The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898/Volume 9/Letter to Felipe II (Antonio de Morga, 1596)
Sire:
At the close of the past year, ninety-five, I wrote to your Majesty via Malaca, giving a full account of some affairs of this place. The duplicate of that letter accompanies this, and I refer you to the same.
Every day the peace of this land is becoming more secure. Xapon is kept quiet by the presence of the Franciscan religious whom we have there. They have built churches and hospitals; and in March they wrote to us again, telling how they preached publicly and have made a large number of converts. They are fearful lest the fathers of the Society of Jesus will insist that they leave that country. Such a change would disturb everything, for the king loves them on account of their poverty and charity. If they did so, we should return to the former days of uneasiness.
Captain Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa set forth on the first of last April on the expedition for the pacification of Mindanao, with about fifty sail, large and small, two hundred and fourteen Spaniards, one thousand five hundred armed Indians, and a good store of artillery, ammunition, and supplies. In a week's time he came to the mouth of the river of Mindanao. The king and his people had retired twenty-five leguas up the river to a village named Buhayen, where they fortified themselves. Governor Esteban Rodriguez followed them with the fleet, and landed the majority of the troops, whereupon an engagement took place there. The governor went with a few troops to arrange for an agreement, and an armed Indian assailed him. The captain received so severe a cut on the head with a campilan that he became unconscious and died within thirty hours, without having declared a successor to the government. The camp and fleet were fortified in a convenient place and a city was founded, which was called Murcia. The cabildo thereof elected as governor Captain Juan de Laxara, a captain of infantry of this camp, who had accompanied Estevan Rodriguez and the troops here assigned to the latter, and whom Estevan Rodriguez had appointed submaster-of-camp. He is in the said city, fortifying it, and claims to carry on the government thereof without being subject to this or any other, for he is a bold man. He asks aid, and it will be sent in due time. In the meanwhile steps are being taken to mollify him so that he will come to reason and not become petulant, on account of the inconveniences which might arise therefrom to the service of your Majesty, and the peace and welfare of this state. Since there is doubt as to what will happen, it will be even more desirable than when Estevan Rodriguez was living that your Majesty now give definite commands in respect to this matter. The said island of Mindanao is very large and rich, and is inhabited by many people. There is a steady increase in the number of those who submit to the sway of your Majesty, in addition to those already pacified. It is the first of these islands to recognize your Majesty, and is the most important for their security and the conquest of Maluco and other countries. By the papers which the governor sent in regard to the agreement that I had made with the said Captain Estevan Rodriguez, your Majesty will find that he is obliged to conclude the pacification and settlement, and maintain everything for one year, at his own expense. Your Majesty gave him the government and a certain repartimiento for two generations. He left a very considerable estate with which to carry out the agreement, and your Majesty will not go beyond your right in taking charge of it. There are left here two daughters, his heirs, the elder being four years old, by whom and their guardians efforts are being made that the undertaking may be carried out and aided as far as possible, until they become of age. To enjoy its control and favors, it would be well for the estate to be administered from this city. Upon this point your Majesty will provide according to the royal pleasure.
The governor persisted in his determination to carry out the expedition to Camboja, and at the beginning of this year despatched one ship and two junks, with men, artillery, and ammunition, under command of Captain Juan Xuarez Gallinato. Thus far we have received no word whatever from them. The governor is sending the document referring thereto; and, although it is rumored that but few troops were taken by them, in fact two hundred men left this city, and artifice was used, in order that the real number should not appear at the departure. They had, in truth, gone ahead some days earlier and awaited the vessels outside.
At the same time, he sent another expedition to China; but as those who set out returned here, it seems as if God had, for the present, closed the door for that voyage; and so it stands.
This year so many Chinese have come under pretext of trading, that we have been very cautious, and suspicious of an uprising. For by these expeditions we have been left so greatly in need of troops, that there was good cause to be fearful and on the watch. I undertook to put the Chinese out of the country, and by this time more than twelve thousand have embarked. About as many more remain, and much diligence is being observed. They are a people with whom one must live with much watchfulness and caution, of which but little has hitherto been exercised. The city has been cut down in size, extending from the border of the fort and royal house by the garrison, furnishing a retreat in case of necessity for the few people here and the women and children. In fact the whole change is only setting the city aright; for the fortifications were wrongly planned from the beginning.
