Some misfortunes which happened at this time, and the experience of
the religious during them
The city of Manila is the finest and richest of its size known in all
the world. It is of great strength, being almost surrounded by the
sea and by a large river, which wash its walls. It is the capital and
court city of these islands, where the governor and captain-general
of them has his residence, as well as the royal Audiencia and
Chancillería. Here is situated the largest garrison of soldiers,
with its master-of-camp, sargento-mayor, and captains. From here are
sent out the forces and garrisons subject to this government, which
are very many and very wide-spread, for it includes Maluco and the
island of Hermosa--one of them almost under the torrid zone, and the
other almost within view of Great China and very near Japon. This
city makes the name of España renowned and feared throughout all
these neighboring kingdoms; for, although its inhabitants and its
soldiers are few, yet by the aid of the Lord, whose faith they spread
abroad, they have performed so many glorious exploits that even the
barbarians of the smallest capacity have come to esteem above measure
their greatness, when they see the Spaniards always victorious over
enemies who so surpass them in number that experience only might make
such victories credible. As a kind father with his son, whose good he
desires, not only strives to give him honor and wealth, but in time
provides him with punishment and discipline, therefore, after our Lord
had made the city illustrious with glorious victories and had filled
it with riches, then in the year 1604, at the end of April, He sent
upon it a fire which, defying all efforts to control it, burned to the
ground a third part of the city--with such swiftness that many had no
opportunity to escape it (although the fire occurred about midday),
and they perished in the flames; while the loss of wealth was so
great that it can hardly be believed. Hearing the news of the fire,
which was at some distance from our convent, the religious went to
help extinguish it; for on such occasions as this they labor more
and have more confidence than others. In a moment, as if it were
flying, the fire reached our convent; and since there was no one
to protect it, it was almost wholly burnt, the Lord leaving only so
much as was necessary to supply a crowded shelter for the religious,
without being obliged to go to the house of any other person. In
this we were among the more fortunate who escaped; for the fire was
so extensive that others had not even this small comfort. Many who
on that morning were rich, and had great houses and great wealth,
had that night no house where they might lodge or shelter themselves,
such is at times the fury of this terrible element.
At the beginning of October in this same year, this city, and
consequently all the islands, were in great danger of being lost,
because of a revolt against it of the Chinese who lived near it. The
event happened in the following way. In the previous year, in one of
the merchant vessels which come to this city from China every year
there arrived three persons of authority, who are called by the
Spaniards "mandarins." These are their judges or leading officers
in war. They entered the city, borne on men's shoulders, on gilded
ivory seats, having the insignia of magistracy: and they were received
with the display due to ambassadors of so powerful a king. They had
come to search for a mountain which a Chinese, named Tiongong, had
described to his king as being all gold. The name of this mountain
was Cavite, and from it he promised to bring back to China ships
laden with gold. The mandarins made their investigations, for which
purpose they carried Tiongong with them; and when they reached the
place which he described, they found no mountain of gold, nor any
sign of one. When they accused him of fraud and deceit, he answered,
"If you wish it to be gold, it is gold" (referring to the ornaments
which the Indians wear, and much more to the wealth of the Spaniards);
"if you wish it to be sand, it is sand." All this was done in the sight
of the Spaniards, who came there with a good deal of interest to know
the reason why these mandarins had come so far away from their regular
duties--and especially their chief, who was, as it were, sargento-mayor
of the province of Chincheo, one of the most prominent officers in
their army. The whole thing aroused suspicion; and the archbishop,
Don Fray Miguel de Venavides, a friar of our habit and a religious
of this province, urged the governor to send them back immediately,
that they might not perceive how small a force the Spaniards had,
and might not make the other reconnoissances which are customary
when foreign cities or kingdoms are to be attacked. They feared that
China was intending an attack upon us. The religious of the order,
as they knew the language, visited the mandarins and learned from them
that this Tiongong meant to inform the king that the wealth of these
