who became weary of the expedition. His second in
command, Antonio Hurtado, proposed that he should go on, and prosecute
his original plan, but Juan de Salcedo, although he desired it much,
thought it better to accede to the representations of his soldiers,
and they returned by the same route, confirming in their obedience
the towns which had submitted. On his arrival at Bigan, the natives
received him with so much cordiality, that he prudently determined
on the step of founding there a Spanish city, for the purpose of
controlling the neighbouring country.
Having, with this view, ordered the natives to cut sufficient timber
to build a fort, and accommodations for those who chose to remain,
he became desirous of executing the original project, which he had
abandoned, of passing on to Cagayan. He left in Bigan his second
in command, with twenty-five soldiers, and, with the seventeen that
remained, he commenced this arduous undertaking, departing in three
vessels on the 24th of July. Having passed Cape Boxeador, he entered
a river where he found a mud village of salt-makers; he desired them
to call their chiefs, as he wished to be on good terms with them,
and after many messages they appeared with their Rajah, who was a
very handsome man, and whiter than the rest of the Indians. Juan de
Salcedo came up to him with open arms, intending to embrace him; but
the barbarian, unaccustomed to such a mode of salutation, believing
that he wanted to catch him, took to his heels and fled, and on
no entreaty would he be prevailed on, to leave the mountains. Our
people, therefore, hoisted their sails, and arrived at the river of
Cagayan. They sailed up this river a considerable way, and found a
populous district; but they dared not attempt any hostility against
the inhabitants, as they were so few in number in comparison to
the natives, and they resolved to return to Manila by that side of
the island, in order completely to ascertain the whole extent of
Luzon. They proceeded about one hundred leagues, without discovering
any population, or any thing but a rocky shore. They coasted it
until they arrived at a bay, which Juan de Salcedo thought had been
named Amanto, having been there when he went to Paracale. In this,
however, he was mistaken, but as that bay was very near, he arrived
in a few days at it. Here he went on shore; and travelled on till
he came to the towns on the lake, where he embarked on board a small
boat with only four rowers. The boat was on the point of foundering
during the passage, and the Indians deserting her by swimming away,
he would inevitably have been lost, had not a proa, with some friendly
Indians, passing by, immediately relieved him. Arriving at Manila, he
received the melancholy intelligence of the death of his grandfather,
on the 20th of August, 1572, accelerated much by the vexatious and
multifarious duties of his office. He was interred in the church of
the Augustines, with the magnificence due to his character and station.
By the death of Legaspi, the treasurer, Guido de Labezares became
governor ad interim, by a decree of the Royal Audience of Mexico,
and which decree was found among the papers of the deceased. A few
days after Labezares had succeeded to the government, Manila suffered
severely from a hurricane, which destroyed almost all the houses,
these being built of canes, and drove back the two ships which
had been sent to Acapulco, but which, after the storm subsided,
sailed again for New Spain, carrying accounts of the death of
Legaspi. The new Governor sent Colonel Martin de Goite, to reduce
the revolted natives of Ylocos, which was done with little trouble,
and he brought away the tribute of the king in gold, compelling them
to ransom themselves, for a sum far exceeding that amount. This he
was enabled so easily to do, by the exertions of Juan de Salcedo,
who, at his own cost, had subdued nearly all this province, and who,
as the Colonel represented, ought to be allowed to reap the fruits
of his labours; but Guido de Labezares was prejudiced against him,
and would not employ him until he was undeceived as to his merits. He
then sent him to the conquest of the Camarines, which he effected with
ease, and founded near the river of Vicol a Spanish city, calling it
Santiago de Libon. He appointed as chief judge Captain Pedro de Chaves,
with eighty soldiers. While Juan de Salcedo was making these conquests,
the governor ad interim was exploring the whole of the Bisayas: he
attempted to restrain within proper bounds the avarice of the factors,
but it was without effect, as the moment he was gone they returned to
their old practices. Meanwhile a ship from Acapulco arrived with three
Augustine friars, men who were much required, not only for the purpose,
of converting to the Christian religion, the natives of the conquered
countries, but likewise to preserve the tranquillity of the different
towns, and which could not be effected solely by force of arms.
