Chapter 17

All the religious orders concurred in the opinion that war by fire and sword was justifiable, as is evident by the original opinions which I send herewith to your Majesty. In conformity therewith I resolved to strike the blow at once by sending troops with six captains. Under each captain was a troop of twenty Spanish soldiers and five or six hundred Indians--Pampangos, who were willing to go to war, and gave much assistance, because of the damages received by them from the Cambales. They approached that country, which had never before been entered, by six routes; and although they were troubled by the roughness of the roads and the large brambles, they hid themselves and destroyed all the food and the crops which were either harvested or growing. In that region those whom they killed and took captive amount, men and women, to more than two thousand five hundred; and from the men taken the captains and soldiers gave me about four hundred Sambales. I have utilized them for your Majesty's service on the galleys, where they are learning to row. Many have been reduced by famine, and have formed settlements where they were ordered to do so. As it was the rainy season, and the troops were dying, I commanded them to withdraw, leaving garrisons at convenient points, and well provisioned, in order that they might overrun the country and destroy their rice and grain. I believe that, because of this, these people will not revolt again nor raise any disturbance. On the contrary, I think that in due time they will be pacified thoroughly. The relation of what was done, accompanies this letter.

All of Cagayan has been as quiet as Manila for many days and months. Tributes are being collected from the encomiendas that remained to be pacified and subdued. A memorandum of encomiendas and villages explored lately, with an account of the discovery of Tuy, accompanies this letter.

I enclose, with the duplicate, also the relation of the late exploration of Tuy, in which I stated that my son Don Luis would remain there, in order to make another entrance of not less importance, of which I had a reliable report and account. It happened that, having gone upon this errand, and having arrived with the soldiers that he was taking to the province of Ylocos, through which he had to pass, he was taken ill, in the month of October, with attacks of fever. This sickness was very severe, and he came here to be treated; and, although he is doing well, he has not entirely recovered his strength. Almost all the soldiers fell sick at the same time, as that district is at that season very unhealthful. Captain Don Alonso de Sotomayor died, as well as some of the soldiers there. Others were brought to the city sick, and so the expedition had to be abandoned until a more favorable opportunity.

On account of these expeditions and pacifications, and because their country is not very healthful (and particularly so this year), both for Spaniards and Indians, a number of the soldiers have died, so that, from the total of four hundred, I have but two hundred left. And although this fort, in its present condition, can be defended by a much smaller force than formerly, yet without it, there would be no safe position. Since España is at such a distance, when reenforcements arrive half of the former troops will have died. If in any one year (as has happened) there should fail to be a ship from Castilla, it is pitiful to see the state of this land. Moreover--as I report elsewhere to your Majesty, and send papers thereon--for the new danger from hostile Japanese, against which I am guarding, I need troops, in order to defend a land so destitute and far away that it cannot expect succor in time of necessity. Although I have sent earnest petition therefor to Mexico, I think that they will neglect my request, just as they do everything else, unless they see an order from your Majesty I beseech your Majesty to have compassion for this new plant of the faith of Jesus Christ, which costs your Majesty and your subjects so dearly to establish and preserve. May your Majesty grant me grace and send me troops, and let those who come be from those realms of Castilla--a matter of moment and importance--and not the creoles or exiles from Mexico. I should also be provided with ammunition, arms, and men to cast artillery. An order should be sent to Mexico to supply me with money, to meet the needs and contingencies. I trust in our Lord, and in the excellent arrangement and plan that this city is assuming, that if there are supplied barely sufficient troops to defend a town of this size, your Majesty need not fear all Xapon, nor any other more powerful enemy that might attack us. This I discuss at greater length elsewhere; but here I only remind your Majesty of the completion of this fort, and the necessity of troops therein, as also of the workmen and their wages for which, in my former letters, I have petitioned your Majesty.

By a decree which I have received here from your Majesty, I am ordered to make inquiries as to whether there is quicksilver here, or if it can be brought from the Chinese realms and taken to Mexico, and at what price. I will say that I have dealt with these Chinese, and they are so distrustful that unless the money is given them beforehand, they will not bring the goods the following year. It is true, nevertheless, that they guarantee the fulfilment of their commission. They ask one hundred ducats for a pico of quicksilver, the equivalent of one hundred and thirty Castilian libras. If this price is satisfactory, will your Majesty order as suits your royal pleasure; for they can bring from their land whatever quantity is desired. May our Lord preserve your Majesty for many long years, with increase of better kingdoms and seigniories, as is needed for Christendom. At Manila, May xxxi, 1592.

