Your Excellency: May the grace and consolation of the Holy Ghost dwell
forever in the soul of your Excellency. Last year I wrote a report and
an account to your Excellency of the affairs of this region, in
fulfilment of the directions given me by your Excellency when I came to
this country. Since in the previous report I wrote at length, I shall
be brief in this one, referring to the other one and to the statements
in it for the explanation of some things which I say here. I ratify
anew everything that I have said, and purpose now to give information
to your Excellency of what has happened in this country since my last
writing. I have accordingly to inform you that on August 13, of last
year, there set sail two vessels named “Santiago” and “San
Juan.” One week later, namely, the twenty-first of the said month,
our Lord took from this life by sudden death the adelantado and
governor, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (may he be in glory). His death was
greatly deplored and is so even at the present day, for doubtless his
valor and wisdom have been greatly needed. Those who regarded him as
wicked in his life will now canonize him as a saint. I believe that he
is in glory or on the way to it, for he was a good Christian and if he
erred in some things, I believe that he desired to do right, while in
some other things he did the best he could. He died poor, which is a
great evidence of his goodness. That was a cause for great confusion to
those who regarded him as very rich, and who were murmuring about him
saying that he had a chest of gold and more than 25,000 pesos in
tostons. All that he was found to have on the day of his death was 460
pesos in two little sacks. These he had asked as a loan a few days
before. He had also in gold about 120 pesos not counting one large
chain and one small one which he brought from his own land. He had also
the wrought silver of his table service. All the rest of this was not
worth 500 pesos. This is the whole of the wealth and treasure which he
had. Of this fact I am practically an eyewitness, for I was present at
his death and at the inventory of his property. Three days after he had
died his grandson, Captain Joan de Salzedo, came from the opposite
coast of the island, where he had been three months, having gone by the
direction of the governor to explore that country and to pacify the
people who lived in it. He brought back very good news from there,
though he could not give it to him who had sent him out, and hence
great sorrow was caused to him who brought the news and even to the
rest. They reported that the population there was large and that there
were many good settlements close to one another and that they were
better ordered and governed than in the other parts. They said that
there were villages with 300 or 400 houses together, some more and some
less, and that there was among them one village that seemed to contain
more than three thousand houses, and another with 800, where he left
his alférez with thirty-five soldiers while he came to tell the news
and to make an extended report. He accomplished one thing which
astonished everybody, because without doubt it was a very daring and
courageous exploit. This was to attempt to circumnavigate the island,
which he accomplished in two tiny boats with 15 soldiers. These boats
did not draw one palmo of water. They are called barangays in this
country and are rowed with very short oars by Indians seated in the
boat. Though these vessels are of this character, and the sea of that
coast is so rough that not one of the natives, as they say, has
ventured to navigate it, still he dared to do it in order to know and
see what there is on the opposite coast. He suffered great hardships
but God delivered him from all of them. His boat was ofttimes almost
swamped, and he and the others with him on the point of drowning.
Finally he sailed one hundred leguas, coasting along the island to the
point of his settlement, and he has explored and circumnavigated it. In
all the length of that coast there was not a single village nor one
Indian, for the whole country is desolate where they supposed there
would be a great many people.
In the villages to which he went on this exploring and pacifying
expedition, he collected 800 gold taes in tribute. A tae is a weight of
one onza or a little more. Of this amount he gave half to the soldiers
and the other half to his Majesty’s treasury. This is the largest
amount of treasure that had hitherto been received in these islands.
