CHAPTER XX.

ANNO DOM. 1663.

The Administration of Don Diego Salcedo.

Don Diego de Salcedo not being able, by the prevalence of the south-west-monsoon, to reach Manila by the ordinary route of the straits of Bernardino, he made Cagayan, where he landed, and travelled across the island to the city, and took possession of his government in September, 1663. Immediately on his arrival, he held out every encouragement to commerce, and preparation was made for sending the usual ship to Acapulco as early in the season as possible, in order to avoid those misfortunes which had too frequently taken place.

This conduct of the Governor at first gave great satisfaction to the merchants of Manila; but they began very soon to discover his diligence was directed only to his own individual benefit, or that of his friends, as due care had been taken by them to buy up all the best goods, leaving in the market only those of inferior quality; and that no opportunity might be afforded to the merchants to procure a fresh supply of the different articles from the coast, he despatched the ship before the coasters could possibly arrive. By this means almost all the commerce of Acapulco, for that season, centered in him and his friends. About this time the news arrived of the death of Philip the Fourth, and the Archbishop was attacked with protracted illness, which ended in extreme debility, of which he died, 1667. The attention of Salcedo had been completely occupied by the violent disputes, which, during the whole period of his government, subsisted between him and the ecclesiastical authorities, and which terminated in the Commissary of the Inquisition of Mexico ordering him to be seized, and conveyed on board the patache destined for Acapulco, in which ship he died, 1669.

END OF VOL. I.

NOTES TO VOLUME I.

Note I.--Page 6.

Were it not that we have this strong corroborative evidence of the veracity of other travellers on this subject, we should be inclined to attach a degree of impossibility to the existence of an European power of the first distinction, in an insular situation, similar to that of the Philippines, established there for nearly three centuries; yet through the whole of that period incessantly exposed to the inroads and depredations of the surrounding savage nations. But in the perusal of the following pages it will appear sufficiently manifest that the system of colonization pursued by the Spanish monarchy. From the first discovery of the New World, and without little, if any, amelioration, practised at this time, is least of all calculated for either the extension of permanent national dominion, the enlargement of the human mind, or the general dissemination of commercial industry. The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope and America produced a revolution among the European nations, which, aided by the phenomenon of the magnetic needle, stimulated the human mind to exertions far more arduous than had been effected by the Crusades; but the same spirit that animated Peter the Hermit seems to have presided over the counsels of the Spanish monarchy and directed its researches. To whatever cause it may be imputed, whether political, moral, or physical, this nation, so justly celebrated about this period, seems to have had little progressive tendency to improvement, and till within these few years the Spanish colonists of the eighteenth, in point of information and commercial enterprize, differed in no respect from those of the sixteenth century. The general dissemination of science, the gradual dispersion of prejudice, the consequent expansion of the human mind, and the example of surrounding nations, will doubtless have due effect on those noble qualities which characterized the Spaniard of the sixteenth century; and which, though enchained for succeeding ages by the peculiarity of their internal politics, still exist in the Spaniard of the nineteenth. No doubt, indeed, can be entertained that the changes likely to be produced during the present eventful period, will convert the reign of Ferdinand the VIIth into the æra of Spanish regeneration, in all that can be considered steady in council, great in arms, liberal in sentiment, and energetic in social as well as commercial intercourse. And we fully trust that the blind and persecuting influence which dictated the expulsion of the Chinese from the Philippines, and produced consequences nearly bordering on the annihilation of all industry and all commerce in the Islands, no longer disgraces their counsels or finds an advocate in the breast of one true Spaniard.

Note II.--Page 8.

We are well aware that at a distance from the seat of even an energetic government, abuses will exist which may sometimes be beyond its reach; but the instance before us, gives us at once an insight into that system of oppression and abuse of power which prevails in the Spanish settlements, and originated in the invariable practice of the Spanish court, of furnishing the opportunity to their dependants in the mother country to enrich themselves during a temporary residence in the colonies.

Note III.--Page 12.

The most authentic communications on this subject to the translator, are, that during the months of March, April, and May, the heat is sometimes oppressive; June, July, August, and September, forms the rainy season; the month of October of a doubtful character; November, December, January, and February, a heavenly spring: and that the climate in the whole is uncommonly healthy, the natives living to a great age.

