“ To tell me that if I do not free the prisoners, permission will be given, to the relatives in China of those who were killed in the rebellion, to come with a fleet to Manila, causes no disturbance in my mind; for I consider the Chinese as so sensible a race, that they will not be incited to such things with little foundation and especially since we have; on our side, given them no occasion for it. In case any other resolution is followed, we Spaniards are people who know how to defend our rights, religion, and country very well. ”

“ The condition of these slaves was not always a melancholy one. Argensola says that they ate at the same table with their masters, and married into their families. The histories fail to record the assassination for motives of vengeance of any master or chief by the natives, as they do of encomenderos. After the conquest the evil deepened. The Spaniards made slaves without these pretexts, and without those enslaved being Indians of their jurisdiction—going moreover, to take them away from their own villages and islands. ”

“ The coming of the Spaniards to the Filipinas, and their government, together with the immigration of the Chinese, killed the industry and agriculture of the country. The terrible competition of the Chinese with any individual of another race is well known, for which reason the United States and Australia refuse to admit them. The indolence, then, of the inhabitants of the Filipinas, is derived from the lack of foresight of the government. ”

“ His purpose when he left the rebellious states of Holanda and Zelanda, with five armed vessels laden with merchandise—which were worth, principal and merchandise, one hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand ducados—was to trade and carry on commerce through the strait (and such were his orders) , in whatever parts he should be, with friends or enemies. He was not to attack anyone, but only to defend himself and to incline the Indians to trade and exchange with him. ”

“ And do not let the Chinese consider themselves lords of all the world, as they give out; for we Castilians, who have measured it with palmos, know with exactness the lands of China, where it will be well to know that the king of España has continual wars with kings as powerful as their own [i.e., the Chinese king] , and subdues them and inflicts great troubles upon them. It is no new case, when our enemies imagine that we are defeated, to find us desolating and destroying the confines of their lands, and not ceasing until we have hurled them from their thrones and taken away their scepters. ”

“ The site of the city of Manila is hot, for it is on the coast and is low; but in its vicinity, quite near the city, there are districts and settlements much cooler, where the heat is not oppressive. The same is true of the other head of the island, opposite China, named Cagayan. The seasons of the year—winter and summer—are contrary to those in Europe; for the rains generally last in all these islands from the month of June until the month of September, and are accompanied by heavy showers, whirlwinds, and storms on sea and land. ”

“ There, by reason of the many trading-posts and fleets from the north, they lived as if they were not outside their own countries, since they had intercourse with their kinsmen and friends, or at least with men of their nation. Exiled Castilians and Portuguese reached the port of Oton in Filipinas daily. Among them was Pablo de Lima, a man of long experience, and now general of artillery in Tydore. He added to the news of the recent destruction, the joy with which the Dutch disinterred the pieces that he had tried to hide, and how they had sent ashore more arms and forces from their ships. ”

“ The islands of the eastern Ocean Sea, adjacent to farther Asia, belonging to the crown of España, are generally called, by those who navigate thither by way of the demarcation of Castilla and Castilla's seas and lands of America, "the Western Islands;" for from the time that one leaves España, he sails in the course of the sun from east to west, until he reaches them. ”

“ There are certain poisonous herbs, with which, when the natives gather them, they carry, all ready, other herbs which act as antidotes. In the island of Bohol is one herb of such nature that the natives approach it from windward when they cut it from the shrub on which it grows; for the very air alone that blows over the herb is deadly. Nature did not leave this danger without a remedy, for other herbs and roots are found in the same islands, of so great efficacy and virtue that they destroy and correct the poison and mischief of the others, and are used when needed. ”

“ But after the Spaniards had entered their country, through communication with them—and still more, through that with the Sangleys, who have come from China, and are much given to that vice—it has been communicated to them somewhat, both to men and to women. In this matter it has been necessary to take action.
The natives of the islands of Pintados, especially the women, are very vicious and sensual. Their perverseness has discovered lascivious methods of communication between men and women; and there is one to which they are accustomed from their youth. ”

“ The Dutch interest in these regions is so vast—both in the clove-trade and that of other drugs and spices, and because they think that they will have a gateway there for the subjugation of the whole Orient—that, overcoming all the toil and dangers of the voyage, they are continually coming to these islands in greater numbers and with larger fleets. If a very fundamental and timely remedy be not administered in this matter, it will increase to such an extent in a short time that afterward no remedy can be applied. ”

