CHAPTER XVI.

ANNO DOM. 1626.

Of the Administration of Don Juan Niño de Tabora.

Don Juan Niño 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 ships 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 ships, 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 ships being retarded 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 passed 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 passed on to Siam, where, finding the Dutch protected by the Siamese, he burned some of their junks, and made prisoners the ambassadors 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 ships 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, Doña 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 assisted, 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 passing by the island of Basilan, they landed, burned the principal 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 ships; 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 embassies arrived at Manila: one from Japan from the Governor of Nangasaquy; and the King of Saxuma, likewise, sent ambassadors, 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 embassy was to reconnoitre the place, with a view to take vengeance for this insult. A Governor of one of the Chinese provinces, sent an embassy 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 ships. 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 ship-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 ships, 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 ships in 1631, no ship 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 Oñate, 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 shipping. 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, passing 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 Señor 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.