An Historical View of the Philippine Islands Volume I Part 5

The Archbishop of Manila, Benavides, having died on the 26th of July, 1605, his Majesty named as his successor, Don Diego Vasques Mercado of Arevalo, in Old Castile. This year, 1610, he arrived at the Philippines, and discharged his functions with great approbation, until the year 1616, when he died, and the Bishop of Zebu succeeded him in the Archbishopric.

The Dutch being settled in the island of Java, and possessing fortifications in Malacca and other parts of India, our Governor had little relish for such a neighbourhood, and as they had at times infested our seas, and attacked our islands, he determined, in person, to destroy the forts they had in Malacca, which being so close in his vicinity, he was the more jealous of. He fitted out a squadron of six s.h.i.+ps and two galleys, and sailed for Ternate, where he intended to take on board some linguists, and to arrange all his other operations. He understood, in Ternate, that the Dutch hearing of this expedition, had fortified themselves in such a manner in Malacca, that it was impossible to make an impression upon them, and that he might not entirely lose the benefit of the armament he had prepared, he attempted to reduce the forts in Gilolo and Bataquina, but was obliged to retreat to Manila, with the loss of three hundred men, when he immediately began to make preparations of men and s.h.i.+ps for another expedition of the same nature. These islands, at this time, received considerable aid in the arrival from Spain, by the way of India, of five caravelas out of seven, which in April, 1613, had sailed from Cadiz, commanded by Ruy Gonzalez de Segueira, having on board three hundred and fifty soldiers, two hundred and forty seamen, and a hundred Portuguese landsmen.

Upon the arrival of this relief, the Governor determined to proceed to Malacca against the Dutch, whose position he ordered to be reconnoitred, but he found them so powerful in s.h.i.+ps, which had arrived by the Straits both of Magellan and Sunda, that he deemed it necessary to use his utmost exertions, to enable him to cope with such powerful enemies. With this view he sent a despatch to the Viceroy of India, requesting he would unite the forces of the two kingdoms; but while he was preparing his armament at Cavite, ten Dutch vessels arrived at Panay. They landed a number of men, and marched for the city of Arivalo, burning the churches and the convents of the Augustine friars, in the towns of Ogtong and Xaro. The Indians, aware of the inadequate force the Spaniards possessed, fled to the mountains, and although the Dutch retired immediately, it cost the friars a great deal of labour, to bring them back to their towns, where they could not persuade themselves they were secure.

By the end of the year 1616, Don Juan de Silva had collected the greatest armament, that had been seen in the Philippines; it consisted of ten galleons, four galleys, a patache, and many smaller vessels, with all necessary supplies, and five thousand men, two thousand being Spaniards and Portuguese. He sailed with this formidable armament, on the last day of this year, to attack the forts of Malacca; but as the galleons had not arrived which were expected from India, and which he imagined had wintered in the Straits of Malacca, and it was known that the Dutch kept some vessels in these Straits, in expectation of the s.h.i.+ps from China which pa.s.sed by here, the Governor thought it most adviseable, to attack these s.h.i.+ps in the first instance, and after he had destroyed them, he should be able to join the galleons from India, and proceed to the Dutch forts in Malacca. The reasoning was good, but it failed in the execution, the galleons of India having been burnt, in an engagement they had with the Dutch, and the latter having quitted the Straits eight days before the Spaniards arrived, flying with all their effects, as they had received secret intelligence of their route. At the same time that the Spanish galleons entered the Straits, two Malay merchantmen from China arrived very richly laden; by saving which, the inhabitants of Malacca called Don de Silva their preserver, received him on sh.o.r.e under a canopy, and expected from his valour, and the powerful fleet he brought, that India would be freed from those freebooters, the Dutch; but he was seized with a fever, and died in eleven days, on the 19th of April, 1616. He had ordered his body to be embalmed, and directed it should be carried to Xerez de los Cavalleros, to a convent of bare-footed carmelites, and buried there. Before he died, he gave the command of the armament to Don Alonzo Henriquez, who brought it back to Manila, without effecting any thing else.

