In my last letter, which I sent you by Captain Luys de Villafaña,
who left this island on the first of August, I described the need
that we were in, and the investigations on account of the failure
of the arms to arrive. Although he was wrecked on the way, I have
understood that the papers reached there, having been wet, but in
such shape as to be legible. Thus far I have seen no answer, either
to this despatch, or to those sent on the thirteenth of May and the
first of July, from the lord governor, or from your Grace. It leaves
me quite undecided and uncertain as to what I am to do. While the
aid awaited was being sent on, our need was becoming more pressing,
to such an extent that I even abandoned the work, dropped the
pacification, and ran the whole fleet aground, so that all the men
could busy themselves with gathering landan for food. It seemed to
me more important not to abandon the foothold that we had gained in
the country, than to get more land, and risk losing it all. Further,
it was impossible to provide the men from so few rations; and with so
small provision and less support, and large appetites, it looked to me
as if they would be forced to leave. I finally resolved to tell them
not to be impatient to turn their prows about, or to hope for Manila;
for here we should live or die. Thereupon I embarked the next day and
went up the river to cut landan; [4] for I felt myself fortunate if
I could get plenty of this even. We passed several days in this way,
and when it appeared to me that the men were settled, and less anxious
about the proposed movement, I had a few vessels launched; and in
them I sent two captains with fifty men to the villages of Lumaguan,
who is the most friendly to us, that they might be fed there, and
together with the natives reconnoiter some of the enemies' villages
in the neighborhood. When they were setting out against the latter
one night, they attacked the very friends who were guiding them,
and killed several. They had thought that they were being deceived,
and betrayed to the enemy. The mistake made much trouble, and it would
have been worse if they had not taken the utmost pains to remedy it,
giving satisfaction to the injured, making them presents, and giving
them whatever they had with them. As they were truly friendly to us,
this sufficed to put them on the former footing, as they have since
demonstrated in all earnestness. So I persevered in the undertaking,
changing, however, the leader whom I had sent; and it pleased God that
this expedition should be the beginning of so much good fortune as we
have had since then, for back from the fort of Buyahen, on a large
lagoon, were found a number of the hostile villages, with excellent
fields of rice, although it was not the season to harvest it. I ordered
them to take the stronghold of a chief named Dato Minduc, which was
close to Buyahen. Its site was such that the natives themselves say
that, unless men were to come down from heaven to take it, it would
be impossible to do so. We captured it with all the artillery in it,
a number of men being lost on their side, and none on ours. After this
the enemies began to lose spirit, and the friendly natives to take
heart, and to hold us in greater esteem. This was on the twenty-ninth
of August. On the very next day I brought the men down to the fort,
and encouraged them all, and bade them be of good hope that the work
would soon be done; and I cheered them to it, and straightway followed
up the undertaking, without giving the men's ardor a chance to cool. I
got aboard ship, and made my way along the coast. On the eighteenth of
September, I entered a river called Picon, in a well-peopled country,
there being, besides the natives, a large number of the enemy, who had
been scattered abroad, and had joined them. At daybreak we arrived at
the first village, close to the sea. It was one of the finest places
I have seen, with excellent houses, and a very elaborate mosque; there
was a good supply of swine, fowls, goats, and fruit. The enemy made a
stand, but at the first encounter we overpowered them, and killed or
captured more than two hundred persons; the troops stopped for food,
and then I had the village burned. I would have liked to attack another
village, which lay a day's march inland, and which has two thousand
houses. I left it, because I could have done nothing at that time;
for the fugitives from the first village had warned them, and they had
all gone to the mountains. This stroke had terrorized the whole coast,
and not a vessel appeared over its whole extent; for, as there were
Indians in many places, they had all received news of it without delay.