Note IV.--Page 13.

If it were not sufficiently ascertained that the author of this work was not a foreigner, but a monastic Spaniard, it might be concluded from this expression, that he meant to cast a strong reflection on the Spanish government; but in the progress of the work the reader will discover that he is fully justified.

Note V.--Page 14.

"The fishermen place their net zig-zag-ways in from eight to eighteen fathom water; at each angle they have several chambers, and over every angle they have a boat moored, with two or three fishermen in it, who are always watching the fish when they enter the chambers, and with a line, supported on the surface by a buoy, they draw a net across the chamber door." Vide Jackson's Mediterranean Commerce, p. 103-4.

Note VI.--Page 18.

The diversity of opinion as to the substance of which these nests are composed, is such, that to this hour we are left on the wide field of conjecture, and without any clue which may be absolutely relied on for unravelling the mystery. The intelligent Sonnerat, as a judicious naturalist, is entitled to every attention on the subject, and he, by admitting into his work the following quotation from "Transactions philosophiques de la société Batave, établie dans l'isle de Java pour l'avancement des arts et des sciences, vol. iii." gives us reason to suppose that he adopts the opinion of that writer. He prefaces his introduction of the subject by the following scientific description of the bird:

"La salangane (hirundo esculenta, Lath. sp. 26. Lin. Rumph. herb. vi. pag. 183. tab. 75. fig. 4. Forster.)"

And then proceeds with the extract thus:

"The salanganes are of a blackish grey colour, somewhat inclining to green; but on the back, down to the tail, as well as under the breast, the colour is mouse grey. The whole length of the bird, from the back to the tail, is about four inches and a half; and its height, taken from the beak to the extremity of the foot, three and a quarter inches: its girt is ten and a quarter inches: the longest feathers of the wing are about four inches. The head is flat; but the thickness of the downy feathers which cover it make it appear round, and rather large in proportion to the rest of the body. The beak is large, ending in a sharp point, but hooked like that of a nocturnal bird of prey; its size is augmented by the addition of a naked membrane, similar to parchment, which folds inwards when the beak is shut, but expands with the opening of it, and enables the bird, while on the wing, to seize with greater facility the insects which constitute its food. The eyes are black, and very large; and the tongue not forked, but of the form of an arrow. The ears flat and round, with a small oblong opening, and entirely covered by the downy feathers of the head. The neck very short, as are the legs, and bones of the wings. The thighs entirely covered with feathers; and the lower and more delicate parts of the legs, as well as the feet, provided with a black skin resembling parchment: each foot has four toes, three pointing forwards and one backwards; they are separated from each other even to the root, and the middle one, including the claw, is at least as long as the lower part of the leg; each toe is furnished with a black claw, pointed, hooked, and very long, by means of which it attaches itself, with great facility, to the juttings of the rocks. The tail is at least as long as the body, even including the neck and the head; when it is spread out it has the shape of a wedge, and has ten large feathers; the four first on each side are the longest, and when the tail is closed they extend beyond the others about an inch; the others diminish towards the middle of the tail, and nearly equal the length of the body. This bird is extremely light and delicate; ten of these swallows will only weigh about two ounces and a half. The inhabitants of Java call them lawit, and the mountaineers give them the names of berongdagæ or waled.

"There are two places in the neighbourhood of Batavia where they are found in great abundance; the one, Calappa-Nongal, is about ten miles to the south of the town; the other, Sampia, is a little more distant towards the south-west, but both lie in that elevated range which takes its direction by the sea coast, and which appears to be different from the great chain which pushes itself into the country, and traverses the whole island. Besides these principal places, there are many others, both in the same district, and at a very great distance from the coast, where these birds are found, though in fewer numbers; and there are even some which are carefully concealed by those of the inhabitants who are acquainted with them.