By the death of the Governor, the command devolved on Don Andres Alcaraz, the oldest Oidor, who had been left in charge of the government by Don Juan de Silva, when he sailed with the armament for Malacca. About the same time our squadron sailed from the bay, another Dutch squadron, which had lately arrived by the Straits of Magellan, entered the mouth of the harbour, and lay a month close to Marivelez. There were only four s.h.i.+ps and two pataches laying before Manila, and it was without artillery, ammunition, or soldiers. The Governor ad interim was not dismayed at this; he armed those few s.h.i.+ps he possessed, fortified certain positions, and was encouraged in the undertaking by the people, who took up arms, not only the laity, but even the ecclesiastics also. The Dutch commander wrote two letters to the Royal Audience, and one to General Pablo Blancardo, whom the Spaniards had carried prisoner to Manila; but as soon as he learned that Blancardo had died in prison, he made sail to the Moluccas.

Upon the death of Silva, the Dutch came with ten s.h.i.+ps against Oton, where they were gallantly repulsed by the commandant of the Pintados, Don Diego de Quinones, who, in a wooden fort, sustained a siege of ten days, during which time the Dutch made four a.s.saults, in which many were killed, but at last they were compelled to re-embark, and they retired to Malacca. The following year the same armament of ten s.h.i.+ps came against Playa Honda. The Governor despatched against them, the Colonel Don Juan Ronquillo, with six galleons and two galleys; they came to an action on the 14th of April, 1617, and the two commodores being engaged, Don Juan Ronquillo sunk his adversary's s.h.i.+p, called the Sun of Holland; two other s.h.i.+ps were burnt, and the rest fled with precipitation. The Spaniards, however, were not able to pursue them, as they had suffered much in the engagement, and had lost the galleon St. Mark. After this action, Don Geronimo de Silva returned from Molucca, and the Oidor Alcarez resigned to him his office, the duties of which he had discharged with great applause. In October, Don Geronimo ordered the seven galleons that had been so severely handled in the last engagement, to be laid up in Marinduque. The two s.h.i.+ps for Acapulco were despatched in the worst season of the year, during the hurricane months, and they were both lost, one on the coast of Lobo, and the other on that of Galban. This reflected no great credit on the wisdom and prudence of the Governor.

CHAPTER XV.

ANNO DOM. 1618.

The Administration of Don Alonzo Faxardo.

On the 2d of July, 1618, arrived Don Alonzo Faxardo, of the order of Alcantara, of Murcia, and on the day following he took possession of the government of these islands. His Majesty had appointed him chief of an armament which he had intended to send by the Straits of Magellan, to the relief of Don Juan de Silva, to drive the Dutch from these seas; but it was delayed by his sending the forces destined for the Philippines, to the relief of the Emperor of Germany, Ferdinand the Second. The voyage on this account did not take place, until the death of Silva was known, when his Majesty named Faxardo as Governor, charging him to be careful of the interests of the Indians, who had suffered much in the late struggles, and promising ample rewards to those Spaniards, who should make this an object of their special attention.

A short time after his arrival, the Dutch appeared in those seas, not with the intention of attempting Manila, as they were aware of the difficulty of the undertaking, but to intercept the galleons from Acapulco, richly laden with bullion. For this purpose they cruized with three s.h.i.+ps off Cape Espiritu Santo, taking their station in the strait of St. Bernardino, as the galleons coming from Acapulco were in the constant habit of taking that route. On the 25th of February the Dutch got sight of them; they bore up, and ordered them to strike their colours, when a severe engagement took place. The Spaniards, under the veil of night, and in the confusion which prevailed, separated and escaped, one arriving at Palapag, and the other at Borongo, on the coast of Ybabao, where the cargoes were all saved, though the s.h.i.+ps were lost. That the same misfortune might not occur again, the Governor ever after gave the commanders secret instructions, changing their route each voyage. On the 24th of August, this year, Friar Miguel Garcia Serrano, of the order of St. Augustine, late Bishop of New Segovia, took possession of the Archbishopric of Manila.