Three months after his alférez, who had remained behind, arrived. The
reason of his coming was that almost all his soldiers were taken sick
and that they had no ammunition. He brought back a thousand taes of
gold in addition to as many more which he shared between himself and
the soldiers. All this was put in the royal treasury under the control
of our new governor, Guido de Lavezaris. Because of what he heard of
the country and its people and their wealth, the latter decided to send
the master-of-camp there with one or two captains to inspect the
population and the villages which were to be divided into
repartimientos. He who should not have gone, went [on that expedition],
and with him Captain Lorenço Chacon with more than 130 soldiers and
more than 800 Indians who rowed the boats in which they went. Without
discovering any new lands or seeing any new villages besides those
which Captain Joan de Salzedo had discovered and pacified, they
collected in tribute three thousand taes or more. It is fitting that
your Excellency should know the manner in which these tributes are
collected, and the way in which they are demanded before the time,
contrary to the law of God and the directions of his Majesty. The first
thing they do when they reach any village or province is to send them
an interpreter or two, not with gifts or presents, not to preach to
them or to speak to them of the things of God, but to order them to
bring tribute immediately and to be friendly to the Castilians. Since
this is a so new and strange thing for them, as being something to
which they have not been accustomed, as they have not been either
subjects or vassals of any native king or lord (of whom they have none
in any part of these islands, as was written in my other letter to your
Excellency), all this is confusion to them and causes them much evil by
forcing them to give as tributes the necklaces which they wear about
their necks and the bracelets which they and their women wear on their
arms. For few or none of them have any other property but what they
wear on their persons. When these so evil abuses are inflicted upon
them, some of them refuse to give the tribute or do not give as
liberally as those who ask it desire. Others, on account of having to
give this and of their fear at seeing a strange and new race of armed
people, abandon their houses and flee to the tingues [i.e., hills] and
mountains. When the Spaniards see this, they follow them, discharging
their arquebuses at them and mercilessly killing as many as they can.
Then they go back to the village and kill all the fowls and swine there
and carry off all the rice which the poor wretches had for their
support. After this and after they have robbed them of everything they
have in their miserable houses, they set fire to them. In this way they
burned and destroyed more than four thousand houses in this expedition
to Ylocos, and killed more than five hundred Indians, they themselves
confessing that they committed that exploit. Your Excellency may infer
how desolate and ruined this will make the country, for those who have
done the mischief say that it will not reach its former state within
six years and others say not in a lifetime. Will your Excellency
determine whether this is consistent with law, divine or human, with
religion or Christian charity. Your Excellency will also consider that
in these invasions and explorations the law of Mahomet is followed
rather than the law of God; for no account is taken of His precepts and
there is no care to follow His law and the Christian instructions
conformable with and akin to them, which have been given by our
Catholic and very Christian king and lord Don Ffelipe. The latter
commanded that by love and kindly treatment and with gifts and presents
the natives should be caressed and attracted to love and friendship for
us, so that in this manner they might come to the knowledge of our God
and Creator, and might subject themselves to his royal protection and
might recognize him as their king and lord. For all these purposes, he
spends most freely from his royal treasury, buying fine scarlet cloths,
stuffs, caps, silks, and other things suitable for this purpose, as
your Excellency knows better than I. Yet they do not follow his will
but invade the country of the Indians, killing and robbing, burning
their villages and houses, and collecting as enemies what his Majesty
commands us to take and receive from them as friends. In place of
engendering in their breasts and souls love and goodwill, they create
and engender hate and abhorrence against us and against the name of
Jesus Christ crucified whom they ought to teach and preach to the
natives. If by such pilgrimages and pacifications and services God our
Lord and his Majesty are pleased, let your Excellency judge. [48]
They also said in the beginning that in the province of Ylocos and in
the other three provinces which were explored on the opposite coast and
which they declare that they have pacified, there were more than four
hundred thousand Indians, and that there were enough to afford
repartimientos for all those who are in these regions. Now they declare
that there are not enough for forty soldiers, according to the account
which they bring back from there, for according to them there are not
as many as 40,000 Indians. I say this so that your Excellency may see
how closely this report conforms to the others which I wrote in my
former letter, and that your Excellency may be informed and may know
the truth if it should not be written [by others] from here.
It seems to me also desirable to inform your Excellency how and in what
manner they send the present of gold to his Majesty, that you may
understand the wealth of this country and the service rendered him in
it by them, and how that gold was got. In accordance with what has been
related and declared above, the quantity would be at most about 30,000
pesos; and how little appropriate it is to send this quantity of pesos
as a present, and to send as many more debts to the royal treasury of
this country is very clear. It is also very clear and plain that this
present is a trifling one after the royal treasury has spent more than
two millions or but little less as I am informed, within the fifteen
years since the expense of this expedition [i.e., Legazpi’s] began.
How far from the royal magnanimous, Caesarean, and more than
Alexandrine heart of our king, Don Ffelipe, this present is, is so
plain that the blind could see it and the most ignorant judge it; hence
on this point I do not ask your Excellency to form a judgment, but I do
ask you to decide what reward it deserves from a king so Catholic as
ours to make him a present and a payment into his treasury of what has
been robbed and wrung [from the natives] contrary to what God and the
king himself have commanded. In conformity with what your Excellency
with your delicate and most Christian conscience may feel and judge in
this matter, will you send thanks in the royal name. How much more
would God our Lord and his Majesty be served if the gold which is sent
to him as a present were worn on the arms of the Indians of the Ylucos
to whom it belonged, than that the ladies of our lady the queen should
wear it about their necks in the court.
This has been said partly that your Excellency might know what takes
place here and might understand the way in which this present was sent
to his Majesty, and partly to state again that, in spite of the wealth
which they will say and write to your Excellency as existing in Ylucos
and the other provinces, when his Majesty shall have paid the expenses
of this region, he will receive no lawful and Christian profit from
these islands, except perhaps the cinnamon which is taken from the
island of Bindanao as it is now taken, unless the gold mines in these
regions are worked. I believe that they will not be worked except with
the great oppression and loss of the natives, and that will mean their
total destruction, for experience has undeceived us in this matter by
what has happened in the island of Española and in other regions.
As for the government of the new governor, Guido de Lavezaris, I shall
discuss or say nothing; for your Excellency can learn about it there
from the people who go [there] from here, and by the letters which will
be written. Only I beg your Excellency not to take your information
from Joan Pacheco alone, for, according to his statement and opinion,
because of his obligation to the governor, and his affection and
friendship, and the things that the governor has done for him, he will
say that he is fit to rule and govern the kingdom of Napoles and the
state of Millan. It is no wonder that he says that, for the governor
has given him more than four thousand Indians in repartimiento, so that
there is not a better encomienda in this region, though Pacheco is but
a private soldier, and one of those who has seen least service in this
country. He has done nothing but act as sentinel for the
adelantado—may he be in glory—and that not for very many years,
though he is a man of wealth and of noble birth, as your Excellency
will have heard. Your Excellency may obtain specific information
regarding him, and that from father Fray Diego de Herrera [49] who is
on his way to inform your Excellency and his Majesty of affairs in this
country and of the events therein. He deserves great faith and credit
on account of his great goodness and devotion, for without anger or
bias or self-interest, he will tell your Excellency truthfully and with
a zealous Christian heart desirous to serve God and his Majesty, the
state of affairs here. He will give you a particular account of the
small favor in which the religious and the ministers of God are now
held here more than ever, and how insulted and little regarded they are
by the governor and his followers and allies and by those who have any
command and power here now. He will tell you how little is done for
them, and how little aid and favor is given to the instruction and the
things of God, and also how little favored and protected are these
natives and how oppressed and molested they are ordinarily. He will
also inform your Excellency how under color of sending his Majesty a
very rich present from everything brought from China by the Sangleys,
he has demanded a loan in the camp of more than four hundred taes,
taking from one ten, and from another twenty, and from another fifty,
in accordance with what he is sending, and what each one possessed. I
do not understand how the judge who receives loans as gifts or pledges
from those whom he must punish, can rightly judge and enforce justice.
