ANNO DOM. 1602.
The Administration of Don Pedro de Acuna.
In May 1602, four ships from New Spain arrived at Cavite, in one
of which came the new Governor, Don Pedro Brabo de Acuna, Knight of
the order of San Juan, and who had been Governor of Carthagena. In
passing by the Marianas, he had the good fortune to rescue twenty-five
Spaniards, who had been shipwrecked in the St. Margarita. Immediately
on taking possession of his government, he gave audience to the
ambassadors of Dayfusama, Emperor of Japan, who had succeeded to the
kingdom, on the death of Taycosama, and requested that the commerce
with his kingdom might be continued; and that shipwrights might be
sent from Manila to build vessels for him. Without touching on this
last subject, the Governor dismissed the Japanese with a magnificent
present, which was all lost, as they were shipwrecked on the island of
Formosa. With these ambassadors, friars from all the orders in Manila
entreated the Governor to be allowed to proceed to Japan, in order to
make converts, even at the risk of martyrdom. These good dispositions
and intentions the Governor encouraged, and by his assistance, they
were able to establish themselves in that kingdom, where in a short
time they founded several convents. In 1603, the Augustine friars
already possessed one, and the Captain of the ship Espiritu Santo,
who put in there in distress, applied to the friars, requesting them
to interest themselves with the Emperor, as the Japanese, conformable
to their regulations, would not permit the ship to remain. Dayfusama
received the application with courtesy, and punished those who had
been the cause of it, sending the Spaniards who had accompanied
the friars back to Manila, with great honours, giving at the same
time strict orders, that all Spanish vessels arriving in future,
in his ports, should be treated as friends; the ship, however,
in the meantime had made her escape, fearing the same ill success,
as had attended a similar application to Taycosama.
A short time after the arrival of Acuna, he made a voyage through
the Bisayas (or Islas de Pintados), to inspect the garrisons, and to
make preparations for an expedition, which he intended against the
Moluccas; and whilst he was employed in building the fort of Yloylo,
the Moors took the opportunity offered by his absence, of seizing
all the ships they met with, burning the towns, and endeavouring to
take possession of Balayan; but the Alcalde Mayor of the province
opposed them; and upon receiving assistance from Manila, pursued
them to a desert island, off which he fell in with the Governor on
his return to the capital. Orders were issued to attack them; but
the Moors making all the sail they could, he was able only to take
two, and sink five others, out of seventy vessels, of which their
force consisted. On his arrival at Manila, the Governor received the
melancholy intelligence of the death of Senor Tello, his deputy, who
had discharged his trust with great zeal and probity. He was buried
in the church of St. Augustine, to which he had left considerable
donations. Soon after this a great fire happened in Manila, which
burnt two hundred and fifty houses, the convent of St. Domingo,
and the hospital for the reception of the Spaniards.
In May 1603, three Chinese Mandarins arrived, on the extraordinary
mission of discovering, whether the port of Cavite was composed of
gold, as a Chinese, called Tiongon, had reported to his Emperor,
by whom he was imprisoned, until the truth of his assertion should
be ascertained, this man having promised to conquer it or lose his
life. It was believed that this was a mere stratagem, to reconnoitre
the country, as it was understood, that the Emperor intended to land
an hundred thousand men, in the following December, with the view of
becoming master, of the whole of the Spanish possessions. The Governor
treated these Mandarins, with the most flattering distinction, shewed
them the island of Cavite, and undeceived them in regard to the opinion
propagated by their countryman, assuring them that the island was
termed the Golden Island, on account of its lucrative commerce only.