islands in the hands of Spaniards and Indians was great; and that,
if he would send ships and forces, he might easily make himself lord
of it all. They accordingly urged the governor to hasten sending
the mandarins away, and he did so. After this event the Spaniards
did not rest secure, but were very fearful that the king of China,
being a heathen, might be carried away by avarice, and might be greedy
for the great wealth which this trickster offered him. Since he was
a very powerful king, his resources would certainly be greater than
this country could resist without great damage to itself. Even if the
city were to be victorious, the result would be its destruction. It
would lose a great many of its people, and the indignation of the
king would be aroused because of his defeat. He would therefore
take away their commerce from them, without which this country could
not be sustained. All these reasonings and considerations made the
Spaniards very anxious and suspicious. Their suspicions were very
greatly increased when the heathen Chinese kept saying that they
believed a fleet would come the next year. This was heard by some
Chinese Christians who were so in truth; and they went immediately
and told it to our religious who had the direction of them. There
were some of them who put on false hair that they might look like
heathen, and went with studied negligence to the alcaiceria [i.e.,
"silk market"] where the heathen lived, and heard their conversations
at night with reference to the coming of the fleet. They immediately
reported these things to their religious, and they to the governor
and the archbishop. The archbishop, in a sermon preached at the feast
of the most holy Sacrament in our convent, informed the governor and
the city that they ought to make preparations, because the Chinese
were about to rebel. Although the governor knew all these things,
because he had been told of them by our religious, on the aforesaid
authority, he could never be persuaded that the Chinese were going to
rebel, because of the great harm and the little or no advantage which
they would receive from the revolt. Yet, to make ready for what might
happen, he began to show special kindness to the Japanese who lived
near Manila, and to prepare them so that in case of necessity they
might be on the side of the Spaniards. He followed the same plan with
the Indians, directing them to prepare themselves with arms and arrows,
to be ready if they should be needed. None of this was conceded from
the Chinese, for it could not be kept secret from so many; and they
even heard with their own ears the most prominent people in Manila say:
"We cannot go out against the Chinese, if they come with a fleet,
and leave behind us such a multitude as there is around the city;
so, if we have news that there is a fleet of the Chinese, we shall
have to kill all there are here, and go out and meet those who are
coming." This kind of talk greatly afflicted them; and besides this,
the more ignorant class of people already began to look at them as
enemies, and treated them very badly. The result was that they became
very much disquieted and fearful. In addition, there were not lacking
some to go and tell them lies, bidding them be on their guard, for on
such and such a day the Spaniards were going to break out upon them. In
proof of this lie they called their attention to some facts which the
Sangleys could see--for instance, that all the Spaniards were getting
ready their weapons, and the Indians were making new ones, though
they had no other enemies, unless it were the Chinese. At last, more
out of fear than from any purpose of their own, they rose in revolt,
insomuch that some of them were seen to go where others had fortified
themselves, weeping bitterly because they saw their destruction,
but feeling that there was no other means to save their lives. The
governor and the Audiencia made great efforts to undeceive them and
to pacify them, but nothing that was done gave them any security. On
the contrary, it seemed to them a trick to catch them unawares. It
was a pity to see them leave their houses, which were many, and flee
without knowing where, or considering how they were to obtain food
for so great a multitude. Some of them in this affliction hanged
themselves, to avoid the miseries which as they saw would befall
them if they revolted, and the violent death which they feared if
they did not rise. Finally, on the eve of the glorious St. Francis,
they threw off the mask and came forward as declared rebels against
the city. Sounding warlike music and waving banners, they began to
burn houses and to kill people; and on that night they attacked in a
body the town of Binondo, which is composed of Christians of their
own nation. Their purpose was to force these to join them; but our
religious, to whom the teaching of these Chinese was committed, caused
the women and children to be brought for protection to the church,
while the Chinese Christians took their arms and defended the town
under the leadership of the good knight Don Luis Perez das Mariñas,