When the Governor ad interim returned to Manila, he sent an embassy
to the Rajah of Borneo, but without effect, as he had no wish to
be on terms with the Spaniards. He likewise divided the province
of Ylocos between the Colonel and Juan de Salcedo, who had been
employed in that expedition. In the beginning of the year 1574, Juan
de Salcedo sailed to take possession of his portion; he founded in
the district of Bigan the city Fernandina, where he built a house for
himself. While he was accomplishing this object, a large squadron of
vessels passed by, which had taken a galeot and twenty men he had sent
in search of provisions; and presuming that their intention was to
attack him, he began to fortify the town, but seeing they prosecuted
their route, he took it for granted they were going against Manila;
and having collected together all the Spaniards he had in Ylocos,
he embarked for the capital to the assistance of the Governor. This
was the famous expedition of Limahon, by which Manila was nearly lost,
but a short time after its foundation.
Limahon was a pirate of such renown, that the Emperor of China had
sent against him three different squadrons, and he was in fact so
pressed on all sides by this force, that having captured a Chinese
junk coming from Manila, who informed him of the new conquests
by the Spaniards, he determined to sail for this country, and be
crowned King of these islands, in order to be secure, by this means,
from the Emperor's attacks. He arrived at the island of Corregidor,
which is in the mouth of the bay, the 29th of November 1574, with
sixty-two junks, in which he brought one thousand five hundred women,
two thousand soldiers, and a great many seamen, sufficient artillery,
muskets, and swords. The Spaniards had no intimation of his arrival
at Corregidor, and the same night his second in command, who was a
Japanese of the name of Sioco, landed with six hundred men, with which
he entered, and attempted to take possession of Manila. In the attempt
to land his men he lost three boats, which were swamped by the surf;
but he effected his object, without being at all discovered by our
people. He first landed at Paranaque, supposing it to be Manila, but
soon finding out his mistake, he began his march to it by the beach,
his vessels following him, and at day-break he arrived at Manila, where
he was discovered by the Indians. They made all haste to the Colonel,
who lived close to the royal gate, where the college of St. Joseph
now stands, and informed him, that there was an immense body of Moors
of Borneo coming by the sea side. The Colonel, however, as he had no
reason to conclude, that the Borneans considered themselves, in direct
hostility with the Spaniards, gave no credit to it, till he saw the
Chinese enter by the gate, close to his house. Three soldiers, who
were placed as guards there, attempted to resist them, but they were
soon overpowered by multitudes, and one only escaped, severely wounded.
The wife of the Colonel looking out of the window, thought they were
Indians come against them, and called out, "Here the dogs come, we
are all dead." The Portuguese interpreter, who accompanied Sioco,
enraged at this reproachful epithet of the lady, ordered the house
to be set on fire. The Colonel, who was ill, immediately on this got
up, put on his armour, and unsheathing his sword, leapt out of the
window in the midst of his enemies, who received him on their swords,
and cut him to pieces. They killed the wife of a common soldier, whom
they found in the house, and left for dead Dona Lucia Corral, the wife
of the Colonel, but she afterwards recovered from her wounds. Sioco
pursuing his march, encountered some Spaniards who were on their way
to assist the Governor, and seeing that there were few opposed to
him, he formed his men into a half moon, and charged the centre of
the Spaniards. The engagement was long doubtful, when eight soldiers
being killed, the rest must have shared their fate, had they not been
joined by twenty more, under the command of Captain Alonso Velasquez,
the aid-de-camp of General Amador de Arriaran, and Gaspar Ramirez,
aid-de-camp of the Colonel, who charged the Chinese so furiously,
that Sioco was obliged to retire to his boats and join Limahon, who had
anchored in Cavite. Sioco justified his ill success in this action, by
saying, that the people were tired by their long march along the beach,
which excuse Limahon admitted, and determined on another assault on
the third day. This affair having happened on St. Andrew's day, the
Spaniards attributed it to the intercession of that Saint, that they
had not all fallen into the hands of the Chinese, and expressed their
gratitude, by choosing him patron of Manila, instituting an annual
solemn feast on the occasion. Limahon's delay of the second attack,
was the means of saving all, as it gave time to Juan de Salcedo, to
join with his force from Ylocos. He arrived in the bay, in the night
of the same day of St. Andrew, and understanding that Limahon was in
Cavite, he did not attempt to enter there, but landed on the Pampanga
side of the bay. The day following, in the evening, he met with two
Indians, who had escaped from the engagement, and informed him of all
that had happened; he immediately made sail, and entered Manila that
night. When he was at the mouth of the river, he ordered the trumpets
to be sounded, and placed a great number of lights about his ship,
to induce the enemy to believe, the approach of considerable relief
to the Spaniards, who saluted him in form, all of which caused great
alarm to the Chinese. The Governor ad interim, was so pleased with
the diligence of Juan de Salcedo, that he appointed him Colonel,
in the room of Martin de Goite.