“ In a district kept separate from the infidels, they have a settlement of baptized Sangleys, with their wives, households, and families, numbering five hundred inhabitants; and the religious are continually baptizing others and settling them in that village. But few of them turn out well, for they are a vile and restless race, with many vices and bad customs. Their having become Christians is not through the desire or wish for salvation, but for the temporal conveniences that they have there, and because some are unable to return to China because of debts incurred and crimes committed there. ”

“ No fixed beginning can be assigned as the origin of these kinds of slavery among these natives, because all the slaves are natives of the islands, and not strangers. It is thought that they were made in their wars and quarrels. The most certain knowledge is that the most powerful made the others slaves, and seized them for slight cause or occasion, and many times for loans and usurious contracts which were current among them. The interest, capital, and debt, increased so much with delay that the borrowers became slaves. ”

“ After the end of the war, the need of the city began, for, because of not having Sangleys who worked at the trades, and brought in all the provisions, there was no food, nor any shoes to wear, not even at excessive prices. The native Indians are very far from exercising those trades, and have even forgotten much of farming, and the raising of fowls, cattle, and cotton, and the weaving of cloth, which they used to do in the days of their paganism and for a long time after the conquest of the country. ”

“ Even when people go to banquets or dinners where there is any suspicion, they are wont to take with them these insects, in order to preserve and assure themselves from any danger of poison and venom.
All these islands are, in many districts, rich in placers and mines of gold, a metal which the natives dig and work. However, since the advent of the Spaniards in the land, the natives proceed more slowly in this, and content themselves with what they already possess in jewels and gold ingots, handed down from antiquity and inherited from their ancestors. ”

“ Men and women betoken in their dress the natural haughtiness of their disposition. The variety of their languages is not little. It may happen that one village cannot understand the language of the next. Malay, being most easy to pronounce, is most common. From the variety of languages it is inferred that these islands have been populated by different nations. Antiquity, and the art of navigating in those districts, is ascribed to the Chinese. Others affirm that the Malucos are descended from the Javanese, who, attracted by the sweetness of the odors wafted by the spices, stopped at Maluco. ”

“ The war will be an arduous one, for "it will be fought not with the Ternatans alone, but with all the Moros of this archipelago," and the natives are brave and determined. "The people of Tydore already say that they do not want Spaniards in these regions," and Gomez Perez will find it prudent to dissemble with them, "so that they will not join the Ternatans." Father Marta sends a map of the archipelago, promises immense booty, and assures the governor of the prayers of the religious. ”

“ They live long, grow gray early, and are always active, on sea no less than on land. Hospitable and kind to guests, they are importunate and insistent in their demands when they become familiar. They are full of self-interest in their dealings, and make use of tricks, frauds, and lies. They are poor, and consequently proud; and, to name many vices in one, they are ungrateful. The Chinese occupied all these islands when they subjugated all that orient, then the Javanese and Malays, and lastly the Persians and Arabs. ”

“ Besides cattle, all the animals of Africa and more are found in those islands—tigers, lions, bears, foxes, monkeys, apes, squirrels—and in some of them are many civet-cats. These last are wont to be hunted extensively, in order to take them to different nations with the other merchandise of China—linens, silks, earthenware, iron, copper, steel, quicksilver, and innumerable other things, which are transported annually from those provinces. Religion and government are the same as those of España; but in those islands that are still unsubdued, foolish idolatry prevails. ”

“ When the new preparation was learned in Tydore, the rumor was taken to Ternate by spies. That king immediately summoned his vassals, especially the islanders of Maquien and Homero, who, inasmuch as those islands are so densely populated, responded with forty caracoas. The number would have been greater, but the king would not permit that more should be equipped than he requested, as he could not conceal his dread lest they rebel, as the lands were full of Christians, and the tributes that he had imposed on them were so excessive. ”

“ Therefore, we order the governors of those islands to show them good treatment and entrust them, in our name, with the government of the Indians, of whom they were formerly the lords. In all else the governors shall see that the chiefs are benefited justly, and the Indians shall pay them something as a recognition, as they did during the period of their paganism, provided it be without prejudice to the tributes that are to be paid us, or prejudicial to that which pertains to their encomenderos." Felipe II, Madrid, June 11, 1594. ”

“ The Christians differ only in that they cut their hair short, and wear hats, as do the Spaniards.
They are a light-complexioned people and tall of body. They have scant beards, are very stout-limbed, and of great strength. They are excellent workmen, and skilful in all arts and trades. They are phlegmatic, of little courage, treacherous and cruel when opportunity offers, and very covetous. They are heavy eaters of all kinds of meat, fish, and fruits; but they drink sparingly, and then of hot beverages.
They have a governor of their own race, a Christian, who has his officials and assistants. ”