36. Near Paracali in the province of Cam_The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 48, 1751-1765 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century

of rock crystal, very transparent and choice. In the province of

Cagayan are some stones that are very singular and rare; one of these

is emerald-green veined with gold or golden-brown, and when well

polished it looks like a mirror, or like the finest jasper. Another

is a stone as white as marble, similar to that which abounds in the

mountains of San Matheo near Manila (from which has been made the

paved floor of the Society's church in this city); and who knows what

Nature is keeping concealed, for our enlightenment, in the provinces

and mountains of these islands? Assiduity, good taste, and the desire

for knowledge would discover many things if there were Spaniards here

who would devote themselves to the investigation and examination of

the many rarities in the plan of Nature.

37. If there were any chemist and herbalist here, this likewise would

be an immense aid for making further discoveries and experimenting

with many trees, roots, herbs, and medicinal stones. For instance,

the narra; [162] in cups made from the wood of this tree water

becomes, in a very short time, of a most beautiful blue color,

and people say that it is useful for curing obstructions; the wood

called manunga, which is extolled for its remarkable virtues; the

seeds of the catbalonga, or St. Ignatius's kernels, which are already

known and esteemed in Europa; the shell in which the cocoanut grows,

in which water soon becomes exceedingly bitter; bezoar stones; and

innumerable other articles from which homely remedies are made here,

among the Spaniards as well as among the Indians. The latter make

much use of the remedies produced in the islands, and know some,

both herbs and woods, which cure the most hideous and bloody wound

in twenty-four hours. The rhubarb [163] may be smelled [sehuele]

in many woodlands, and no one is acquainted with it; the herb of

Calamba is especially good for preventing, by [the application of]

its juice, the bad results of a blow or fall. More than all, in

the mountains of Mindoro there is a tree called calinga, the bark

of which has a delicious odor, which smells like cinnamon, cloves,

and pepper all combined; I made a small quantity of chocolate, using

the said bark powdered instead of cinnamon, and it was very pleasing

to the taste. In the ship "Santissima Trinidad," which the English

captured, I was sending to Madrid some lozenges and many pieces of

the said bark, which is a delicious flavor for seasoning ragouts;

and I have used it in my household. Señor Anda also sent to Madrid

the aforesaid bark, and, I think, chocolate made with it powdered. So

great is the abundance of these trees that there are mountains,

many leguas in extent, which produce them.

38. If the foreigners had these trees, they would have already

introduced in the world the use of this commodity, with enormous

profits; and we, if we possessed industry, and zeal for the

interests of the nation, would have been able with this tree, to

lessen the consumption of the cinnamon and cloves of the Dutch. Let

these points be considered, and the advantages will be recognized

which can assuredly be expected by the company which may be formed

in these islands--regarding it as certain that nothing will make

progress, except by this means; rather, this colony will in a little

while go wretchedly to destruction, without the least hope for its

reëstablishment.

39. By way of conclusion to this chapter, I will note as the last (and

an important) advantage of the aforesaid company the conspicuously

fair treatment and friendly reception which the Spaniards have

experienced, and may expect, throughout India. Our silver [money]

is in good repute in all regions, and those peoples, especially the

Chinese and the princes of India, show the greatest eagerness and

make great efforts to obtain it, as being the most valuable for them;

and, although the Dutch, English, French and other powers trade in

this part of the world with our pesos, the Spanish ships are always

better received in those ports, because they carry more silver and

more products of these islands, which are held in very evident esteem.

40. Since I have been in Manila, I have seen only the traders from

Canton and Emui in China visit this port, [164] except the ship

"Guadalupe," which went to the [Malabar?] Coast; and through its

captain and officers I have heard of the friendly reception which

they met in all the ports of India. But in other days the commerce

of this colony was more extensive. In China it was established in the

year 1598, and has been maintained without interruption; the king of

Camboja asked this government for aid, and it was sent to him in the

year 1594, leaving commerce with that country established. In the

same year the king of Siam sent an embassy to open commerce with

these islands, and in 1599 the said commerce was actually begun,

by vessels which went from these islands, and which came from Siam,

with which country the Spaniards have maintained the most friendly

relations. This was recently experienced in the case of the ship which

was built there in the year 53, by order of our governor the Marques

de Ovando, who sent thither letters for the said king of Siam; and

the latter, in virtue of these, furnished a sufficient sum of money,

and gave all the other assistance which they asked from him. In the

year 718, the same king of Siam granted a piece of land, in order

that the Spaniards might establish a trading-post there.

41. In the year 1596, commerce with these islands was established in

Cochinchina, and the Spaniards declined to establish a trading-post

[on the land] which this king afterward bestowed upon them. In Tunquin

also the Spaniards undertook their commerce; and in Zurrate, Vengala,

and other kingdoms of India, both Moorish and heathen, they have been

equally well received. Although, on account of the reverses of this

commonwealth and the lack of courage in its merchants, the Spaniards

have given up this commerce for several years past, it cannot be

doubted that the aforesaid company has the opportunity to establish

itself advantageously, furnishing a market for the products of these

islands, bringing hither those of the said kingdoms, and establishing

(if that shall be expedient) some trading-posts--with which their

purchases will be at more reasonable prices, and their gains in España

and Nueva España more assured.

42. Here at the same time another advantage presents itself. The

commerce which now is carried on with Acapulco by private persons

suffers many losses, occasioned by the unsuccessful fairs there. These

losses originate in the necessity of selling the goods in order to

send back [to Manila] the money that they produce; for even if the

merchants lose in the sale something on the principal which they

shipped, it is necessary to sell their goods in order to repay what

they obtained from the obras pias for their investments. If the goods

are left in Nueva España, in order to take advantage of an opportunity

for better sale, they cannot meet the cost of the expenses, and here

find themselves tormented by their creditors. The company cannot be

placed in such straits, but will always sell their wares to advantage

and profit; for when in Acapulco they do not obtain good returns on

the merchandise, they can transfer it to the storehouse which they will

have to establish in Mexico. This expedient alone will be sufficient to

induce the Mexicans to make strenuous endeavors to be preferred in the

sale at the said port, because they will not deceive the said company

as they now do private persons, acting aggressively against them,

in order to fix arbitrarily the prices of their goods--constrained

as our merchants are to sell them, on account of the limitation of

the time [of the fair], since the galleons ought to sail from the

said port by the twenty-fifth of March.

43. I will conclude this chapter with the authority of the celebrated

Don Geronimo Ustariz, [165] who, although he disapproves the commerce

[managed] by companies in España and the Americas, considers it

expedient in these islands; and indeed, when his arguments against

the establishment of the said companies are examined, it will be seen

that they do not apply to this commerce--where, on the contrary,

it will be seen that not even the least progress can be secured,

unless the company of which I am speaking be formed.

44. The same author, speaking of the commerce in spices, is inclined

to think that it ought to be carried on directly by the Spaniards,

by the same route which other nations adopt for it, arranging the

purchases in these islands in order to supply the Americas and all

España by the ports of Acapulco, Panama, and Portovelo. This exhibits

the utility of what I have herein set forth, for it is confirmed by

the three most earnest and distinguished Spaniards of this century,

to wit, the Visconde del Puerto, Don Miguel de Zabala, and Don Geronimo

Ustariz. But I am surprised that this last-named writer, who treats the

subject of commerce so extensively and so acutely, with the greatest

erudition and knowledge of whatever there is to be known of foreign

nations and countries, should be ignorant that these islands produce in

abundance cinnamon, pepper, and nutmeg, which, without the necessity

of buying it from the Dutch, we can use for our benefit, in order to

supply all our own dominions. This is a proof that the Spaniards of

Philipinas do not apply themselves to becoming acquainted with this

country, in order to make known its products; and that they would not

be [thus] ignorant if the alcaldes-mayor would make reports--one to

their successors, and another to the government--of the condition of

each province, as I advised his Majesty in the past year of 1760.

Chapter Fifth: Of the extension which the commerce of the aforesaid

company can enjoy

1-3. [Viana makes remonstrance against "the limitations

and restrictions with which the commerce of the Spaniards is

established." These only enable foreigners to compete with them to

greater advantage, and increase the gains of foreign traders. He

adduces the examples of other nations in support of his position

that commerce ought to be extended and freed from restrictions, as

far as possible; and complains that Spaniards only are forbidden to

trade with each other, in the colonies of that monarchy. (Section

3.) "The argument for this is apparently founded on the exportation

of silver, and on the opposition made by the merchants of Cadiz,

who are misled by foreigners, and that of the officials at Acapulco,

who find their advantage in the said limitation. Those merchants are

always inveighing against the injuries that result to their trade,

and the check to our [Spanish] manufactures, with which arguments

they have always tried to bring about the ruin of this [Philippine]

commerce; but I will see if I cannot overthrow these arguments."]