"There are two bird mountains, called Goa (caverns) by the inhabitants of Java, which are insulated rocks, hollow in the middle, and pierced by a great number of openings, for the most part of sufficient size easily to admit a man; others are more difficult of access, and some so small that nature seems to have intended them for the security of those little animals. These rocks are composed of a grey calcareous stone and white marble, and are covered with a multitude of lofty trees of different kinds. To the interior of these caverns the birds fix their nests in horizontal ranges, and so close to each other, that, generally speaking, they join; they build them at different heights, from fifty to three hundred feet, higher or lower as they can find a berth; there is not a single hole, or convenient spot sufficiently dry and proper, which is not occupied; but if the surface is in the smallest degree wet, or even damp, the birds immediately abandon it.

"At break of day the whole of the birds take wing with a great noise, and in the dry season immediately shoot up so high in the atmosphere, in search of their food, as to be soon lost to the sight: they return about four in the afternoon, and again take shelter in their holes, to which they confine themselves during the rest of the day, those excepted which are hatching. On the other hand, during the rainy season, it has been often remarked that they never ramble very far from their holes, particularly in the government of Java, where the rocks even border close on the sea.

"They feed on all the varieties of insects which are found hovering over stagnated waters, and they easily secure them by means of the extended opening of which their beak is capable. Their most formidable enemy is a bird of prey, which catches them in great numbers as they escape from their holes, and which the inhabitants are very careful to keep at a distance as much as possible by shooting them.

"They prepare their nests with the more solid parts of their food, and by no means with the froth of the sea or marine plants, as has been asserted [1]. This opinion is the more founded in probability, as it is ascertained by experience that those birds which build on the rocks, already mentioned, have never been seen on the coast, and that they could not repair thither and return in any reasonable time on account of the lofty chains of mountains they would have to traverse, and the tempestuous winds which prevail there. The great difference, then, in the colour and value of these nests, is a proof that their quality depends solely on the nature and abundance of the insects which form their food; perhaps, likewise, on the more or less perfect solitude of the places they resort to for it.

"The nests collected in the territory of Calappa-Nongal and of Goadja are quite grey, and are of one-third less value than those of the territory of Sampia. These last again are in far less estimation than the excellent sort sent every year from Ternate and Passir, or those found in the islands immediately adjoining, and on that of Borneo in particular.

"These birds require two months to prepare their nests; they immediately after lay their eggs, and sit fifteen or sixteen days. As soon as the young take flight, the gathering of the nests commences, and is repeated every four months: it is the harvest of the proprietors of those rocks. This is performed by men accustomed from their infancy to clamber among these precipices: with reeds and bamboos they provide themselves with ladders, with which they mount up to the holes; but when the depth of the caves is too great, they have recourse to ropes.

"When at the bottom of these caverns, they place against the inside notched bamboos, which answer the purpose of ladders, to enable them to reach the nests, and if these are beyond their immediate reach, they detach them with bamboo poles; there are likewise holes, but in very limited numbers, which may be got at by means of ladders of bamboo.

"This employment, which is attended with very great risk, costs the lives of many human beings, and particularly of those who attempt to steal the nests. For their preservation, guards are placed here and there.

"The mountaineers usually employed in collecting the nests never undertake it till they have sacrificed a buffalo, the usual prelude, with the Javanese, of all their enterprizes; they mutter a few prayers, anoint their bodies with aromatic oils, and fumigate the caverns with incense, a precaution, according to them, absolutely necessary. The principal of these caverns lie in the island of Java, where a female deity, under the appellation of Raton laut Ridaud, or Princess of the South Sea, is held in high veneration. A small hut, containing a covered bed, is prepared for her, together with several elegant dresses, and which no person but a Princess dare approach. Every Friday, during the period of collecting the nests, incense is burnt in it, and the bodies and clothes of all those who propose to mount the rocks ought to be exposed to this fumigation. The rest of the Javanese are not so superstitious, and attach much less importance to ceremonies. These caverns are lighted, on such occasions, by torches made with the rosin of a large tree, called the cavet, and of the inner bark of the areka.

"The collection of the nests does not last more than a month, and, as has been said, may be repeated three times annually. Some think that it might even be extended to a fourth, but that is not very probable, as all the people employed in this work affirm that a nest, as long as it remains entire, is constantly augmented or thickened by the bird, which never totally abandons it till it becomes dry and woolly in the inside.