The expected armament of the Emperor did not make its appearance;
but an insurrection of the Chinese inhabitants of Manila followed,
which had been in a state of preparation during the embassy, and now
broke out. There was a Chinese in Manila of the name of Engcan, who
had remained there since the time of Limahon, who had been baptized,
was very rich, and was in intimacy with many Spaniards. He offered to
his countrymen, to build a wall round their quarter of the town: the
work was commenced; but the fidelity of the Chinese beginning to be
suspected, the Governor endeavoured to ascertain their intentions,
through the medium of their enemies, the Japanese, from which
circumstance the Chinese entertained a belief, that the Governor
proposed to massacre them, with the assistance of these people;
and they resolved, among themselves, to enter Manila on the eve of
St. Francis, and murder every Spaniard in the place. Twenty-five
thousand Chinese were concerned in this plot, which was discovered
by an Indian having given notice of it to the curate of Quiapo,
through whose means the information was instantly communicated
to the Governor. There were two classes of Chinese at that time in
Manila. Those who came annually for the purposes of commerce, and those
who had long been residents, in a quarter of the town called Parian,
outside of the walls of the city, and whom the Dominican friars had
endeavoured to convert.
The first step the Governor took, was to attempt to reconcile the
annual Chinese merchants, who were very numerous; but he failed in
the attempt, as they had collected in a large body in open rebellion,
in a town within half a league of Manila, the others remaining in
Parian. The Governor made a confidant of Engcan, and sent him, in
company with some Spaniards, to endeavour to bring them back to a
sense of their duty, but without effect, as the works they had raised
in their defence would, in their opinion, protect them. In the night,
some of them sallied out, burned the towns of Quiapo and Tondo, and
killed many Indians. They were opposed by one hundred and thirty
Spaniards, almost all of whom perished: among them were Don Luis
Dasmarinas, Don Thomas Brabo, and Don Juan de Alcega, whose heads
the Chinese sent to Parian, as an incitement for their countrymen
to follow their example. Upon examination, it being discovered that
Engcan was the principal abettor of these men, he was imprisoned,
which had such an effect upon many of his countrymen, that they hanged
themselves in despair.
The Spaniards, finding that they could do nothing by means of mild
measures, commenced their operations, and fought with such determined
resolution, that the slaughter was immense. So general was the spirit
of loyalty, that even the friars took up arms, and, in particular,
Antonio Flores, who had been a soldier in Flanders and Italy, and had,
in the battle of Lepanto, been ensign under Bernardino de Meneses, but
afterwards took the habit of St. Augustine. The position he took was on
the river, close to which the rebels were obliged to pass to join the
Chinese of Parian; from this he sallied out, and made great slaughter
among them. They made good their retreat, however, to Parian and Dilao,
where they threw up works, but Captain Gallinato burned Parian, and
laid waste Dilao; and Captain Luis de Velasco pursued them to Tabuco,
which we now call Cabuyao. The Chinese not being able to maintain
themselves here, passed on to the town of St. Pablo in the mountains,
where Velasco, who had pursued them, fell, together with two Franciscan
friars. Here the insurgents fortified themselves so strongly, that it
was deemed necessary to send a greater force from Manila against them.
Major Christoval de Acuna was charged with the expedition. He cut
off their supply of provisions, and reduced them to such distress,
that their only alternative was, to abandon their position or starve.
They availed themselves of the cover of night, and made the best
of their way to Batangas, where the Spaniards pursued them, and
completed their destruction, having killed in different engagements,
twenty-three thousand men, one hundred alone, who were rowers in the
galleons, remaining of their whole number; and as a warning to their
countrymen, to abstain from insurrection in future, Engcan was ordered
to be hanged, and his head to be placed on the gaol. The Governor sent
two Augustine friars to Spain, to inform his Majesty of the rebellion,
and to enable them to arrive in a shorter time, he sent them by India;
but they encountered so many difficulties in their passage through Goa,
Persia, Turkey, and Italy, that it was three years before they arrived
at the court of Madrid. This has always been a dangerous journey,
and was particularly so to Friar Nicholas Milo, an Augustine, who,
a few years before, had been sent the same route with a lay brother,
born in Japan, and who, after having been exposed to great misery
in many countries, fell a martyr in Muscovy with his companion. The
Emperor of China sent ambassadors to Manila respecting the rebellion,
requesting to know the meaning of the slaughter, which had been made
among his subjects. The Governor justified himself amply, and the
commerce remained on the same footing as before.