The same night, Limahon weighed anchor from Cavite, and pressed on to
Manila, and Sioco disembarked the following morning, after having sworn
by an oath to his General, that he would either die in the attempt,
or that day be in possession of the house of the Governor. He directed
his march to the fort, which our people had constructed of timber,
faggots, and barrels of earth, and he divided his troops into three
bodies. He ordered one to march down, through the principal street of
the city, to the square, where he expected the Spaniards would sally
out of the fort, and engage them; and in this expectation, he sent
another body, by the side of the river round the fort, and the third,
which he commanded himself, he led along the beach. The division which
had been ordered down the principal street, arrived in the square,
and in order to induce the Spaniards to sally from the fort, they
set fire to the houses. Fortunately the Spaniards did not quit the
fort, though they saw their houses burning, but contented themselves
with playing their artillery upon the Chinese, doing a great deal
of mischief. Sioco, finding that it was not possible, to draw the
Spaniards from their fortifications, and having lost many of his men,
ordered the division that had arrived at the square, to assault the
fort, at the same time leading on his own. Such was the multitude of
the Chinese, against so few on our part, that the palisade was forced,
and they entered through a part, which Ensign Sancho Ortez defended,
and in which he was killed, performing prodigies of valour. Immediately
the Governor heard of this, he repaired to the fort, attended by the
Colonel; they cut their way through the Chinese, and having entered it,
repulsed the invaders with great loss. The Chinese, panic struck at
this, retiring by degrees towards the shore, the Spaniards followed
them close, making great slaughter among them; but, to our great
misfortune, our people suddenly abandoned their advantage, at the
sight of Limahon's squadron, which had just entered the river, but
had not been able hitherto, to take part in the action.
Limahon observing this, ordered his ships off, in order that his
men might become desperate, on finding themselves deprived of all
protection from him: the contrary effect, however, was produced by
it, as they were seized with such a panic, that they could not face
their enemies, but formed themselves on the shore, and received the
fire of our artillery, which was discharged repeatedly upon them,
determined rather to wait death with firmness, than return into the
engagement. In this they would have persisted, had not Limahon arrived
with four hundred fresh men. As all was not lost, he ordered some of
his people to burn a ship and galley, which, with a few other small
vessels, were drawn up on the beach, and which, when they had destroyed
the houses, they had forgot to burn with the rest, and he made a false
attack on the fort, in order to compel the Spaniards to sally out, to
hinder the operation. The Colonel guessed his intention: he, however,
sallied out with fifty men, against those only who were proceeding
to pillage the city, and put them to flight precipitately. Limahon
seeing that his plan had not succeeded, having lost many men,
and finding that his principal captain, Sioco, had been killed,
he embarked his troops, and, under favour of the night, returned
to the river Paranaque, where he killed all the Indians, he found
assembled in any hostile way, and, before day-break, he set sail,
and did not bring to, until he came to the province of Pangasinan;
where he entered into an amicable arrangement with the chief, forming
an encampment, and fortifying it with a strong palisado on an inlet of
the river Lingayen. The Governor was determined to follow him into the
province, but he found it necessary first to restore the fortifications
of the city, and likewise to quell a sedition of the Indians, who,
on this occasion, shewed how little they could be depended upon.
