Relation of the Filipinas Islands, by Admiral Don Hieronimo de Banuelos
y Carrillo [13]
The city of Manila is the chief city of the islands of Lucon, or the
Filipinas. It lies in a latitude of fourteen degrees thirty minutes,
is fortified on one side by the sea, and on its land side has a castle
called Santiago, although that castle furnishes no great defense. The
artillery of that castle points seaward, in order to prevent the
entrance of [hostile] vessels--which can, however, enter there,
without the cannon doing them any great damage. The chief port of
these islands is called Cavite, and there the ships from Nueva Espana
are anchored. That port of Cavite serves as a refuge for our sailors;
it is sheltered from the heavy winds, and very secure. Manila, on the
contrary, is an open bay, beaten by the north winds. The anchorage
there is very poor, and the entrance very difficult; but, on the other
hand, it is very well supplied with all that is necessary for commerce
and for war. One may say that it serves as a magazine for the richest
commerce in the world. There is abundance of bread, flesh, and wine
there; and although the wine is not so good as that of Espana, those
of the country who are accustomed to it do not hesitate to prefer it
to that of Goa, or that of Mexico--although those are used only for
the mass, and that of Espana for the tables of the richest men. The
Portuguese of Goa also send abundance of provisions there, so that
they can be bought in Manila at a very good bargain. There are one
hundred and fifty fires [i.e., households] in Manila. The houses of
the city are so suitable and those of the country so charming that
life in those islands is altogether delightful. At one musket-shot
from the city can be seen the Parian, the lodging of the Sangleys
or Chinese merchants. There are about twenty thousand of them,
all merchants whom business has attracted to that place. It is a
very curious place to see, because of the fine order in which they
live. Every kind of merchandise has its own separate quarter, and
those goods are so rare and curious that they merit the admiration
of the most civilized nations. [14]
Although that Parian is built only of wood, and the Chinese who
live there have no weapons, we do not fail to keep a strong guard on
that side. We even have some pieces of artillery pointed toward that
city, for the Chinese are a very spirited and bold nation. We have
experienced that heretofore, and are still threatened [with danger]
in that hour that we are not so closely on our guard. There is no
Spanish house where nine or ten of these merchants cannot be seen
every morning, who take their merchandise there; for all the traffic
passes through their hands, even all that is used for the sustenance
of the Spaniards. There are some men who say that they mix a slow
poison in our food, which works its effect chiefly on the women. It
is a fact that a woman who reaches the age of twenty-six years is
seldom seen. Those persons add that their intention in doing that is
to prevent the Spaniards from fortifying themselves more strongly in
that island, and that the Chinese would drive them out entirely. That
would be very easy for them, by employing such means, if it were not
for the interest that they have in the commerce of the silver of Nueva
Espana. These people have a subtle and universal intelligence. They
imitate whatever one presents to them, and they make the article
as well as do those who invented it. The riches of Manila, and the
felicity of existence there, are steadily decreasing. I shall relate
here the causes for it, having regard only to the service of God and
of the king.
The chief cause for the ruin of these islands is the great trade that
the Sangleys carry on. The king has permitted the inhabitants of the
Manilas to export a portion of their capital to Nueva Espana. in the
merchandise of that country. The Spanish inhabitants daily lend their
names to those Sangleys and to the Portuguese of Macao, so that they
may enjoy the freedom of that commerce. These people do not attempt
to hide the fact that they are acting as agents for the inhabitants of
Mexico; and these last years they sent such a quantity of merchandise
to Peru and to Nueva Espana that no sale could be found for it. That
is a hindrance to the voyages of the trading fleet. The king of
China could build a palace with the silver bars from Peru which have
been carried to his country because of that traffic, without their
having been registered, and without the king of Espana having been
paid his duties, as has been well shown by Dom Pedro de Quiroga y
Moya. That silver was sent at the account of influential persons, who
do not reside at the Manilas. The two vessels which left in his time
paid more duties to the king than all the other ships put together
which had made that voyage before; that clearly shows the neglect
of the other officials commissioned to receive the duties from his
Majesty. They have attempted to conceal this truth, by saying that
those ships were richer than the others because Dom Sebastian Hurtado
de Corcuera had written, in the preceding year, that he would not send
the vessels that year; and that he had even detained and caused the
unlading of those that had been on the point of sailing on the voyage
to Acapulco. I do not know his reason for so doing, but I know well
that he wrote that resolution at the Embocadero of Manila--that is to
say, eighty leguas from the city--and that without having consulted
the inhabitants of the Manilas. Those of the country are agreed that
that delay has been their ruin; for they all know that they cannot
maintain themselves against the Dutch or against the Mahometans except
by means of the regular succor that is sent them from Nueva Espana.