I could remain no longer, nor pass on to other encounters which I
might have had there, on account of the crops which I had discovered
at Buyahen, which were urgently demanding my presence for the harvest,
before their owners should gather them. Accordingly I came back to the
fort, whence, in less than four days, I again sent the same captains
who had been there before, for the crops, with eighty soldiers and
all the boats, besides five hundred friendly Indians, to gather
the harvest, and to take another fort in the same neighborhood,
of which the Indians informed them. On the twenty-second of October
they attacked it, and took it with all the artillery, killing more
than a hundred and seventy of them, besides taking a number captive. I
did not come out so cheaply as the last time; for it was an extremely
strong place, having, besides the usual defenses, inventions of which a
barbarous people are incapable. Furthermore, they had fastened on the
very curtains some large spars bent like a bow, so that when anyone
attacked it, by cutting one end loose from the inside a hundred men
would be thrown down--namely, all who were climbing upon the rampart
platform. It was intrenched at intervals in such wise that it was
necessary to win it step by step, and from below, if one undertook
to take it by storm. There were a great many pikemen to receive the
stormers, and they felt so safe that they put their women and goods
on the inside to guard them better. Thus they lost everything, and
the booty was very rich, although the Indians obtained the most--more
than did the soldiers, of whom eighteen came out wounded (including
the two captains, Guerrero and Grabiel Gonzalez), most being wounded
by bullets and arrows. They had fortified this fort strongly; and
since they had lost it first, having considered it so long as a last
hope for their safety, they thought of nothing more after losing it
but being left in peace in the one which they at present hold; for
already they have hardly a hand's breadth of land left, and there they
are fortifying themselves as much as possible. This will not succeed,
for without my going there they will come to ask peace from me--in a
few days I hope, because the grain is growing up all over. In this
way the whole country becomes ours and the crops are left ready to
be gathered. They lie so near to Buyahen that the sentinel bells can
be heard from one place to the other.
They are retreating and there is no one who can go ahead. They are
sending chiefs from a distance to conduct us peaceably, who wish
to become our friends and pay tribute. On the first of November I
arrived anew at the mouth of this river on the site of Mindanao,
where the fort which belonged to the Spaniards when they took the
country was burned. There was a fleet there of more than sixty ships
and we did not know what people they carried; but, believing that
it was those whom we were awaiting from those islands, I was glad
that they had arrived in so good time, and sent some of the friendly
Indians to reconnoiter them. They said that they were Terrenatans. I
immediately sent Captain Grabiel Gonzalez to make certain who it was,
and on the way he met a caracoa which was on sentinel duty. Some
arquebus-shots were exchanged, and without any injury he came back
with the information. There were at this time in the whole camp,
provisions for not more than nine days; and the munitions were so
far spent that, having no matches, the soldiers were going about with
fire-brands in their hands--for the few matches and balls which they
had, had been taken by the troops who were outside harvesting the
grain. We had to consider that as soon as we sent to call them back
we were lost; for if the rice were not cut we should have nothing to
live on. Likewise, on the other hand, I saw the great injury which I
should suffer if the enemy should fortify themselves where they were
working. It would cost me a great deal to dislodge them, and besides
there was the risk which was run of losing the communication with
your city; for we had to enter boldly into the enemy's country,
as one of the boats of the friendly Indians from Zanboanga had
done. Finally, as the evil of the want of food was most pressing,
and as without food we could neither go back nor forward, I resolved
to reënforce the pass of Vutil, so that the enemy could not pass that
way and join with the people of Buyahen. The troops who were acting as
porters kept the pass, and immediately, at the same time, I sent the
people who were above down to the sea, ordering Captain Juan Pacho,
who was at their head, not to come back without bringing in first all
the rice which he had harvested and cut, as aforesaid. I got a galley
ready with a good deal of trouble, for there was not even bonote [5]
to calk it, and I had to go in person among the houses of the Indians
to find some. I launched it, and fitted it with guns and new rigging
to make it ready; for I was resolved that if the enemy fled I should
follow them even as far as their own country. When the men got back
I embarked, on Thursday morning, which I reckon to be the third of
November. By noon I had come in sight of the enemy, where I anchored,
and we exchanged cannon-shots. Seeing that he had a larger force than