He will also inform your Excellency of the many revolts and riots, the
factions and enmities which arise among the people here, how much
complaint all have in general to make of the new governor, and how they
are irritated by his policy and government and murmur at it, and how
well known he is to have a passionate temperament, as is manifest by
those whom he is sending to that country under arrest, which will
appear in the records of the process. He is also known to be very
biased and partial, and that not to the older, the more prudent, and
leading persons in the camp. For his companions he has an open door and
has always time to spend three or four hours talking with them, while
his door is shut to the religious and to the minister of God and to the
poor soldier who has any occasion to do business with him, and he has
no time to listen to the poor Indian about the wrongs that have been
done to him, or to the Spaniard who comes to state his complaints and
troubles, or to listen calmly and kindly to what is affirmed and
declared regarding a demand for justice. Upon these and other matters
of the same kind and quality one might say much and might write a long
document. This I do not do, but refer to those who are going there to
tell your Excellency that never have the forces in this camp been so
disturbed and divided as at present. In almost nine years during which
the good old man now departed—may he be in glory—governed us, there
were not so many dissensions and disturbances, nor so much discontent,
as there have been and are during the nine months in which Guido de
Lavezaris has been governing us. On this account, and since he is now
more than seventy years of age, and I think desires quiet, it is
necessary to provide a remedy; and that is for your Excellency to send
from there any person soever that is suitable for such a duty and fit
for the present necessity. For I believe before God and my conscience,
casting aside all bias and partiality, which in this matter have no
control over me, that this is desirable for the service of God our
Lord, and of his Majesty, the good of the natives, and the pacification
and preservation of this country. Believing this with honest purpose
and with a Christian heart desirous of the common welfare and of the
service of God and of his Majesty, I give your Excellency this advice,
so that, as a pious and most Christian prince you may, with your great
prudence and liberality, quickly provide the remedy. If your Excellency
does not see fit to send another new governor, it would be desirable in
my judgment for your Excellency to send an auditor of that royal
Audiencia and some person learned in the law, a man of character and a
good Christian, to visit and inspect this country and to undeceive your
Excellency with regard to some matters which have been written to you
there with perverse reports. It will be better to send a rich advocate
than a poor knight who as is suspected is pledged by gifts and by the
grant of a good repartimiento. This last point, however, I know only by
hearsay. If it is true, your Excellency will ascertain it there and
will judge if it is right that the encomienda should not be given to
those who have been here in service nine years pacifying the country,
and that it should be given to a man who came and goes back again with
a good salary without having been engaged in the pacification and
without any of the labor of conquest. At the same time I think it is
necessary that your Excellency in the name of his Majesty, or his
Majesty in person should confirm the repartimientos and grants which
the new governor has made without having had special permission
therefor and without special command from his Majesty. Your Excellency
will also decide if the regranting in encomienda of the villages which
became vacant, and were in his Majesty’s hands, has been proper. All
that I know of this is that the adelantado (may he be in glory) was
often importuned to have this done, but never could it be brought about
because he said that he had a command from his Majesty to the contrary.
What the other, in his great prudence and matured wisdom did not do, he
who now governs us has done with great promptness and liberality. The
cause which I believe has moved him to this is the lack of Indians to
be given in encomiendas to the soldiers; if this is true, it is very
clear and may easily be perceived and understood that there is not in
these islands the population which has been reported to your Excellency
by letter, though there has been no lack of Indians for him and for the
officials of the king, contrary to his Majesty’s prohibition.
If your Excellency should not send and provide another governor for
these islands, it would be just for your Excellency to have our present
governor ordered to take care to protect the affairs of the adelantado,
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (may he be in glory), since he governed this
country with so great quietness and prudence, spent upon it his own
property, and died poor in the service of his Majesty. That is very
just, as is also that particular care be taken to show kindness and
favor to Captain Joan de Salzedo, inasmuch as he is one of those who
have labored most in this country and have shown the greatest zeal in
the service of his Majesty. He is very spirited and energetic, and for
a man so young, very cautious and prudent, and he has good desires and
purposes to serve God and his Majesty. Hence some office might be
assigned and entrusted to him. Therefore, any favor that your
Excellency may extend or may command to be shown him will be very well
conceded; although the governor has given him but scant reward, since
he has given as much or more to a private soldier, as has already been
said, by which he has given rise to comment and occasion to murmuring.
