Chapter 19

Don Pedro left the port of Yloilo with this armament January five, one thousand six hundred and six, in doubtful weather, but as courageous as ever. He reached the island of Mindanao, hostile to the Spanish name and allied with the Ternatans, and anchored in the port of La Caldera to take in water. There the flagship, called "Jesus Maria," in which Master-of-camp Esquivel was sailing, began to drag the anchors with which it was moored--an action which the sailors name by the peculiar word _garrar_ [298]--and, in order to save itself, had to set sail. But finding that it could not double a point in this way, it fired two shots as a call for help, just when the rudder struck. The galleys hastened to give it a tow, but some cables were snapped atwain; and their efforts were in vain, for the sea and winds prevented the work. Captain Villagrà was given charge of the rescue of the men and provisions aboard the flagship. Although many possessions of the king and of private persons were lost, by incredible effort he saved the bulk of the provisions and of the clothing, and all the men, artillery, powder, cables, rigging, and sails. In order that the Mindanaos might not enjoy the spoils of the shipwreck, he set fire to the hull, after taking out the nails and bolts. They felt this first misfortune because of its very importance, and because the soldiers, a class often given to foolish superstitions, interpreted it in a sinister manner. The general's prudence calmed everything. He ordered the master-of-camp to proceed with the fleet from La Caldera to the port of Talangame, which, as we have said, is situated in the island of Ternate. Don Pedro accompanied him with his galleys until they got outside the strait of Sambuanga, a place dangerous because of its currents and reefs. For that reason they towed the ships, until this danger was past, and because of a calm that overtook them. The fleet took the open sea. The galleys, in order to take in water enough to last until reaching Ternate, coasted along gradually; for the men rescued from the submerged flagship were distributed in them and in the other boats, and their weight and peril was greater. The most skilful pilots of those seas managed the galleys, but notwithstanding their care and that of the captains and experienced sailors, they fell off their course and reached the islands of the Celebes or of Mateo, more than sixty leguas to the leeward of Ternate. Contrary winds were blowing, and they had to correct their mistake by dint of rowing. In that manner, and with great difficulty, they reached Ternate March twenty-six, on Easter day. With their observance of that day, so propitious to all creation, they forgot their past dangers, and changed them into joy and hope.

[Don Pedro finds the rest of his fleet at Tidore instead of at Ternate, as he has expected; but sees at the latter place a Dutch ship, which shows fight. However, leaving the ship for the present, Acuña sets about the reduction of Ternate with his own forces and those of the king of Tidore. Landing at Ternate April first, that fort is approached in two divisions, meeting with no opposition until they arrive near the walls. Gallinato's advice as to placing the soldiers is followed, and the Ternatan scouts in trees are replaced by those of the besiegers. Active operations begin, and after various minor successes the wall is carried by assault, and the old fortress built by the Portuguese is captured. On entering the city the soldiers fall to looting.]

When the men entered the city, every one gave himself to his fury and to plundering. Don Pedro had issued a proclamation, conceding that all the enemy captured within those four days should become slaves. The captains halted near the old church of San Pablo, which had been fortified by the enemy for this war. There were various opinions as to what course was to be followed. Some thought that they should attend to preserving what was gained; others that they should go ahead to gain the chief fortress. Captains Vergara and Villagrà were of the latter opinion; and so great was the exuberance of the soldiers and their desire for danger that one of them, a native of Estremadura, of the company of Captain Sevil--who was an Arragonese, and a gallant fighter, who also approved the advice to pass on--seized Captain Villagrà in his arms, and carried him thus for more than ten paces, exclaiming, "O good captain, attack the enemy, attack him!" and then set him down. Thereupon the captain struck him with the flat of his sword, because he had at such a time seized him so impudently. The soldier bowed, and said gracefully and smilingly, "Give me another, by God! [_cuerpo de Dios_] and attack them!" In fact Vergara and Villagrà attacked the principal fortress with few men and gained it, and were the first to enter its gates. However they were not the first to go up, for while they were ascending very quickly by the stairs, at the entrance of the hall an old soldier, named Barela, a corporal to Captain Cervantes, hurried past them. He, on entering, took a gilded water-jar, shaped like an urn and very skilfully chased, from a rich side board and salver placed in the hall, saying to the captains, "Gentlemen, I take this in token that I entered here with your Graces." Accordingly he took it, with the consent of all. Then the entire palace was given over to the pillage of the soldiers, and exposed to their greed. Don Pedro tried to restrain them, but was obeyed only near the end of the sack.

[The king of Ternate and a few of his kinsmen, together with the Dutch, escape, the former going to the island of Gilolo. The reduction of the lesser forts continues, and some of the king's relatives who are well affected to the Spanish, offer to induce the king to surrender. This he does after a formal safe-conduct has been given by Acuña. Don Pedro receives him in a manner befitting his rank, and houses him sumptuously, but at the same time keeps him carefully guarded. Several days later a treaty is made with the king.]

Two days after, the governor ordered Master-of-camp Gallinato and Captain Villagrà, together with Pablo de Lima, to confer with the captive king concerning what agreement it was advisable to make with him in his Majesty's name for the security and solidity of matters. They were to persuade him that that was the way to attain merit and oblige our king to make better conditions in his favor. The three came, accompanied by other influential persons, among whom were some Augustinian, Dominican, and Jesuit religious, all of whom served in their ministry praiseworthily. The king did not refuse to capitulate. After some discussion as to what form it should take, through the medium of Pablo de Lima, and after conceding to the king some things that he requested from the king, our sovereign, they wrote and signed the following agreements:

The first thing demanded from King Cachil Sultan Zayde, of Ternate, and from the rest imprisoned with his Highness who may have any part in it, is that he is to deliver to his Majesty King Filipo, our sovereign, the forts that he now possesses--namely, those of Xilolo, Sabubù, Gamocanora, Tacome, those of Maquien, those of Sula, and the others. He answers to this that he will deliver to his Majesty the forts above declared, and that he will send the prince his son, and Cachil Amuxa, his cousin, with the person or persons who shall go to take possession of them; and that they shall be delivered up with all the artillery, ammunition, muskets, and arquebuses contained in them.

The second. That he shall make restitution of all the captives that he holds, who may be our subjects, whether Christians or infidels, from the provinces of Pintados and from the other provinces subject to the Spaniards in the Filipinas Islands. He answered that all that are found at present shall be delivered up immediately, and that those who do not appear now shall be delivered up as they shall be found later.

The third. That he shall deliver up the Dutch in his power. He replied that when he left this fort of Ternate, thirteen or fourteen Dutchmen with him took to flight, and he thought that they went to the Dutch vessel, for he has not seen them. However, if they appear, he will deliver them up immediately.

The fourth. He shall deliver up the Spanish renegades who were in this fort of Ternate. He answered that there was only one there, and that he fled like the others the day the fort was taken, and he does not know where he is, but that he shall be sought and delivered up.

The fifth. That he shall also deliver up all the villages in the island of Batochina or El Moro, which were formerly Christian; as well as the islands of Marotay, and Herrao, which were also Christian, with all the artillery and ammunition in them. He answered that he is ready to deliver up everything, as he did with his person.

Don Pedro de Acuña, governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, president of the royal Audiencia resident therein, and general of this Maluco fleet, entrusted these capitulations to General Juan Xuarez Gallinato and captain Christoval de Villagra. They made them in the form above declared, with the help of Pablo de Lima, a Portuguese native of these islands, who was the interpreter of the [Moro] language. The said king affixed his signature, according to his custom. It was done in the fort of Ternate April ten, one thousand six hundred and six. The said general and captain, and the said Pablo de Lima, also signed it.

The king signed it in Persian characters with graceful curves, and the Spaniards simply. This original agreement was brought to España with the other authentic documents.

[Possession is formally taken of the newly-subdued and of the reconquered territory in the name of the king of Spain; and after consultation it is determined to take the king of Ternate to Manila, leaving governors appointed to carry on his government. All swear homage to the Spanish monarch, and promise not to admit the Dutch or other foreigners to their clove trade, and not to prevent missionary work. Acuña orders a new fort to be built at Tidore, remits a third part of the tribute to be paid by the Ternatans, and, after strengthening the fort at Terate, leaves Juan de Esquivel there with six hundred men, boats, ammunition, and supplies, to act as governor of all the Moluccas, while he returns to Manila with his prisoners. Trouble begins immediately, and Esquival is kept busy with expeditions to the various islands and forts, while the Dutch again begin their machinations; and sickness fights powerfully against the Spaniards. At Mindanao, a conspiracy to escape is discovered among the prisoners, for Mindanao is friendly to the Ternatans. The narrative continues:]

In all the time that we have described, no news of our victory reached Filipinas. From this silence and suspense they argued in those regions, and especially in Manila, that Don Pedro and his fleet had perished, or that he had succeeded so poorly that general sorrow would be caused. Never was virtue free from envious ones who pursue it, and such were not wanting to Don Pedro in Manila. But although these were well known [_some words misprinted in text_]--so that popular suspicion makes them the authors of the poison from which it was believed that that great knight died, twenty-two days after his arrival--we ahall suppress their names; since it is unworthy of the author, who has to maintain neutrality (and indifference, in fact) to give strength to a rumor which even yet is based only upon a suspicion. All are now dead, and judged before the tribunal where not one thought passes without examination. These men, then, spread the rumor that Don Pedro, having assaulted Ternate, entered it easily; but that his men became so embarrassed in the midst of their great plundering that the barbarians, having reflected, attacked the Spaniards and made them retreat, after killing the majority of them. They said that the general, ashamed of his lack of discipline, did not dare return to Manila. When that report reached the Indians' ears, it did so great harm that they began to rebel, especially in the provinces of Camarines and Pintados. The friars who were already attending to their instruction could do nothing with them, for they asked, since the Malucans were victorious, why they should remain subject to the Spaniards, who did not defend them from the Moros. They said that the latter would, with Ternate's protection, plunder them daily, and worse thenceforward. They did not stop at mere murmurs, for they began to confer concerning them, and to talk of executing their plans. But all vanished before the truth and the news of it, which preceded the arrival of the conquerors.....

[The conquerors are given a triumphant reception, and the captives are cheered with hopes of an early release by a decree from Spain, and lodged comfortably. The king of Ternate has a letter written to the Spanish monarch, in which he entreats his clemency. Argensola ends with the reflection that "the Malucos being, then, reduced, our ministers and preachers went thither, and the voice of the evangelist began to be heard in the remotest confines of the land."]

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA

_Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas_, by Antonio de Morga.--See Bibliographical Data in _Vol_. XV.

_Conqvista de las Islas Malvcas_, by Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola.--This is partly translated in full, partly synopsized, from the original printed work, from the copies owned by Harvard University, and Edward E. Ayer, of Chicago.

APPENDIX: CUSTOMS OF THE PAMPANGAS IN THEIR LAWSUITS

[The following extract forms the second part of a treatise found in the body of _Ordinances enacted by the Audiencia of Manila_, given in _Vols_. X and XI. The first part is entitled "Relation of the customs which the Indians were accustomed to observe in these islands; written by Fray Joan de Plaçençia, and sent to Doctor Stiago de Vera, former president of the royal Audiencia which resided in these islands." This is signed with Plasencia's name. The second part, headed as below, bears no signature, but is doubtless by Plasencia. From their appearance in the body of the above document, it is probable that the Audiencia considered them in assembly. Both these reports were written by Plasencia at the command of the governor or of the Audiencia, in order that the local Spanish magistrates might be guided by the customs of the natives in deciding matters of law or justice among the Indians. The first part, omitted here, is the same, with a few verbal changes, as the relation published in _Vol_. VII. pp. 173-185; but it is dated, "Narcan, October twenty-four, one thousand five hundred and eighty-nine" (but this may have been an error of the clerk of the Audiencia). The second part (_Vol_. VII, pp. 185-196) is not found in the above Audiencia document.]

Instructions regarding the customs which the natives of Pampanga formerly observed in their lawsuits

They never had anyone whom they all generally obeyed, except that only in each barangay they obeyed their chief, whose people are called timaguas. Among the chiefs, lords of barangay, he who was most powerful tyrannized over the others, even though they were brothers, because they were all intent upon their own interests.

2. In what concerns regulation in regard to supplies for the country, they had none, and everyone bought and sold as he could; beyond that each chief who ruled a barangay ordered his people to sow at the proper time, and made them assist him at seed-time and harvest.

3. The timaguas, or common people, came before their chief with their suits, and he settled them in this way. Whatever petition was made before them, the chief summoned the party on whom the demand was made, and asked him if he would come to an agreement with the other and opposite party. If the two parties made such agreement, there was no suit. If they would not agree, he exacted an oath from them that they would submit to his judgment. Then he immediately asked for a _viva voce_ examination of both, because among these people there were no writings any suits. If both parties gave like testimony, with the same number of witnesses, they split the difference of the amount of the suit. If the number of witnesses was not equal on either side, such and such a one was condemned to the whole amount, or released from the claim. If the defeated party would not pay according to the sentence, the other party and the judge proceeded against him with the armed hand, and forced him to comply with it. The witnesses were paid according to their rank, and the judge also. The payment of the judge and witnesses was so excessive, that they shared equally with him who won in the suit. The witnesses of the condemned party were paid nothing; and if anything had been given to them before the decision of the suit, it was taken back from them.

4. _Item_: In regard to any murders that occurred, they ruled in this wise. If one chief killed another chief, the relatives and friends of the murdered man went to war immediately with the murderer and his kindred; and if they killed the murderer, the quarrel and difference between them was ended. If not, they killed as many as possible of his followers. After these parties had grown weary of their strife, and a certain time had elapsed after the murder, the other chiefs of the village or district endeavored to reconcile them. The reconciliation was as follows. The murderer was to give and pay to the relatives of the murdered man seventy or eighty taes of gold; and if he were a prominent chief, one hundred or more. Then they all remained friends, and one half was divided among the children of the murdered man, if he had any, or his parents, brothers, or kindred; and the other half among those chiefs who reconciled them, and the timaguas of the murdered man's barangay, although the chiefs took the greater part. If the children or relatives of the deceased refused to be reconciled, all the chiefs proceeded against them, and assisted the party of the murderer until the said agreement was completed.

