_A treatise on the Philipinas islands, in which an account is given
of all the islands and peoples reduced to the obedience of his royal
Majesty, King Don Phelippe, our sovereign, and of the settlements
that the Spaniards have made there; together with an account of the
form of government among both the Spaniards and the natives, and of
some customs of the Indians and Moros of these islands_.
Although the chief settlement of the Spaniards in these islands is
the city of Manila, and the island of Luçon, wherein it is situated,
is the finest and richest of all the islands discovered (on which
account we should discuss and begin to write about it first), yet,
since the island of Çubu was the first to be settled, and served
as the starting-point for the conquest of all the others; and, too,
because your Lordship has allowed me so short a time in which to write
this relation; and because I know them better, I shall commence with
the island of Cubu and those adjacent to it, the Pintados. Thus I may
afterward speak more at length on matters pertaining to this island
of Luçon and its neighboring islands--where, because the natives are
Moros, they differ somewhat from the former in customs, mode of life,
and language.
It cannot be denied that the men who have come to this country have
lacked the desire for investigation, since neither ecclesiastics
nor laymen have undertaken to relate what occurred in this land at
the time of its conquest; and, although it is said that father Fray
Alonso de Buyça has written a large volume in Mexico on this subject,
I doubt the assertion, because I have seen his letters which came last
year, in this ship "Sanct Martin." In these letters he asked for exact
information about events in this region of sixteen years ago, because
he mistrusted the accounts which have been sent to him from here; he
also requested any one of the settlers of this land, who should write,
to give a faithful account of all things for times to come. At present,
it will be difficult to arrange such information, and much time will
be needed therefor. In view of this and the short time before me,
I shall not treat of that particular subject; but I shall fulfil
what his Majesty has ordered from your Lordship by his royal decree;
and I shall also add a description of some customs of the natives,
in order that, since they are his Majesty's vassals, he may know of
the barbarous life from which he has delivered these natives, and of
the civilized manner in which they now live under his gracious sway.