Your Majesty's exchequer has suffered so much damage and loss by the mismanagement of the officials, that, although various gentle means were taken to relieve and repair it, they were of no effect. Consequently, when the governor saw himself so hard pressed, he commenced to investigate the accounts; and the officers are suspended from the exercise of their duties until the state of their offices shall be ascertained. They are alike in their bitter enmities and difficulties with one another, making the despatch of the matter impossible. The papers are sent in order that your Majesty may see what has been done, and the condition of affairs here at present, which if investigated thoroughly will be found to contain other things of much moment in the matter. Your Majesty will decree in everything what will be most expedient for your service. I assure your Majesty that had any other means been found of dealing with the said officials besides the one used, until your Majesty should be advised thereof, this final measure would not have been taken—which was necessary, since no other effectual means were at hand.
Your Majesty has yet in this kingdom a revenue amply sufficient for all the expenses thereof, if it be administered with fidelity and care, and if many present superfluous expenses be suppressed. There are not more than a hundred paid soldiers in camp, and six captains of infantry and their officers draw salaries. The forts are without garrisons; but for more than a year the wardens thereof have been improperly drawing salaries. Your Majesty has no galleys whatever, and there is one commander, who, though unemployed, draws a yearly salary of eight hundred pesos; and there are many officers who get a salary in the same manner. There are many garrisons of soldiers, sailors, artillerymen, and others in various capacities who draw pay from your Majesty's exchequer; and they are of no service, nor will they ever in their lives be of any use, except as servants and attendants upon the officers and other persons, who pay them from your Majesty's revenues. In this way much of your Majesty's revenue is being spent and wasted. It would be necessary to institute a reform, and to make many investigations of the accounts of your Majesty's debtors and the collectors of your Majesty's revenue, in order to regain much property which is lost. Every day more will be wasted unless your Majesty orders a speedy remedy, with punishment of the guilty, which shall serve as a warning for the future. In the meanwhile much suffering will be felt here, as at present; and even a large part of your Majesty's estate in Nueva España will not suffice to meet the needs here.
There are very few in these islands capable of handling the arquebus, although they used to be the best and most skilful soldiers in the Yndias. The cause of this is that they have so devoted themselves to trade that they have no desire for anything else. Nevertheless, your Majesty ordered, in the instructions given to Gomez Perez, when he came here to govern, that those who drew pay from your Majesty as fighting men should not be allowed to trade. Afterward in a clause of the letter of January, 1593, replying to another of his, your Majesty ordered the same thing. This has not been complied with, however, and as the captains and higher officers are rich and rewarded by their salaries and grants, it is not just that they be merchants, as is the case. They are so diverted from military exercise that they are as useless as if they were in Toledo; and elsewhere they engross, by their large shipments, the space required for the merchandise and freight of the citizens. Your Majesty therefore spends the revenue on them and their soldiers uselessly; and it is necessary that this be corrected, in order that affairs may return to their normal condition.
The city was sufficiently supplied with public endowments, because in addition to what the governor held, he made a grant to it, in the name of your Majesty, of the shops and rents of a new parián, which had been built after my arrival for the Chinese, outside the walls, on the border of Sant Gabriel. Consequently there comes in from the property more than four thousand pesos annually, which is fully sufficient for necessary expenses, and in the future should be used for public buildings, which are needed. None such have ever been attempted, except the wall and fortifications which were built by the governor Gomez Perez. In respect to the traffic of the citizens of these islands and the administration of their commerce, your Majesty made suitable provisions by a decree of the same month of January, ninety-three. This is as is necessary; and since the returns from all the merchandise from Nueva Spaña come to them without limitation, there is left them no just ground for complaint. When I came here I found that, although the said decree is so precise, the execution of it was so far forgotten here that, when I took steps for its observance, it was ill received, as will appear by the accompanying reports thereof. Nevertheless, the execution of the decree will be attended to on my part, until your Majesty may decree otherwise. There is no doubt that by this is decreed what is expedient for this kingdom; and if the officials took proper care to execute your Majesty's orders, these difficulties would be obviated. But, as I have before written, it is not done with due exactness.
Governor Don Luis Perez Dasmariñas was daily expecting a change in this government and his removal, and owing to this and his mildness of disposition, affairs in general suffer. Although he is a man of good intentions and of much virtue, he is governed in everything by the friars, and particularly by the Dominicans, who are enjoying this favorable opportunity and make use of it to advance their own interests and those of their friends. The youth and inexperience of the governor does not permit of anything else. Now with the news that your Majesty is to send Don Francisco Tello to this government, it seems as if everything would take on new life; for, if there is more delay, it would be at the cost of the service of your Majesty, and the welfare of these islands. Everything has declined greatly from the condition in which matters were left by his father; and although I have done what I could it is but little, on account of my slight and inadequate authority. Nevertheless, some of the most important things have been looked after with more spirit than at first. The people of this land cannot be pleased with everything, for they are fond of liberty; and for this reason there are some complaints. But I endeavor only to further the service of God and of your Majesty, not to consult their tastes or to manage affairs so that they may write to your Majesty in approbation of me. As things have happened, there may be a lack of persons to approve my proceedings; but this does not vex me, because I expect that, with God's help, time will show the truth; and no other reward is needed than to satisfy your Majesty, as is my earnest desire.
