The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Volume 18 of 55. Unknown
that state at this time, because of the absence of the latter, who had gone to court. He accordingly placed guards upon the Dutch ships as soon as they arrived, and commanded that no one should go to them or buy anything from them until the emperor should know of their arrival, which he reported immediately. The Hollanders, paying no attention to these orders, began to unload their cloth until they filled the warehouses of their factory, leaving the surplus in the ships. Much of this cloth was wet, because, as I said above, their vessels [the “Leon Rojo” and the “Fregelingas”] and that of the Chinese had been shipwrecked. As this was the rainy season, it was impossible to dry it; and thus, to their great sorrow, much was lost. They secretly sold everything that they could before there should come from the court any order that might be to their disadvantage. They made a large sum of money, and then in all haste they loaded a great number of the boxes of silk upon the “Leon Negro,” which they put in readiness for whatever might happen. They then despatched their messengers to Macao [sc. Meaco], the court of the emperor, to whom they presented four fine pieces of bronze artillery, which he prized very highly. They sent also thirty thousand taes of silver, each one equal in weight to ten Spanish reals, and many pieces of various kinds of silk, with which they gained the good will of the emperor and of the courtiers upon whom their prosperity and security in Japon depended. As a result of this, they were soon very successful in their negotiations, at which they were greatly pleased; for they were given permission to sell their spoils in the kingdom of Japon to whom and wherever they pleased, since they said that the Spaniards were their enemies and that the Chinese were going to trade with them [the Spaniards]. With the matter thus arranged, they returned to Firando, and, as they found themselves in such favor, the first thing that they did was to take back from the poor Chinese the hulk of the ship and some cloth of little value, which they had given them because they had feared that they might not be successful at court. And they did this in spite of the fact that the Chinese, with their good industry and hard labor, had drawn from the water the ship, which, as has been said, was stranded and submerged. The Hollanders carried this spoliation to such an extent that they took their very clothes from their bodies.
Having completed this very successful exploit, on the fifteenth of October they despatched for Holanda the “Leon Negro” with sixteen hundred boxes of changeable silk. Each box contained two picos of silk (each pico equals five arrobas); besides this, they shipped three hundred fardos of black and white mantas—all of which will yield a great sum of money, if it reaches its destination. In the ship “Fregelingas” the Dutch general returned to the strongholds of Maluco; he carried with him a great quantity of timber to repair other ships, and many provisions and munitions to supply their fortresses. The other two ships, the “Sol Viejo” and the “Galeaça,” warned us that they intended to come to the coast of Manila about April, in order to plunder at once the ships which come to this city at that season. This has really happened, because for almost two months two Dutch ships have been in the place13 [where they seized the ships from China. This has caused much apprehension in this city—V.d.A.] which last year furnished so powerful a fleet; for then it had galleons with which to defend itself. Now it has none, because six galleons were sent to other islands in order that the injuries that they had received in the late battle might be repaired. On the eleventh of October a furious hurricane overtook the ships and, [since they had been pierced by balls in the battle—marginal note in MS.; also in V.d.A.] they parted in the middle and sank in the sea. The twenty-four pieces of artillery which the galleons carried—four in each galleon—were lost with the ships. They were, however, neither very large nor of much value. Most of the people escaped by swimming, or upon some rafts; but as many as four hundred persons, including Spaniards, Indians, and Chinese, were drowned. And some of those who had escaped from the storm by means of the rafts perished from hunger out at sea, after the storm subsided. In this event the justice of God was evident, because it is said that that many had embarked upon these galleons with their concubines, purposely to live with them in the holds of the ships, without fear of either God or man; therefore our Lord permitted men and galleons to run aground. [Not only was the city deprived of these six ships, but] it must be added the information received from his Majesty that the fleet of galleons formed in Cadiz to come here, by way of the cape of Buena Esperança, had been sent toward Saboya [i.e., Savoy] to impede the expedition of Count Mauricio to that dukedom. This city, seeing itself thus deprived of the forces that it had and of those that it expected, resolved at once to build six galleons and some galleys; this they are doing with all speed. But as these ships have not yet been finished (and cannot be very soon) they were worthless to oppose these two Dutch vessels that have been along the coast of Ilocos, a province of the island of Manila, and have plundered at will everything within their reach. According to some, they have despoiled of silks and other merchandise twelve or thirteen ships. Thus only the smallest number escaped falling into their hands, and then only by the merest chance. However, on the night of the eighteenth of May, the Dutch ships were in danger of shipwreck. There arose a strong wind, a vendaval, which obliged them to take care of their own ships and to release the Chinese vessels that they had with them. Four of these, delighted at this good opportunity, resolved to flee, and as the winds were favorable, they set out on the return voyage to China.
The Dutch carried on this pillaging with little risk, and without fear, because they had learned, through some prisoners who had escaped, of the loss of our galleons. With these spoils they returned, I think, to Japon, where they will again be received as they were last year. And the worst of it is that they will delight in coming [every year to inflict as much more damage; and therefore the Chinese will not dare to come—V.d.A.] to this city with their ships, and commerce will cease. Everything will then be lost, because the prosperity of these islands depends solely upon trade with China. May God prevent this with his powerful hand.
In the island of Oton a strange thing happened this year. The ships that usually go with supplies to aid the forces of Maluco were despatched from the city of Manila. In one of the best of these embarked Manuel Riveyro, a father of our Society from the house of Ternate. He had come here to solicit and collect the alms which his Majesty orders to be given to the fathers who labor in the Malucas Islands. For many days, for years even, nothing had been given; and, as a result, Ours were suffering great privation. The father was very successful and collected from the royal treasury a large sum of money. Part of this he spent for very rich ornaments and for images for our churches; part for ship stores, and for gifts with which to aid the poor soldiers in those strongholds of Maluco, who suffer great want. These soldiers are materially assisted by our fathers who reside there, to the great edification and gratitude of the soldiers. With these supplies the father embarked in one of the ships, and arrived at Punta de Najo [Naso—V.d.A.], about eight leagues from the town of Arebalo, where the king’s ships go to take on rice and meat for the Malucas. At this town it was necessary for the father of our Society, and other fathers of St. Francis, to go ashore to obtain some things which they needed, in order to have them ready when the ship should arrive. Therefore they disembarked to go by land, and the ship anchored off the point. One day the master, who was called Juan de Ochoa Sarape [? Lara—V.d.A.], brought it about by deceit that the captain of the ship, Francisco Benitez, the pilot, and two soldiers who were not of his following, should disembark. There were on board also two mariners, a Galician and a Castilian, neither of whom had sided with him in the treason that he had planned with the others. He sent these down the hatchway for some ropes, and then took a lock and fastened the hatchway. Thereupon the traitors unsheathed their swords, drew their arquebuses and muskets, and lighted their fuses. Standing under arms, they cut the cables, and set sail, taking possession of the ship and of all the goods that it carried for the king, for the governor of Maluco, and for the fathers of San Francisco and of our Society, all of which, they say, might be worth more than thirty thousand pesos. The captain and the pilot, who witnessed this treason from land, embarked at once in a little vessel, and, coming near the ship, discharged three muskets, none of which did any damage. The traitors asked the pilot whether he wished to go with them. Seeing that neither he nor the captain was so inclined, they took them to land, and in their ship changed their course to Borney and Macasar. This treason was committed by twelve Spaniards, eight of whom were Biscayans and four Castilians. They made captain the master [of the ship] who was the author of the treason. Besides these [twelve Spaniards], there were on board this ship the other two Spaniards, whom, as I said, they were
Evidently Ilocos, as is shown by another mention near the end of this paragraph.