The natives of Manila, whilst the Spaniards were engaging the Chinese,
robbed their houses and maltreated their slaves; those of Tondo killed
some Sachristans belonging to a convent, and they would have done the
same with the clergy, but that they could not have concealed it. Those
of the island of Mindoro, however, imprisoned the friars, and took them
to the mountains, where they were not bold enough to murder them, till
they saw how the action with Limahon would terminate, and how things
would be adjusted. Rajah Soliman and Lacandola, the chief of Manila
and Tondo, apprehensive that the Governor would punish them for this
ill conduct, retired to Navotas, where they fomented a rebellion. In
order to quell this the Colonel, accompanied by Friar Marin, set out
immediately, and when Lacandola understood they had arrived, he sent
to them to request the friar would repair to a station about three
leagues distant, where all the chiefs were assembled, and where they
were desirous of treating of a reconciliation with the Spaniards. The
friar Marin determined to proceed to the station which they mentioned,
and there he met all the chiefs, who received him with much joy,
but they could not be persuaded to see the Colonel. Lacandola alone
abandoned his fears, in consequence of the promise the friar had made
him, and left Navotas with an intention to present himself, but he
found that Juan de Salcedo had returned, and directed his way to his
house. Salcedo encountered two ranks of armed men on the banks of the
river, near the house of Lacandola; he boldly went up to them, and
took away their lances and arrows; when, Lacandola arriving, he said,
"What is the meaning of this? why are these men armed?" The Indian made
many excuses, and promised to wait on the Governor the day following,
in company with the friar Marin. The Governor admitted the excuses,
and presented Lacandola with a silk mantle and a gold chain. Won over
by this treatment, Rajah Soliman, in four days, presented himself to
the Governor, and the sedition was thus terminated. Captain Rivera
subdued the people of Mindoro with the same facility.
The Governor being relieved from the anxiety, which the restlessness
of the Indians had occasioned, determined to follow Limahon to
Pangasinan. He found, on mustering, that the soldiers in Manila
amounted to two hundred, and about two hundred more were scattered
through the provinces of Bisayas and Camarines; from among these
he manned the squadron, with two hundred and fifty Spaniards, and
he added one thousand five hundred friendly Indians. On the 22d of
March 1575, the Colonel sailed with this armament to Pangasinan,
and, on the 29th of the same month, in the night, arrived in the
river Lingayen. The day following he sent Captain Pedro de Chaves to
take possession of the ships belonging to the corsair, and Captain
Gabriel de Rivera to reconnoitre his fortifications. Chaves executed
his commission with ease, as the Chinese fled from their ships, the
moment he boarded them. Rivera attacked the works, firing upon them,
and making a dreadful carnage. Limahon, observing what passed, ordered
his men under cover of a grove of date trees, where they might defend
themselves more easily. Captain Chaves sent assistance to Rivera,
and a most sanguinary engagement commenced. Rivera at last routed
the Chinese, compelling them to retire to their fort, which he would
have scaled, but, finding the palisade too lofty, he had recourse
to the expedient of ordering his men to rush in a body against it,
formed as it was of date trees driven into the earth. This they did
with such force, that they broke through, opened the gate, and entered
the fort. The Chinese then retired within the second palisade, which
was the quarter of Limahon. The Spaniards ought to have attacked the
inner fort, before the Chinese had recovered from their panic; but
their avarice prevailed, and they dispersed themselves through the
different houses, which had been built within the first palisade,
plundering them, without attempting any thing else. Limahon was
not slow in taking advantage of this error of the Spaniards, and,
attacking them with four hundred men, he drove them out of the works
with great loss, thus paying dearly for the indulgence of their habits
of plunder. Ashamed of this defeat, our people returned a second time
to the assault, when they retook the first line of works, but being
unable to force the inner one, they burnt the houses of the Chinese,
and going on board their boats, they retired to where Pedro de Chaves
was posted. Here, finding one of the junks unserviceable, she was
set fire to, and a retreat of the whole body was made good, to the
post where the Colonel was stationed, with the rest of the armament.
