' -^wrtM^A^Jn^ (fn^yi/m^^^/L/^ff^f^^aa^ yy&€>u4jm#. 'stv&c&rrt^e/ 4U> *--- i THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 1493-1898 The PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 1493-1898 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and their Peoples, their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as related in contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, showing the Political, Eco- nomic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of those Islands from their earliest relations with European Nations to the close of the Nineteenth Century TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINALS Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson, with historical intro- duction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne. With maps, portraits and other illustrations Volume XXVII— 1636-1637 The Arthur H. Clark Company Cleveland, Ohio MCMV COPYRIGHT I905 THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXVII Preface. 9 Documents of 1636 Letter to Felipe IV. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera; Cavite, June 30. .21 Letter to Corcuera. Felipe IV; Madrid, October 11 36 Royal decrees. Felipe IV; Madrid, Au- gust-November -45 Informatory memorial addressed to the king. Juan Grau y Monfalcon; Madrid, 1637. 55 Documents of 1637 Defeat of Moro pirates. [Unsigned; but probably written by Pedro Gutierrez, S.J., from Dapitan, in 1637.] . .215 Auditorship of accounts in Manila, 1595- 1637. [Unsigned; probably written at Madrid, in February, 1637.] . 227 Conquest of Mindanao. Marcelo Fran- cisco Mastrilli, S.J.; Taytay, June 2. 253 Events in Filipinas, 1636-37. Juan Lopez, S.J.; Cavite, July 23. 306 Corcuera's triumphant entry into Manila. Juan Lopez, Manila, May-July. 330 Royal aid requested by the Jesuits at Ma- nila. Francisco Colin, S.J., and others; Manila, July-August 341 Letters to Felipe IV. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera; Manila, August 20. 346 Bibliographical Data 365 £25<, RSDf* ILLUSTRATIONS Les Isles Philippines, Molucques, et de la Sonde (map of Indian archipelago) ; photographic facsimile of map by Sanson d'Abbeville (Paris, 1654) ; from original in Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. 74, 75 View of Acapulco Harbor, in Mexico; photo- graphic facsimile of engraving in Valentyn's Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien (Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1724), i, p. 160; from copy in library of Wisconsin State Historical Society. 163 Weapons of the Moros ; photograph of weapons in the Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar, Mad- rid. 223 Map of Borneo; photographic facsimile of engraving in Valentyn's Oud en Nieuw Oost- Indien (Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1726), iii, between pag?s 236 and 237; from copy in library of Wisconsin State Historical Society. 317 PREFACE The principal topics treated in this volume (1636- 37) are the commerce of the Philippine Islands (especially with Nueva Espana) and the punish- ment inflicted by Corcuera on the Moro pirates of Mindanao. The former is fully discussed by Juan Grau y Monfalcon, procurator of Filipinas at the Spanish court; the latter is related in various docu- ments, written mainly by participants in the Min- danao campaign. Certain minor documents relate to the administration of the islands and to the religious orders there. A letter from Corcuera (June 30, 1636) gives a brief account of the great ecclesiastical controversy of that year; we present it here, not so much for the new information contained in it (which is not ex- tensive) as for its being evidently the direct expres- sion of the governor's own opinions, and not (like some others of his reports) dictated more or less by other persons. Corcuera says that " the friars are lawless people, and he would rather fight the Dutch in Flandes than deal with them." He asks that the king will adjust these matters, or else send another governor to the islands, so that one of them may attend to ecclesiastical affairs and the other to tem- poral. Part of Cerezo's letter of August 10, 1634, to IO THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 27 the king is answered by the latter (October 10, 1636) in his despatches to Corcuera; it relates to military affairs - approving Cerezo's action, and giving some directions to Corcuera. A royal decree of August 14, 1636, commands the municipality of Manila to reimburse their pro- curator-general, Juan Grau y Monfalcon, for the time and money that he has spent in attending to their business at the Spanish court. Another docu- ment of this sort (November 6, 1636) gives Corcuera orders regarding certain matters which his prede- cessor Cerezo had laid before the Spanish govern- ment. A third document (of the same date) ap- proves the proceedings of Pedro de Heredia as governor of Terrenate, and promises reinforcements for the Spanish fort there. The noted Memorial informatorio (Madrid, 1637) of Juan Grau y