I had understood, I immediately sent an order to Captain Guerrero who
was in Butil, that he should come down to the river of Vitara to the
sea, with a galliot, and enter the mouth of this river of Mindanao
and come within sight of the enemy, and exchange cannon-shots on his
arrival. He did so, arriving at noon on Friday. On the way he met an
outpost of the enemy, and killed a few Indians who were with them,
with a cannon-shot. When he arrived at cannon-shot distance from the
fort he anchored, and commenced to fire. The enemy replied so well
that at the first shot they hit the galliot, and it was only by good
fortune that it did not go to the bottom. With the second they killed
a soldier. With such exercise the day was passed. Saturday morning,
Lumaguan having arrived with some troops that were expected, I ordered
Captain Guerrero to land immediately with twenty-five soldiers and join
me, leaving the rest and the captain of the galliot in it, with orders
that, when the troops began the investment, the galliot should come up
close to the mouth of a lake which was close to the fort. Accordingly,
when these troops came I landed ninety men with Captains Juan Pacho,
Guerrero, Ruy Gomes, Grabiel Gonzalez, and Altra. I circled about
the fort with the galley, fighting with a good deal of skirmishing,
and the galliot doing the same on the other side, so that we had the
fort between us. On my side the troops landed not a hundred paces from
the fort, on which, on the side toward the aforesaid lake, they had
already closed in, and which they had reached as well as on our side,
where a very large cavalier was under construction, although they had
not yet finished the enclosure. The enemy were so brave that although,
by keeping their fleet within the lake, they might have gone away
two nights before without losing anything, not only would they not
do so, but they even ran the whole fleet on land, excepting one ship,
using that as a bridge to pass from the cavalier to the fort.
That very night they cried out to us, telling Captain Don Juan
Pacho to have a care and not come to fight them, "because we are all
Terrenatans, and you are Castilians and Tanpacans." Although they
might have been safe in their fort, and not have lost it unless they
sold themselves very dearly, most of them went out into the open
country to reconnoiter and there commenced to fight with the land
troops. These acted so courageously and so quickly that the enemy
had no time to prepare before they had come upon them in front; and
when they wished to go back to the fort they could not do so at all,
for the artillery of my galley, which was moored quite near, cut
off their road with _lenternas_ [grenades?] and balls. Our men kept
coming forward without giving way in any part, gained the cavalier,
and by the bridge that the enemy had provided passed on to the
fort, and won it with all the artillery, altogether in less than an
hour. They took the whole fleet, of which we were in much need, and
ten pieces of fairly good artillery and more than fifty arquebuses,
although most of these were thrown away by the friendly Indians. There
were killed there on this occasion more than eighty Moros, among
them the commander of their forces, who was an uncle of the king of
Terrenate, and was named Cachil Baba, together with other cachils [6]
and chiefs. Of those who fled many were wounded, most of whom died,
as was afterward seen, in the marshes and mountains. One band of more
than fifty Moros--some being wounded, among these a cachil--made an
attempt to pass to the other side of the river, thinking that from
there they might escape; but, as the river is broad and the current
swift, they were all drowned. Every day we are finding more and more
who have died from wounds and hunger, and those who have survived are
gathering in small bands and going back to their country. They found
some boats to take their goods across at the cape of San Agustin,
and carry this good news to their king--whom perchance the gain
will dispose to continue. This reënforcement was brought by Buysan,
brother of Sali and uncle of Raxa Mura, who went to get him and wished
him to attack the sargento-mayor, at the time when they cut off his
leg. The king of Terrenate yielded to him respectfully, as your Grace
may see by the letter of the chief captain of Maluco, a copy of which
is sent with this, in which he informs me of what had happened. The
troops who came were the most noble and gallant in all Terrenate, and
the commander was an old man of more than sixty years, white-haired,
with mustaches more than a span long. He was a very venerable person,
and so valiant that, after being brought down with an arquebus-shot,
so that he could not move, he raised his campilan in the air, calling
out to his troops to fight until death. They came well supplied with
women and goods, and the materials for making powder. They brought
gilded field-beds to sleep on, with cushions of silk and chairs to
sit upon, and richly worked cloths for their use. There was so much
with this and other things that the booty must have been worth six
thousand ducats; and though, as always, the soldiers took the lesser
part, yet even thus some of them are a little better off.