Juan de Salcedo, convinced of the difficulty of taking the fort by
storm, and desirous of being as sparing as possible, of the lives of
his Spaniards, considering the difficulties they had to encounter,
determined on attempting to reduce Limahon by fair means. Having in
his army a Chinese who had been established in Manila, he ordered
him to write to Limahon; but this letter having no effect, he wrote a
second to the same purpose. Limahon replied, that he was considered a
savage tiger, whom all were desirous of catching; but he assured them,
that he should either kill them, or they him. The Chinese, therefore,
thus declining every amicable proposal, the Colonel resolved to
throw up works near to their works, but at such a distance as to
be without the range of the enemy's artillery. Upon his beginning
accordingly to pitch his camp, however, a shot was fired which passed
close to him, and wounded his aid-de-camp in the leg, affording him a
convincing proof that their artillery could reach all over the small
island. It was, therefore, deemed necessary to remove the camp to
another position, and to blockade the mouth of the river to prevent
Limahon from escaping, until the Governor of Manila should determine,
whether he would have the works taken by assault, or that, by means of
a blockade, the Chinese should be starved into submission. Upon this
retreat of the Spaniards, Limahon collected the remaining fragments of
the junks, which had been burnt, and with these built some boats within
the fort. Four months passed in this manner, when, finding he had no
other resource, Limahon opened a canal to the river, and, in the night,
escaped with all his people in the small vessels he had constructed. To
deceive the Spaniards, and conquer the difficulties opposed to him in
the mouth of the river, he set fire to a few small vessels filled with
combustibles, and, ordering a false attack to be made on the guard,
he, in the meantime, escaped; and, without any obstruction, on the
3d of August 1575, prosecuted his voyage. During these transactions
between Juan de Salcedo and Limahon, the Augustine friars held a
chapter, and appointed priests in the towns of Candaba and Macabebe,
in the province of Pampanga, in Bizan, in the province of Ylocos, and
in the island of Negros. They were not satisfied with the innumerable
converts, they made in these islands, but they became desirous of
attempting the spiritual conquest of the empire of China. There was
at that time in Manila, a Chinese of the name of Aumon, who had been
sent by the viceroy of Fouquien, in search of Limahon, to promise him
pardon, on the part of the Emperor of China, if he would cease his
depredations. This Chinese had been to Pangasinan, and told Juan de
Salcedo, that he wished to see the pirate; but as Salcedo distrusted
the nature of his mission, Aumon deemed it prudent to return to Manila,
where he paid his court so well to the Governor, that he delivered
him up fifty captives which had been taken from Limahon. Aumon was now
desirous of returning to China, and the Augustine friars conceived this
would be a good opportunity, to attempt an establishment there. With
this view they endeavoured to persuade him, to take two friars under
his protection, which request the Governor seconded; and, as the news
of Salcedo's success against Limahon had, by this time, reached them,
Aumon determined to comply with the request. The friars Martin de
Rada, and Geronimo Marin, were nominated for this undertaking, and,
at the same time, as ambassadors from the Governor, were the bearers
of a letter to the Viceroy of Fouquien, and another to the Emperor,
which they were ordered to deliver to the Viceroy, as their directions
were not to proceed beyond that point. But as it was intended,
that these religious should remain in the province of Fouquien, to
propagate the Christian faith, two Spaniards were sent to bring back
the answer to the embassy. They left Manila on the 2d of July 1575,
and before they returned, the new Governor of these islands arrived.