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
The island called Lucon, which is the most important, has two bishops
and an archbishop. The archbishopric has jurisdiction in the vicinity
of the city of Manila, the capital of that country. Toward the east
it reaches as far as the village called Calilaya, forty leguas from
the city on the same island. It has four offices of alcalde-mayor,
which is the same thing as a corregimiento--namely those of La
Laguna de Vai, La Laguna de Bonvon, another in Valayan, and that
of Calilaya. In this there are many Indian villages administered by
religious of the Augustinian order, and still more by the discalced
of St. Francis. Toward the west of the jurisdiction is that of the
province of Pampanga, which is fertile and well-peopled, and that
of Bulacan, and the Cambales. These are not Christians and cannot be
reduced to conversion, but are negroes who go about like wild beasts
through the inaccessible parts of the mountains. They are given to
cutting the heads from other Indians, and no woman will marry a Cambal
unless he has cut off a head; accordingly, in order to be married,
he will cut one off, even though it be that of his own father when he
finds the latter in the fields. If these had been given into slavery
they would have been already reduced; but, although I have advised
it many times in the Council, no measures for this have ever been
taken. As the matter stands, they will never be pacified except by
this means. The reason for this is that, if they were given into
slavery, the Indians of Pampanga, with their great desire to hold
slaves for the managing of their crops, would have reduced them. They
do a great deal of damage, so much that no Indian dares go out alone
to work in his field, because they kill him merely for the sake of
cutting off his head. They live upon roots and fruit from the woods,
and have no houses, nor possessions, and go about naked. Toward
the east this jurisdiction takes in all the island, and toward the
west lies the sea. Several islands are joined to this jurisdiction,
as are those of Lioban and Mindoro. In these are a number of trees
resembling cinnamon [_canela_], which I have shown to our physicians,
who say that it is the Cinamomo. [51] Then there is the island of
Marenduque, where there are mines of copper; and other islands,
of little importance and sparsely peopled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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