_Gomez Perez Dasmariñas_

Rules for the Manila Hospital

Gomez Perez Dasmarinas, knight of the order of Santiago, governor and captain-general of these islands and districts of the West, for the king, our sovereign. Inasmuch as it is advisable, for the service of God, to reform certain matters in the royal hospital of this city that require such remedy, and to decide and establish other matters for its better government and service, for the welfare of its poor sick, and for the perpetuity of the said hospital, as it is a work of so great piety and so much needed in this community: Therefore, by this present, he ordained and ordered that the following articles be observed and kept to the letter, as permanent rules and regulations.

1. First, because sick persons are received in the said hospital, who are not of the character and station entitling them to admission, many annoyances result; for some of them are wealthy, and others are servants of certain persons from whom they receive pay and wages. By receiving these persons into the hospital, contrary to right, they occupy the places and beds which more properly should belong to his Majesty's poor soldiers, the workmen of this colony, and the other poor, for whom hospitals are chiefly established. And, that there may be system in this, and that expense to the hospital may be avoided, and so that the expense incurred be for those persons whose due it is, he ordained and ordered that, now and henceforth, the hours for receiving sick persons shall be from six in the morning until five in the afternoon; and that the head chaplain, or his substitute, and the physician or physicians who may be there, and the steward, surgeon, and nurse of the said hospital be present at the entrance and reception of patients. These he ordered and commanded not to receive any sick except workmen or paid soldiers of this colony, paid sailors, and the sick and needy poor; there is no restriction on the admission of such, whether they are servants of the king or not. In case any sick person is received without the previous order and consultation above-mentioned (unless some of the said hospital officials are lawfully prevented), or if the sick person belongs to the classes who ought not to be received, then he who shall have received him shall incur and bear the penalty of paying all the expenses incurred by the hospital for such sick person.

2. _Item_: It is ordained that, when a sick person is received, his name shall be taken down, with the date and hour of his entrance. He shall come confessed, or shall confess immediately; shall declare whether he is married or single, and whether he has father or mother; and an inventory shall be made of the possessions and clothes that he brings to the hospital--so that, when he comes to leave the hospital, his property and that of the said hospital may be known. And if the property should have to be used for the repose of his soul, or left to any other heir, the same consideration and account must be observed.

3. In order that this be observed with rigor and care, a book of accounts shall be kept, wherein shall be entered, by day and hour, the names of the sick who are received, and the exit of those who leave or die, since all the wealth of the hospital consists in allowances and income.

4. Likewise, in order that there may be greater neatness and order, there shall be a numbered wardrobe, in which shall be kept the clothes of the hospital, and the clean and reserve clothes, respectively--the blankets being kept in one place, the sheets and the other white clothes in another, and the bandages to be used for wounds and sores in another. Great care must be taken in this division; and it is very advisable to keep the clothes and garments of those sick with contagious diseases in a place by themselves. Likewise the clothes and garments of those who enter shall be washed and laid aside with memoranda as to the owner of each garment, so that if he recover, it may be returned to him clean and neat; or if he should die and it must be sold, either for the repose of his soul or for the hospital, that it may be in good order and condition.

5. _Item_: There shall be two porters who shall serve by the week. They shall take oath not to allow anything to be given to any sick person, except by permission of the doctor. The hospital door shall be locked at seven at night, without fail, and cannot be opened.

6. _Item_: There shall be an apothecary shop inside the said hospital, so that medicines can be furnished to the sick more easily and at less cost; and the apothecary shall not give or hand out any medicines except by order of the physician, either on his own account or that of the said hospital.

7. _Item_: The head chaplain or another (his substitute) shall always sleep in the hospital, in order to administer the sacraments to the sick.

8. _Item_: The nurse shall have two deputies for service, so that watch may be kept in turn through the quarters of the night, and attention given to the service and sudden needs of the sick. For this purpose it is ordered that the chaplain, as above stated, and the nurse, steward, apothecary, and all the servants, shall always sleep in the hospital.

9. _Item_: No person connected with the hospital shall keep swine or have other means of gain in the hospital.