4. All the silver that is coined in the dominions of España comes to a

halt in foreign kingdoms, among our greatest enemies. The treasures of

the Indias pass through the aqueduct of Cadiz, without leaving even a

trace on the conduits of the Spanish merchants, as can be demonstrated

by [comparing] the riches that the Indias have produced, and the

poverty of the Spaniards. Upon this point I refer to what Don Miguel

de Zavala says in his memorial; and that which the celebrated Macanaz

has written on the same subject ought to be printed on plates of gold,

or, better, in the hearts of our sovereigns and their ministers of

state, in order to cure the wounds of their vassals with the remedies

which he proposes. For if all the silver is carried away from the

dominions of España, what more will she have, whether it go by way

of Acapulco or by way of Cadiz? I assert that in Cadiz the commerce

of the foreigners is greater than that of the Spaniards: the latter

(with the exception of some strong business houses, which have been

built up in this century) support themselves by being figureheads [166]

for the former, who cannot possess the commerce in their own behalf or

in their own persons. This is disclosed by the "Universal dictionary

of commerce," in praising the good Catholic Spaniards in this illicit

mode of carrying on business--which is the same as regarding them as

being, even if not traitors, at least disobedient to their king. Here

is seen the interested motive for [the claim] that the silver should

not be exported by way of Acapulco, but that all should go to Cadiz,

into the power of the foreigners--who are the ones who, in reality

and with hidden hand, have always made opposition to this commerce

of Manila.

5. Those who carry away the silver from Acapulco are all Spaniards,

and the greater part of it accumulates in the empire of China, which

has not waged war against us, nor will she do so, with the gains that

we allow her; but those who carry away the silver which reaches Cadiz

are the foreigners, and it is going to remain with the powers who

are harassing and ruining us with our own wealth. Let these points of

difference be compared, and decide whether it is not a weak argument,

that of the export [of silver from Nueva España], against which so

much clamor has been made by the commerce of Cadiz--or, to speak more

correctly, the convenience of the foreigners--and I believe that it

will be outweighed, not only by the loss of the royal duties which are

yielded to the royal treasury by the silver which goes to Cadiz, but by

the injury that is caused to us by the profits which we furnish to the

foreigners. Moreover, the silver carried away from Acapulco can yield

the same [amount in] duties, in order to avoid the aforesaid loss,

if it be considered of much importance--which it is not; for even

if two millions of pesos were carried away each year, and the royal

treasury deprived of the duties thereon (for which privation there is

no necessity), that is not a sum which merits the great opposition,

if not bitter hatred, of the commerce of Cadiz for this poor commerce

[of Manila].

6. The other argument, that of the retardment which our manufactures

of España would suffer [in competition] with those of China, is as

easily overthrown. It is certain that our factories cannot furnish

all the goods which are consumed in our dominions, and that on this

account the silks, fabrics, hose, ribbons, etc., of other powers

are allowed entrance therein; and what more need is there, in the

case of these wares than of those of China, for declaiming against

the injury which the latter, but not the former, occasion? There

is no further difference except that the Spaniards trade with one

class of the goods, and the foreigners with the other. Against the

foreigners there is no one to raise objections, as some of them do

against our own people; and as in these clamors there is no mention

of the name of Englishmen, Frenchmen, Dutch, Swedes, Danes, Irishmen,

etc., but [only] of the commerce of Cadiz and of its Spanish traders,

the motive for this opposition is better hidden, the injury which

they exaggerate is more readily believed, the minds of people are

preoccupied with impressions of this sort; and the commerce of Manila,

which has neither capital nor fame nor authority, and not so much

influence as that of Cadiz, is the one which always suffers, which

is permitted [only] with restrictions, and which cannot repair the

damages experienced by the merchants of Cadiz without knowing them.

7. Before this, I had already mentioned the great amount of silk,

both raw and woven, which foreigners bring from China, and that with

this they supply their own manufactures, and [likewise] obtain money

from us by selling in España the fabrics from Canton as if they

came from Paris, Londres, Amsterdam, etc. Is this, or is it not,

detrimental to our manufactures? and, if it is, why is not an outcry

made against it by the merchants of Cadiz? They will say that it is

impossible to prohibit this commerce, while our own manufactures are

in so backward a condition; but why will this argument not avail the

Spanish merchants of Manila? They will say also that the foreigners

introduce into España not fabrics from China, but those of their own

manufacture; that, whether it be from one country or from another,

the injury to our manufactures is the same. But what cannot be denied

is, that the foreigners who obtain so great an amount of silk from

China trade it in our dominions, and that we cannot do the same in

order to deprive them of those enormous gains. If, then, the company

of Spaniards were formed in these islands, they could convey from

China a great deal of raw silk for our factories, and many special

fabrics which would be of as good quality as those of Europa; they

could furnish them more cheaply than the foreigners do; and, above

all, the profits would remain among the Spaniards. Our commerce would

steadily flourish; we would have more ships, to make our dominions

safe; the marine service would be increased; and necessarily there

would be diminution in the commerce of the foreigners, for which our

deluded Spaniards are pleading.

8. The royal duties will be the same, if the silk and fabrics of China

are carried by our ships of the company, as if they were carried by

the foreigners; and even if the kindness of our sovereign makes some

reduction [in the duties], in order to favor the said company and

subvert those that are hostile to it, other advantages, of greater

importance than the aforesaid duties, will result to the crown, in

the certain knowledge that, in the present state of things, that is

prohibited to the Spaniards which is allowed to foreigners--that is,

the introduction of goods from China which are difficult to recognize

in España, on account of the facility with which European fabrics

are imitated in Canton.

9. By allowing to the aforesaid company the importation of Chinese

goods into España, while the prohibition to foreigners remains in

force, the trading-fleets and galleons will be supplied; and these

commodities will be purchased less from foreigners, in order that

our own manufactures and commerce may gain some growth.

10. All the silk which our company will put on the market will

diminish the amount sold by the foreigners; and if they have not a

market for this commodity they will take on smaller cargoes of it

in China, Cochinchina, Canton, Tonquin, Tripara, Bengala, and Achem,

and the said company will find it easier to purchase the silk. Before

the nations of Europe carried away the silk from Canton, it could

be bought at very low prices; but since they began to carry on this

commerce--which was in the year 1685, in which the emperor of China

opened his ports to all nations--up to the present time, the prices

have risen more than three hundred per cent, as some merchants of

this city have informed me.

11. In the six years that I have spent in Manila, the [price of]

silk has risen every time; and because so much was being sent out of

the country [of China], the emperor forbade, under the most rigorous

penalties, the exportation of this product--of which an enormous amount

is consumed in his empire, where it was already becoming scarce in

the year 759--that it might be used by his vassals, whom he regards

with the most extraordinary affection.

12. Finally, when the merchants of Cadiz become shareholders in

the said company there will be no more talk of the export of silver

by way of Acapulco, or of the injury to our manufactures from the

fabrics of China; or the only ones who will cry out against it will

be the foreigners connected with the said commerce [of Cadiz], when

their names are made known, for they will not [then] have Spaniards

to talk, as the saying is, "through a goose's mouth." If it shall

be considered expedient (as it seems to me it is) that the aforesaid

company may ship freely, and without any restriction, such wares as it

shall think best to the kingdom of Nueva España, the royal duties can

be so adjusted that the royal treasury will not suffer a great loss,

under the certainty that the goods of the said commercial company will

all be duly registered, as also the silver which they bring in return;

for its directors will possess no authority for anything except what is

according to the rules in the like method of commerce. This legality

in the declarations [of goods shipped] will result in great benefit

to the aforesaid royal duties, even though these be more moderate than

the duties which are exacted from private persons whose greed for gain

urges them to convey, and to bring [here], many contraband articles.

13. For greater security on this point, it could be so regulated

that there would not be the slightest uncertainty, by causing the

agents or directors whom it will be necessary to have in this city,

to write out the invoices of what they ship, according to the entries

in their cash-books, and the same with the silver and the goods that

are brought back in return--information of all this being sent from

here to the officials at Acapulco, and reciprocally from that port

to the officials at this capital, in order that on each side any

possible infraction of the law may be known, and those engaged in

the commerce be restrained from committing such. This exhibition of

invoices and the returns in silver can be compared with the statements

which the directors of the company will furnish, in order to ascertain

whether the former agree with those which will be contained in the said

statements. I take for granted that in the presentation, examination,

and approval of these accounts there will be the supervision of some

person appointed for that purpose by our sovereign--whose royal and

benevolent disposition will, it is to be believed, place some capital

in the company that I have mentioned, as a foundation for this great

work; and in this case it is hardly possible that the least crevice

will be found by which the royal duties might suffer loss.

14. The nobility of España, from the highest rank down; the guilds

of Madrid, who now form a commercial body of much importance; all

the merchants of España, the kingdom of Mexico, Peru, and these

islands; some foreigners; and many religious communities which have

set aside the produce of their funds for pious purposes--all these

will, without doubt, become shareholders in the aforesaid company,

if they are convinced of the benefit of this commerce, and of the

prosperity which will ensue to the Spanish nation; and when the

said merchants have their gains by means of these seas assured, and

a means of supplying the kingdom of Mexico with a great part of the

goods which its people need, without the burden of the royal duties,

it is certain that they will not desire to purchase foreign goods,

except at such advantage as will prove detrimental to the foreigners.