The marques de Cadereta [15] came at that time to act as viceroy
of Nueva Espana. He sent a large reenforcement to the islands very
opportunely, under command of General Don Andres Cottigllo. The
latter brought news that Don Pedro de Quiroga had arrived at Mexico to
inform against the officials of his Majesty, and that he would go to
Acapulco to inspect the ships and regulate the Chinese commerce. The
inhabitants of the Manilas and the factors of the Portuguese tried
to get back their merchandise that they had already laded on the
vessels, being fearful of that news and that name of visitor. But
having finally recovered courage, they laded the two vessels that
the governor had detained the preceding year, which were worth about
five millions in gold. Nevertheless those of the country affirmed
that they were not so richly laden as those which had sailed before,
for one of the chief merchants [16] had not put a single box aboard.
They report another reason for obscuring so apparent a truth. They
say that Don Pedro de Quiroga had specified among the orders that
he had drawn up as a remedy for the disorders of the past, that for
those ships; and that it was he alone who prevented their sailing. But
he himself says that that is false, and that he had heard that those
who had encomiendas [Fr., commanderies], and the merchants of Mexico,
had resorted to entreaties to Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera (for I
cannot believe that they were in compact with him); and that they had
represented to him the great quantity of Chinese merchandise then in
Mexico, and declared that, if new vessels were sent there, a market
could not be found for that merchandise, and that the merchants of
Mexico and Nueva Espana would lose a great amount by it.
Don Pedro de Quiroga adds that having learned that the governor of
the Filipinas had given his word not to have any new vessels sail,
in order to better carry out his Majesty's service, he had employed
this expedient--namely, that if they entered the port that year,
they would enjoy the benefit of the rules which had been made during
that time; but that, if they came only the following year, they
would not enjoy these, and that they would pay the king's duties
in all strictness. That plainly showed that he was advised of the
promise which the governor of the islands had given to the merchants
of Mexico, to detain the vessels and the merchandise that ought to
have been sent that year. The transaction was, in truth, greatly to
the interest of the inhabitants of Mexico, and of the Spaniards who
have encomiendas--although to the great prejudice of the islands,
which cannot get along without the reenforcement which they ought
to have annually from Mexico; and to the decrease of his Majesty's
duties, which are an aid in the discharge of the expense for that
succor. In fine, if the marques de Cadereta had not reenforced the
islands as powerfully as he did, they would have fallen into extreme
need. It would be easy for me to show here other consequences of
that delay of the vessels which Don Juan Cereco y Salamanca had
prepared to sail that year, as is done every year; and it will not
be more difficult for me to demonstrate the other damages that we
suffer in that commerce. The inhabitants of the Manilas have nothing
on those vessels; their cargoes belong entirely to the Chinese, to
the Portuguese of Macao, or to the Mexican merchants. If the king
does not put a stop to it, the Chinese will absorb all the riches of
Peru, and the subjects of the king in those islands will be forced to
abandon them. I will go on to represent to your Excellency the other
disorders in the government of those islands, as far as I have been
able to learn them in the short time that I have spent there.
