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

I have said this briefly, for in what I wish to say I think there will
be many of this sort mentioned; and, just as it is imprudent to believe
all, it would be going to the other extreme to give credit to no one.

In the Filipinas Islands, in so far as I have been able to learn (and
I consider it certain), your Majesty has, without going to conquer
foreign kingdoms, the greatest wealth which has been found in the
Indias; [47] and I base this upon these arguments, for in all those
islands it is well known and established.

After the Spaniards founded the city of Manila and reduced that
island to peace, they learned that in some mountainous regions which
lie about forty leguas from the city, in the province of Pangasinan,
there were many mines of gold, according to the information which
the Indians gave them; but that they were inhabited by warlike and
barbarous Indians, who never permitted those of the plains to go up
there. This was known because they came down at certain times of
the year to buy a quantity of cattle, and brought a great deal of
gold. On this information, although it was somewhat indefinite, Guido
de Labacares, who governed at that time, sent a number of soldiers to
climb up the mountain. [48] These, being unprovided with necessities,
and fewer in number than were needed, encountered much resistance
from the natives. As the country is rough, and their food soon failed
them, they went back, many of them ill. Although they brought some
information, it was not sufficient to encourage the governor or to
cause him again to further the enterprise. Therefore, little by little,
this knowledge was fading away among the Spaniards, notwithstanding
that the religious who ministered in the neighboring provinces were
well informed, and certain Indians told them of it. Accordingly,
considering the host of vexations, injuries, and losses, and the
diminution of numbers that are suffered by the Indians in all the
Western Indias on account of the labor in the mines, the Order of
St. Dominic especially, who administer the province of Pangasinan,
have tried with all their might to cover up this information, on
account of this fear which possesses them.

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

I have said this briefly, for in what I wish to say I think there will
be many of this sort mentioned; and, just as it is imprudent to believe
all, it would be going to the other extreme to give credit to no one.

In the Filipinas Islands, in so far as I have been able to learn (and
I consider it certain), your Majesty has, without going to conquer
foreign kingdoms, the greatest wealth which has been found in the
Indias; [47] and I base this upon these arguments, for in all those
islands it is well known and established.

After the Spaniards founded the city of Manila and reduced that
island to peace, they learned that in some mountainous regions which
lie about forty leguas from the city, in the province of Pangasinan,
there were many mines of gold, according to the information which
the Indians gave them; but that they were inhabited by warlike and
barbarous Indians, who never permitted those of the plains to go up
there. This was known because they came down at certain times of
the year to buy a quantity of cattle, and brought a great deal of
gold. On this information, although it was somewhat indefinite, Guido
de Labacares, who governed at that time, sent a number of soldiers to
climb up the mountain. [48] These, being unprovided with necessities,
and fewer in number than were needed, encountered much resistance
from the natives. As the country is rough, and their food soon failed
them, they went back, many of them ill. Although they brought some
information, it was not sufficient to encourage the governor or to
cause him again to further the enterprise. Therefore, little by little,
this knowledge was fading away among the Spaniards, notwithstanding
that the religious who ministered in the neighboring provinces were
well informed, and certain Indians told them of it. Accordingly,
considering the host of vexations, injuries, and losses, and the
diminution of numbers that are suffered by the Indians in all the
Western Indias on account of the labor in the mines, the Order of
St. Dominic especially, who administer the province of Pangasinan,
have tried with all their might to cover up this information, on
account of this fear which possesses them.

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

No reviews yet