15. It is also evident that the aforesaid company will be able to

furnish its commodities at lower prices than the foreign companies

do; for it does not have to incur so many expenses in maintaining

troops, fortresses, etc., as do the Dutch, English, and French; nor

will the costs of the navigation be so great, because the voyage

is shorter. Moreover, the purchases will be [made] in China, at

the same prices as those of the said foreigners; and consequently,

the company transporting its merchandise to España, and being able

to furnish goods at more reasonable prices than the foreigners do,

for these reasons the profits will be greater and the losses of the

foreigners more certain. By carrying the goods from these islands

to Nueva España, the company will hinder the illicit commerce of the

said foreigners, who in sailing from India to Europa, and from Europa

to their colonies in America, must incur more expense than the said

Spaniards, and will not be able to furnish commodities at the same

prices as the latter can.

16. The English who come to trade in China carry these goods to the

ports of Inglaterra, pay there the duties on them, and afterward

ship them to various regions--among these to Jamayca, from which

island they carry on a very extensive illicit commerce with the

Windward Islands; with Nueva España, through Honduras, and by way

of the coasts of Campeche and Vera Cruz; and with Peru, through

the colony of Sacramento, and various other places. The number of

laden vessels which enter Jamaica every year exceeds five hundred;

and by this can be estimated the value of the goods which are [thus]

disposed of (for all of these are carried into our dominions), and

the great amount of silver which they carry away from us, thus causing

loss to the royal duties of his Majesty--which, in proportion to the

said goods and the money which they produce, would be very large.

17. Sabary, whom I have cited, estimates at eight millions of pesos

the illicit commerce which the English carry on, from Jamayca alone,

with the Spaniards of America; and he states, to the discredit of

our nation, that all the ministers and officials, from the highest

to the lowest, proceed by agreement to defraud the royal duties, and

to become rich at the cost of what they seize from the royal revenues.

18. Probably no less is the amount of the fraudulent commerce

carried on by the Dutch from Curazao; and much greater is that

which is conducted by the two nations (and even by the French) in

Puerto Rico, Cartagena, Buenos Ayres, Campeche, Honduras, Portovelo,

Caracas, Guayaquil, and the Canarias Islands, and the other ports of

the Windward Islands and the two Americas--as also is made known by

the same author whom I have already cited, besides what we all know.

19. The new and very extensive territory which the aforesaid English

now possess in North America, and on the Mexican Gulf as far as

the Misisipi, renders this illicit commerce much easier for them

by means of that coast, especially by way of the new Santender,

[167] which has a good harbor for vessels of moderate size, and many

rivers; it is not far distant by land from Cretaro [i.e., Queretaro]

and other rich cities of Nueva España, and by sea it is not far from

Vera Cruz. With these great opportunities, the illicit commerce can

be pushed to the utmost; for the ambition and covetousness of the

trader despises no means which may bring him profit.

20. The commodities which the English illegally introduce [into our

colonies] must necessarily be cheaper than those which go in our

trading-fleets by way of Vera Cruz, for the latter pay many duties,

and the former none; and the very English who sell in Cadiz to the

Spaniards, paying their duties, sell the same commodities in Nueva

España at a lower price than in Cadiz. Therefore, if some efficacious

remedy be not applied to these illicit importations, I think that

our commerce will be ruined; that our trading-fleets will experience

great losses; that the royal duties will be diminished; and that in

Nueva España the illicit commerce will reach an even greater extent

than in Perù. But it also seems to me that if the commerce from these

islands to Acapulco is free to our company the aforesaid losses can

be in great part averted, for the following reasons.

21. When the foreigners (and especially the English) obtain so much

silk, both raw and woven, from China we must believe that they find

this commerce profitable, and that the said commodity is very cheap

in the said empire, compared with the prices of silks in Europa. The

profit is more obvious in the woven goods, because the infinite number

of people who inhabit China, and the abundance of workmen in every kind

of occupation, cause their manufactures to be exceedingly cheap--as

all of us who live in this part of the world know by experience, who

every year send to Canton commissions for many articles, because they

cost us less than to make the purchases in this city. For instance: The

Chinese and the Spaniards carry silver from here to Canton, where it

is worth three per cent more; and nevertheless a snuff-box, a salver,

and other small articles of silver cost less there than when made here

to order--which shows the great saving of [cost in the] manufacture

which results from the great abundance of workmen, as I have said.

22. This advantage which the English have through the commerce of

Canton--to which port usually come every year thirteen or fourteen

ships--can also be enjoyed by our company; and, buying at the same

prices [as the English]; it can sell its goods at lower prices in

Nueva España, even after paying the royal duties. For the English

are obliged to make longer and more costly voyages, as is that from

Canton to Inglaterra, and from there to España and Nueva España; while

the Spaniards will sail from here to Acapulco. The former pay royal

duties in Inglaterra, and the latter will pay these in Acapulco,

saving the expenses of the second voyage which the English make,

to their colonies in America. Finally, the Spaniards are not obliged

to maintain, at so great expense as do the English, fortified posts

and many troops, which are supported by their profits; for these

reasons, the latter will not be able to sell their goods at the same

price as that of the Spanish company. Consequently, they will not

make illicit importations [into the Spanish colonies] of silks and

[woolen] fabrics; and even those of their linen goads (which are most

to be dreaded) can be diminished with [our importations of] the light

linen goods of China [liencesillo] (which are used in Nueva España),

with "elephants" and other goods from the coast, and, in due time,

with the cotton cloths which will be woven in these islands. Here

there is abundance of cotton, and of people for its cultivation and

manufacture--especially if some masters in this art come from España,

or, in case that fail, from the Coromandel or the Malabar coast;

and if among the Indians be introduced the spinning-wheels which are

already in use in the manufactures of España.

23. From all these arguments it will be possible to conclude whether

they are as well adapted to free commerce [of these islands] with the

kingdom of Peru, and to that which the two Americas can mutually and

reciprocally conduct between each other, in order that all the vassals

may have a share in the extension of the commerce which hitherto has

been prohibited to them; that the products of all the provinces may

be increased, by the market which will be provided for them; that

the Southern [i.e., Pacific] coasts of the said Americas may have

an abundance of vessels; that they may mutually aid and defend each

other from enemies; that by this means all our dominions remote from

España may be more securely preserved; that our silver may have wide

circulation among the Spaniards, who, occupied in this lawful traffic,

will not expose their money to the risks of the illicit commerce;

that the commerce of the foreigners may be diminished, without the

least loss to the royal exchequer in the duties from them; and, in

fine, that with the gains [from this commerce], and with the decreased

exportation of silver to the foreign kingdoms of Europa, the prosperity

of our monarchy may begin, and it may come to be the most worthy of

respect in all the world, with the extension of its commerce--which

is the sole and only means of attaining success; for no other means

has been found more effectual, by either ancient or modern geniuses.

Chapter Sixth: Of the difficulties which the aforesaid company will

encounter, in order to establish and continue its commerce; and of

the method for preventing these.

1. The difficulties and inconveniences which the celebrated Don Miguel

de Zabala mentions, and the manner in which he entirely removes them,

ought to be borne in mind in this chapter (like all the rest that

that great man wrote), in regard to the establishment of our commerce

through companies, in order that by the said work, and by what I have

set forth, even the dullest person may be convinced of the usefulness

of the Spanish company in these islands. Notwithstanding that the

principal difficulty, and the only one to be feared, is the efforts

of the foreign powers, I will copy exactly the remarks of the said

author, for perhaps not all those who see this document will have

[opportunity to see] them; and I cannot dispel these fears with

arguments more weighty, or persuasion more effective.

2-18. [Zabala admits the danger that other powers, angered at the

loss of their gains through the success of a Spanish company, would

endeavor to destroy it; but he regrets the timidity of the Spanish

merchants, who allow themselves to remain at the mercy and dictation of

foreigners. The Spaniards would readily take measures to end this, if

entire secrecy were possible, but they fear failure if their intentions

are known by the foreigners. They should remember that not only are

the Spanish colonies in the Indias strictly forbidden to trade in

any way with the other powers, but that the latter themselves had

consented to these arrangements, which España had a right to make

for her own colonies. Those powers will not seek by force the ruin

of Spanish commerce, as that would be too costly an enterprise, but

will endeavor to gain this end by craft and intrigue. If a Spanish

commercial company were formed, its larger capital and more extensive

business would enable it to withstand losses which would ruin private

persons. All of these considerations should relieve the fears which

check the free and wide operation of Spanish commerce and thus keep

it within the clutches of foreign traders. Zabala urges the formation

of Spanish companies for commerce, on which must depend the security

of gains therein and the prosperity of España.]

19. It is hardly possible that the nations of Europa will unite

to hinder the company of these islands. The Dutch will not fail to

appear with their pretended right of authority to prohibit to us the

navigation by way of Cape Good Hope; but with the arguments which are

presented in chapter 2, part ii [of this memorial], and those which our

wise ministers of state can bring forward in favor of our well-known

right in justice, the said Dutch will find themselves obliged to admit

it, or they will fear the injury which we can inflict upon them by

hindering their commerce in China, Japon, and other regions which

are included in the arbitrary division and imaginary limit made by

Pope Alexander Sixth.