who lived there next our church. With twenty arquebusiers, who were
on guard in that town, they drove the enemy back without suffering
any damage. The enemy, however, inflicted injury upon those who were
at work in the fields, many of whom were taken by surprise and were
compelled to join them or to suffer death. They also attacked the
church and town of Tondo, which belongs to the religious of our father
St. Augustine. As the latter had provided against them by a Spanish
guard, they did no harm. After having defended the town all night,
Don Luis das Mariñas sent one of our religious to the governor before
daylight, asking for some troops to attack the Chinese rebels who had
fortified themselves near the town of Tondo, not far from Manila. He
was of the opinion that as these people had spent all the night,
disturbed themselves and disturbing others, they would be tired and
sleepy, so that it would be easy to inflict great losses on them. The
governor took the matter before a council of war; all approved, and
he sent his nephew, Don Thomas de Acuña, with more than a hundred men,
the best in the camp, together with some of the men of highest rank in
the city, who desired to accompany the nephews of the governor and the
archbishop, who went with this party. This small force was regarded
as sufficient to attack more than six thousand who were said to have
banded together and to be in fortifications--so little did they regard
the Chinese. The Spanish, marching in good order, met at least three
hundred Chinese enemies, and, attacking them, put them immediately to
flight. They were near some large plantations of sugar-cane, in which
the Chinese concealed themselves; and the Spaniards followed them,
being thus divided and brought into disorder. The rebels were posted
not far from there, and, when they saw the Spaniards in disorder,
they all sallied out against them, and, surrounding them, killed
them almost to a man, although with great loss on their own side. As
a result, they plucked up courage to advance against the city, and
to try to make an entry into it. For this purpose they made some
machines of wood, much higher than the wall. They came forward with
these, with no small spirit, but soon lost their courage because,
before the machines were brought into position, they were destroyed by
the artillery, which inflicted much damage upon the enemy. So, after
some slight encounters, they abandoned the siege and fled into the
country. Against them was despatched the sargento-mayor, Christobal de
Azcueta, with as many Spanish soldiers, Indians, and Japanese as could
be got together. As a result of the good order which he maintained,
the Chinese were killed off little by little, until there was not left
a man of them. This was accomplished without any harm to our troops,
for, no matter how much the Chinese strove to force them to give a
general battle, they constantly refused it; but they kept the Chinese
in sight while they were marching, and halted whenever they halted,
surrounding themselves with a palisade of stakes which they carried
for the purpose. These they arranged not in one line, but in two,
so that in case of attack--and many attacks were made--before the
Chinese could reach the palisades and pass them, the Spaniards with
their arquebuses and arrows killed the greater number of them. The
loss of life was especially great among the most courageous, who
led the van; while the rest turned back in terror, without effecting
anything. Hunger also fought with them powerfully, because, as our
soldiers kept them constantly under surveillance, they could not go
aside to forage. The little food which they had brought from Manila
was quickly exhausted; and, after that was gone, their lives followed
rapidly. Thus by the twentieth of October the war was at an end and
everything was quiet. But the city was greatly in need of all sorts
of things, for all the trades were in the hands of the Chinese,
and, now that they were dead, there was no shoemaker, or tailor,
or dealer in provisions, or any other necessary tradesman; and there
was no hope that they would come again to this country for trade and
commerce. On this account it was determined to send an embassy to
China, to give information as to the facts of the case. There were
appointed as ambassadors Captain Marcos de la Cueba and father Fray
Luis Gandullo, one of our religious--a man of great virtue, sanctity,
and prudence, who had gone to China on two other occasions. They
suffered much hardship on the voyage, but finally succeeded in
their negotiations with the viceroy of the province of Chincheo,
which is the place from which the Chinese come to Manila. After he
had given them license to get a supply of ammunition for the city,
he dismissed them, promising to continue the trade. This promise was
carried into effect, for in the following year there came thirteen
ships; and from that day forward everything has gone on as if nothing
of what has been narrated had ever taken place.