I am well aware that I was very fortunate on that occasion, and if
our Lord was pleased to grant me success, still fortune will change
and the enemy will have it. Not only will that which remains to me
here be lost, but even the Pintados Islands have been in great danger,
having run the risk each year of being harried by these enemies. But
though I knew that God was helping us in a time of such need, yet I
had almost lost hope of success. On the other hand, finding myself
puzzled and almost desperate at seeing that at the end of six months
there had come no reply from the lord governor, nor in any way any
intimation of his will or determination, and that it almost seemed
as if he were forgetting us, as if we were a lost people without
hope, I resolved to do what I did as one who was destitute of aid,
and who must live by his own hands. The success was such that I may
be pardoned. When I took the site of Buyaen I was so nearly out of
supplies that there was not a cannon-ball left for me to use; and on
this so important occasion, as I with reason believe it to be--and I
may say that since the Philipinas were discovered there was never a
better one in them--I had no others than what, by my own diligence,
I gathered from some fishermen's cast-nets, and well they did their
duty, since they fished so well on land.
When I left that city I told your Grace that, even if I found myself
in the utmost need, I should not turn my prow back thither; but first
should go to the land of the enemy, and my duty should be well done. If
I have accomplished this against so many difficulties as your Grace
may see, I believe there are few men who would not have been moved by
the circumstances and the necessity which urged me on. When I was most
pressed and the troops most in want--so much so that it would bring
pity to the heart of anyone who saw it, no matter how hardened he was;
for their shirts, shoes, and hose but ill sufficed them, and their
food was only a dish of rice with nothing else--even at such a time,
I conquered the island; for we may say that it is already conquered,
as the larger part pays or gives tribute; and I hope, God willing, that
a year from now the whole island will pay us. All this occurred in the
midst of the winter, in water waist-deep, with no change of clothing,
and the men weary from head to foot. What I think most of is, that I
kept the men free from discontent, which seems almost a miracle. And
when it was understood that I must depart for lack of supplies, I put
in the warehouse eight hundred sestos of rice of forty gantas each;
and I supplied almost the whole camp for a month and a half with the
crops; the Spaniards and Indians brought in food enough for another
month, and the friendly Indians did the same. Much more than what was
gathered was destroyed and ruined, as it was not the harvest season.
On all these occasions soldiers and captains worked so gallantly that I
have never before so much regretted being poor, since I cannot provide
them with some little part of all that they deserve. The sargento-mayor
and Captain Juan de Valencia arrived on the twenty-eighth of the last
month in a fragata, in which they had been despatched from that city
to Butuan. They brought a thousand sestos of rice and some fish,
wine, and some clothing which Captain Guenca gave them in Zebu,
together with other articles. Very luckily they were retarded, as I
had also been, so that they did not arrive earlier; for if they had
been twenty days earlier the enemy would have taken them without fail.
The friendly natives were so alarmed at this that even those from the
village of Tanpaca, who are near to this fort, withdrew their goods to
the tingues, and did not feel safe. They thought that we were dead,
and told us to eat, for we must soon kill the Terrenatans. It is
strange what fear they felt of the latter, incomparably more than of
us; although immediately after this victory they said that we were
more valiant than the others, and that there was no people like
us. When the fight was over we had no place to store the tribute
in acknowledgment of sovereignty which the friendly chiefs offered
us in token of friendship, paying it in rice, for at the time of the
invasion from Terrenate, Silonga had not threatened them, or made them
abandon their good purpose. Immediately upon my arrival I sent to get
it, and to prepare them, and to tell them that they might be certain
that they would always be under his Majesty's dominion, and likewise
to collect the acknowledgment. On this mission the captains, Juan
Pacho, Guerrero, and Grabiel Gonzalez were sent with eighty soldiers;
and six days ago they informed me that the natives were very firm in
their friendship, and that they were busy harvesting the rice which
they were to pay. Lumaguan and his people were doing the same thing,
being obliged to pay seven hundred sestos of clean rice. In order to
collect this, all the men had to pass on to the great lake [_i.e.,_
Lanao] for which this island is famous; and as the fame of our works
had spread throughout the whole island, two chiefs had already come
down from the lake to say that they did not wish to fight with the
Spaniards, but to be their friends and pay them tribute. Thus I
hope, through God, that inside of twenty days the whole country will
be settled; and while sending down the people already mentioned,
I myself shall go out in person and go along the coast of the lake
and of the cape of San Agustin. Four days ago there came to me word
from another chief who wished to be friendly, that the Terrenatans
are leaving this road and passing on; for there was not one of them
who did not drop his arms and flee. I shall go as far as La Canela,
subduing all the country up to that point. This will not detain me
long, as I shall follow down the coast and on the way meet the fleet,
which was to be despatched from those islands. As it was already so
belated when I arrived, it would have been in danger if I had not
come to its rescue, and might not have arrived here. I have also
kept merchant vessels from the islands of Jolo and Taguima during
this whole time. Thus far they have been giving help to the enemy,
the most important which they have received; but as they were present
at the defeat of the Terrenatans, they are little disposed to remain
with them or favor the people of Buyahen. I warned them to be waiting
for me at the end of January at La Caldera with the tribute, so that
I should not go to their country to punish them. If they do not give
it, perhaps I shall do so, as it will be the most certain way.