20. On the other hand, likewise, the Dutch recognize and fear

the superiority of the English, who are doing them much damage

in India--as recently they experienced, in the past year of 760,

in their establishments in Vengala, and even in those of the island

of Ceylan, to judge by some shrewd suspicions that the English were

encouraging the king of the said island in his revolt against the

Dutch. If the Spaniards establish their company, the British forces

will be further diverted, in case war should break out, by those

of España and Francia; the Dutch will then consider themselves more

secure, and will expect some aid in case they guide those nations to

appropriate some [English] establishments; for the aforesaid powers

will not, for their own advantage, consent that the English attain

further superiority by unjust means.

21. The French also have a like interest in the formation of the

Spanish company, and they will promote it, in order to have its aid,

which may be to them very important; for if they had had it in the

late war they would not have lost all their establishments in India;

nor would we have lost the fortified posts of Manila and Cavite,

if we had had the said company.

22. The lack of a port on the coast of Africa as a landing-place for

our ships is another of the difficulties which our navigation by way

of Cape Good Hope may encounter; but our friendly relations with the

court of Francia will open to us, without doubt, free entrance to the

port of Mauritius. With a knowledge, too, of the ports on the said

coast of Africa, we can establish ourselves where we think it best

to, as the Dutch have done; or we can find some island, like that of

Santa Elena, [168] which the English occupy, or those of San Matheo

and Acension, which serve the Portuguese for a way-station.

23. The last difficulty may be the greatest of all, and it consists

in the probable opposition of the ministers and officials of his

Majesty to the ministers and officials of the company. For I assume,

in the pursuance of my plan, that there will be here ships of war,

a suitable force for the safety of these towns, a governor and

captain-general, a royal Audiencia, royal officials, etc.; and that

the company will have likewise its own ships, the construction of

them, cloth manufactures in the provinces, the working of mines, the

cultivation of cinnamon, and other enterprises, which without the aid

of the government are difficult, but with it very easy. The aforesaid

opposition to those of the company, and the unpleasant relations which

follow (or are very probable) between the directors and the government,

may be a very great impediment to all the said activities. But this,

it seems to me, can be corrected by making suitable regulations, and

his Majesty issuing very strict orders for their punctual observance,

with heavy penalties against the transgressors; also by the company

having so many protectors in the court as its shareholders, especially

if the shares be taken by the highest nobility, as an example to the

rest. These will be so many more public prosecutors, who will raise

an outcry against those who, in whatever way, oppose the interests

of the company; and who will demand punishment for him who deserves

it, in order that this may serve as a warning to others--under the

well-founded assumption that the growth of the aforesaid company can

interest no one so much as it does our sovereign, in order that the

crown and the nation may be maintained with dignity and splendor, and

gain credit by our commerce, and by the riches which it will draw to

us if that commerce be undertaken and continued with the ardor which

is demanded by love for our country.

24. I do not dwell so much as I might on this last difficulty, because

it seems to me that what I have said is alone sufficient for taking

the necessary precautions. As little will I take time to enumerate

the advantages which would result to his Majesty from committing to

the aforesaid company the government, management, and social order of

these islands, with the obligation to maintain them with sufficient

forces--for this purpose, [the crown] making over to it the tributes

and the royal duties, and the company furnishing some amount to the

royal revenues in acknowledgment of the [royal] authority, during

the time while this sort of treaty or contract should last; on this

subject, I could divulge something, if I did not realize the great

difficulties therein.

25. Besides this, I consider that if his Majesty place these towns and

islands under the plan that I have proposed, they can bring together

their considerable military forces for the furtherance of the said

company, and for such assistance as it may find necessary--so that

the king may increase his royal revenues and the company save much

expense, which will redound in material gains to its commerce, and

to obvious damage to that of the foreigners.

26. By granting to the company the privilege of proposing [the names

of] persons whom it considers trustworthy, to serve in the office of

alcalde-mayor for the provinces where it will have its manufactures,

cultivation of crops, or operation of mines, all possible advancement

will be rendered easy, and the royal exchequer will preserve the

royal revenues, by means of the said persons, for whom security will

be given by the said company or its directors; and even the tributes

of various provinces could be arranged, by agreement, with evident

advantage and benefit to the royal exchequer.

27. Finally, all matters must be regulated on a very substantial

basis--questions of government, the cases in which preventive measures

must be taken, the protection of the company, and the powers which

must be granted to it, as will be unavoidable in order to obviate

uncertainties and injurious dissensions, in regard to which suitable

advices will be given on the proper occasion.

Chapter Seventh: Of the suitability of Panama and Portovelo, in case

the navigation via Cape Good Hope be impracticable.

1-2. [Viana briefly restates some of the conclusions reached in

foregoing chapters, and proceeds to consider the possibility of the

route via the Cape of Good Hope proving impracticable, in which case

he proposes as an alternative the route via Panama.]

3. God has placed an isthmus midway between the two Americas, with the

port and bay of Panama on the coast of the Southern Sea, and that of

Portovelo on the opposite coast; although the former is of use only

for vessels of medium size, there is another, called Perico, which

admits ships of the line, their lading being conveyed in small vessels

to Panama, which is two leguas distant. The second, which is that of

Portovelo, is one of the most beautiful and well-defended ports in

America; there are disembarked the goods of the ships from España,

and they are conveyed to Panama; and the gold and silver and some

products of Peru, which arrive at the latter port at the time of the

[Spanish] trading-fleets, are transported to that of Portovelo by land,

and by the Chagre River, for the return of the ships to España.

4. The Spanish company, when established in these islands, can have

its storehouses and factors at the said ports; the ships which sail

from here for Panama will leave there their cargoes, and bring back

the goods which the ships of Cadiz will have carried to Portovelo;

and these latter will in their turn do the same, leaving their cargoes

at the said port, and, for their return voyage, taking aboard whatever

might be sent to them from Panama.

5. This route would, without doubt, occasion greater expenses to

the Spanish company than would the navigation via Cape Good Hope,

but always many advantages to its commerce would result. If war

should break out, the said route will be more secure from enemies,

and our coasts will be better defended by the frequent visits of our

ships to the said ports on the Southern coast; in that spacious sea

they are not in danger of encountering enemies, as in the straits of

Sunda, Malaca, and others of the Malayan Islands, through which it

is necessary to pass in order to navigate through the seas of India

and of the African coast, with risk from the nations of Europa who

are established in both regions.

6. If the prosperity of the said company will be as great as the

circumstances here set forth promise, we ought to expect that, in order

to facilitate its commerce and save transportation, some part of its

gains will be employed in the improvement of the Panama route--in

making the Chagre River more navigable, and perhaps in seeking the

easiest mode of joining the two seas, or in finding other means for

conveying the goods by water from one port to the other. [169]

7. The idea of facilitating the commerce of España with these islands

by the said route is not a new one, nor do I claim that it should

be attributed to me; for it was brought forward in the year 1621,

after the dangers of the navigation via Cape Horn [Cabo de Hornos]

had been recognized, and it was realized what difficulties there were

in conducting the commerce through those stormy seas. Information

regarding it having been asked from the president and ministers of [the

Audiencia of] Panama, "they brought forward so effectual arguments

why it should not be permitted" (so Don Joseph de Veytia says, in

his Norte de la contratacion) "that navigation by this route ceased."

8. Before undertaking any enterprise people's minds are usually

dismayed at the multitude of hindrances which present themselves to

the imagination; but all these are overcome, as a rule, by assiduous

application, for the success of the enterprises which always are

as difficult in their first stages as they are easy and simple in

the middle and end of their course. The subject of commerce has

encountered in our España apparently insuperable difficulties, which

have intimidated the leading ministers in its promotion; and, while it

cannot be denied that our nation has devoted very little attention to

that most useful study, the science of commerce, our people ought to

distrust the reality of the disadvantages which have been exaggerated

in other times, and investigate them in these happier days. Therein

the same difficulties will not be found, or it will be possible to

obviate the injury which may be feared, by effectual measures for

the greater stability of the commerce, the security of our dominions,

and the welfare of all the vassals.

9. In Francia there was so much distrust on the subject of commerce

that, its promotion and extension being deemed impossible, every

project of this kind was rejected. Cardinal Richelieu, in his political

testament, regards the French as incapable of commerce, as I have

said; and, before this famous minister, his predecessors discussed

the matter in no other fashion. But the great Louis Fourteenth and

his most zealous and able [minister], Monsieur Colvert, overcoming

dangers, scorning inconveniences, and trampling on difficulties,

resolutely undertook, with magnanimous souls, to render that easy

which for so many centuries had been deemed difficult, and finally

they succeeded. Then why will it not be possible also to render the

transaction of our commerce successful and easy by way of Panama,

conquering the difficulties which will be alleged against it?

10. I am not ignorant of these hindrances; but I believe that, however

strong they may be, they will not prevail over the welfare of the

monarchy, and that the elevated and magnanimous royal soul of our

beloved king and sovereign Don Carlos Third (whom may God preserve)

and his zealous ministers will overcome the difficulties which have

been hitherto considered insurmountable, and will hasten with suitable

remedies to check the ruin of our dominions, which had its origin in

the great amount of illicit commerce of the foreign nations. Perhaps

they will form an entirely opposite idea from that of other times,

regarding the conduct of our commerce by way of Panama, in order

to provide from these islands the commodities which are needed for

España and the Americas, to assure the royal duties, and to overthrow

the foreigners--who, as I have said, will not be able to sell their

merchandise at so moderate prices as the Spanish company can; and

it will be the only effectual means of preventing the aforesaid

illicit commerce.