In March 1604, eight hundred troops arrived from New Spain, with which
relief Don Pedro de Acuna was enabled to fit out a fleet of thirty
sail, in the port of Yloylo, for the conquest of the Moluccas. He
sailed at the head of this armament on the 15th of January, 1606; and
upon his arrival at Ternate, he sat down before the place, to which
the King of the island had retired, and took it on the 1st of April,
with the loss of fifteen Spaniards. The King of Ternate, who had fled
with some of his subjects, intimated a desire to enter into amicable
terms with the Spaniards, proposing to deliver up all his fortresses,
the towns in Batoquina, which were anciently peopled by Christians
(either Dutch captives, or Spanish deserters), all his Christian
prisoners, the islands of Marotay and Herrao, with all his artillery
and ammunition; and which terms were acceded to. He was not, however,
left in possession of his kingdom, but accompanied the Governor to
Manila, with some of his chiefs, who were not allowed to remain,
from an apprehension of their fomenting disturbances.
The Colonel, Don Martin Esquival, was appointed Governor of Ternate,
with six hundred men; and in Tidore, the King of the island requested,
that Captain Alarcon might remain with one hundred troops, which was
acceded to. During these transactions, and while this armament was
at Ternate, and few troops remained at Manila, the Japanese who lived
behind the city, availed themselves of these circumstances, and took
up arms against the Spaniards. This rebellion was soon put a stop to,
through the mediation of the friars, who persuaded the insurgents to
lay down their arms, and submit quietly. By this species of management,
time was gained for the arrival of the Governor, to whom information
had been sent. He arrived at Manila, banished the ringleaders to
their own island, and obliged the rest to live in the town of Dilao,
where they would be always under our guns; and by this means, kept in
obedience. The Governor reaped little benefit from these successes,
as he was immediately afterwards, seized with a complaint in the
intestines, which carried him off on St. John the Baptist's day. On
the death of the Governor, Don Christoval Telles de Almanza, as chief
Oidor, became Military Governor ad interim. The rebellion, which lay
smothered in the breasts of the Japanese, on this occasion, broke
out afresh. They engaged the Spaniards, and many fell on both sides,
as the Japanese were very brave, and were called the Spaniards of
Asia. In the end, however, they were conquered, and were not permitted
to live together in any considerable number till the year 1621, when
Pelayo Hernandez built shops on their old quarter, which were hired
out for the benefit of the Franciscan friars.
Some of the Spaniards of the Moluccas took prisoner Pablo Blancardo,
the Dutch commander at Malacca, and brought him in his galley to
Ternate. The Governor there, in consideration of fifty thousand
dollars, set him and all his people at liberty, which, when it was
known in Manila, was stigmatized as an act of great baseness; and this
public censure affected the Governor's mind to that degree, that he
died of grief soon afterwards. The second in command succeeded; and to
give satisfaction to the Royal Audience, despatched two ships in search
of General Blancardo, who, it was supposed, had gone towards Maquien,
in a patache; they took him prisoner a second time, and sent him with
all his people, to Manila, where he was some time afterwards repaid
from the Royal coffers, the amount of his ransom. Pablo Blancardo
died of grief in prison at Manila, where he had been confined until
the arrival of twenty-two Spaniards, who had been taken at Amboyna
by the Dutch, and for whom it was intended he should be exchanged.
The Royal Audience conducted themselves with great approbation in the
civil administration, until the year 1608, when Don Rodrigo Vivero of
Laredo, who was named by the Viceroy as Governor ad interim, arrived
at Manila, and having had great experience in the management of the
Indians in New Spain, he availed himself of it on this occasion, giving
instructions to that effect to the chief judges, and other ministers
of justice. He governed with much satisfaction for one year, when he
delivered up the insignia of his office, and returned to Mexico.