As I have had no letter from the lord governor I do not know what he
may have ordered concerning the continuation of this establishment;
but I can say this for myself, that even if he orders me to desert it
in so great need as it is, without giving the least information as to
the situation in which I now am, which is very different from what I
have hitherto thought it, I should not do so. For if it is not kept
up for the good which it may be hoped will result to the country, in
order to make up for the damage which it suffered in being laid waste,
then it must be done for the consideration that its condition will be
like that of all the Pintados, which were laid waste unmercifully. And
as these affairs are not well understood there, perhaps they thought
it sufficient to station here, or at La Caldera, fifty soldiers as
a garrison in order to keep the country in check. Those and as many
more will be a breakfast to these natives on the day when they do
not see that things move on so effectually as now; and they would
have done the same thing to those who would have remained in this
fort, when I was told to withdraw the rest of the camp to Zebu. In
short, I have done this only of my own free will, for good or evil,
and without advice--not because I am not given to taking it on all
occasions, but because in this country it has always turned out ill,
and few are brought into friendship through force.
Neither do I think of wasting time in besieging Buyahen any longer;
because, by the means which I have now taken, I shall reduce it to
peace with much less difficulty. I am negotiating a marriage between
Raxa Mura and the sister of Xlunao, who is the chief of this village
of Tanpaca. He is willing and anxious for it and has already embarked
to come to see me. As he is a boy, although he is respected by all,
his uncles Sali and Silonga would not let him do so. They have
hindered him, warning him that he will be hanged. He is importunate
in his desire to come, saying that he has no fear of the Spaniards,
because he has done them no harm; and his father, Dimasanca, was their
friend and paid them tribute, and why should they do him harm? As
his uncles are so much to blame they are keeping him back, thinking
that they cannot receive the mercy that Raxa Mura will, on account
of their treacheries; and that, if he came, they would be lost. If
they could make sure that they would not lose their heads, they would
all be friendly and the island would be pacified. But it is enough
that Raxa Mura should be friendly, wherefore Captain Juan Pacho is
under orders to carry on this negotiation through the mother. If this
plan of mine is not successful and fails, they must be overcome by
want where they now are; for I have them so close pressed and hemmed
in that they are not lords of the land a pace from their fort, and
they will die of hunger, as neither salt nor fish can enter to them,
and their crops have been taken from them on all sides, so they must
either die or surrender. And what makes them more reasonable is, that
three days ago I took a fort at the place where I have the galliot
from Vutil. I have closed the river in such wise that there is no
way to go up or down it, and I have there a captain with twenty-four
soldiers. They were greatly affected by the defeat of Terrenate;
and as they had put their hope in that they lost it thereby as much
as if they had been defeated. Sali and Silonga called a meeting of
all their people and sought their advice as to what to do. All the
timaguas and other chiefs told them that there was nothing to do
but become the friends of the Spaniards and pay them tribute. They
answered that they would not pay tribute, but would fight first,
and they warned them that they should do so. They all answered that
they did not wish to fight with the Spaniards, for it was well known
that that meant to go to death. The advice that their people gave
them was good, but it pleased God that they should choose the worst.