11. I have set forth, sincerely and candidly, what my limited ability

comprehends, and the knowledge that I have acquired of these islands;

I have touched on these subjects as concisely as possible, in order

not to render this document diffuse and too wearisome. I doubt not

that in it will be found many defects, since the practical knowledge

of commerce is remote from my profession; on these points, others who

are more intelligent will be able to bring forward their arguments. I

will be content if all will be convinced of my love for the nation,

of my desire for its greater prosperity, of my ardent zeal, and

of my loyalty to my king and sovereign; these are the only motives

which have constrained me to offer the reflections which I have here

stated--availing myself, for this little work, of the small amount of

leisure which the arduous occupations of my office leave free for me.

May God grant that the effects and results correspond to my good

intentions; and for the sake of their best success, the preservation

of these islands, the extension of Spanish commerce, and the happy

advancement of the monarchy, may He render prosperous for many years

the life of our beloved king and sovereign Don Carlos Third (whom

may God preserve) Manila, February 10, 1765.

Francisco Leandro de Viana

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA

The documents in the present volume are obtained from the following

sources:

1. Usurpation of Indian lands.--From La Democracia (Manila), November

25, 1901; from a copy in the possession of James A. LeRoy, Durango,

Mexico.

2. Moro raids.--From a rare pamphlet published at Manila (1755),

from a copy in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago.

3. Augustinian parishes, 1760.--From an original MS. in possession

of Edward E. Ayer.

4. Later missions.--From Mozo's Noticia histórico natural (Madrid,

1763), and a rare pamphlet by Ustáriz (1745), both from copies in

the Library of Congress.

5. Events in Filipinas, 1739-62.--This is compiled from Zúñiga's

Historia (Sampaloc, 1803), pp. 546-601, and Concepcion's Hist. de

Philipinas, xi, pp. 89-237; and fully annotated from other writers.

6. Viana's Memorial of 1765.--From a MS.--apparently a duplicate copy

of the first original, and bearing Viana's autograph signature--in

the possession of Edward E. Ayer.

NOTES

[1] This document was printed in the Manila newspaper La Democracia

(the organ of the Federal party), on November 25, 1901; it was

furnished to that paper by Hugo Salazar, a young Filipino--a native of

Luzón, educated as a pharmacist, prominent in the Federal party during

1901-04, and in 1903-04 governor of Surigao province, Mindanao--under

the pen-name of "Ambut." It was printed with accompanying comments

written by him, which here appear as foot-notes, signed "Ambut." We are

indebted to the courtesy of James A. LeRoy (now [1906] U. S. consul

at Durango, Mexico) for a copy of the above issue of La Democracia,

and for the above information.

[2] Cf. pp. 141-143, post, note 63.

[3] In view of these abuses which occurred in the middle of the

eighteenth century, which have been repeated in our own time (up to the

year '97) with an outcome favorable to the friars because the latter

found support in the venality or the pliancy of the authorities,

will it be possible still to deny the justice and good reason with

which the Filipinos reject the friars, demanding the suppression

of the religious corporations, which always and everywhere have

had pernicious consequences? Libertas, in its No. 686, shows bad

faith and shamelessness in addressing to a co-religionist of ours

these questions in its editorial columns: "Can Don Leocadio inform

us whether these popular tumults which keep him so preoccupied were

known in Filipinas before the year '96? Is it not public and notorious

that certain conspicuous attorneys, resident in Manila, are the ones

who are deceiving the people, promising them impossible things, and

obtaining from them beforehand enormous sums of money?" Don Leocadio

does not answer, in order not to waste his time; but he recommends

the reading of this royal decree, in which all the friar-lovers will

find a complete answer if they will reason with their brains. As the

organ of the friars, it is natural that Libertas should speak thus,

displaying the blessing of his Holiness Leo XIII as a banner for

concealing error and falsehood; it is likewise natural that those

who reason with the stomach should form a chorus for that sort of

scribbling; but it is truly regrettable that our women and other

persons should aid, through their lack of instruction, through the

influence of the confessional, and through religious fanaticism,

in falsifying historical truth.--"Ambut."

[4] It results, then, that the friars usurped not only the lands of

individuals, but those of the State; this is called "filling both

sides of the mouth with food" [comer á dos carrillos]--which they

were doing, receiving salaries from the State and collecting dues

from their parishioners.--"Ambut."

[5] This work was composed by Joseph González Cabrera Bueno, a native

of Teneriffe, and at the time of its publication (Manila, 1734) the

chief pilot for the Manila-Acapulco line of galleons. He was a sailor

of great ability and long experience, which, with this book, gave him a

very high rank among the mariners of his day. He dedicated the book to

Governor Valdés y Tamón; its censura (or examination by the censor)

was made by Murillo Velarde; and its illustrations were engraved

by the native Filipino artist Nicolás de la Cruz Bagay. (Vindel,

Catálogo biblioteca filipina, no. 819.)

[6] This direction to the alcaldes-mayor naturally suggests the query,

"How many of the provinces were supplied with printing-offices in

1753?" and reminds one of Dickens's "Circumlocution Office," and its

efforts "how not to do it."

[7] The pernicious character of the religious corporations, as an

evil to society, is sufficiently proved; for even Catholic France

is expelling them from her bosom. It only remains, then, to decide

whether the prohibition of their existence is opposed to the principle

of the separation of Church and State. To conform to the principle

that the welfare of the people is a supreme law, and in virtue of

that to deny legal existence to such associations as are hostile to

the said principle, is not to fail in [loyalty to] the separation of

the Church and the State, inasmuch as the prohibition has nothing

to do with religious dogmas or ecclesiastical discipline; and, in

order to be just and thoroughly impartial, it does not oppose itself

to any specified community or sect, for it entirely sets aside the

religious character of the corporations, considering them simply as

groups of human beings in their relation to the general good. The

State, in this case, legislates without passing beyond the bounds

of its proper and exclusive jurisdiction, and does not invade the

attributes of the ecclesiastical power.

Some will say that by prohibiting the existence of religious

corporations liberties are restricted. To this I answer, that that

liberty which causes harm to society ought not to be understood as

liberty; and, [using the term] in this sense, the United States would

not be disloyal to their Constitution in adopting restrictive measures

in regard to the "trust," Chinese immigration, and the association

of persons dangerous to peace, order, and the sanctity of the home.

As for the estates of the friars, Señor Sumulong was quite right, to

judge from the facts in this royal decree, in asking for an ample and

complete investigation of the legality of the titles to property which

the friars could bring forward. It is to be observed that there was no

opportunity here for [ascertaining] the real right of prescription, for

it was impossible to protest against usurpations if one did not wish

to be deported or shot as an anti-Spaniard or a filibuster.--"Ambut."

An interesting commentary on the above opinions is found in the recent

action (December, 1906) of the French government in regard to the Roman

Catholic church in France, the separation of Church and State there,

and foreign interference with the proceedings of that government.--Eds.

[8] Bolot (borot): an arrow with a hook or barb (Noceda and Sanlucar's

Vocab. Tagal).

[9] The year 1754 was especially disastrous to the Philippines on

account of the Moro raids; thousands of people were slain, and other

thousands carried away captive; even the coasts of Luzón were ravaged,

and the population of the Visayas suffered a notable diminution. See

account of these losses in Concepción's Hist. de Philipinas,

xiii, pp. 190-250; and Montero y Vidal's Hist. de pirateria, i,

pp. 309-317. In July of that year, Ovando was succeeded in the

government of the islands by Arandía, who at once instituted reforms

in the military service, and did what he could to defend the islands

from their enemies; he died on May 31, 1759, worn out with the cares

and fatigues of government.

[10] Forrest says (Voyage to New Guinea, p. 302) in describing the

pirate raids by the Moros: "The Spaniards not allowing the Bisayans

fire-arms, the latter prove less able to defend themselves." Also

(p. 303): "On Celebes, they take, if in Dutch territory, even those

of their own religion: a decent musselman, with his wife and four

children were brought to Mindanao, by this very prow." "The Sooloos

have in their families many Bisayan, some Spanish slaves, whom

they purchase from the Illanon and Magindano cruisers. Sometimes

they purchase whole cargoes, which they carry to Passir, on Borneo;

where, if the females are handsome, they are bought up for the Batavia

market. The masters sometimes use their slaves cruelly, assuming the

power of life and death over them. Many are put to death for trifling

offences, and their bodies left above ground." (Ut supra, p. 330.)

[11] The archbishop of Manila, Don Miguel Garcia Serrano, wrote to

his Majesty that in the period of thirty years during which there

was no fortified post in Mindanao, twenty thousand Christians had

been made captive by the Moros. (Torrubia, Dissertacion, p. 49.)

This relation was evidently written by some one of the Jesuit

missionaries in Leyte, and perhaps even an eyewitness to the events

related. The villages which he names as having repulsed the enemy seem

to have been largely those in charge of the Jesuits. Some mention

of the raids made in 1752-53 against the Recollect missions may be

found on pp. 163, 164, post, note 88.