In the year 1623, upon the canonization of St. Ignacio and St. Francisco Xavier, the friars of that order celebrated a grand festival, and those of Zebu, desirous of imitating them, likewise celebrated one, at which all the Jesuits of the island of Bohol were present, leaving very few Spaniards in that island. The defenceless state of it induced two or three Indians to persuade the rest to rebel, a.s.suring them that the Devil had appeared, ordering them not to pay tribute to the Spaniards, but to retire to the mountains, and erect a chapel, where they should wors.h.i.+p him, and he would give them every thing they required, and defend them from the Spaniards. This was quite sufficient to set all the island in a flame, two towns alone remaining faithful to the Spaniards. The Alcalde Mayor of Zebu, immediately upon notice of this insurrection, sent fifty Spaniards, and one thousand friendly Indians to Bohol, who attacked the rebels with great vigour, made considerable slaughter, and completely routed them. This ought to have undeceived them, but they were obstinate, and fortified themselves on a rock, which, however, afforded them little defence, as our people being protected by their s.h.i.+elds from the arrows and stones they hurled down, gained the height, and made great havock among them, making prisoners all that were not able to save themselves by flight. The Alcalde Mayor hanged some of the ringleaders, and pardoned the remainder; but insensible to this favour, they spurned at the proffered pardon, and fled to the mountains, to which, six months after, the Alcalde returned, and thoroughly quelled the insurrection.

The bad example of the people of Bohol was followed by those of the island of Leyte, and was fomented by an Indian who was not suspected of disaffection. This was Bancao, a petty chief of Dimasava, who had received Legaspi with great attention, and had accompanied him to Zebu, where he was baptized, for which conduct Philip the Second had sent him a royal order, granting him many privileges. He had been very faithful to the Spaniards in his youth, but turned traitor in his old age. In imitation of those of Bohol, he raised an insurrection among the Indians in the island of Leyte, so that it became necessary to send a force against them. Although they saw the Spaniards were superior in numbers to them, they were not dismayed, and received them firmly; but in a short time they fled with precipitation. In this flight Bancao was killed, having been transfixed by a lance: his head was placed on a pole, to serve as a warning to others, which had so good an effect, that order was immediately restored.

This year an expedition was sent to the mountains of Igorrotes, where there were mines of gold, and where the Indians were of fairer complexion, with the small eyes of the Chinese. It was imagined that when Limahon was in Pangasinan, many of his people, pressed by hunger, fled to the mountains, and mixed with the inhabitants, from which intercourse resulted this cast, so different from the rest.

This expedition, under charge of Francisco Carrino de Valdes, head of the provinces of Pangasinan and Ylocos, marched in good order seven days, and on the eighth arrived in the town of the mines, where the natives received them well; but the Spaniards placed too much confidence in them. The Igorrotes, when least expected, rose on them, and treacherously murdered the chief of the friendly Indians, on which de Valades retired, to wait a better opportunity. The following year the expedition was expected to be repeated, but it was not, as it became necessary for the troops to march to Cagayan, to quell an insurrection among the Indians of that province. Many expeditions have since taken place to these mountains, but with such ill success, that the Indians of this district remain independent to this hour. They, however, trade with the Spaniards in gold, wax, and tobacco, in return for cattle; and the Augustine friars have succeeded, in converting to Christianity, a few who live in the towns near the mountains.

The Governor persevered in pacific measures as much as possible, although those measures were deemed disgraceful. He had much domestic uneasiness on account of his wife, Dona Catalina Zembrano, who had an illicit connection, and was accustomed to steal out from the palace to a particular house, where she was at last discovered with her lover by Faxardo, who going his rounds through the city, as was his custom, from information, no doubt, which he had received, entered into the house in which this lady was with her paramour, and found her in a situation, which rendered her guilt sufficiently manifest. Don Alonzo, a man of high honour, severely felt this injury, and was determined to take proper vengeance. He ordered a confessor to be called to her; and the ceremony at an end, unmoved by the tears and persuasion of the priest to the contrary, he stabbed her with his own hand. The unworthy paramour saved his life by flight, and thus escaped the vengeance of the Governor. Don Alonzo soon after fell into a profound melancholy, of which he died in two years, and was buried in the church of the Franciscans, August, 1624. By his death Don Geronimo de Silva succeeded to the military government, and the civil government became vested in the Royal Audience. In a short time after, a fleet of seven Dutch men of war appeared off Playa Honda, and many of their soldiers landed on the island of Corrigidor, and took prisoners or killed such Indians as fell in their way. The Governor proceeded against them with five galleons and two large galleys, and fell in with them on the coast of Playa Honda, when the Dutch attempted to escape; but our commander's s.h.i.+p, by superiority of sailing, prevented it, when a warm engagement took place, and a Spaniard was killed close to the Governor. It is necessary to mention this accident, as he thought himself in great danger, and was so alarmed by it, that he ordered the s.h.i.+ps to retire to Cavite, where he was received with the contempt he merited; the people imputing the loss of the victory to his cowardice. Complaints were made to the Royal Audience, who confined him in the fort of Santiago, where he remained until he was released by the Governor who succeeded him, ad interim, Don Fernando de Silva, knight of the order of Santiago.