If there had not been such a lack of rowers I should have traveled
by means of two hands and forced their respect. But I have so few
Indians, and keep them so busy in all kinds of ways that we should be
thankful for what has been done. They must have harvested much rice
likewise in other parts, and therefore a considerable amount of that
to be sent from there [Manila] can be dispensed with. I have something
more than four hundred Indians, and two hundred and fifteen Spaniards,
counting soldiers, sailors, and gunners. Some of these are crippled and
maimed. The war of men continues. Although I understand that this will
be more costly to me than was the Terrenate war, two soldiers only have
been lost--one of them having his head carried away by a cannon-shot,
and the other one his bowels by an arquebus-shot. I sent asking your
Grace if you would have those conveyed back to Manila who are no longer
capable of service. It will be a gracious act to favor their cause.
In the last letter which I wrote to your Grace I gave an account of
the products of this land, so far as they were known up to that time;
and now I am doing the same with what has since been observed. In the
first place the country is healthful, as has been clearly shown; for
if the want, hardships, and privations which the troops have suffered
here in mid-winter had occurred in that city, not a man would have
lived through it. The climate is incomparably better than that of
that island [Luzón]; for in the whole year there are not six days
of extreme heat, and the evenings, nights, and mornings are usually
cool. Gold is found in all parts, although not in large quantities,
but it must exist where there are traces of it. Throughout the whole
island there is a great deal of wax and much tortoise-shell. Rice
is sowed in all parts, and in some places in great quantities. They
raise fowl, goats, and swine in all the villages, and wax they do
not save. There is a great quantity of wild game, which is excellent,
growing larger than in other places.
There are a great many nipa and other palms, although more than twenty
thousand palm-trees have been destroyed. The people of the tingues are
farmers and stock-raisers, and would plant a great deal if directed
to do so; accordingly, four hundred or five hundred Spaniards could
be very bountifully supplied here, and even more. They are in an
excellent position for trade, for they are at a very few days' journey
from all the islands of Maluco, Xlatheo [Matheo?], Borney, and Xaba,
and they lie on the route of the galleons which ply between Yndia,
Malaca, and Maluco, and which anchor at La Canela. The only thing to
be feared is that the men from these galleons will enter the island,
doing damage, and making a bad name for us. It would take a miracle
to lose it. The worst thing that I see is that it should be divided
into encomiendas, as otherwise the soldiers will work willingly and
even without further recompense than what they may happen to get. And
accordingly it seems but just that the masters should come and give us
support, or that they should leave us, who are well satisfied with it.
Two or three encomenderos only have sent their attendants; and they
might as well not have sent them, because they have not provided
them with provisions and supplies, but the king has had to furnish
them. If this is all that is necessary, they have done well to stay
at home forgetful, and let us fools labor here for them. And it seems
to me that there has been sufficient deceit, falsehood, and cunning
used with the lord governor with their false excuses. Let them come
or give up, for otherwise I believe there will be no one to continue
the work. Let them build ships and boats; since most of them hold
encomiendas, from which they can pay for them. Of one thing they may
be certain, that so long as I am on the island no tributes shall be
collected there unless in the meantime there shall be another order
from the lord governor; except that I shall have them collected and put
in the treasury to cover the expenses of this pacification; for thus
far I have knowledge of no assent or approval, and therefore I shall
treat it as if left to me. Thus far I have founded no settlement; for,
although the situation of Tanpaca is good and healthful, it is far from
the sea, so that it takes a fragata five or six days to come up and go
down from here. There is no other site of importance, and from now on
until things are more settled it is inexpedient to leave this river; I
shall therefore postpone such an enterprise until a better opportunity.
More than thirty pieces of artillery, although small ones, have been
won from the enemy, and more than five hundred boats have been defeated
and captured; and up to the time of the peace more than eight hundred
people have died or been taken captive.