[12] Escolapios: regular clergy of the Order of Escuelas Pías (or

"religious schools"), founded early in the seventeenth century by

St. Joseph of Calasanz (1556-1648), an Aragonese priest. (See

VOL. XLVI, pp. 114, 115, note 49.) Besides the usual three

vows, they took another one, to consecrate themselves to the

instruction of children. They soon attained great reputation,

and their order extended to many countries. So highly were their

educational services appreciated in Spain that when the religious

orders there were secularized (1835) that of Escuelas Pías was

exempted therefrom by special grant, which was extended also to the

Philippines. "Nevertheless, it is argued that they do not accept any

salutary innovation or judicious reform, even when it is guaranteed

by the experience of accredited instructors; and it is said that they

walk on leaden feet, as if tied down to a stale routine." (Dominguez.)

Echegaray also gives to the word Escolapios the meaning of "students

attending the Escuelas Pías," in which sense the word is evidently

used here--except that the schools are simply the parish schools

conducted by the friars among the Filipino natives.

[13] totals given in these tables are in some cases incorrect, but

have been left as in original.

[14] The title-page of this work reads thus in English: "A plain

historical account of the glorious triumphs and fortunate progress

gained during the present century by the religious of the order of

our father St. Augustine, in the missions which are in their charge in

the Philipinas Islands, and in the great empire of China. Information

is given regarding each of those peoples, their usages, customs,

superstitions, mode of life, and medicines which they use in their

diseases, with other curious information. Composed by the reverend

father Fray Antonio Mozo, of the same order, formerly secretary

and definitor of the province of Philipinas, and now commissary and

general definitor for the same, who dedicates it to this province of

Castilla of the same order. With the necessary licenses. At Madrid,

by Andrès Ortega, Las Infantas Street. The year 1763."

This book contains much information regarding the customs and

superstitions of the natives, especially of the Negritos, which is

valuable not only as being furnished by an educated man who lived

among them, but on account of his kindly nature, comparative freedom

from bigotry and prejudice, and his inclination to take an impartial

and philosophical view of his subject. For this reason, a very full

synopsis has been made of his work, and his observations on the natives

have been mostly translated in full. He left the islands in 1759,

as he states on p. 76 of his book.

[15] This mission field was located in the eastern part of what

is now the province of Nueva Ecija (formed at the beginning of the

nineteenth century), on the Rio Grande of Pampanga and its tributary

the Santor, nearly half-way from the source of the former to its mouth;

the peoples here mentioned evidently dwelt at first on the heights of

the Caraballo de Baler--part of the Caraballo Sur range, from which

flow northward the waters of the Magat and the Rio Grande of Cagayan;

and southward the Rio Grande and the Rio Chico (respectively "great

river" and "little river" of Pampanga). The name "Buquid" apparently

simply designates them as dwellers in the mountain forests. The

Italons--a name of the same signification, applied by the Gaddans to

the Ilongots dwelling in the Caraballo mountains of Nueva Ecija and

Príncipe (who are called Ibilao by their Isinay neighbors north of

that range)--and Abacas lived on the headwaters of the Rio Grande

and Rio Chico. Barrows says (Census of Philippines, i, p. 437):

"The Ibilao who inhabit the mountains of Nueva Ecija are among the

most persistent head hunters of northern Luzón. Their raids upon the

Christian settlements of Nueva Ecija are incessant, and they have

repeatedly taken lives in the vicinity of Carranglán and Pantabangán

within the last two or three years." (See also ut supra, pp. 470, 471.)

[16] In another place this name appears as Alzaga; but Pérez (Catálogo,

p. 179) spells it Arziaga. This missionary was a native of Valladolid,

and came to the islands in 1699; he died in 1707.

[17] For a modern description of the Ilongots (or Italons), see

that given in Census of the Philippines, i, pp. 545-547; the writer

(L. E. Bennett, governor of Nueva Vizcaya) says: "The chiefs of all

these settlements stated to me positively that adultery was unknown

among these people, and that their family relations were very closely

drawn. They further stated that they never knew of a case of a young

woman giving birth before she had been married." "Fighting is never

carried on in the open, but they depend entirely upon assassination

and ambush. They set pointed bamboos and spring guns for each other

in places known to be traveled, and use spears and bows and arrows

with poisoned tips when they fight."

[18] This name is spelled Isasigana by Pérez. He was born in Durango,

Vizcaya, in 1665, and came to the islands in 1699. Three years later

he was sent to Carranglán, where he remained until he was worn out

with missionary labors. Recalled to Manila for his health's sake,

he afterward held various offices in his order (1706-10), and was

minister at Guagua and Apalit (1712, 1713). He died at Guagua (Vava,

in Mozo), in 1717.

[19] "The missions of Pantabangan were administered by the Augustinians

until they surrendered them to the Franciscans in order that the

latter might unite these to their missions of Baler, which lies on

the further coast that is called by that name. They maintain in these

missions two or three religious, who minister to Pantabangan, where

there are 60 houses; Puncán, which has 56 houses; and Carranglán,

82. Very little progress is made in these missions, on account of

the misgovernment among the Indians and the lack of policy on the

part of the Spaniards." (Zúñiga's Estadismo, Retana's ed., i, p. 473.)

Vindel describes in his Catálogo, t. ii, no. 328, a rare pamphlet

(apparently not mentioned elsewhere): Relación del descubrimiento

y entrada de los religiosos de N. S. P. S. Francisco ... en los

pueblos ó rancherías de los montes altos de Baler; it is undated,

but was probably published at Manila, about 1755. In it, "Fathers

Manuel de San Agustín and Manuel de Jesús María Fermoselle report to

their provincial, Fray Alejandro Ferrer [who held that office during

1753-56], the condition in which they found those villages." San

Agustín labored in Baler and neighboring villages during 1747-60. The

mission of Baler was founded in 1609 by Franciscan missionaries,

but half a century later was ceded, through scarcity of laborers, to

the Recollects; the latter order abandoned that district in 1703, for

the same reason, and the Franciscans resumed the charge of it. Baler

was formerly situated on the right bank of the San José River, near

the sea; but on December 27, 1735, it was utterly destroyed by a tidal

wave, and the surviving inhabitants removed the village farther inland,

to higher ground. (Huerta, Estado, pp. 280, 477.)

[20] Pérez states that he died at Guagua, a town in southern Pampanga;

for this name Vava is apparently a phonetic Spanish corruption.

[21] Alejandro Cacho was a native of León, and came from a noble

family; he arrived at Manila in the mission of 1690. He was a

missionary to various tribes in upper Pampanga (now Nueva Écija),

among whom he labored indefatigably for more than forty years. "He

formed villages, opened roads, established schools, built churches,

and felled groves; and what was but a little while before a gloomy

and impenetrable forest afterward burst upon the sight of the

astonished traveler as a broad plain, which the directing hand of the

indefatigable Augustinian converted into a fertile field and beautiful

province, the pride and hope of the new converts. And he accomplished

even more; assigned to the missions of Carranglán and Pantabangan

(1707) he eagerly devoted himself to the study of the flora in those

unknown regions, examining the medicinal virtues of each plant; and

as a fruit of his laborious task, besides practicing successfully the

art of the physician among his beloved parishioners he left us the

works which we mention below." "He is one of the figures which most

clearly illustrate what the religious in Filipinas was, in the double

conception of priest and maintainer of the Spanish sovereignty in

this archipelago." (Pérez.) He died in Carranglán in 1748. The works

alluded to are: "A treatise on the medicinal herbs of the mountains

of Buhay;" "Origin and customs of those barbarous peoples;" "History

of the Augustinian missions among the Italon Ilongots, the Isinais,

the Irulis, and the Igolots," during 1704-33; and three maps drawn

by Cacho, giving valuable information regarding the habitat of those

peoples in central Luzón. Besides these, he wrote catechisms in the

languages of those tribes, directions for their government, etc.

[22] Spanish, al testud; this word does not appear in the lexicons,

and it is impossible to determine its meaning accurately from the

text. Testud may be possibly a misprint for testuz, meaning "the

hind part of the head;" but it is more probably the mistake of an

amanuensis for testiculos, these glands being regarded as the source

of virile power.

[23] "Isinay is the language spoken by the Igorot of the hills

in western Nueva Vizcaya, and by a part of the population of the

towns of Aritao, Dupax, and Bambang, who are of Igorot origin, but

whose ancestors were converted in the latter half of the eighteenth

century." "The name Igorot (in Spanish form, Igorrote) means in several

Malayan languages, 'people of the mountains.'... I have adopted it as

a general designation for the whole body of primitive Malayan tribes

of northern Luzón who are of the same physical type, speak closely

allied languages, and present the same grade of culture." (Barrows,

in Census of Philippines, i, pp. 471, 472.) See also VOL. XX of this

series, pp. 269-279.

[24] See account of Dominican missions, following this of

Mozo's. Interesting accounts of the Dominican missions in Luzón and

its dependent islands, in recent times, may be found in the Correo

Sino-Annamita (a missionary publication issued from the college of

Santo Tomás, Manila, during the period 1866-97), vols. i, iv, xiii-xv,

xx, xxi, xxiii-xxx.