Don Fernando had been in Manila before this time, having there made a most honourable matrimonial connection; and having acc.u.mulated a good fortune, he went with his wife to Mexico, and from thence to Madrid, having been sent thither by his near relation, the Viceroy of New Spain, Marquis de Cerralbo. Having returned to Mexico and this vacancy in the government of Manila occurring, it was given to him ad interim, and he arrived there in June 1625.

He was received in Manila with great satisfaction, as they knew he was prudent, and well acquainted with these islands: this he had sufficiently shewn in the measures he had adopted for the protection of our commerce, by means of the s.h.i.+ps he had built at Cavite for that purpose. He ordered the Alcalde Mayor of Cagayan to land on the island of Formosa, and fortify it in that part of Fanchuy which was the nearest to Cagayan, in order, with greater facility to oppose the Dutch, who, the year before, had raised forts on the opposite side, called Tayguan, with the intention of obstructing the commerce of China with Manila. The Alcalde Mayor executed his commission, and constructed works sufficiently extensive to accommodate the troops, and the Dominican friars, who had gone there to convert the natives; and who exerted themselves with such zeal, that in a short time they built several towns, and were able to number the greater part of the natives, among the professors of our faith.

CHAPTER XVI.

ANNO DOM. 1626.

Of the Administration of Don Juan Nino de Tabora.

Don Juan Nino de Tabora, knight of the order of Calatrava, was named as Governor of the Philippines. He embarked for his government with six hundred troops, and several officers, who had served with him in Flanders, among whom were Don Lorenzo Olaso y Ochotegui, who came with the appointment of Colonel. Tabora arrived safely at Manila, and entered upon his government on the 29th of June, 1626. He possessed a fund of military knowledge, which was of great importance, at this period, to the Philippines, and he immediately provided a sufficient force to protect their commerce, and secure the respect of their neighbours. In ten months after his arrival, he had collected eight large s.h.i.+ps of war, four smaller for the commerce of Acapulco, and two still smaller for the protection of the intercourse with Molucca. With this armament, and with two s.h.i.+ps, which were expected from New Spain with men and money, he determined to attack the Dutch on the island of Formosa; but the arrival of the two s.h.i.+ps being r.e.t.a.r.ded very considerably, he was not ready to proceed with the expedition, until the middle of August. The Royal Audience, considering the approach of the monsoon, and apprehensive of the loss of the squadron, and that the object of the expedition might be thus defeated, represented their fears to the Governor, and pa.s.sed an order that it should not sail. Having no faith, however, in what he considered as idle chimeras, Tabora left Cavite, and arrived at Cape Boxeador; where, finding the north winds had set in, and that it was impossible to make head against them, after repeated unsuccessful attempts, he bore away for Cavite; and the only advantage resulting, from his pertinacious opposition to the opinion of the Royal Audience, was the relief he sent in some small vessels, to the Spaniards in the island of Formosa.

A vessel soon after arrived from China, and gave the intelligence that the Dutch were lying in wait at Macao, for the merchantmen expected from Manila in China. The Portuguese requested, that part of the armament might be allowed to convoy them, offering to contribute to the expenses. The Governor, accordingly, sent with them two large galleons, with a patache, ordering the commodore, after he had seen the Portuguese safe, to run up the coast from Macao to Sincapura in search of the Dutch, wintering at Siam, for which indulgence he was ordered to make the necessary presents to the King. Don Juan de Alcaraz, who was the commodore, punctually obeyed his orders: he arrived at Macao, and not meeting with the Dutch, who had quitted it precipitately, on notice of his appearance in this quarter, he pa.s.sed on to Siam, where, finding the Dutch protected by the Siamese, he burned some of their junks, and made prisoners the amba.s.sadors whom the Siamese were accustomed, at certain periods, to send to China, with their acknowledgment of the sovereignty of the Emperor. Upon this occasion our arms acquired such credit, that, during the whole of this government, the Dutch made no further attempt against these islands.

