History of the Philippine Islands (Vol. 1&2). Joaquín Martínez De Zúñiga
of his companions; but they, fearful of some new treason, were witnesses of his massacre, which the Indians effected in view of the squadron, without their attempting to relieve him, or revenge the injury. Juan Carvallo now became General of the armament, and he resolved to go from thence, in search of the Moluccas: he burned the ship Concepcion, as he had not men sufficient to man her, and sailed from Zebu with the Trinidad and the Victoria. On the 8th of November he arrived at Tidore, one of the Moluccas, and was well received by its chief, who granted him a factory for the purpose of collecting cloves, &c.; and on the 21st of December, he loaded the two ships with spices, preparing for the return to Spain. Gonzalo Gomez de Espimosa commanded the Trinidad, and it was his intention to proceed to Panama, but he was captured by the Portuguese. Sebastian del Cano, went in the Victoria, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, and, after losing many of his crew on the voyage, arrived at San Lucar de Barrameda, with only eighteen people, on the 7th of September 1522, three years from the time of their departure from Seville. He was thus the first, who had sailed round the world; and on this account, among other honours, the Emperor gave him for his arms, a terrestrial globe, with this motto, Hic primus geometros.
The account which Sebastian del Cano gave of the expedition, induced the Emperor, to send other armaments to the Moluccas. The first was that of Esteban Gomez, who proposed, by the way of Newfoundland, to discover a shorter passage to the South Sea. A squadron was accordingly despatched in the year 1524; but in a little time, news was received of its dispersion by bad weather. In the year following, Don Fray Garcia Jofre de Loaysa, was despatched from Corunna with seven ships, well appointed with good officers, and four hundred and fifty picked men; among these was Andres de Urdaneta, who afterwards became a friar of the order of San Augustine, and directed the expedition of Legaspi to these islands. They passed the Straits of Magellan, with the loss of one ship, and entering the South Sea, they encountered so severe a storm, that the whole squadron was separated. Loaysa pursued his course; and in a short time afterwards died. By order of the Emperor, Sebastian del Cano was to succeed to the command, but he surviving only a few days, it devolved on Martin Yañez, a Biscayan. They arrived at Tidore on the 31st of December 1526, as did, in a short time, the remainder of the squadron, with few men, and those unserviceable. Here they found, that the Portuguese had declared war against the chief of Tidore, for having entertained the squadron of Magellan, and it was deemed on our part proper, to undertake the defence of those benefactors of the Spaniards. They had several encounters with the Portuguese, but of no moment, and few were killed on these occasions; but the number of sick increased considerably, from the length and hardships of the voyage; and from the humid nature of the climate, the whole were threatened with rapid dissolution; being therefore already reduced to one hundred and twenty, they constructed a fort, and surrounding it with a palisade, placed themselves under the command of Hernando de la Torre, who was chosen General after the death of Martin Yañez.
In this situation, were the remains of the armament under Loaysa found, when the Viceroy of Mexico, by orders from court, despatched to Molucca three ships, under the command of Alvaro de Saavedra, who arrived at these islands, by the route of the Ladrones, now called Marianas, of which he took possession, in the name of his Majesty the King of Spain, in the year 1528. Saavedra pursued his voyage to Tidore, where he found the hundred and twenty Spaniards, shut up in their fortress. They considered him, as an angel sent to their relief, in the extremity of misery: but this joy was of short duration, new quarrels springing up with the Portuguese, who had succeeded in destroying, nearly all the Spanish ships. They at last, however, commenced their voyage to New Spain. Twice they made the attempt, twice they were driven back; and they suffered so much, that the General, with many of the crews, fell a sacrifice; the few that remained, being compelled to submit to the Portuguese. This was a most lamentable conclusion of the expedition; but all our squadrons, having represented the Moluccas as extremely valuable, on account of their spices, war was on the point of being declared, between the two kingdoms, about the possession of them. The Spaniards alleged, that it could not be denied, these islands were in the line of demarcation of Spain; and the Portuguese, were unwilling to quit the spice trade, of which they were in possession, and which so much enriched the mother country. These differences were adjusted about the year 1529, the Emperor, renouncing his right to the Moluccas, for three hundred and fifty thousand ducats, by way of loan, advanced by the King of Portugal.