[25] A royal decree (given in full by Mozo, pp. 48-51) states that

the Augustinians informed the Dominicans, by a letter of September 8,

1739, of their decision to surrender the Ituy missions, contingent on

the permission of the governor; and the actual formal surrender took

place on April 8, 1740. This transfer was liberal and disinterested,

the Augustinians asking no compensation for their property, which

was of considerable value. The number of baptized persons included

in these missions was 2,755; and the Augustinians had taught them to

irrigate their lands, and had furnished them with animals and plows.

[26] Fray Vicente Ibarra was born in Durango in 1694, and made his

religious profession at the age of sixteen; he came to the islands

in 1712. He was minister at Santor and other places (1720-28), and

afterward held several offices in his order. In 1737 he was prior

provincial, and made a visitation of all the Augustinian religious

ministers there. The latter part of his life was spent mainly at

Manila, where he died on December 24, 1760. He left various writings

in the Pampanga dialect. (Pérez's Catálogo.)

Juan Belloxin was born in the province of Logroño in 1695, and made

his profession at Salamanca when seventeen years old. He came to the

islands in 1718, and spent ten years as missionary to the heathen

Isinays, on whose dialect he left some MS. volumes. He was minister

in various villages in other districts, and died at Manila in 1742.

Diego Noguerol was a native of the province of Coruña (1699), and

professed at Compostela in 1716. Two years later he arrived at Manila,

and went to the upper Pampanga mission; he was the first minister

at Buhay (1728), where he remained seven years. He labored in other

ministries and held offices in the order, dying at Manila in 1785.

[27] These were Bujay (the mission center), Dupag, Meuba, Mayon,

Diangan, Limanab, Batù, Paitan, and Bayongbong (this last located

in Paniqui).

[28] See description of trails in Igorot country, in Census of

Philippines, i, p. 542.

[29] Agustín Barrio Canal was born in the province of Burgos, and made

profession in the Augustinian convent of Salamanca in 1733, at the age

of nineteen. He came to the islands in 1737, and became a missionary

in western and central Luzón, where he died as related in Mozo's text.

Pedro Freyre was born in the province of Lugo, and entered the

Augustinian order at Burgos. He came to the Philippines in 1737, and

labored among the tribes of central Luzón until 1753; he then became

a minister in Pampanga, where he spent nearly twenty years. In 1771

he was removed by force from his post there, for refusing to accept

the diocesan visit; the rest of his life was spent at Manila, where

he died in 1790. (Pérez's Catálogo.)

[30] Reference is here made to the great western mountain range of

Luzón, the Caraballos Occidentales; it is nearly 200 miles long, and,

including its subordinate ranges, one-third as broad. It is really a

system of mountains, its central range forming the divide between the

waters flowing to Cagayán River on the east and those flowing to the

China Sea on the west. Its southern portion is called Cordillera Sur,

which, bending eastward, under the name of Caraballos Sur joins the

Sierra Madre or eastern coast range. This last range stretches along

the eastern side of Luzón, from the northeastern point of the island to

Laguna de Bay, a distance of 350 miles, and divides the waters of the

Cagayán valley (which is about 50 miles wide, and 160 in length) from

those of the Pacific slope. See Census of Philippines, i, pp. 60, 61.

[31] Barrows classes the Apayaos as an Igorot division, located

in the district of Ayangan; (cf. VOL. XLIII, p. 72, note 11). The

Tinguians also are Igorot, and are the pagan people of Abra; "they

have developed toward civilized life, being about on the same plane of

culture as the Ilocano." "This word is derived from tingues, meaning

'mountain,' a Malayan word, archaic, and almost unused now in Tagálog,

and the suffix an." Adang evidently means the Gaddans, or Gaddang,

another Igorot branch in western Isabela; some of them, christianized

in early days, occupy the northern towns of Nueva Vizcaya. (Census

of Philippines, i, pp. 469, 471, 477.)

[32] Cayán was formerly the capital of Lepanto; and is three miles

from the present capital, Cervantes.

[33] José Herice was born in 1691, in a town in Navarra, and made

his religious profession at Pamplona at the age of twenty. He came

to the islands in 1718, and was sent to the Ilocos missions. He was

the pioneer evangelist among the Adang (or Gaddans), and consumed so

much of his strength in that field that he was transferred to easier

charges in Ilocos, from 1725 on. He died at Batác in 1742. (Pérez's

Catálogo.) Rivera came to the islands in 1713, and was sent to the

Tinguians, but for like cause was also transferred to the plains

villages in 1719. Madariaga came over with Herice, whose associate

he was among the Gaddans and Apayaos, until 1729, when he too went

down to the plains; he died in 1744.

[34] Spanish, barbacoas: a word adopted from the Indians of Guiana,

their name for the frames on which they roasted or smoke-dried any

kind of meat or fish; it is also applied (in English, corrupted to

"barbecue") to a hog or other large animal roasted whole, and to the

open-air entertainment at which such roasts (now usually made in a

pit dug in the earth) form part of the food.

[35] See account of Igorot canaos (or feasts), and their dances at

these, in Census of Philippines, i, pp. 535-537.

[36] Francisco Javier Córdoba was born in Mexico in 1712, and entered

the Augustinian order at the age of seventeen. He came to the islands

in 1732, and spent the rest of his life in the missions of Pampanga

and Ilocos; his death occurred there, about 1764.

Romero was a native of Cadiz, born in 1729, and entered the order

in Mechoacán, Nueva España, in 1750. Two years later he came to the

islands, and joined the Igorot mission, afterward being cura in Indian

villages; finally he returned to America (soon after 1774).

Pedro Vivar was born at Logroño in 1737, and made his profession at

Valladolid, at the age of fourteen; he came to Manila with the mission

of 1752, and two years later was sent to the Igorot mission. After

three years labor there, he took charge of the ministries in various

native villages of Ilocos, where he died in 1771. In the revolt which

occurred in that province during the British occupation, he and other

missionaries were imprisoned by the insurgents, and narrowly escaped

being slain by them. Vivar left several MSS., among them a history

of the above rebellion, which was recently published (Manila, 1893),

in vol. iv of Biblioteca historica Filipina. (Pérez's Catálogo.)

[37] The Tagálog name of the sago-palm (in Pampanga called ebos,

according to Mozo), or Corypha umbraculifera. C. minor is commonly

called palma brava (Tagálog, anáhao or anáo); see VOL. XLVII, p. 181,

note 27.

[38] This is the fire-saw, a variant on the fire-drill so generally

used by the North American Indians and other savage peoples. See

description and illustration of the fire-saw used in Borneo,

(similar to that of the Zambals), in Ling Roth's Natives of Sarawak,

i, pp. 377, 378.

[39] "'Baluga,' in the Pampango language, means half-breed or mixed

blood. It has quite a wide use to indicate Negrito-Malayan roving

savages." (Barrows, in Census of Philippines, i, p. 469.)

[40] Ilib: a Pampango name of the cogon grass (Imperata arundinacea);

see VOL. XXIX, p. 233, note 74.

[41] Spanish, lumbre, meaning "fire," thence "light;" and by extension

"tinder," used to produce fire. Evidently the allusion in the text is

to material used for tinder--in such a region and for use as a bed,

obviously meaning dry grass.

[42] See Delgado's description of the bees in Filipinas (Historia,

pp. 848, 849). He states that there are several different kinds of

bees, which produce great quantities of wax and honey--especially in

the Visayas, where two crops are gathered in the year.

[43] See note on sago-palm, p. 91, ante.

[44] Evidently the same as súcao, an Ilocan name for a kind of

pond-lily, Nelumbium speciosum; its tubers (and Blanco says, its

flowers) are edible--as is the case with those of other species of

the same genus, in America and other regions, which are used for food

to some extent by the savages.

[45] That is, "Natural necessities are satisfied with almost

nothing." The other saying is: "If you wish to make a man rich do

not add to his wealth, but take away his desires."

[46] The Visayan name for the shrub (Croton tiglium) which yields

the croton oil of commerce; it belongs to the order Euphorbiaceæ.

[47] "Termes monocerus (Koen), the common name for which is anay. The

anay, or white ant, is a very remarkable insect, with a large head,

on the upper part of which it has three small eyes; and it is armed

with two hard teeth, shaped like a forceps, with which this creature

destroys in a very short time the woodwork of a house, the best

depository of papers, the largest library, or the finest wardrobe

of clothing. The only wood that it does not attack is the molave, on

account of its bitter taste and excessive hardness. The anay lives in

families; it is found in all wet localities, and erects dwellings of

clay which are two or three meters in height, and so solid that the

passage of buffaloes over them is not sufficient to destroy them. The

interior of these ant-hills contains a multitude of little cells,

divided by thin partitions; and in these they deposit thousands of

eggs (some 80,000 to each female) that are infinitely small. One

[in each hill?] of these terrible insects is distinguished by its

enormous proportions, and this one the Indian calls 'queen of the

ants.' In the rainy season, wings grow on them, and they fly in

fabulous numbers at sunset. The damage which these insects cause is

incalculable." (Montero y Vidal, Archipiélago Filipino, p. 114.)

The same writer mentions, in the preface to the same work, as an

instance of the prevalent ignorance in Spain of the nature and needs

of that country's colonies in the East, that some member of the royal

Council undertook to despatch a decree that the army in Filipinas

should go in pursuit of the anay, believing it to be some terrible

criminal.