It is also just that your Excellency should show all possible favor to
the sargento-mayor, Joan de Moron, who is going to that country under
arrest on grounds which seem very slight, besides being imprisoned here
for ten months in his house and being burdened by the expenses of the
suit. Everybody thinks that there has been more passion than reason or
justice in this case, as may be seen there by the report of the
process. [50] He is a man of very good qualities, and though he is not
at all a courtier, he is prudent and very careful and diligent in the
service of his Majesty, and very useful. There is no one in this region
who has seen more service than he. If your Excellency is about to send
forces to this country, he might well be put in command of them,
because he is one of the first who came to this region, and because he
has served his Majesty so well in it, as is well known to all, and as
your Excellency will already have received report. If it should be
necessary for your Excellency to appoint a new captain of experience in
matters here, I think it would be the best thing for your Excellency to
assign to him and to the inferior captains whatever your Excellency may
be able to provide here, for there are many of them and few soldiers.
In this and in all other matters will your Excellency decide upon that
which is most for the advantage of the service of God and of his
Majesty.
The voyage to explore China has not been carried out, because of the
death of Governor Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who was very obedient to the
command of his Majesty and your Excellency. After his death there was
little goodwill in him who had the duty of ordering the execution of
this command, since he and other captains had done what they could to
prevent it from the beginning. Hence, they gave their votes against
carrying it out. In spite of this, the adelantado—may he be in
glory—was determined to accomplish what your Excellency had directed.
After his death it happened that the ships which were going to that
country put back, and since the ship “Santiago” arrived at Çubu
without rigging or equipment, they took advantage of the occasion to
strip and dismantle one vessel in order to equip another. Thus they did
away with that which was necessary for the journey to China. However,
if they had not had this opportunity, I believe that they would not
have gone on with the voyage because of the little disposition which
the governor had for it. Upon this point, I believe that they have sent
full reports to your Excellency. What I am able to say from the little
that I know, and from what those say who judge the matter
dispassionately, is that it was a very desirable thing and a very
important matter, and one from which great service might result to our
Lord and to his Majesty, profit to the royal treasury, and increase to
the royal estate, and that this might all be done in a lawful and
Christian manner as is commanded and directed by his Majesty and by
your Excellency in his royal name. When it was supposed that the voyage
would he carried out, our father provincial commanded me to go with the
forces which were about to depart on this voyage of discovery. Although
the voyage is uncertain and the dangers and hardships are certain, I
had offered myself for the undertaking because of my desire to serve
our Lord and my king and your Excellency and would go with great
willingness. If the said voyage is undertaken again, I offer myself
anew to go on the expedition if your Excellency will regard that as a
service and will send me a command to that effect. Should it be the
will of your Excellency that the voyage should be prosecuted, it would
be necessary to send from there two or three thousand pesos in tostons
and to carry from here fifty quintals of wax and as many more of
cotton, which are the articles of barter that have the greatest value
there. It seems to me also very desirable that there should be two
ships in the squadron, so that if one of them suffer any mishap, such
as often occurs at sea, the men may be assisted and saved in the other.
It would also be possible for them to make their voyage with greater
safety from enemies, if any strive to do them harm. If it should be
your Excellency’s decision and if it should seem desirable to you for
two ships to go, the two above named, the “Santiago” and the
“Espiritu Santo” may go. By bringing from that country what is
necessary in the way of sails, rigging, and equipment, they may very
well be fitted out in this country with carpentry and calking. A
brigantine or pinnace may also be made for the return voyage to that
country. Your Excellency may discuss there with the pilots whether they
can go to the island of Cauchill [51] if the voyage is made; for it is
a matter of the greatest importance for this island to be explored and
examined, for it is said to be very rich and to have a great trade.
According to what is said, a great deal of pepper and Moluccan cloves
are exported every year. It is very near China and is also near Sian,
and I think not very far from Burney. In that island the king of China
has a governor and maintains a garrison. Yet as that race goes, 300
Spanish soldiers could take by assault twenty or thirty thousand of
them. They say that there are horses and elephants there, and that it
is a very rich and very important island. With reference to this matter
will your Excellency examine it and command what is of greatest
advantage to the service of his Majesty and to that of God our Lord.
May God preserve the very excellent person of your Excellency for many
years in His holy service with an increase of prosperity for the good
of that country and the preservation and increase of this, and after
this life may He grant you eternal and everlasting life. Amen. From the
city of Manila, June 6, 1573. Most excellent Lord, your Excellency’s
unworthy chaplain and suppliant kisses your hands.