Opening the text

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 19 of 55: 1620-1621; 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, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.

History

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 19 of 55: 1620-1621; 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, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.

Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources

Will your Lordship advise me of your resolution to come to these forts,
and whether the viceroy of India is coming now with the squadron that
your Lordship has built. What I can say is that your Lordship's speedy
arrival here matters so much, although it be with only your galleys,
that on that alone depends the restoration of these two islands,
which will be maintained with the hope that your Lordship will come
hither in the time above stated. If you do not come, the islands and
the Spaniards who inhabit them will certainly perish; for although the
king of Tidore is our friend, he is the only one, and he does not have
the same assurance of his island as hitherto. For that reason, it is
advisable for me always to keep in this island the greater part of the
infantry of this camp, divided among the fort of Santiago, the fort
of Principe Tomanira, and Socanora. From the above your Lordship will
infer that I have need of protecting myself not only from the Dutch
but also from the natives and our intimates; for things are very much
changed from what your Lordship is informed. Tidore, July 29, 1616.


_Don Geronimo de Silva_





Chapter IX. Of the coming of the Dutch to Manila in search of Don
Juan de Silva.


It was learned in Maluco from the Dutch commander who passed through
the Strait of Magallanes and infested the coasts of Piru and Nueva
Espana--the same one who arrived at Manila just after the departure
of Don Juan de Silva--that Don Juan had laid his course toward Malaca
and thence to Maluco. Immediately all their ships were collected,
and, repairing many, they equipped the ten best ones, taking the
best artillery and men from their forts for that purpose, with the
determination of awaiting Silva. But when they saw that he delayed so
long, and that he could not come to Maluco now, because of bad weather,
thinking that he would have returned, they went to try issues with
him at Manila. On reaching the island of Mindanao, they learned of
his death from the Indians. They made a compact with the latter that
each side should go to destroy the islands, even as far as the city of
Manila. The Mindanaos set out with a fleet that they had prepared, of
seventy caracoas, which resemble galliots. They anchored with them in
the province of Camarines, where they had heard that one ship and two
pataches were being built for your Majesty. They killed and captured
about thirty Spaniards and many Indians, set fire to the ships, and
pillaged whatever they could lay hands on. That disaster, which was
very great, was the result of neglecting to send there fifty picked
soldiers to guard the shipyard. The chiefs of those caracoas divided
into two parties because of disputes between them. One party went
toward Manila in search of the Dutch. The other went to the island of
Panay. Captain Don Diego de Quinones, who was stationed in that island
as commandant and captain of the Pintados Islands, hearing of this,

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 19 of 55: 1620-1621; 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, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.

Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources

Will your Lordship advise me of your resolution to come to these forts,
and whether the viceroy of India is coming now with the squadron that
your Lordship has built. What I can say is that your Lordship's speedy
arrival here matters so much, although it be with only your galleys,
that on that alone depends the restoration of these two islands,
which will be maintained with the hope that your Lordship will come
hither in the time above stated. If you do not come, the islands and
the Spaniards who inhabit them will certainly perish; for although the
king of Tidore is our friend, he is the only one, and he does not have
the same assurance of his island as hitherto. For that reason, it is
advisable for me always to keep in this island the greater part of the
infantry of this camp, divided among the fort of Santiago, the fort
of Principe Tomanira, and Socanora. From the above your Lordship will
infer that I have need of protecting myself not only from the Dutch
but also from the natives and our intimates; for things are very much
changed from what your Lordship is informed. Tidore, July 29, 1616.


_Don Geronimo de Silva_





Chapter IX. Of the coming of the Dutch to Manila in search of Don
Juan de Silva.


It was learned in Maluco from the Dutch commander who passed through
the Strait of Magallanes and infested the coasts of Piru and Nueva
Espana--the same one who arrived at Manila just after the departure
of Don Juan de Silva--that Don Juan had laid his course toward Malaca
and thence to Maluco. Immediately all their ships were collected,
and, repairing many, they equipped the ten best ones, taking the
best artillery and men from their forts for that purpose, with the
determination of awaiting Silva. But when they saw that he delayed so
long, and that he could not come to Maluco now, because of bad weather,
thinking that he would have returned, they went to try issues with
him at Manila. On reaching the island of Mindanao, they learned of
his death from the Indians. They made a compact with the latter that
each side should go to destroy the islands, even as far as the city of
Manila. The Mindanaos set out with a fleet that they had prepared, of
seventy caracoas, which resemble galliots. They anchored with them in
the province of Camarines, where they had heard that one ship and two
pataches were being built for your Majesty. They killed and captured
about thirty Spaniards and many Indians, set fire to the ships, and
pillaged whatever they could lay hands on. That disaster, which was
very great, was the result of neglecting to send there fifty picked
soldiers to guard the shipyard. The chiefs of those caracoas divided
into two parties because of disputes between them. One party went
toward Manila in search of the Dutch. The other went to the island of
Panay. Captain Don Diego de Quinones, who was stationed in that island
as commandant and captain of the Pintados Islands, hearing of this,

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

No reviews yet