"After the nests are gathered, nothing remains to be done but to dry and clean them, and they are then packed in baskets and sold to the Chinese. The price varies, as depending on their whiteness and degree of perfection; some are grey, and others reddish, while those of the best sort are extremely rare. They are sold on the spot for from eight hundred to one thousand four hundred rixdollars for one hundred and twenty-five pounds weight. This price, and the insatiable avarice of the Chinese, often produce cheating, and an adulteration of the article. They have no hesitation in corrupting the guards with money, opium, or clothes; and deceits are practised, against which the most extreme vigilance is often unavailing.

"The two places we have already mentioned, Calappa-Nongal and Sampia, belonged formerly to the Dutch East India Company, but as the advantages resulting from the possession of them were partly unknown, or diminished in value by the dexterity of the Javanese, the company formed the resolution of letting them by public auction, and nearly one hundred thousand rixdollars is drawn from them, a sum far exceeding their utmost expectations. In the same range of mountains there are besides these other places of the same description, but of less importance. There are likewise two or three in the interior, and some others, which are concealed with great care.

"There are in the government of Samarang, in the island of Java, three mountains celebrated for their birds, called Goadaher, Gede, and Nangasari. The sea washes their base, and flows so far into the interior of the latter, that it may be said they can catch fish in the body of the mountain. The nests in these districts are of an excellent quality, but very difficult to collect, on account of the precipitous nature of the rocks, and the violent beating of the surge against them, which renders it necessary for those employed to suspend themselves from the top by ladders of bamboo. In the island of Java, about twenty-five quintals of these nests are collected annually.

"There are likewise swallow caverns in the island of Bantam, and in Sumatra; but the inhabitants of the former are so indolent, and the government so detestable, that they are not even at the trouble to sow rice, nor do they cultivate any one article which contributes to human existence. The Chinese have never attempted to penetrate into the interior of this kingdom, and they have no commerce whatever with the mountaineers; indeed they have very little intercourse even with the coast.

"The Javanese and Europeans established in India eat even the birds themselves when young, but it is difficult to procure them; they are considered as a very luscious food. The nests, on the contrary, when stewed as a soup, and afterwards exposed to the dew, and sweetened with sugar, are said to be highly cooling, and the Javanese administer them successfully in violent fevers. The author of this memoir has had occasion to observe that, prepared in the manner which will be subsequently mentioned, they have been useful in disorders of the throat, and in hoarseness. Most probably this remedy has been borrowed from the Chinese, who (according to information furnished to the author by a man who was in the habit of dealing largely in these nests) use them most generally in the winter, because disorders of the throat are very common at that season in the southern regions of the empire, on account of the habits the Chinese are in of indulging themselves over the fire.

"But though the author has repeatedly eat these nests, prepared in various ways, he has not been able to bring himself to put much faith in the very nutritive and strengthening property attributed to them. He has had them analyzed by good chemists, but the result has been only a gummy solution, of rather a disagreeable taste, which might, however, be of service in certain disorders of the chest.

"These nests are, in fact, only articles of luxury or ornament on the tables of the rich. The Chinese are passionately fond of them: after well soaking and cleaning them, they are put with a fat capon or a duck into an earthen pot, closely covered; they are simmered for twenty-four hours over a small fire, which is called timmen; thus prepared, this eatable acquires a relish infinitely more rich, and a more nourishing quality.

"The trade in these nests, which some years ago was of little importance, has been greatly on the increase for some time. The price is constantly rising in China, and Batavia is the principal market for them. The company having abandoned it, the inhabitants derive sufficient advantage from it to diminish the exportation of specie, which is highly prejudicial. It is now very well ascertained that the species of swallow which builds these nests is not to be found in China.

"Linnæus, in his Systeme Naturel, characterizes this swallow, which he calls the hirundo esculenta, by white spots only on the feathers of the tail. But those birds of Java, which construct the nests in question, have no spots either on their tail or elsewhere. The feathers of the tail are entirely of one colour, that is, grey, approaching to black on the upper, and a lighter grey on the under surface.

"Rumph says, in speaking of these apodes marinæ, that the feathers of their tail are spotted, and that the breast has black and white spots.

"Valentyn in his description of the small swallow which builds the eatable nests, says nothing of spots, and only states that the body is veined white and black.