10. _Item_: A book shall be kept, in which shall be set down the alms given by charitable persons to the hospital, whether in money, clothes, and food, or other things.

11. The food of the sick shall be received and placed under the head of ordinary expense of the hospital; and at mealtimes, the physician shall be present at the distribution of food to the sick, in order to see that his orders are observed; and the steward likewise, if not lawfully prevented.

12. _Item_: Those who are sick of contagious diseases shall be treated separately, and their service of beds and clothes and their food shall be kept separate from those of the other sick; and much care shall be taken in this.

13. _Item_: A book shall be kept wherein to enter the income of the hospital, whether from tributes and annual pensions, or from other sources of income or profit possessed by the hospital. Likewise there shall be a book for the entry of alms and legacies bequeathed to the hospital by the dying, as well as those collected and sent to it by charitable persons, in either money or fowls, or anything else, so that the steward in whose care they shall be placed may have them all credited in the said book, and so that there may be a full account of everything. There shall also be another book in which to enter the clothing, beds, ornaments, and other furniture acquired by the hospital; and it shall be kept by the person in whose charge they are. There shall be another book in which to enter the names of the sick, with the day, month, and year of their entrance; and the deaths and the departures, also with the date. Likewise there shall be another book of the allowances, wages, and pay spent in the hospital, both of its sick and of its officials, entering therein the tickets of admission of the sick.

[_Endorsed_: "Rules of the Manila hospital."]

Expedition to Tuy

When we went upon this expedition to Tuy, the Indians surrendered of their own free will, and no blood was shed, solely through the efforts of two religious who accompanied Don Luys. Then they gave only their tribute of recognition in beads and a trifle of adulterated gold. And so that it might not appear that the tribute was to be collected immediately, they were given one year's respite, within which the Spaniards would return to collect it. They bound themselves to pay it. In order not to break faith, we shall not return there until the time limit has expired; and, even then, I shall see to it that when we return they shall not be oppressed in any way, in order to compel them to give the whole tribute. They shall give only what they are willing to, because we have furnished them no instruction; nor have we effected a settlement, as I expected--because of the few people we have, on account of the death of many of them, and because I am deliberating whether I should make a settlement in Tuy itself, as it is the capital, or at place thirty or forty leagues from Cagayan, up the river, opposite Tuy, and midway between Cagayan and Tuy. This year we shall go thither, and and I hope, with God's help, to found the settlement and attain the success that is desirable. As I had to encounter the Zambales, who were attacking me, everything could not be done. The land there is very fertile, and the climate more temperate than this. The Indians are robust, intelligent, and energetic. All the houses are large and quite well constructed. The villages contain about five hundred or more inhabitants. Two crops of rice are gathered, one being irrigated, and the other allowed to grow by itself. The land contains deer, buffaloes, swine, goats, poultry, anise, ginger, cotton, and many wild fruits. The people display more politeness and good manners than all the others. They have places set apart where they discuss public matters. They say that public affairs must not be discussed in the houses with women. When asked if they had enemies, they answered, "Yes, we would have them if we would leave our land to commit depredations. But we are not like you Castilians, who rob everywhere." They recognize no king among themselves, nor any other sovereignty than to have a chief in each village, who is over all, and whom all of that one village alone recognize. I trust, God helping, that this plan may be fully carried out this year. Sealed at Manila, June 1, 1592.

Two Letters from Dasmarinas to Felipe II

Sire:

Immediately upon my arrival last year, I wrote your Majesty what I observed in the disposition of the licentiate Pedro de Rrojas, my counselor--in the little while in which I could study him--that he was very fond of his own opinion, and of meddling with what did not concern him. This resulted from his office, since he wished to reduce everything pertaining to war and administration to justice. I also stated that he considered his commission and mine as identical, with no distinction between them; and that I thought him moved by and wedded to his opinion. Now that by intercourse with him, I know him better, I am able, in accordance with what I owe your Majesty's service, again to _[break in the original MS_.] he is indeed so sure and certain of his opinion that it appears to him that with four courses at Salamanca [_[break in MS_.] other letters or judicature but his; and that he knows everything, and others nothing. Regarding this, he uses very free and disrespectful language, shutting himself up in his resolution, from which there is no drawing him. And hence there happened to me one day with him what your Majesty will see by the enclosed investigation, [34] which I send, only that your Majesty may know what passed, and the liberty with which he talks and acts. It is not a new thing, since he antagonized and quarreled with President Sanctiago de Vera, as is evident by the investigation I send thereof; he certainly has very little fondness for peace, and is inclined to disputes and arguments. As the royal Audiencia was here so haughty and domineering, he retains that authority and harshness, with which he tries to reduce all others as his vassals. In the matters of justice that he discusses, he is unable to be impartial, but is in many matters very biased. This is because of his trading and trafficking, which the president and all the auditors carried on from the time of their arrival--and with so great avidity, trying to secure it all to themselves, that I find no rich men here beside them. This is the reason why Rojas (as I inform your Majesty in a separate letter) and the auditors opposed the pancada, [35] in order that the consignments of money sent by them to China for merchandise might not be known--which, at last, have come to light. Moreover, as they were unwilling to pay, on the present shipment to España, the two per cent that I levied as a tax for the wall, they opposed it; and they stirred up on both questions the bishop and friars. I inform your Majesty of these things in another letter, and of the manner in which I have cleared up all doubts regarding them, and ascertained the investments of the present year, as appears by the accompanying paper. If the matter of inspection and the residencia held here had fallen to my order and commission, as it fell to that of the viceroy of Nueva España, I would have proved to your Majesty the investments of past years. I wish to say but two things, pertaining to your Majesty's service, and which I ought to say. One is that the licentiate Rrojas, in this country, where he is so busied with these means of gain, is so puffed up with the authority and name of auditor, and with his other abilities, that I believe that he will not serve your Majesty so well in this country as in another, where these opportunities are wanting. The other thing is that I do not consider it fitting to the royal service of your Majesty to give a man who should have served your Majesty in a similar place here, anything in Mexico; for as such men go delighted with their interests and gains from trade here, they are fettered and biased by their relations with the trade of this country, which always [_break in MS_.] objects and profits, and not in accord with the common welfare and perpetuity of these islands. In both of these matters your Majesty will determine what is most important for your royal service. May our Lord preserve and prosper your Majesty for many long years, as Christendom has need.

Manila, June vi, 1592. [36]

_Gomez Perez Dasmarinas_

[_Addressed_: "To the king, our sovereign."]

[_Endorsed:_ "To His Majesty, 1592. Gomez Perez Dasmariñas. June 6." "A place has already been given him as alcalde of Mexico, although the matters reported in this letter are not remedied thereby."]

[Accompanying the letter, and on a separate fold of paper, is the following:]

_Register of merchandise carried in the ship "Sant Felippe_"

I, Juan de Cuellar, notary of mines and registers, certify that, in the galeon "Sant Felippe" now ready to set sail for Nueva España, from the port of Cavite, this present year of five hundred and ninety-one, the persons named below are exporting the following bales and boxes of merchandise:

Bales Boxes Don Frai Domingo de Salazar, bishop of the Philippinas, fifteen bales and thirty-three boxes. xv xxxiii

The president Santiago de Vera, with the others contained in his memorandum, sixty bales and twenty-nine boxes. lx xxix

Pedro Herrandez, for the licentiate Rojas, former auditor of the royal Audiencia, and present counselor, etc., nineteen bales and four boxes. xix iiii

The auditor Don Antonio de Rribera Maldonado, fifty-two bales and twenty boxes. lii xx

The licentiate Ayala, fiscal, twenty-seven bales and seventeen boxes. xxvii xvii

The dean of Manila cathedral, in the said vessel and in that of Juan Pablo, thirteen bales and seven boxes. xiii vii

Estevan Gonzales, canon of the said church, five bales and three boxes. v iii

The licentiate Herver del Corral, visitor of the royal Audiencia of Manila, eighteen bales and one box. xviii i

The schoolmaster of the Manila cathedral, six bales. vi

Father Cervantes, ecclesiastic, three bales and six boxes. iii vi

The beneficiary Juan Gutierrez, two boxes. ii

Father Rodrigo de Morales, ecclesiastic, three bales. iii

Father Crisanto de Tamayo, ecclesiastic, two bales. ii

Benito Gutierrez, ecclesiastic, two bales. ii

And in order that this might be evident, I give the present, signed with my name and the usual flourishes. Given in Manila, June four, one thousand five hundred and ninety-one.

_Juan de Cuellar_, notary of registers.

Sire: