_Manuel de Caceres_, notary
Thereupon on this said day, month, and year abovementioned, a Moro
whom the said captain said he knew last year as a slave of the
panguilan Salalila, appeared then before the said captain Don Juan
de Arce. The said Moro said that he was the abovementioned person,
and that he had come into the possession of the king through the
death of his master. The king treated him badly; and, as soon as
he knew that the Spaniards were in this port, he came to them. Then
the said captain, through the said Simagat, ordered the said Moro to
be questioned about the death of the said Salalila, his master; the
whereabouts of the panguilan Maraja de Raxa; whether the king, Soltan
Lijar, was in Borney; where he had hidden when the very illustrious
Doctor Francisco de Sande, the governor, was here last year; whether
the said king was fortified; what artillery and provisions he had;
and what he was now doing. This witness replied that his name was
Sisian, and that he was a native of Sian. He came to this kingdom of
Borney with his mother, and had always been the slave of the panguilan
Maraxa de Raxa, and served the said Salalila likewise when occasion
offered. After the said governor went to Manila, this Indian served
the said Salalila the entire time. He saw that, some days after the
said Maraxa de Raxa had despatched advice that the Spaniards had gone,
King Soltan Lijar came to his settlement of Borney with about fifty
vessels, large and small--among them being a galley of Manrijar in
which was the body of the old king, his father, who had died at Baran,
a few days before, from a disease. They buried him with solemnity in
the river of Borney. With the said Soltan Lijar came the _vandaran_,
who serves as steward and treasurer, and the _tumangan_, or chief
justice, the panguilan Salam, and others. As soon as he entered the
river, the other persons and panguilans who were fugitives outside
the city began to return. The king began to collect all his artillery,
and has collected by this time about two hundred pieces. He summoned
all his Bisayan and Moro allies in order to build a fort, which he
has built up the river, from palm-trees four brazas high. He placed
there all his artillery, wives, food, and provisions, as soon as he
heard of our coming. Only the men stayed on the river, keeping close
watch. As to the death of his master, as soon as the king had come,
he asked Salalila why he had married his daughter to Don Agustin,
chief of Tondo in the city of Manila, who had come to this said river
with the said governor. He said that Salalila replied that he had
done it for fear, and to please the Spaniards. Thereupon the king
dissimulated until, after a month, there came a large galleon and a
galley of Portuguese, who negotiated by letters and in person with
the king, and went up to the city and traded about a hundred slaves,
wax, and other goods. At the end of ten days the Portuguese left for
Maluco; and three days after Salalila was dead, from a sickness that
lasted less than half a day. It was a sudden looseness of the bowels,
which proved so severe that, on getting up to ease himself, he fell
dead. It was rumored among the people that the king had ordered him
to be poisoned; but so great was the fear of the said king that no
one dared to discuss it. It is now five months since the said Maraxa
de Raxa left the city of Borney with two caracoas. This witness has
heard it said that the king sent him to Tolobaran, and to all the
other rivers as far as Saragua, in order to look for a good location in
which to settle with all his people in a strong and well-provisioned
place; and he has not returned. He knows nothing more of this. After
the death of the said Salalila, the king took all his property and
slaves, among the latter this witness. Because he was very tired and
worn out in making the fort which he has mentioned, and in cutting
wood for another fort, which the king intended to build on the site
where the said governor had settled near the mosque, this witness
resolved to flee to the Spaniards, in order to go to the city of
Manila to the daughter of the panguilan Salalila, his master. When
asked how many Portuguese vessels came, and if this witness saw them,
and if he went to them, he answered that he had gone to them many times
with his master; that they were in a ship of deep draught and a large
Castilian galley; that the galley was much larger than this flagship;
that it carried ninety men and three large pieces at the bow, and
falcons at the stern. The large ship carried one hundred Portuguese,
eight large pieces, and many culverins. The crew of the galley,
or rowers, were chained, and the galley was in poor condition from
storms that it had suffered. In this port a mast and other equipment
were made. And in regard to what he knows touching the hiding-place
of the king during his Lordship's stay in this river, he says that
it was well-known that he was in a river of Bisayas in the province
of Malanao, near to Saragua. This is all that he can tell and no
more. This his deposition being read, he declared it true. By his
appearance his age must be about forty years. The said captain signed
the above in the presence of many witnesses.
_Don Juan Arce_ Before me:
_Manuel de Caceres_, notary
After the above events, in the said port, this said day, month, and
year aforesaid, the illustrious Captain Don Juan Arce de Sadornil
ordered certain soldiers, before me, the present notary, and the
witnesses here signed, to go in the Neapolitan frigate in pursuit of
a Bornean sail which passed near the flagship, flying a white flag
of peace, to take the Indians who were in the said vessel, and bring
them before his Grace, in order that they might talk with them, and
learn what had happened in the city of Borney, so that he might take
action more intelligently. In obedience to the said captain's order,
the said soldiers went and executed the above-mentioned command, and
captured a tapaque, with seven Indians. These men, when asked of what
place they were native, and whether they were _amaguas_ and slaves,
and whence they were coming, answered through the said Simagat that
they were natives of Borney and slaves of King Soltan Lijar, and that
they were coming from the river of Baran to buy food. Questioned
about the panguilans Salalila and Maraxa de Raxa, and the others,
they said that the said Salalila had died from his illness, and
that the said Maraxa de Raxa had gone to the said river of Saragua,
they knew not why. Questioned as to where the king was, what he was
doing, and where he was living, and if he had a fortress, and where
they said that at the river above Borney he had built a fort of tall
palm-trees; that he was trying to build another in the city, near the
mosque; that he was in the city, and was living in the houses there,
which are usually of straw. They had heard that the said king had
collected two hundred pieces of artillery, counting large and small
pieces, but that he lacked ammunition. He had repaired a vessel--the
one brought by the said captain from Saragua last year--to send it
to the kingdom of Sian for artillery. Not long after the departure
hence of the governor, they had seen a deep-draught vessel and a
large galley at the said city and river of Borney, with people and
artillery. They had learned from others that they were Portuguese, and
that they conferred with the king of Borney, and then went away. They
knew nothing else. When questioned whether any among them knew how
to write, they answered that two of them knew how. Each one of them
singly interpreted the paper sent by the said King Soltan to the
said captain. Translated into our language through the interpreters,
the said Simagat and Sitales, this letter was as follows.
_Letter of King Soltan_
I, Soltan Lijar, King of Borney, received the letters from Captain
Don Juan to Maraxa de Raxa and the panguilan Salalila, because of the
absence of the panguilan Maraxa de Raxa, and the death of Salalila,
who died from illness. If Captain Don Juan wishes my friendship,
I will be his friend, for I am willing to be such.
Then the said captain wrote a letter, which through the agency of
Alonso Buytrago and the said interpreters was translated into the
Bornean language and characters. After treating the said Indians
hospitably, he ordered them to give the letter to the said king, and
despatched them. I, the said notary, attest all the above. Witnesses
are Ensign Salvador de Sequera, Sergeant Cristoval de Arqueta,
Bartolome de Tapia, and others.
_Don Juan Arce_
Before me:
_Manuel Caceres_, notary
On this said day, he immediately sent this letter to the said king, by
means of the said Indians, in the presence of me, the notary, and the
witnesses herein signed. The tenor of this letter is as follows, and
was translated, as above said, into their language, by the aforesaid.
Noble and honorable king of Borney:
I, Captain Juan, received a letter from your Majesty, by which I was
informed that the letters which I had sent to the panguilan Salalila
and Maraxa de Raxa had been received by your Majesty, because of
the death of Salalila, and the absence of the other. I was very glad
thereat, and to learn, as I did, that your Majesty was in this kingdom,
rebuilding your so ancient and noble city, which is a token that you
wish to live in tranquillity and honor, as now is shown. Your Majesty
wished to take up arms last year, and, like a man without common sense,
to make war on one who did not make war. The governor, Don Francisco
de Sande, captain-general of our people, and of all these islands,
on the contrary, had only a desire for the friendship of your Majesty
and your people. It was God's will, therefore, that you be conquered;
and, contrary to our intention, your town was destroyed. This was very
little damage compared to the advantage that you would derive from
becoming vassals of his Majesty, the king of Castilla, our sovereign,
and the ally of the Castilians in this land; and from your people
trading in peace throughout all this land, both with Spaniards and
with the Moros of Manila, Balayan, Bonbon, Mindoro, Çubu, and any
other district, so that the Borneans will become very rich and make
great profits. If your Majesty makes an alliance with us, it is quite
certain that you will find good friends in us--and so much so, that
if any other king should molest you and you should have need of aid,
the said governor will send his galleys and fleet to protect your
Majesty, as if he were offering aid to our own Spaniards. If your
Majesty refuses our alliance, then will ensue much harm, for you
will never sleep secure in your bed. Neither will your vassals live
in ease. The Spaniards are so brave and so daring that they regard
fighting and dangers as a repast. Instead of thus offending them,
I request you urgently that you should take good counsel as to what
you should do, and quickly; so that, if you wish to make peace with
me here, we may confer any time tomorrow. Or you may appoint a chief
who will bear your letter of credit and authorization to treat, in
your name, concerning what is necessary. If not, then I shall not be
able to prevent certain damage that my people will commit, although my
governor orders me not to commit any damage; and, to obey his order,
I anchored in this port of Mohala. I shall stay here until I receive
word as to your intentions, until the said time expires. And now,
because I am told that your Majesty is a sensible man, and will study
my reasons carefully, as is fitting, I shall say no more. May God give
you much health, and grace that you may know Him. Written at Mohala,
in his Majesty's flagship.
(This said letter was translated, and sent in the form and manner
abovesaid, witnesses being Luis Briceño, Alonso Locano, Bartolome
Tapia, and other persons. I, the above-named notary, attest the same,
which is drawn in the said galley in the said port, on the twenty-third
day of the month of March, one thousand five hundred and seventy-nine.