"If these differences are allowed to be essential, it will follow that there must be two kinds of these swallows, the one with a spotted breast, and having white spots on the tail, the other without either. It is possible, even, that there may be a third variety, that called momos, or bocrongitams. These likewise form their nests of part of their food; but mixed with so much impure matter that no use can be made of them. Care is taken, therefore, to drive them away, that they may not injure the nests of the better species. They are readily known from these latter by their superior size, and their legs being provided with small feathers down to the feet.

"In the kingdom of Tonquin, and in China, there is a great demand for these nests of the salanganes. They form their most exquisite food, and they attribute to them the property of strengthening the stomach, and of being a powerful aphrodisiac. They are preserved for the tables of the King, and those of the principal nobles who are able to procure them. They are diluted, made into gravy or soup, and mixed with all sorts of choice aliment, and every kind of taste is imputed to them.

"In the state in which the salanganes are sold, they bear a close resemblance to the half of a preserved citron, both in size and shape. They are put into small boats, which the people of the country are sufficiently dextrous in piloting through the rocks where the nests are found. The King of Cochin-China retains in his own hands, exclusively, the portion of this trade which belongs to him, as the most precious production of his dominions, and of which the sale is most to be relied on."

Note VII.--Page 18.

This shell, which even here, as every where else, bears the name of cowrie, forms likewise the currency of Africa, as it formerly did that of India; and this may probably furnish an argument in favour of the Malay origin.

Note VIII.--Page 21. Note IX.--Same page.

Two causes are here assigned for the wretched state of these dependencies, apparently different, but in fact flowing from the same source. We are told that the surrounding nations are more industrious, and can work at a cheaper rate, and that the insects and rats destroy the produce of the soil. Were the encouragement of agriculture and manufactures an object of importance in the colonial system of the Philippines, the extension and protection of the former would soon circumscribe the dominion of the rats, its most destructive enemy; and if the productions of the soil were, as they ought to be, in as great plenty, and at as low a rate as on the neighbouring islands, manufactures, particularly with the aid of machinery, would be afforded at a profit adequate to the exertions of industry. But the truth is, that the Spanish government is rather desirous of considering the Philippines as the grand depot of the commerce of South America with India and China, and it may be presumed that, on this account, not only is its industry repressed, but the very heavy expense of the settlement submitted to and annually sent from New Spain. The revenue stated to be collected in the islands amounts to about one million of dollars, and this, together with about the same sum remitted by the Acapulco ships, enable the government to defray the annual charges of the colonial establishment.

Note X.--Page 24.

The Spanish author, on the subject of the origin of these Negroes, forms a conclusion directly at variance with what he afterwards says with regard to the origin of the Indians. He admits that the similarity of the former to those of Angola, with the exception of only a shade in colour, carries sufficient conviction as to their parent stock, and of course allows the islands to have been originally colonized from Africa, and by a people infinitely less advanced in cultivation than the Indians, setting aside at once his own very well founded subsequent conclusion, that the colonization of all the islands of the South Sea, with the Marianas, Philippines, &c. must have originated in South America, and proceeded gradually before the wind. The constant course of easterly winds in the Pacific, joined to the instances he adduces of similitude of language, unquestionably aid his hypothesis, which, though probably more curious than practically useful, is yet deserving of attention. There is not, indeed, a more embarrassing subject than that frequently proves to be, which treats of the origin and ancient connexion of distant nations, and after all, as in this case, we are too often left on the field of conjecture.

Note XI.--Page 25.

The reason here given for the wretched condition of these people seems more candidly than might be expected from a Spaniard, to take the load of responsibility from them and cast it on the government; and the perusal of the succeeding pages will but too well confirm the propriety of the censure.

Note XII.--Page 36.

Sonnerat asserts, that among the mild inhabitants of the fertile plains on the west border of the Lake Bay, adultery is the only crime punished with death; but it seems more reasonable to conclude, that of the two the Spaniard is most to be relied on.

Note XIII.--Page 37.

The striking resemblance of this to the price exacted by Laban from Jacob for his two daughters, will not be passed over by the reader unnoticed; and we are obliged to conclude either that such similarity of customs must originate in a common source, or that a certain state of social life, in certain climates, will produce manners mutually approximating.