In the year 1628 two s.h.i.+ps arrived with the usual supplies from Acapulco, and in them came Friar Hernando Guerrero, of the order of St. Augustine, Bishop of Cagayan, and the Governor's intended bride, Dona Magdalena Zaldivar y Mendoza, with whom he had entered into a treaty of marriage while at Mexico, and had obtained leave from the King for that purpose. The wedding feasts, however, were no impediment to the operations of the government. The Moors of Jolo continually infested these islands; those, in particular, which were the more remote from the capital, were kept in perpetual alarm, and nothing was talked of but the depredations committed, and the prisoners taken. To chastise these insults, a squadron was sent against Jolo, under the command of Don Christoval de Lugo. He arrived safe, and landed all his people without any resistance, the Indians having, in a cowardly manner, abandoned their town, and retired, with their King, to a fort situated on the top of a hill. The Spaniards plundered these houses, in which the friendly Indians diligently a.s.sisted, enriching themselves by the spoils, which consisted of rice, gunpowder, brimstone, small-arms, &c. They did not pursue them to the fort on the top of the hill, in which they had taken refuge; but, after having completely destroyed the town, they embarked for Manila. In pa.s.sing by the island of Basilan, they landed, burned the princ.i.p.al town, and destroyed all the trees, as a punishment for the aid which these Indians had afforded to those of Jolo, in the last incursions they made.

The following year, a sacrilege was committed in the cathedral, which affected the mind of the Archbishop to that degree, that he died of melancholy. He was one of the most devout prelates who had occupied the archbishopric. He was interred in the church of St. Augustine.

After his death, there was a dispute between the ecclesiastical Cabildo and the Bishop of Zebu, as to who should succeed ad interim to the archbishopric, when the Royal Audience determined in favour of the Bishop, conformable to the bull of Pius V. The Moors in Jolo and Caumocones again commenced their ravages in the islands: nothing was secure in the towns on the coasts; neither friars, Indians, churches, or ornaments; all were objects of their enmity. Notice was, without loss of time, given to the Governor; he despatched a fleet, commanded by Don Lorenzo Olaso, for the double purpose of making peace with the Indians of Mindanao, as they requested, and to retaliate upon those of Jolo. He arrived at Jolo, landed his people, and marched up to the fort on the hill, to which, as usual, the Indians had retired. The General believed it no difficult matter to reduce the fort, and gave orders to attack it accordingly; he shewed, in the attack, great personal valour, and acting the part of a common soldier, as well as a general, was, with two of his captains, killed. As no officer remained to command them, the men retired to their s.h.i.+ps; and, without doing anything else than laying waste the country, they returned to Manila in haste, and in disgrace, the Moors becoming more insolent than they were before. The Indians of the province of Caraga, in Mindanao, observing that the Spaniards were unable to subdue their countrymen, put to death some of the friars and Spaniards who were living among them, and declared open rebellion in most of the towns of the province.--The remaining friars and Spaniards, took refuge in the towns which continued faithful to their cause; and, in a short time, relief arriving from Manila, order was again restored.

This year several emba.s.sies arrived at Manila: one from j.a.pan from the Governor of Nangasaquy; and the King of Saxuma, likewise, sent amba.s.sadors, seeking redress for the ravages our galleons had committed in the harbour of Siam, on two junks of his nation, and out of which had been taken some of the royal merchandize, which they considered a great sacrilege, and which had so irritated them, that the real object of the emba.s.sy was to reconnoitre the place, with a view to take vengeance for this insult. A Governor of one of the Chinese provinces, sent an emba.s.sy to request the continuation of the commercial intercourse; and the King of Cambodia, who was at war with the King of Siam, sent to request the protection of the Spaniards, offering the commerce of his kingdom, and liberty to form a dock for the building of s.h.i.+ps. The Governor received all these with presents, and dismissed them with urbanity and kindness: he accepted the offer of the King of Cambodia, and sent some s.h.i.+p-builders for the purpose of constructing a vessel there: with them went four Dominicans to preach the gospel; but when they arrived, finding the King dead, and little disposition in his son, who succeeded him, to admit the catholic religion, they all returned to Manila without effecting any thing.