The jurisdiction of your Majesty in this kingdom is so hampered by that of the ecclesiastics that on no occasion can we have our own way. As there is no one to withstand them much damage is experienced; and we see ourselves in great troubles and hardships, tied hand and foot, because the ecclesiastics and religious interfere in everything. They rebel against and hinder the accomplishment of your Majesty's commands; and even among themselves they have many dissensions and disagreements. It is a pitiable state of affairs, and even if it were for no other purpose than to moderate these excesses and licenses of powerful persons, it would be best to have here the royal Audiencia, which your Majesty ordered to be suppressed. I beseech your Majesty, as I likewise urged from Nueva Spaña, in the report which your Majesty already has, that in case the royal Audiencia is not reëstablished, a remedy be provided. There should be someone to oppose the ecclesiastics in a land so far away from the Audiencia of Mexico; for, no matter what question is sent there for decision, at least two years must elapse before despatches can be returned.
The bishop is very much missed in this land by all the ecclesiastics; and it would be very beneficial for the future if he should come this year with the arms sent from Nueva Spaña. May God bring them, although they are already late in arriving. If they should fail to come, great need would be felt everywhere. All these islands are now pacified, and the only need is for ministers of the gospel, on account of the many heathen who are without instruction. Many of the Spaniards who people the land and come here for its defense, die here. Thus we are in need, as I have said.
The college[1] founded by the fathers of the Society for the education of Spaniards in this city, at the expense of your Majesty's exchequer, is now closed, by the new contract which was made with Captain Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa regarding the patronage which was given him from this house and college. According to the wish of your Majesty, this work was changed into a college for natives which they wished to found. The same income of one thousand pesos a year has been assigned them, in addition to the fourth of the tribute paid where there is no instruction, and other sums from similar sources. I think it would be well to further this work; for besides the receiving of a good education by the sons of natives, which would strengthen them greatly in the things of the Christian religion and right living, it would be a hidden blessing to have the sons of the principal natives in this college, for our safety is thereby assured on any occasion whatever. The papers in this matter are sent, in order that your Majesty may have provision made according to your pleasure.
At the beginning of this year, a galleon arrived at these islands from Piru, and later a small fragata in its convoy, wherein it appears that Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña had set out from Piru in April of last year to discover the western islands in the Southern Sea. This he did not succeed in doing, and lost his flagship and afterward another fragata. He formed a settlement on another island near Nueva Guinea, where the men quarreled among themselves, and the said adelantado died with many of his people.[2] His wife inherited that settlement, and arrived at these islands in great need and after many hardships, where she married Don Fernando de Castro, cousin of the governor, and returned to Piru with her ship. I am sending your Majesty the report of the matter which has been received, and an account of their voyage and adventures, which are therein stated at greater length.
After such long voyages I am left in very poor health, and with little hope of recovery, on account of the climate of this country. I am very poor and spent, with fewer children than those I brought with me, for they have died on the way. Therefore I strongly desire that your Majesty grant me grace if it be possible, and permit me to go to España, and be pleased to provide for this garrison. With this I should feel well paid and satisfied after all my hardships and wanderings. Even though I do not deserve the rewards of my predecessors, I shall live content in returning to my home and fireside, God willing, to give your Majesty a true account of the many things I have seen, and of what would be best for the better service of your Majesty. I humbly beseech your Majesty to grant me this favor as soon as possible. May our Lord preserve for many years the royal person of your Majesty, as is necessary to Christendom and your Majesty's servants. Manila, July 6, 1596.
Dr. Antonio de Morga
- ↑ Figueroa, "before leaving Iloilo, made his will, endowing the Jesuit college at Manila with two thousand pesos of income; and directed that in case his daughters should die their inheritance should pass to that college of San José" (Montero y Vidal's Piratería en Mindanao, i, p. 140).
- ↑ See Discovery of the Solomon Islands (Hakluyt Soc. publications, 2d series, nos. 7, 8; London, 1901); this contains Mendaña's and other narratives of his expeditions in the southern Pacific Ocean.