Salazar makes an interesting reference (Hist. Sant. Rosario, p. 567)

to some unnamed species of ant: "In that country [of the Mandayas]

are certain ants which are called 'Dutchmen,' whose sting is so sharp

that it becomes unendurable;" and he relates that this creature was

used by a Dominican missionary as a new penance.

[48] Cf. account of these superstitions as still believed in Batangas,

in Census of Philippines, i, pp. 520, 521.

[49] Agde (Latin, "Agatha") a city in southeastern France, was

anciently the seat of a bishopric suffragan to Narbonne; it was

suppressed in 1790. The council here referred to was held in the year

506, "in the time and with the authorization of Alaric, king of the

Visigoths in Spain, although he was an Arian." (Chevin's Dictionnaire

de noms de lieux, p. 5.)

[50] Antonio Léon was born in 1702, in the province of Alicante, and

made profession in the Augustinian convent at Salamanca at the age

of sixteen. He came in the mission of 1724, and spent the rest of his

life mainly in the missions of Pampanga, in which he died (1766). His

younger brother Pablo came (being then a novice) to the islands at

the same time; he was missionary in Puncán (1731) and Santor (1732)

and died in 1733.

Manuel Calvo was born in Almagro in 1704, and when sixteen years

old entered the Augustinian order at Toledo. He came to Manila with

the foregoing brothers, and labored in Pampanga missions; he died at

Ayárat in 1758.

Francisco Alvárez was a native of Oviedo province in Spain, and made

profession at Madrid in 1727, at the age of twenty-two; he came to

the islands in the mission of 1732. He also labored in the Pampanga

missions, and died at Manila in 1769. (Pérez's Catálogo.)

[51] "In the mountains [of Iloilo] there are many Indians whom

they call Mundos; they should be called vagamundos [English,

"vagabonds"], but the Indians bite off half from Castilian words

when they are somewhat long. These Mundos are descendants of the

Christians who, not being able to remain in the villages on account

of their delinquencies, have fled to the mountains. They are not

unwilling to become Christians, provided the fathers will go to

their hamlets to live; but as this is impossible, on account of those

places being inaccessible to civilized people, they continue in their

infidelity. Some come down to the villages, and in their places others

escape [to them] who commit new crimes; and [thus] this caste of people

is continually maintained, notwithstanding the efforts that have

been made to reduce them. The Indians trade with them, and give them

rice and cloth in exchange for the wax and pitch which they bring down

from the hills; and, in order not to lose this advantage, the Indians

have been opposed to the reduction of the Mundos to a civilized and

Christian mode of life." (Zuñiga, Estadismo, ii, pp. 93-94.)

[52] Loberos (from lobo, "wolf"): Dominguez calls it a synonym of

espantanublados ("scare clouds"), an epithet of "the vagabond who,

wearing long garments, goes through the hamlets begging from door to

door; and the country folk believe that he has power over the clouds"

(Diccionario of the Academy).

[53] Félix de Rioja y Zúñiga was born at Cadiz in 1691, of a noble

family, and made his profession there at the age of seventeen,

renouncing an inherited title. He came to the islands in 1712,

and seven years later was sent to the Bataan mission. He was sent

to Guimbal (1722) and Bugason in 1728; in the latter place he was

murdered in June, 1734.

[54] Carib: the name of the Indian race who inhabited the Antilles

and adjacent coasts when the New World was discovered; also applied

in general to fierce (and especially to cannibal) savages.

[55] Cf. Matilda C. Stevenson's account of a ceremony employed at

childbirth by the Sia Indians of New Mexico, in which an ear of corn

(which among them is the emblem of life) is passed up and down the body

of the mother, accompanied with prayers to one of their divinities, to

secure a safe and easy delivery. (Report of U. S. Bureau of Ethnology,

1889-90, pp. 134-141.)

[56] This plant is evidently Datura alba (or perhaps in some places

D. fastuosa, which has the same properties), commonly called "jimson

weed" in the United States; it is called catchúbong or tachibong by

the Visayans, and in Tagálog talamponay. (See Official Handbook of

the Philippines, part i, pp. 377, 401; also Merrill's Dictionary of

Plant Names, p. 142.)

[57] It is possible that this plant is Euphorbia pilufera, a soporific;

it is used, as are many other plants found in the islands, for

poisoning fish.

[58] Fray Bernardo Ustáriz was born in the archbishopric of Zaragoza,

and entered the Dominican order at Calatayud; he came to the

Philippines with the mission of 1730. In the following year he was

minister at Binondo, and in 1739 at Abucay; with these exceptions he

was engaged in high offices of his order--being the head, at various

times, of the college of Letran and of the university of Santo

Tomás; and twice (1743 and 1755) the provincial of the order. He

was afterward appointed bishop of Nueva Segovia, taking possession

of that see in 1761. In the following year the capture of Manila by

the English occasioned a revolt in Ilocos; the efforts of Ustáriz

to oppose the insurgents were unsuccessful, and drew upon him their

resentment. They kept him a prisoner for six months, and were on

the point of killing him; but his life was saved by the opportune

arrival of a Spanish force. He then accompanied the troops through

their campaign for the pacification of Pangasinan, and the hardships

which he underwent therein and in his previous captivity shortened his

life; he died at the hospital of San Gabriel, near Manila, August 2,

1764. (Ferrando's Hist. PP. dominicos, v, pp. 6-9.)

[59] Father Manuel del Río thus describes the district of Paniqui and

its people (Retana's Archivo, ii, pp. 185-187): "This province of

Paniqui extends from north to south; and its length, from the last

Christian village of Cagayan, which is Itugug, to the last infidel

village (but close to the mission of Isinay), called Bayongbong, is

probably two and one-half or three days' journey. Its breadth thus

far has not been ascertained; but I think that it includes more than

fifteen leguas of plains, or level ground, from the mountains of the

Igorrots to those of the Ilongots. These are two ranges of lofty

peaks, which intersect this province in the middle, and likewise

others in the center of this island; and in these mountains dwell

these two and other barbarous tribes, whom hitherto it has been

impossible to conquer, on account of the inaccessible character of

the mountains. The land of this province of Paniqui is quite level,

and good for cultivation. The villages are numerous, although not very

large; for on the shores of the Maga River alone, which flows through

the length of that province from south to north, are counted eighteen

villages, including both large and small ones. The people of that

tribe are distinct from those adjacent to them, and have a different

language from the others. The men are accustomed from childhood to

file their upper teeth into points, which often causes them to decay;

and the teeth, after being dyed a sort of dark blue, are adorned (when

the person is a chief) with small golden pegs. For persons of rank,

it is considered very unsightly to have white teeth. They also pierce

their ears, as women do; and some cleave them through. These people

are barbarians in their customs, without any kind of civilization

or government; and they pay respect only to some chiefs, who have

acquired a reputation as such by their valorous deeds. They are not

idolaters, nor are they given to religion or to worship; they have

only some superstitions regarding the songs of birds, and similar

things, founded on oracles which are given to them by the demon,

through the agency of their aniteras, or priestesses. These women,

through a compact which they have with the demon, after taking a

certain potion are possessed by that same demon; and through their

mouths this enemy is able to declare his will to those wretched

people. At other times, the demon speaks to them in his own person,

in an aerial body; but never, or very seldom, does he allow himself

to be seen by those who hear him. Through the counsel of this chief

enemy of the human race, those heathen are wont to buy Indians from

other provinces, in order to offer them in sacrifice, by killing

them, to the demon. Of this class must have been a little boy four

years old, apparently an Igorrot, who was seen by the said father

commissary, Fray Diego de la Torre. Those infidels were buying the

child, to kill him; and the father, not having with him any forces

for preventing this, could only obtain from them that they should

bring the child to him for baptism before the sacrifice. God chose

that the bargain should not be settled, and that the father should

buy the child for some trinkets and beads, which those people value;

and accordingly he brought the lad to Cagayan, snatching him from the

teeth and claws of the infernal wolf. The said father encountered among

those infidels, another boy, about seven years old, who was white and

ruddy, like a European--a very singular thing among people so swarthy

as they. His mother had had other children, but dark, like herself;

and she says that when she was pregnant with this boy she dreamed

that they commanded her to give him the name of Adàn [i.e., Adam],

and therefore did so, calling the boy Adàn. They regarded him as a

little idol; and therefore, although the father urged them several

times to give him the child, he was unable to obtain it."

[60] See earlier accounts of these Dominican missions in Central

Luzón, in VOL. XXXVII, pp. 98-101; and in VOL. XLIII, Salazar's

history, book i, chap. xxxiii, and book ii, chaps. ii, xi, xxii,

xxxv, xlix. Cf. Ferrando's Hist. PP. dominicos, passim, for detailed

accounts from the beginnings of those missions down to 1830.

[61] In Retana's printed text this word appears, by some error,

as montes, when the context plainly indicates islas.

[62] See account of this project, the explorations made for it, and

its successful accomplishment, in Ferrando's Hist. PP. dominicos,

iv, pp. 367-382.

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume 48, 1751-1765 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century · 第 13 / 14 章

36. Near Paracali in the province of Camarines there is abundance