[1] This document is published in _Cartas de Indias_ (pp. 637-652),
under the title, "Letter of petition from the bishop of Manila to the
president of the Council of the Indias, giving information of the
religious condition and needs of the Filipinas Islands; December,
1585." This date is incorrect, as shown by the internal evidence
of the document itself, and probably arises from some error in
the transcription from the original; the cabildo's letter was dated
Dec. 31, 1586, and the bishop's on June 25, 1588 (incorrectly printed
1585 in _Cartas de Indias_). The allusions in this letter indicate
that it was addressed to the king, rather than to the president of
the council.
[2] Span., _ynsigne é siempre leal ciudad de Manilla_; see the royal
decree conferring this title, in _Vol_. III, pp. 250, 251.
[3] Span., _naguatatos_, originally a Mexican word.
[4] The alcaicería (silk-market) for the Chinese, where their trade
was exclusively carried on, was at first located on the Pasig River,
opposite Manila, and was established by Peñalosa (1581?). In 1583
it was brought within the city (_Vol_. V, p. 237) by his temporary
successor, Diego Ronquillo, and was generally styled "the Parián." An
interesting description of it is given by Salazar in a document,
dated 1590, which appears in the present volume, _post_. The Parián was
long the property of the city; it was destroyed under Governor Basco y
Vargas (1778-87), to make room for other edifices, but was rebuilt by
him in another location; it was finally destroyed in 1860. See Buzeta
and Bravo's _Diccionario_, ii, p. 229; and _Los Chinos en Filipinas_
(Manila, 1886).
[5] Lake Bombón, or Taal (_Vol_. III, p. 82).
[6] We here follow the text as given in _Cartas de Indias (dos mill)_;
but this number, if all the Indians in this province were allotted,
and the number of those in the royal encomienda is correctly given,
should be seven thousand four hundred.
[7] In 1579 Gabriel de Ribera, who had been one of Legazpi's officers,
was sent to conquer Mindanao--an undertaking, however, which was
unsuccessful. Later, he explored the coasts of Borneo and Patan, and
was afterward sent by Peñalosa to Spain, to render an account of the
conquests thus far made in the Indian archipelago. As a reward for
Ribera's services, Felipe II conferred upon him the title of Mariscal
de Bonbon; it is he who is referred to in our text.
[8] According to _U.S. Philippine Gazetteer_ (pp. 9, 10, 286), there
are now in the province of Ambos Camarines no active volcanoes,
although its mountains form a volcanic chain. The peaks of Labo,
Colasi, Isarog, and Iriga are extinct volcanoes, their height ranging
from 4,000 to 6,450 feet.
[9] This town was founded by Peñalosa (_Vol_. V, p. 26), and named
for his native town, Arevalo in Castilla. The former is located a
few miles west of Iloilo.
[10] See Candish's own account of this affair in Hakluyt's _Voyages_
(Goldsmid ed.). xvi, pp. 43-45.
[11] "The licentiate Palacios, alcalde of court in the Audiencia of
Mexico, who in 1581 made official visits to the ports of Guatulco and
Acapulco, where he had charge of the construction of ships intended
for the Philippine archipelago." (_Cartas de Indias_, p. 820.)
[12] The Portuguese admiral Don Duarte de Meneses--who had been present
in the negotiations between Legazpi and Pereira in 1569 (_Vol_. II,
pp. 295, 298, 310)--was viceroy of India from November, 1584 until
his death, May 15, 1588. He was succeeded in that office by Manuel de
Sousa Coutinho, the writer of this letter. See Linschoten's _Voyage_
(Hakluyt Society's trans., London, 1885), pp. 174, 200-203.
[13] The following table of Chinese weights is given in Clarke's
_Weights, Measures, and Money_ (N.Y., 1888): 10 mace = 1 tael; 16 taels
= 1 catty or kan; 2 catties = 1 yin; 50 yin = 1 pecul or tam. The catty
= 1 1/3 lbs., or 604.8 grammes. Hence the pecul = 133 1/3 lbs. The shik
is a weight of 160 lbs. In China almost everything is sold by weight.
[14] _Orejeras_ was the name of a fine grade of gold used by the
Malays; see _Vol_. III, p. 224, and IV, p. 99.