Monfalcon, procurator-gen- eral for Manila and the Philippines at the Spanish court, is here presented; it concerns the important and long-debated question of the restrictions imposed on the trade of the Philippine Islands with Nueva Espana. Certain measures have been proposed to the Spanish government which the procurator re- gards as dangerous to the interests of the Philippines, and he hastens to urge against these proposals nu- merous forcible arguments. He claims that the adoption of the former must result in the ruin of the citizens. And thus the crown must either support the entire expense of the islands, or abandon its hold on them -the former a heavy tax on its means, the latter most damaging to its power and prestige. A royal commissioner has been sent to Acapulco to investigate the revenue frauds alleged there, which 1636-1637] PREFACE II greatly disturbs those who are engaged in trade, both in Nueva Espafia and in the islands. The proposal to abandon the islands has been revived; the pro- curator rehearses the arguments advanced for this, and vigorously attacks them, urging that the pos- session of Filipinas be maintained by the crown as is that of Flanders. He proceeds to represent the importance of the islands, adducing many arguments to show this: the dependence of the Malucos on Filipinas, the size and number of those islands, the greatness and importance of Manila, the mineral resources of the islands, and, above all, their com- merce. The procurator describes this commerce, both domestic and foreign. Under the former head he enumerates the chief products of the islands, the diverse peoples who inhabit them, and the number of Indians and foreigners paying tribute to the crown and to private persons. He emphasizes the impor- tance of the central location of the islands, and the restraint and hindrance that they constitute to the schemes of the Dutch for gaining control of the Oriental trade. Considering next the foreign trade of Filipinas, he represents it as far the most valuable part of that commerce, and gives a historical sketch of Oriental trade in general, with an enumeration of the commodities and products obtained therein, and much valuable information regarding the origin, quality, and prices of many goods. He relates how the Dutch were driven from Maluco, but afterward regained much of the spice region, notwithstanding the efforts of the Philippine Spaniards to prevent this. A list of the Dutch forts and factories in the archipelago is presented. From these data the pro- !2 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 27 curator draws forcible arguments for the retention and support of the Philippine colony by the crown. This is fully justified by the importance of the clove trade, which otherwise would be lost to Spain; and by that of the Chinese trade, of which Filipinas enjoys the greater part. The maintenance of the Philippines will result in preserving the missionary conquests in the Far East, securing the safety of India, depriving the Dutch of their trade, relieving the expenses needed to preserve the American Span- ish colonies, and maintaining the prestige of the Spanish crown. The royal treasury alone cannot meet all the expenses of the islands, nor is it wise to allow them too much commerce with Nueva Espaiia; the king is therefore advised to combine these two methods of relief. For his guidance in this matter, valuable information is submitted by the procurator, regarding the expenses of maintaining and governing the Philippines (under eight different headings - civil, religious, and military - sufficiently itemized to give a clear outline of expenditures under each, and summarized at the end), the revenues of the colonial treasury, and the real nature of the deficit therein. He claims that the islands contribute more than what they cost, since they have to bear the great expenses of maintaining and defending Maluco against the Dutch (which includes more than one- third of all the expenses of Filipinas), and aid all public needs with their time, property, and lives, as volunteers - thus saving to the crown an enormous expense. The procurator asks that these services be duly rewarded by the crown, and recommends that for this purpose the magistracies in the islands be kept for rewarding such worthy citizens, and not 1636-1637] PREFACE 13 sold, as heretofore, at auction. But chiefly he urges the importance to them of the trade with Nueva Espafia which is chiefly based on that which Manila carries on with China and India. Efforts have been made in Spain to suppress the former commerce, as being detrimental to that of Spain and the Indias. He admits that this last is decreasing, but claims that Filipinas is not responsible therefor. The causes of that decline are, rather, the greatly lessened yield of the precious metals in America, the enormous de- crease of the Indian population in the colonies, the smaller consumption of goods among the Spaniards therein, and the exorbitant imposts and duties levied on the merchants.