On the twenty-sixth instant the sargento-mayor came down from exploring
the great lake. He found upon it a village of eight hundred people,
which immediately surrendered peaceably and paid acknowledgment. There
were no more in that neighborhood. And as all the people there pay
tribute to these people, they denied having any more than a few
tinguianes [_i.e.,_ hill people]. When they were told to notify the
villages, they said that they could not, for they were at war with
them; that this was the boundary of their nation; and that it would
take a large body of troops. It could not all be explored on this
occasion, because it would take more time than our troops could
afford. It is understood that the people of this district are all
farmers, and by nature like the Vizayans; they have much cotton and
wax. This part of the lake is clear, and has a swift current, owing
to the strength of the rivers which flow into it, and which have
every reason for being populous. We shall examine it soon; the reason
for our not doing so this time was that Silonga knew that the chiefs
and principal men of his party wished to go over to our side, paying
tribute and obedience unto his Majesty. Seeing himself deserted on
all sides without them, and that they were all leaving him, he came
out of Buyahen with a large number of troops and went to the village
of Dato Mindum; and there he cut off their path and kept them all
hedged in. The sargento-mayor and the other captains, considering that
since he was so bold as to take up a position where he was without
fortification, he must have confidence in the number of his troops,
and that for some eight days more or less the victories which God has
given us up to now should not be spoiled, therefore put off attacking
him till they should have a new order from me. Accordingly today,
the twenty-ninth of the said month, I am sending Captain Ruy Gomez
with forty soldiers more, and three hundred friendly Indians and more
supplies. He has orders to attack the village. We should lose much if
the troops came down the river without attacking Silonga; the more he
has at stake, the more he will lose. For I know the worth and value of
a Spaniard, and it is not a good thing to hazard them without a great
deal of consideration. I hope, God willing, that if the enemy wait they
will be badly beaten; and if they flee to the chiefs who wish to go
over to our side, that will increase their wish and confirm them in it.
Thus far no fragata or other ship has arrived except that of the
sargento-mayor which I sent back from here, and even if this had
remained in Zebu, it might have brought word from the lord governor
regarding the prosecution of this business. He comes here with no
more knowledge than we have; the only thing of which he leaves us
in no doubt is that he comes without the means to pay or succor
these poor troops. If this be true, I am much astonished at it;
and it appears to me that this is afflicting them too much and will
give them an occasion to make trouble and rebel some day, taking one
of the galleys and the artillery and going where they list, as has
already been done in two cases. In the one case a barangay and four
soldiers mutinied and went away, no one knows where. Although they
took an officer, he had no power to prevent them, for they rose in arms
against him. The best that he could do was to have them put him ashore
and in this way he came back to this fort. The three soldiers who were
posted on the galliot which was at Vutil conspired and took the small
boat and fled. Your Grace may see, from the eve of the feast, what
sort of feast-day may be expected, especially from troops suffering
privation and hunger, who do not leave their arms day or night,
working for others and receiving no pay. With so small a ration of
rice they are ill sustained for any length of time; for the little
meat and fish which was sent was so insignificant and arrived in so
damaged a condition that there is not enough for eight days. Finally,
on this ground of pay they would be justified in mutiny. They are
seeking all about for food and clothes, which, if they had received
the pay, they would not have lacked; and at the same time they could
be commanded and obliged to serve and keep the regulations--which are
every day broken, and we cannot punish them. Another band attempted
flight a few days past, one of whom I hanged--although it weighs on
my conscience now that I have done it; for, in a sense, they have
excuse enough. Since I did not shirk it, I inform you of it now,
to relieve my conscience, before God and his Majesty.
While writing this, word came to me from the captains who are up
the river, that from the mountain ridge, from a creek called Malago,
there had come a chief with several peaceful Indians. This is worthy of
note, since they have come so late, without waiting for a suggestion,
since they have never seen our faces, and since they have come many
leguas, dressed in clothes of cotton and of medriñaque, which is a good
sign. They say that there are many people in their country. I hope,
through God, that soon all will render obedience to his Majesty, and
that every day will give occasion for the report of more gains. May our
Lord grant your Grace many years, and His protection, as I desire. The
fortress of Tanpaca, January 4, '98. Your Grace's humble servant,
_Don Juan Ronquillo_