Exile thus inflicted was of two kinds. The Spanish phrase here is
_seis años de destierro precisos_--the last word meaning that the
culprit's residence was prescribed in a certain place. In the other
form of exile, read, for _precisos, voluntarios_ ("at will"), which
may be translated "unconditioned"--that is, he might choose his place
of residence.
[15] Span., _corte_; a now obsolete use of the word, to signify a
district of five leagues around the court. It will be remembered that
Sande, in 1577, fixed the boundaries of the city of Manila within
this limit. (See _Vol_. IV, p. 107.)
[16] As the names of these notaries do not appear on the MS. from
which our transcript was made, it was probably one of the duplicate
despatches sent to Spain, rather than the first and original document.
[17] Apparently a reference to the law found in _Recop. leyes Indias_
(ed. 1841), lib. viii, tit. xx, ley i, which enumerates the offices
that may be sold in the Indias. Cf. ley i, tit. xxi, which relates
to the renunciation of such offices after purchase.
[18] This was a lay brother, Juan Clemente, who came with the first
Franciscan mission. (1577). He devoted himself to the care of the
sick among the natives, and was in charge of a hospital for them
(founded by himself) for many years. For an account of this charity,
see Santa Inés's _Crónica_, i, pp. 379-392.
[19] Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas was corregidor of Murcia and Cartagena
in Spain when (in 1589) he was appointed governor of the Philippine
Islands. Arriving there in May, 1590, he at once began the task of
providing suitable fortifications for Manila, and a body of paid troops
in place of the irregular and unpaid soldiers who had hitherto been the
only dependence of the Spanish colony. In October, 1593, he formed a
naval expedition to recover the fortress at Ternate; but on the way
thither he was treacherously slain, with nearly all the Spaniards
in his galley, by the Chinese rowers thereon. See Morga's account
of him in _Sucesos_, cap. v, or in Stanley's translation (Hakluyt
Society's publications, no. 39), pp. 32-39; also La Concepcion's
_Hist. de Philipinas_, ii, pp. 177-213.
[20] The proceedings of Sanchez at the Spanish court, and the
decisions of the government regarding the Philippine colony, are
fully recounted by La Concepción in his _Hist. de Philipinas_,
ii, pp. 103-148. Sanchez did not return to the Philippines, being
assigned by the general of his order to various duties in Spain;
his death occurred not long afterward.
[21] For account of Sanchez's embassy, and of his instructions, see the
"Memorial" adopted by the junta of 1586, with accompanying documents,
in _Vol_. VI.
[22] Regarding the rates thus levied, see _Vol_. V, pp. 29, 30.
[23] This last sentence is literally translated from the MS which we
follow; but there is evidently a defect or error in the text--probably
arising from some mistake made by the first copyist, as the MS. is
not the first original, but a copy made apparently by some government
clerk.
[24] For the text of this decree, see p. 137, _ante_.
[25] With this document cf., throughout, the "Relation" by Miguel de
Loarca, in _Vol_. V of this series.
[26] Juan de Plasencia, who entered the Franciscan order in early
youth, came to the Philippine Islands as one of the first missionaries
of that order, in 1577. He was distinguished, in his labors among
the natives, for gathering the converts into reductions (villages in
which they dwelt apart from the heathen, and under the special care
of the missionaries), for establishing numerous primary schools, for
his linguistic abilities--being one of the first to form a grammar and
vocabulary of the Tagal language--and for the ethnological researches
embodied in the memoir which is presented in our text. He died at
Lilio, in the province of La Laguna, in 1590. See account of his life
in Santa Inés's _Crónica_, i, pp. 512-522; and of his writings, _Id_.,
ii, pp. 590, 591.
[27] The betel-nut; see _Vol_. IV, p. 222.
[28] The Aetas, or Negritos, were the primitive inhabitants
of the Philippine Islands; but their origin is not certainly
known. It is perhaps most probable that they came from Papua or New
Guinea. For various opinions on this point, see Zúñiga's _Estadismo_
(Retana's ed.), i, pp. 422-429; Delgado's _Historia general_, part i,
lib. iii, cap. i; and _Report_ of U.S. Philippine Commission, 1900,
iii, pp. 333-335. Invasions of the islands by Indonesian tribes, of
superior strength and culture, drove the Negritos into the forest
and mountain regions of the islands where they dwelt; they still
remain there, in a state of barbarism, but in gradually decreasing
numbers. See the _Report_ above cited (pp. 347-351), for habitat and
physical characteristics of this race.
[29] For much curious and interesting information regarding these
superstitions, beliefs in demons, etc., see Blumentritt's "_Diccionario
mitológico_," in Retana's _Archivo_, ii, pp. 345-454.
[30] This paragraph is a quite literal translation of the clause
therein mentioned; the latter (in Portuguese) is at the end of the
original MS. of this document.
[31] This was the Cardinal Archduke Albert of Austria, nephew of
Felipe II, who in 1583 appointed Albert viceroy of Portugal. In that
post he remained until 1594, when he was removed to the archiepiscopal
see of Toledo.
[32] The above instructions were intended doubtless for this
document. They occupy a separate sheet in the collection of documents,
but their position warrants this inference.
[33] The first sentence is the official endorsement by the Council;
the second, evidently that of the king; and the third, that of the
Council's secretary.
[34] The collection of documents of which the above forms a part
contains a letter from the licentiate Ayala to the king, under date
of June 25, 1590. As in so many letters from royal officials, Ayala
narrates his devotion to the king's service, and especially in the
Philippines, whither he had been ordered suddenly from the Canaries,
his previous post. He begs for a position in Mexico, and means to
return to that country. The king orders that one-half his salary be
given him.
[35] At that time, Java was supposed to contain two islands;
the western part, inhabited by the people of Sunda, was thought
to be separated by a river from the other, forming an entire
island. Trapobana is a misprint for Taprobana, the ancient name of
Sumatra; and Dacheu, for Achen (Achin).
[36] The cahiz is equal to twelve fanégas, or nearly nineteen and
one-fifth bushels.
[37] Villamanrique was removed from his post in 1589, and in his stead
as viceroy of Nueva España was appointed Luis de Velasco, Conde de
Santiago, a son of the second viceroy; he reached Mexico on Jan. 25,
1590. "The country made steady progress in every branch of industry
during Velasco's rule; political, commercial, and social conditions
were improved, and prosperity prevailed." (Bancroft, _Hist. Mexico_,
ii, p. 766.) He held the office until 1595, when he was appointed
viceroy of Peru.
[38] Miguel de Benavides was born about 1550, and came to the
Philippines as one of the first Dominican missionaries (1587). Soon
after his return from China, he sailed (1591) for Spain, where he
acted as procurator of his province. Early in 1598, he returned
to the Philippines as bishop of Nueva Segovia; but the archbishop
Santibañez dying in that same year (Aug. 14), he was succeeded by
Benavides. Under his administration was begun the college of Santo
Tomás at Manila. He died there July 26, 1605.
[39] Regarding the numbers of Chinese residents at Manila, see
Salazar's own statement in his account of the Parián (p. 230 _ante_.)
[40] The English pirate Candish, who plundered the "Santa Ana."
[41] _Fuerça_: as here used, indicates violence to law, done by
ecclesiastical judges; _see_ note 46, in _Vol_. V, p. 292.
[42] Reference is here made to the archbishop of Mexico, who
had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Philippines until the
archbishopric was created there. At the time when Salazar's letter
was written, the see of Mexico had no incumbent, the diocese being
governed by the dean and chapter.
[43] The MS. from which this document was translated is evidently a
copy of a decree prepared in answer to the request of the citizens of
the Philippines (see the "Memorial" of the general junta, in _Vol_. VI,
p. 166 ff.).
[44] On the back, this document is signed by members of the royal
Council of the Indias.
[45] This statement by the bishop, and the twenty-five "conclusions"
which follow it are, in the original document from which we copy,
misplaced in order of time; we therefore restore them to their proper
place, as indicated by their respective dates.
[46] Apparently a metaphorical use of the word, a religious _double
entendre_.
[47] The original MS. is in places torn or illegible; and matter
enclosed in brackets, with the translator's initial, gives his
conjectural readings of lacunæ.