The encomiendas are ruined. Formerly the king rewarded soldiers
with them, and now the islanders, who were formerly assigned under
those encomiendas, have become our enemies. There has been failure to
instruct those innocent people in the Catholic faith, and that is the
only title under which the king of Espana holds that country, which
does not belong to his patrimony. Instead of making them our friends
and brothers, we have made them our domestic enemies. We have received
the Sangleys in their place, with whom the profit of the traffic always
embroils us. Let one consider what damage has been committed since
by the inhabitants of the island of Mindanao. They have overrun the
shores of these islands with their caracoas or little boats, and the
governor was forced to leave the city in the hands of the Sangleys,
in order to leave the island and to go to make war on them, where he
lost more than one hundred and thirty Spaniards, without being able
to bring the war to a successful end. In this it cannot be said that
he was not greatly to blame; for one of his officers named Nicolas
Gonzales, at the first war cry, forced one of their best positions
without the loss of a single man, whence the governor had been unable
to drive them with all his forces. [17]
We have also as enemies the people of Jolo and those of Terrenate,
who are also more to be feared on account of the help that they get
from the Dutch. They declare themselves neutral, but they help the
Dutch underhandedly on all occasions. The chiefs of those Indians take
the title of kings, but they are among the kings who go quite naked
and who live by their labor. True, those of Macassar, of Cochinchina,
and of Cambaya, are more powerful. But for all that, it would be enough
for us, for the little help that we can get out of them, to become the
arbitrator of their differences, and thus to keep them favorable to our
side. But since they have seen that we have made this friendship with
the Sangleys, with the inhabitants of Martavan, of Borneo, and other
neighboring islands, they have broken off all trade with us, and have
begun to take all the products of their country to the Dutch, so that
they do nothing except at their orders. If for that reason also the
king does not prevent the trade with the Sangleys, the Filipinas are
lost. I come now to the remedy that can be applied to this disorder.
Among all those one hundred and fifty families who are settled
at Manila, there are not two who are very rich. My plan would be
to allow those inhabitants to export Chinese merchandise to the
value of two hundred and fifty thousand escudos, the greater part
of which should be raw silk and cotton bolls, so that they could
be manufactured in this country [i.e., Mexico]. For there is less
[chance for] trickery in that sort of merchandise than in the stuffs
manufactured in China, which ought never to be allowed to be taken to
Manila. The permission of trade to that sum would also be proportioned
to the ability of the Manila merchants; and they would get more than
five hundred thousand escudos in return for it, for the profits of
that trade are exorbitant. Today even, when there is so much of
this merchandise, four hundred per cent is gained on the poorest
quality exported. By that means the Spaniards could be employed in
manufacturing that silk, the textiles would be better, and they would
secure innumerable other advantages. Accordingly, the inhabitants
of the Manilas would not charge themselves with the commissions of
Mexico, and they would get all the profit derived from those islands,
which is now quite universally in the hands of foreigners. Further, as
their affairs in the country became more prosperous, they would become
more interested in its conservation; and they would be more careful
to have the Indians, who have been assigned to them in encomiendas,
instructed and held in subjection. They would save what they give
to their agents in Mexico, who often ruin them. They keep their
merchandise two or three years, and it has a poor sale in Mexico,
because of the great quantity that is taken there; and trading only at
Acapulco, and conducting their own business, they alone would enjoy,
and that every year, the profits of that traffic.
Fifty thousand escudos could be employed in white mantas, unbleached
[crues] and of excellent quality; that is a kind of merchandise
very largely used among the Indians, and Mexico has great need of
it. That would be the right commerce that ought to be carried on
by pilots and sailors; for some of it can always be sold, and those
people are obliged to sell it quickly. Care must be taken that only
that quantity be carried, and that any surplus be confiscated; and
the governors and other officials should be very careful in this. In
order that your Excellency may see that I am not trying to weaken the
commerce of those islands, as some might believe, I will state here
that the inhabitants of the Manilas should be allowed to export as
many shiploads as possible of the products of their country--such as
wax, gold, perfumes, ivory, and lampotes. Those they would buy from
the natives of the country, thus preventing them from carrying those
goods to the Dutch. Thus would the people become friendly, and would
supply Nueva Espana with that merchandise; and the silver taken to the
Manilas would not be exported thence. I may be told that the king of
China does not use that silver to make war on us; but even if it is
used only to swell his treasury, it is as lost to us as if it were
at the bottom of the sea. Your Excellency should consider that one
and one-half millions in gold are sent annually to China. If what I
have just said be closely observed, the merchandise of the Manilas
will be sold to good advantage, and the natives of the country will
become our friends; while their neighbors will leave the Dutch, who
are deriving heavy profits from them; for there is scarcely a place in
those islands where the Dutch do not possess a factory. Thus have they
become the masters, and they give arms to the natives to make war on
us. Add to all these considerations that the Spaniards inhabiting the
islands will not be obliged to be continually on their guard because
of twenty thousand Sangleys or enemies, whom they have in a corner
of the world where the Spaniards can muster scarcely eight hundred men.