The Governor, who was determined to lose no opportunity that offered to build s.h.i.+ps, finished one in the port of Cavite; but so badly constructed, that, at the commencement of her voyage for Acapulco, she foundered in the port: she was, however, hove up, and sufficiently repaired to proceed on her voyage the following year. By this means, and the arrival here of the other s.h.i.+ps in 1631, no s.h.i.+p remained in Acapulco to send to the Philippines; and the Viceroy of Mexico despatched two pataches with the ordinary relief. In one of these came Don Francisco Roxas y Onate, Oidor of Mexico, as inspector of the Royal Audience, and other tribunals; and his office to continue two years. He was well received, and the Governor supported his authority whilst he lived; by means of which, he made his visit pleasant, although he suspended two Oidors. His Excellency, on the 22d of July 1632, died of a dysentery, occasioned by being exposed to the rain and sun, during his visits to and from Cavite, in the performance of his office, in which he was extremely diligent, having made a bridge over the river of Manila, repaired the fortifications of the town, and constructed several works in Cavite.

Don Lorenzo Olaso had been named by the Viceroy of Mexico to succeed him pro tempore. Nothing particular occurred under his administration, which only lasted a year, when Don Juan Zerezo of Salamanca was appointed to succeed as Governor ad interim. Immediately on his arrival at Manila, with a view to repress the insults of the Moors, and on the representation of the Jesuits, he determined to form a garrison at Zamboanga. He appointed Don Juan de Chaves to the command, with an adequate force, and orders, after destroying the towns of the Moors, to erect a fort in the situation which Friar Vera had pitched upon, a little distant from the port of Caldera, where it was necessary to maintain a detachment to guard the s.h.i.+pping. This situation is most beautiful; but, having no water, the defect was supplied by digging a channel from the river, through which the water flows in great abundance, and, pa.s.sing by the wall of the fort, falls into the sea. The first stone of the fort was laid on the 23d of June, 1635. Many of the Spaniards opposed this plan under different pretexts, and experience has shewn what little purpose this fort has answered, its only use being to enrich one military man, who is Governor for three years, and who draws twenty or thirty thousand dollars profit from the supplies furnished the soldiers. The Moors, not in the least checked by the fort of Zamboanga, have continued, to this hour, committing the same ravages as before; and the Indians, who are each taxed a measure of rice for its maintenance, have received neither security or benefit from it.

It has been too justly observed by Senor Solorzano, that whatever is established with a view to benefit the Indians, universally fails of attaining that end; nor is this to be wondered at, as every regulation brought forward with this avowed intention is always so contrived, as to contribute not to the advantage of the oppressed Indian, but solely to that of the person exercising the chief authority.

CHAPTER XVII.

ANNO DOM. 1635.

The Administration of Don Sebastian Corcuera.

On the 25th of June, 1635, Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, who had been Governor of Panama, took possession of this government, and the same day Senor Guerrero took possession of the archbishopric, although the bulls had not yet arrived. Dissensions immediately begun between these two, originating between the Dominicans and bearded friars, respecting the division of their provinces, and on which account his Excellency was determined to be revenged of the Archbishop, the very first opportunity. An occasion very soon presented itself: the Archbishop having taken a female slave from an artilleryman, because he had an illicit intercourse with her, the artilleryman met her one day in the street, and, for some unknown cause, murdered her, taking refuge in the church of St. Augustine.

The Governor ordered the troops to seize him in the church, without first applying to the friars; they obeyed their orders, seized the criminal, and delivered him up to their commanding officer, who sentenced him to death. The sentence was executed in front of the church of St. Augustine, a place which had never been used for public punishment: the Archbishop attempted to prevent the violation of the church privileges, but his attempt proved ineffectual.

