The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 42, 1670-1700: 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 42, 1670-1700: 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
With Don Gabriel de Arnedo came the auditor Licentiate Don Juan de
Ozaeta y Oro, a native of Lima, with his wife and children, who the
preceding year had not been able to embark on account of the lack
of accommodations in the patache "San Fernando," in which came the
investigating judge and the three auditors. Licentiate Don Juan de
Ozaeta was highly esteemed for his learning, and for having been
an official of great integrity and uprightness. He completed his
six years' term as auditor of Filipinas, and embarked for Méjico,
where he was for many years alcalde of criminal cases for that city,
with the same reputation for integrity and rectitude. The new auditors
brought orders from his Majesty that two of them should go first to
visit the provinces [126] of these islands, and draw up an enumeration
of the royal tributes, their two associates remaining [at Manila] to
serve in the royal Audiencia. For this task two auditors set out--Don
Alonso de Abella Fuertes to visit the provinces of Cagayán, Ilocos,
and Pampanga; and Don Juan de Sierra to visit those of Cebú, Ogtón,
and Panay, although he visited only the last two. After Don Alonso
Fuertes had returned from his commission, Licentiate Don Juan de Ozaeta
went to visit the provinces of Tagalos, and made the enumeration of
the tributes.
Don Fausto placed on the stocks the largest galleon that had ever
been built; for it was three codos longer than the largest that
had been built in the world. This enterprise was carried on by
Master-of-camp Don Tomás de Endaya, who by application had become
very skilful in this art, and he was therefore the superintendent of
this construction; which was completed in less than nine months, to
the astonishment of everyone--although with some cause for scandal,
since the men worked on it even on the most important feast-days, not
stopping even on Holy Thursday. He gave it the name of "San José,"
and appointed Don José Madrazo its commander; and it was launched
very successfully. It sailed from this headland of Cavite on the day
of Sts. Peter and Paul in 1694; [127] and on July 3, in the night,
it was dashed to pieces on the coast of Lubán, and more than four
hundred persons were drowned. It was reckoned that if the men had
not worked on the feast-days the vessel would have been completed
more slowly, and would have sailed many days later, and the furious
hurricane that was the cause of its wreck would not have caught it on
the sea, with the deaths of so many persons and the loss of the great
amount of merchandise that it carried; for it is considered certain
that no larger or richer galleon had plowed the waters of the sea,
for the wealth that it carried was incredible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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