“ Having held a council that night, they very silently went to a village called San Pablo. They were pursued by Don Luys de Velasco with five hundred Spaniards and one thousand Indians, by order of Governor Don Pedro de Acuña, before they reached San Pablo. The Sangleys killed of our men six Spaniards and four Japanese, but it cost them fifteen hundred of their men. So great was their number, and the confusion among all of them, that our men did not hesitate to kill as many of them as they met on the road and elsewhere. ”

“ Although gold is obtained in certain parts of these islands, such as the island of Masbate, Catanduanes, Paracali, and the Pintados, yet none of it is in such quantities as that here; and this has been always, and now is the general opinion. Consequently one cannot doubt that a great treasure could be secured with expert men and the order to work those mines, since rude Indians, without any skill except in washing, obtain so great a quantity. It is said that one can obtain more gold in the rewashing of what the Indian leaves than the latter obtains. ”

“ As for the statement that after the death of the Sangleys was known in China, many mandarins joined in a concerted petition to the king that they might be allowed to avenge those deaths—accusing the Spaniards of being cruel and ungrateful, and charging us that after the Chinese had aided us to erect our walls and other buildings, and in our gardens (all to our profit) , we ought not to have done this—to this I reply that the Spaniards are not cruel of heart, and never make war upon anyone without just reasons. We regard ourselves as a just people and as having a standing in the world ”

“ He is obliged to conduct them with love, for the religious are not of a character to be treated with rigor and violence, especially in a matter contrary to flesh and blood, when they exile themselves to those distant countries, so hot and so sterile, leaving their own land, which perhaps they can never forget. Hence, if they were to be treated with violence the result which your Majesty desires would not follow, that is, the service of God and of your Majesty’s self in the conversion of souls. ”

“ His Majesty requires, in spite of all this, that all of the religious who go from España to Philippinas must proceed thither, without permission being granted for any to remain in Nueva Spaña; but there is no means less suitable to gain that end than obliging them to pass through so many difficulties. They come out of them so much grieved and humiliated that their courage and good will in serving his Majesty has come to an end. To transport them by force most certainly is no profit to his royal service, much less to the service of God. ”

“ Although I arrived at México burdened with the expenses of the journey, and had no food and no place from which to get it, the royal officials are not obliged to pay a single maravedi until all the party have passed through their registers. This will be done when they please. They inquire from the religious where their homes are, and who are their parents—a very unpleasant thing. One requires great assistance from Heaven in order not to resent it bitterly. They put so little confidence in his word and oath that what they do not see with their own eyes it is not worth while to swear to them. ”

“ As regards the licenses for ships coming from China to trade with Luzón, it is not so dangerous to grant such permissions that the king [of China] or other persons there will consent to lose the great advantage which they possess in the large quantity of silver which is carried hence every year; for this remains in China, without a single real leaving there, while the goods which they give us in exchange are consumed and used up in a very short time. Hence we may say that in this trade the Chinese have as great an interest as the Castilians have, or even more. ”

“ The Spaniards are living with great caution toward them, for they are treacherous and cunning in what they do. They exercise their trades in this city. Each of them is considered as well employed, in exchange for which they must not commit offenses as in the past, which were great and numerous. On the fourteenth of November, Sargento-mayor Ascoeta entered this city, marching in good order with his camp, both Spaniards, and the Pampanga Indians and Japanese. They brought in the banners won from the enemy. They were very well received by the governor and Audiencia, and by all the city. ”

“ But as he perceived that his men were about to be attacked by a great number of people, he requested the governor to send him a second reënforcement quickly. The governor hesitating as to whom to send, Captain Don Tomas Bravo de Acuña, his nephew, begged to be assigned to this task, and to take his company, numbering seventy good soldiers—musketeers and arquebusiers, a picked body of men. Besides this almost all the soldiers of the country offered to go with him, as it was an expedition of so great justice and honor. ”

“ It is well known that kingdoms and provinces where crimes are not punished cannot maintain themselves; and if this crime were not punished, and the Chinese were to see that they received their liberty even when they had committed so great a crime, another day they would do the same thing. Hence I have not yet set at liberty those Sangleys who are condemned to the galleys, that they may go to China and even convey to the viceroy knowledge of what has happened. I am certain that when he knows the facts he will regard their punishment as very slight in view of their crimes ”

“ They find a great number of people disposed to receive the gospel law, and it would be impossible for the fathers of the Society (who are in some kingdoms of Japon) to be sufficient as workmen in so broad and fertile a vineyard. On this account, it would cause great scandal among the converted and those to be converted, to see the opposition of one order to the others, since previously they held them all to be uniform in the purpose of the spreading of the gospel, and the religious to be vassals of one king and subjects of the one and only head of the church. ”

“ You shall under no consideration allow any soldier to seize any gold or any other article of value from any Indian, in case that any of the said Indians should flee through fear or any other reason, and abandon their gold or other property to the power of the soldiers. It shall immediately be sent to its owner, to show them, as above stated, that the expedition is not being made there for their gold. On the contrary, you shall endeavor, before the Indians, to attach very slight importance to gold, alleging that it has but little value and esteem among us. ”