During the disputes between the Governor and the Archbishop, the Moors were ravaging our towns, and for the s.p.a.ce of eight months committed horrible atrocities. His Excellency determined to go in person to chastise them. He sailed from Manila with a squadron on the 2d of February, 1637, and having arrived at Lamitan, the residence of Corralat, petty sovereign of Mindanao, he possessed himself of it with ease. Corralat retired to a hill well defended by batteries, and the best troops he had. The Governor attacked him, but after losing many Spaniards, he sounded a retreat. The day following he renewed the attack by a road more accessible, when he possessed himself of the fort, and made great slaughter of the Moors, who threw themselves headlong over the precipice in their confusion. The Governor now retired to Zamboanga, where he received the chief of Buhayen, and those of the island of Basilan, upon both of whom their fears had operated to beg for peace, promising to consider Corralat as a common enemy, and receive Friars into their dominions.

From Zamboanga he pa.s.sed to Jolo, and sat down before the famous hill fort of the island, and which the Spaniards had never been able to possess themselves of. He found it, however, so well fortified, that after attempting to batter it, he was obliged to have recourse to some other mode of attack. He prepared five mines, and springing them at the time of a.s.sault, he blew up part of the works, with fifty men; but the Spaniards advanced so slow, that the Moors had time to recover themselves, and returning to the charge, repulsed them effectually. The next day two more mines were sprung, which did great damage. The Spaniards then advanced rapidly to the remaining fortification, but behind the rampart which had been blown up, contrary to their expectation, they found another work erected, and by which means they were repulsed. The Governor observing the little effect produced by these a.s.saults, determined to surround the hill, though a league in circ.u.mference, with a wall and forts, converting the siege into a strict blockade. This measure, however, proved by no means adequate to the end in view, the besieged defending themselves with great resolution, and destroying numbers of the a.s.sailants. It was, therefore, resolved to construct a battery on a position completely commanding the hill. The Moors on this were desirous of capitulating, but the Governor commanded them to surrender at discretion. Thinking these terms harsh, they became desperate, and a.s.saulted the Spanish camp; but not being able to force it, they took the opportunity of quitting the hill by the back part of it, which had been left for the time lightly guarded.

His Excellency found himself in possession of the enemies position, and all their riches, with the Queen and her nephew, Tancun. The Queen requested permission to bring the King and his chiefs into the presence of the Governor; he consented, and she took that opportunity of escaping. The Governor then sent Tancun for the same purpose, and he returned with the keys of the royal coffers; but by the carelessness of the guard, being left too much at liberty, he contrived to get possession of all the treasure, with which he secured his retreat. His Excellency leaving a garrison of two hundred Spaniards, and two hundred Pampangos in Jolo, returned to Manila, where he was received with great honours, as conqueror of Jolo and Mindanao. It is undeniable that Senor Corcuera reduced the inhabitants of Jolo and Mindanao, and would have retained his conquest, had greater harmony subsisted between the Jesuits, and the commanders of the different garrisons. He was successful as a soldier, but unfortunate in his choice of the means to secure his acquisition. The dissensions between the Jesuits and the military rose to such a pitch, that at last all the positions were abandoned, and all our exertions, and sacrifices of men and resources, rendered of no avail.

By the year 1639, the number of Chinese in these islands had increased to thirty thousand, most of them cultivators in Calamba and in Binan. Among these began a disaffection, which spreading to those of Santa Cruz, Parian, and Manila, they at last converted the church of St. Peter Macati into a kind of strong hold, in which they established their head-quarters. The Governor sent against them two hundred Spaniards, and a large body of Indians, who easily dislodged them from this position. Dispersed into separate bands, they plundered the houses of the Spaniards, and some Indian towns, committing great atrocities. The Spaniards followed them, making dreadful havock among them, from November 1639, to March following, when being reduced in number to seven thousand, they surrendered. Very few of our people were killed, but Manila was reduced to great distress, by the loss of so many of its useful cla.s.s of citizens, as unquestionably the Chinese were. The Indians fortunately had remained perfectly tranquil, which was rather to be attributed to their fixed hatred of the Chinese, than their attachment to the Spaniards.

In the year 1642, the Archbishop Guerreo visited his diocese, and in the harbour of Naryan, in Mindoro, a pirate seized his vessel, with all his equipage, he himself, with great difficulty, saving himself by flight. This disaster had such an effect upon him, that he died on the 2d of July at Manila, and was buried in the church of St. Augustine.