Thus abandoning the Moluccas, the Emperor turned all his thoughts to the conquest of the Western Isles, or Philippines. He despatched instructions to the Viceroy of Mexico, to send a squadron for that purpose, with directions not to stop at the Moluccas, in order to avoid creating jealousy among the Portuguese. In obedience to these orders from court, the Viceroy immediately fitted out five ships in the Puerto de Natividad, and nominated as Commander of the expedition, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, directing him, to take with him four Augustine friars, for the conversion of the conquered inhabitants. The squadron sailed on the day of All Saints, in the year 1542, and arrived safe off the Philippines; but they were driven so much to leeward, by the south-west monsoon, prevalent at that time, that they were compelled to anchor at the island of Sarragan, which lies on the opposite coast of Mindanao, and at forty leagues distance. In this miserable island, they suffered so much from hunger, that Villalobos sent some of the smaller vessels, in search of provisions, to the other islands: but, their return being delayed beyond his expectation, he resolved to sail for the Moluccas, though it was in direct opposition to his orders, without having effected any other object, than administering baptism to one child. The Portuguese received him very ungraciously, and compelled him, immediately to make the best of his way to Spain. In passing Amboyna, he died of a deep melancholy, arising out of the disasters of the expedition, and the idea of having disobeyed the orders of his sovereign, which were, on no account to visit the Moluccas. By the death of the General, the whole armament was deranged; indeed it was, eventually, almost all annihilated; and the few Spaniards who remained, found means to embark in different Portuguese ships. The Augustine friars went to Goa, from whence they found a passage to Europe, and arrived at Lisbon in August 1549, seven years after they had departed from the Puerto de Natividad.
As his Catholic Majesty, was fully determined on the conquest of the Philippines, it is necessary to notice the title, by which he laid claim to them. Our writers have brought forward a number of arguments, to prove the right, which the Kings of Spain have to the Americas, and the islands they have conquered; but I find them very superficial, and only one incontestable document, by which our sovereigns hold these dominions, that is, the concession of the Roman Pontifs. It is now the received opinion of churchmen, that the Popes have not the power to make such grants, but at the period in question, the contrary opinion prevailed, and was generally acknowledged in the schools. Supported by this idea, then so universal, the Papal See, granted to the respective Kings, not only what they conquered, but, as we have seen, assumed the right, of even partitioning the globe.
CHAPTER IV.
ANNO DOM. 1564 to 1565.
Of the Conquest of Zebu, and Discovery of the Route to New Spain.
The glory of conquering the Philippines, was reserved for his Catholic Majesty Philip II., by means of, the valour of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the prudence of the Augustine friars, and the skill of one of those friars, Andres de Urdaneta, who had been a captain in the armament of Loaysa, but subsequently took the habit of San Augustine in Mexico, in the year 1552. His Majesty issued an edict, encouraging and recommending an expedition, to be sent by the Viceroy of Mexico, to the western isles. Friar Urdaneta acquiesced in the will of his sovereign, and the Viceroy chose five other religious of the same order, viz. Andres de Aguirre, Martin de Rada, Lorenzo Ximenes (who died in the Puerto de Natividad), Diego Herrera, and Pedro Gamboa, with the view to a spiritual, as well as temporal conquest. This squadron was composed of two ships, one small galleon, and a patache (a vessel so called). The command was given to Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, a noble Biscayan, from whose valour and prudence, the Viceroy expected greater results, than had been obtained from the other expeditions. The fleet sailed from Puerto de Natividad on the 21st November, 1564, with sealed orders; and when about a hundred leagues from the coast, the seals being broken, they found directions to proceed to these islands.