Note XIV.--Page 42.

Without, in any respect, detracting from the merit of the propagators of the Christian faith in these islands, or claiming any superiority for our own tenets or practice, I fear we need not travel beyond the pillars of Hercules to the southward, and the Ultima Thulé to the northward, to discover such perversion of human intellect, although, I trust, it is no proof that we are very bad Christians.

The influence of traditional superstitions is too generally known and admitted to require to be descanted on. Its operation commences with the first dawn of reason, and very rarely is it found that even all the strength of the human mind, aided by religion and philosophy, can thoroughly eradicate the impressions it makes. The water kelpie of the north of Scotland differs from the Patianac and Tigbalang, only as being a good natured and very useful being; and we are all familiar with the mythologic machinery of our ancestors, for we will take leave to entertain a belief that Fingal and Ossian did once exist, and that the latter pourtrayed the manners, customs and opinions of his time.

Note XV.--Page 46.

It is curious to observe the progress of science and discovery, and still more deserving our notice is the transitory nature of power. The magisterial authority assumed by the Pontiff on this occasion might possibly have saved the effusion of human blood, and its interposition at that crisis, as a mediator between the most powerful nations then in existence, if it was beneficial in no other respect, seems to have stimulated the Spaniards to attempt the discovery of a passage into the Pacific by the southern coast of America.

Note XVI.--Page 65.

This must either be a mistake, or we must conclude that the intercourse of the Portuguese with these islands had furnished them with the European improvements.

Notes XVII. and XVIII.--Pages 106-7.

The circumstances stated on both these occasions, incontestably prove that the energy and exertions of the Portuguese in establishing their own exclusive dominion in the eastern Archipelago, even in defiance of the fiat of his Holiness, had led them to impart to the natives that knowledge which they themselves had been but lately possessed of; for the use of cannon, on board ships, did not come into practice till about the year 1539.

Note XIX.--Page 129.

Thus it is that the Spaniards appear even to have deceived themselves in subduing those islands. In the course of this work, the reader will be enabled to appreciate the nature of what the Spaniards called a conquest. The progress of a few men into the interior of a country under the protection of fire-arms, and the baptism of some individuals, to whose language the Spaniards were perfect strangers, and who of course could form no idea of the obligations imposed by the ceremony, seem to constitute their notion of conquest. Thus it is too that their authority extends over so small a portion of these delicious islands.

Note XX.--Page 197.

The inhuman custom of infanticide is not only practised with impunity in China, but seems even countenanced as the readiest means of limiting a population which would otherwise be superabundant, and in time exceed the productive powers of the country. By the narrative of Lord Macartney we learn, that in the tract of country through which the embassy passed, the population appeared excessive; at the same time that cultivation and industry seemed to be extended to their utmost limits. All the accounts we possess of that extraordinary empire concur in this representation. What effect the very pious application of the funds of the eleemosynary establishments at Manila may have in checking this savage custom is not noticed by the author; and we have reason to fear the practice is so general, that any attempt to check it by this means might rather tend to stimulate the avarice of the parents, and produce an opposite effect. The Chinese are as yet but in a half civilized state, and while they continue so we can entertain but slender hopes of any alteration more consistent with the feelings of humanity.

Note XXI.--Page 211.

The whole of this paragraph comprises a more virulent Philippic against the Spanish government than we could have expected from a Spaniard; but which the reader is by this time convinced is no less just than spirited. That the mild measures the author recommends would have the desired effect may be fairly doubted. He appears to write as a monk rather than as a statesman; but it cannot admit of a question, that if it were possible to combine with such measures a military establishment, under the control of wise laws, whose mild influence might be generally felt, and equally protect the native as the Spaniard, the unstable authority of that nation upon these islands would soon assume a different character, and reduce the quantum of human misery which their present system is calculated to perpetuate.

T. DAVISON, Lombard-street, Whitefriars, London.

NOTE

[1] This is an opinion very generally received, and naturalists, in copying one from another, have stamped a credit upon it. Houttyn himself, in his Natural History, vol. i. part v. page 607, gives a description of this bird, and of its manners, very different from the above.