5. In case any timagua killed any chief or his child, the relatives of the deceased put the murderer to death, together with his wife and children, if they succeeded in catching him. They seized all his property, which they divided among the children of the murdered man, if he had any, and if not, among his parents, relatives, or brothers; and if he had no kindred, among those who executed the vengeance for the murder, this usually being his successor in the barangay.

6. If the murdered man was a timagua, and the murderer a chief, the latter gave to the children or heirs of the murdered man the sum of ten to twenty taes of gold; but if the murdered man had no heirs, it was divided between the judge passing sentence--who was one of the chiefs, appointed by the others of the village for the purpose--and among the said chiefs, the judge taking one half and the others the other half. Of this they gave no part to the murderer, even though he was a chief.

7. _Item_: If one timagua killed another timagua, and had nothing with which to pay the penalty--ten to twenty taes of gold--all the chiefs of the village killed him for it, if his own chief did not do this, by hanging him to a tree or _arigue_ [_i.e._, prop of a house] or piercing him with many lance-thrusts.

8. If any woman killed any man, or another woman, by poison or steel or any other way, the judgment was in conformity with the one above, with consideration for the said conditions.

9. If a brother killed a brother or an uncle, or a nephew his uncle, he did not die for it; but they took all his property away from him for the heirs of the murdered man, of which they gave no share to the murderer, even though he should be an heir. This was determined by the chief of the barangay to which the murderer and the murdered belonged, if each party were of his barangay. The chiefs of the barangay were judges, and shared with the heirs of the deceased.

10. Concerning the murder of a child by a father, or a father by a child, no precise information could be secured regarding the punishment, because all asserted that they never remembered such a murder to have happened.

11. In case of the burning of any village or crops, if the incendiary was a chief, he paid for all the damage caused by the fire--which the chiefs of such town and those nearest it determined--according to the amount of the damage, even though they did not leave the chief who set the fire one mais of gold. If the damage did not exceed his property, and he had some property left over, he retained it. If the incendiary were a timagua, he was executed, and his goods were seized to repair the damage. If these did not suffice to pay for it, they sold his wife and children as slaves, to pay for the said damage.

12. Concerning thieves: If the thief were a chief, he returned the plunder, and was fined in proportion to the theft, according to the opinion of one of the chiefs of the village, whom the other chiefs selected as judge for that purpose. They say that they ordinarily appointed the oldest and the most intelligent. The latter could moderate the penalty, which was divided between the judge and the other chiefs, the judge taking one half.

13. If a timagua or slave committed a theft: If the thief were a timagua, they compelled him to return his booty, and fined him according to the regulations of the preceding section. If he had nothing with which to pay, they sold him in another village, in order to pay what he owed, as a penalty for the theft. If the thief were a slave, his master paid for him, or delivered the said slave to the party, and he was soundly lashed. If the owner of the said stolen goods caught the thief in the act of such robbery, he could kill or beat him without any penalty.

14. As for the old men, old women, and witches who committed murders by any of their practices, when it was ascertained that they had killed any person with their witchcraft or tricks, the chief of their barangay, or of the barangay of the murdered man, could kill them with daggers if he pleased; and if these chiefs did not do this, any of the other chiefs could kill the criminals. Their property was seized, and one half was given to the relatives of the murdered man, and the other half to him who executed the sentence upon such sorcerers and witches.

15. Insulting words caused great anger among these natives, and it was considered a very grave offense, especially among the chiefs. They fined the culprits in heavy sums therefor, inflicting this penalty in order not to cause murders, and in the following manner. The insulted person and he who insulted him named a chief, who must be greater than those in the whole province, to hear this suit, who accepted and decided it. If either of the two parties refused to conform to the agreement which the judge prescribed, there was a custom among them that each one lavished expense, on his own account, on feasts and assemblies, and he who spent the greater sum they considered the more powerful and honorable. From these debaucheries and gatherings sometimes resulted wars between them. If either one of the two was the most considerable chief of the province, three or four, chosen by the rest, judged the case. In case the injurious words were said by a timagua to a chief, if the said timagua had nothing wherewith to pay the penalty imposed--which was very excessive--he was made a slave; and if the insulted party were a great chief, the timagua's wife and children were made slaves. If the chief applied insulting words to any timagua, the penalty was very light, and many times nothing.