Perhaps your Excellency will be told that, if we break with the
Sangleys, they will go to live in the island of Formosa, or in some
other place among the Dutch, and will carry to them the trade that
they have with us; and that, having enjoyed the trade of Japon as
conveniently as we have that of the Western Indias, they will still
carry their merchandise to Nangazaki, the chief port of Japon, from
which they will also obtain silver. To that I will reply that the
kingdom of China is so full of merchandise, and the Sangleys are
so shrewd in commerce, and so keen after gain, that they know what
quantity of that merchandise is needed by the English, how much by
the Dutch, and what quantity ought to be sold in all of Japon--and
that with so great exactness that a tailor, after once seeing the
figure of a person, decides how much goods is necessary to clothe
him. They do the same in regard to us, and, knowing that only two
ships sail annually to Nueva Espana, they generally have in the Parian
the quantity necessary to lade those ships. If the inhabitants of the
Manilas had trade with Japon, they would derive great profit from it;
but a secret judgment of God has broken the communication that we had
with those islanders, and has given it into the hands of the heretics,
after having permitted them to destroy our churches there, and their
having put to fire and sword all the Spaniards or Japanese Christians
there. Hence we do not believe that a single religious is now left in
all the country; and the people are compelled, under pain of death,
to come to denounce those whom they know to be Christians. Our
religious go there no longer, for it means certain death to them to
go to Japon. The following is the manner in which that persecution
was reported.
A Vizcayan captain, named Sebastian, [18] having sailed from the
port of Acapulco for an island called Ricca doro, [19] was blown by
a heavy gale to the latitude of that island; and, not being able to
anchor, put in at Japon, and with the curiosity of a seaman sounded
the ports of that kingdom. That novel proceeding made the Japanese
suspicious. They asked an Englishman who was then allied to them what
could be the design of that Spaniard. He told them that the Spaniards
were a warlike nation, who were aiming at universal monarchy; that
they always commenced their conquest by means of the religious; that
after the religious of that nation had been permitted to preach there,
and to build churches, they considered the conquest of that kingdom
as secure; that that vessel had come to reconnoiter the country, and
the entrance of the ports, and that it would be followed by a great
army, which would complete that design. At that juncture a tono [20]
or prominent lord of the country died. The emperor had formerly tried
to buy from him a house built for recreation; but that lord, who was
fond of that place, refused to sell it. He was a Catholic, and left it
at his death to the Jesuits, whereupon the latter thought it best to
pay their respects to the emperor by offering it to him. That prince
reflected that what an emperor could not accomplish, the Jesuits his
subjects had compassed. Putting that reflection with the advice of the
Englishman, he determined to exterminate the Catholics. That resolution
was so executed that there are no Christians in Japon, except only the
Portuguese from Macao. I am too much ashamed to name the conditions
to which they submit, in order that they may be received there.
Since that time all the trade of that island has fallen into the
hands of the Dutch, English, Portuguese, and Sangleys, although the
king of China has forbidden the last named to have any communication
with the inhabitants of Japon, under penalty of death, because the
Japanese had formerly revolted against China, of which they had
formed a part. But for all that, their greed for silver makes them
go there as they do to the Manilas, so that Japon does not lack any
of the goods that pass through the hands of those peoples. As for the
silver, the Dutch do not carry any more to China or to Japon, because
those countries get all the amount that they can buy by means of the
Sangleys who live in the Manilas. It would be very advantageous to
the inhabitants of the Manilas and to his Majesty to break off that
commerce with the Chinese, and it is unnecessary to say that by that
means advantageous disposition may be made of the silver of Peru and
the silks of the Filipinas--for in truth the king does not find there
his account; the silks would come to Mexico with greater advantage,
and the islanders and his Majesty would get more profit from it, and
that at the admission of all informed persons. As for the governor,
he should possess the following qualities: he should be discreet;
his distance from Madrid, and his authority as governor, should not
make him presumptuous, but should serve rather as a check than as
a cause for vanity; he should be a fine seaman, and very sedulous
in despatching and making the ships sail every year. All the exports
should be registered. In order that the islands be better reenforced,
the ships should be of five hundred toneladas, and they should have
two decks, better equipped than they have as yet been; for if they are
poorly equipped they take much time in making their voyage, and have
been the cause of great expense to his Majesty. Besides, the viceroy of
Nueva Espana has been unable to make them depart by the first of April,
as would be necessary. Those vessels ought only to carry seamen. The
offices of the ships ought not to be sold to merchants, but given
as a reward to those who have served well at sea. Great disorders
have happened from that, which was the former custom, and because
the offices of pilot, boatswain's mate, and steward have been sold.