“ Retracing their route, the Spaniards find that the villages which they had left in peace are now revolting; they seize the chief who has most disturbed the people, and send him to Manila. The governor feasts him there, and sends him back to his own village, apparently well pleased with the Spaniards. Miranda searches for gold-mines, but cannot find them; and finally, sick and discouraged, as also are his friars, returns to Manila. Captain Clavijo is sent to search for the mines, but is compelled to retreat, being assaulted by more than a thousand Indians. ”

“ In the meantime the religious are in suspense, without knowing [97] whether they are to make the voyage or no; for in the House of Trade at Sevilla they either refuse to give them the grant necessary for their support until the approval of the Council arrives, or, if they grant it in advance, they require a bond which the poor commissary does not know where to find—and which even if he could find it would be unwise for him to give, since he has no means by which to satisfy it in case the Council decree some other thing than what he expects. ”

“ A public-spirited citizen of Manila has established a hospital for Spanish women, and royal aid is asked for this also. The hospital for Spaniards is not properly cared for, and the king is asked to send over hospital brethren of the Order of St. John of God. The guardians of minors often prove unfit for such trust, and they should be called to account by the Audiencia. Disputes having arisen over the rights and prerogatives of the Audiencia in case of their succession ad interim to the government of the islands, Guiral asks for the royal decision of such questions. ”

“ As for our reputation, nothing will be lost by sending back the said Chinese, especially those who are not found to be very guilty; for no one loses reputation by doing justice, and the king of China and his ministers know very well that the decision of justice, and the separation of the innocent from the guilty, in so grave a case has demanded all the time which has elapsed up to the present. ”

“ Thus many of the religious have not courage to embark; while those who overcome this [92] difficulty and do go aboard, being new to the sea and seeing themselves in so narrow a space as is that of one ship, and being very seasick—indeed, there are many who during the whole voyage cannot raise their heads—are delighted to find themselves on shore alive. ”

“ The king of China did this to the Japanese, who formerly had trade and commerce with the Chinese between the two countries, the Chinese going to Japon and the Japanese going to China. The king of China, seeing that the Japanese did not maintain their trade with the care and honesty that they should, did not make war upon them, but took away their trade and commerce under a singularly vigorous penalty—which is, that if any Chinaman trades with the Japanese not only he but his father, mother, and relatives shall be put to death. ”

“ And on the so sudden and dangerous occurrence [34] of the rising of the Chinese, we doubt not that the governor has given your Majesty an account of our proceedings; for in public and aloud he thanked us in your Majesty’s name for our humble services, though our desire was great for the service of our king and lord. Not a fortification has been made upon land, nor a ship or galley built, where we have not rendered service; and in ministries to the Indians and Spaniards, we believe that no religious order has surpassed us. ”

“ In the vicinity of this city, and within it, there are Indians without number who have come from their native places to escape the labor of tilling the soil and raising animals as they have been commanded. They make their living by buying and selling provisions and other things, to the great damage of this community. I have brought suit that they may be compelled to return to their native places; and finally they have been commanded to do so, a certain number of them being retained for the service of each religious order ”

“ During the past year one ship arrived; and the other, which was on its way to Castilla, was lost with a very great quantity of Chinese stuffs and other goods. For this reason it has been impossible to discharge this obligation in full at the present time. Let the viceroy notice that this is and will be done because it is just, and not because he has written that unless the people and the goods are sent he will make war on Luzón; for I am sure that the king of China and his ministers, being prudent, politic, and discreet persons, will not wage war for causes so light. ”

“ This region lies between the provinces of Cagayan, Ylocos, Pangasinan, and Tuy. The people are light complexioned, well-disposed, and intelligent.5 It is reported that about eighteen or twenty thousand Indians use lance and shield. They are at war with their neighbors up to certain boundaries. Beyond those boundaries those peoples trade with one another; for the Ygolotes descend to certain towns of Pangasinan with their gold, and exchange it for food—hogs, carabaos, and rice, taking the animals alive to their own country. ”

“ Although at this point it might be said that the accounts of the royal officials have to be audited in due time, and that therefore they are more to be trusted, I, who have seen much of the world and know what happens in it, know also what is the fact in this matter. It is, that he who goes out of office richest at the time of the residencia goes out the best justified; hence, for fear of that, he never fails to make his profit. I do not mean to say that there should be no order or system in regard to the grant allowed by his Majesty to the religious for these missions ”

“ The road is eighty leguas in length and is very rough, so that it takes a well-mounted horseman with a light load all of ten days to make it. How much more must it take for people going in company, and with a string of pack animals (as the religious ordinarily travel) , who do not expect to go more than five or six leguas a day. Moreover, they are traveling in countries of varying climates; one of these being hot and the next cold, they often fall ill on the road, and some cannot travel farther. It is no small achievement for those in health to reach México in twenty days. ”

“ In a letter dated July 6, 1606, the Audiencia informs Felipe III of the death of Governor Acuña. New regulations for the commerce of the islands have been received from Spain, of which complaints are made. The amount of the Mexican trade has been limited to two hundred and fifty thousand pesos, and the returns therefor to five hundred thousand pesos; the citizens of the islands claim that this restricts their profits too much, and that they should be permitted to invest a larger sum. This liberty will tend to increase not only their prosperity, but the number of new settlers in the islands. ”