In the year 1637, when I was about to set out as admiral of the
vessels that were to take the reenforcements to those islands, I went
to the port of Acapulco. There I found the vessel "San Juan Bautista,"
which had come that year from those islands, and which had lost its
mast on the way. I endeavored to get Don Pedro de Quiroga to advise
the marques de Cadereta of the poor condition of the masts and other
rigging of the vessel. He refused to permit it, and compelled me to
embark, telling me that if we failed to embark by the first day of
the month of April, we would run the risk of losing our voyage. While
at sea, I asked the boatswain's mate for an inventory of the sails
and rigging. I found that there were no spare sails, but one single
cable, and one other old cable, which was used to make fast the
pieces of artillery that were rolling about the ship. Ordering him
to bring me also the inventory of what there was when they left the
islands, I found that it had been equipped with three spare sails,
five cables, and a quantity of rigging. He answered me that the sea
had carried away the sails and that the ship had lost its cables as
they left San Bernardino. Without pressing him further, he confessed
to me that he had used the money that had been given him for that
purpose in buying merchandise, in order to discharge a debt of three
thousand escudos that he had paid for his post of boatswain, but
that he had not found his account in that merchandise. I endeavored
to punish him. He appealed to the commander-in-chief, and the latter
ordered me not to prosecute him until I should have arrived at the
Manilas. At the Manilas he was excused, because they said that he had
paid three thousand escudos, although he had made the king lose more
than sixty thousand. Those who furnish the provisions for the crew put
in food of poor quality. The pilots cram their room at the stern with
merchandise, thus endangering the vessel. Had I encountered a capful
of wind during that voyage, I could scarcely have finished it. I had
to take a capstan at Maribeles to lift my anchor, and to make the port
of Cabite, which is three leguas from that place. Thus for the twenty
thousand escudos that is drawn from the sale of those offices, thirty
thousand are lost, and the fleet is in danger of being lost--which
means, of losing those islands. It is not sufficient to give the
offices to sailors who deserve them; it is not at all necessary to
compel them to perform the functions of soldiers when they have no
inclination for it, or to punish them when they gamble, as is done.
It is of great importance to have galleys on these coasts; that is
the means of keeping away from them the Dutch, and the Indians from
Mindanao and Jolo--who do not cease to be hostile to the Spaniards,
although they have neither courage nor discipline; for one Spaniard has
been seen to put twenty of their caracoas to flight with only one shot
from his musket. The enemy most to be feared are the Dutch, who have
taken possession of that sea. It is easy to manage the oared vessels
of that country, and they have been used in several emergencies to
tow the vessels, which otherwise would have been in danger of being
wrecked. Besides, those boats are more suitable for a sea like that,
full of islands, than vessels with high freeboard. It would also be
very much to the point to have work done in Camboya in the building of
new vessels, as the wood of those parts, and that of Angely, resist
the seaworms and decay better than other woods, and especially those
of the Filipinas.
In the year 1637, when I arrived at the islands, there were no
vessels ready for Nueva Espana. They were obliged to send a small
vessel of one hundred toneladas to advise the marques de Cadereta
of their wretched condition, and to entreat him to send the usual
reenforcement--notwithstanding the prohibition of the commerce with
Peru, and their knowledge that there were no vessels at Acapulco. That
showed how important it is to be continually building vessels for the
Filipinas, and for the governor to be a seaman rather than a soldier
of the Low Countries. It is also important for the governor and the
archbishop to live in harmony. The spiritual government in these
countries is the one thing of greater consequence than the political
government, because of the scandal that the Indians receive from it. It
is also important that those sent by the viceroy be men of merit and
service, and that they be well treated in the islands. The observation
of all the above points will be of use to us in keeping off the Dutch,
who are the most terrible enemy that we have; and who will become
absolute masters of the Manilas, if they can attain their ends. Espana,
by observing those things, will triumph over its enemies. For my part,
I will fulfil my duty as a subject by doing my utmost for the service
of my master, and for the welfare of my country; and at the same time
I shall discharge my obligation toward your Excellency of serving you.