The Author.

The Philippine Islands

A Political, Geographical, Ethnographical, Social and Commercial History of the Philippine Archipelago

Embracing the Whole Period of Spanish Rule

With an Account of the Succeeding American Insular Government

By John Foreman, F.R.G.S.

Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged with Maps and Illustrations
London: T. Fisher Unwin
1, Adelphi Terrace.
MCMVI

Table of Contents

Printed and bound by Hazell, Watson and Viney, LD., London and Aylesbury.

Preface to the First Edition

It would be surprising if the concerns of an interesting Colony like the Philippine Islands had not commanded the attention of literary genius.

I do not pretend, therefore, to improve upon the able productions of such eminent writers as Juan de le Concepcion, Martinez Zúñiga, Tomás de Comyn and others, nor do I aspire, through this brief composition, to detract from the merit of Jagorʼs work, which, in its day, commended itself as a valuable book of reference. But since then, and within the last twenty years, this Colony has made great strides on the path of social and material progress; its political and commercial importance is rapidly increasing, and many who know the Philippines have persuaded me to believe that my notes would be an appreciated addition to what was published years ago on this subject.

The critical opinions herein expressed are based upon personal observations made during the several years I have travelled in and about all the principal islands of the Archipelago, and are upheld by reference to the most reliable historical records.

An author should be benevolent in his judgement of men and manners and guarded against mistaking isolated cases for rules. In matters of history he should neither hide the truth nor twist it to support a private view, remembering how easy it is to criticize an act when its sequel is developed: such will be my aim in the fullest measure consistent.

By certain classes I may be thought to have taken a hypercritical view of things; I may even offend their susceptibilities—if I adulated them I should fail to chronicle the truth, and my work would be a deliberate imposture.

I would desire it to be understood, with regard to the classes and races in their collectedness, that my remarks apply only to the large majority; exceptions undoubtedly there are—these form the small minority. Moreover, I need hardly point out that the native population of the capital of the Philippines by no means represents the true native character, to comprehend which, so far as its complicacy can be fathomed, one must penetrate into and reside for years in the interior of the Colony, as I have done, in places where extraneous influences have, as yet, produced no effect.

There may appear to be some incongruity in the plan of a work which combines objects so dissimilar as those enumerated in the Contents pages, but this is not exclusively a History, or a Geography, or an Account of Travels—it is a concise review of all that may interest the reader who seeks for a general idea of the condition of affairs in this Colony in the past and in the present.

J. F.

Preface to the Third Edition

The success which has attended the publication of the Second Edition of this work has induced me to revise it carefully throughout, adding the latest facts of public interest up to the present period.

Long years of personal acquaintance with many of the prime movers in the Revolutionary Party enabled me to estimate their aspirations. My associations with Spain and Spaniards since my boyhood helped me, as an eye-witness of the outbreak of the Rebellion, to judge of the opponents of that movement. My connection with the American Peace Commission in Paris afforded me an opportunity of appreciating the noble desire of a free people to aid the lawful aspirations of millions of their fellow-creatures.

My criticism of the regular clergy applies only to the four religious confraternities in their lay capacity of government agents in these Islands and not to the Jesuit or the Paul fathers, who have justly gained the respect of both Europeans and natives: neither is it intended, in any degree, as a reflection on the sacred institution of the Church.

I take this opportunity of acknowledging, with gratitude, my indebtedness to Governor-General Luke E. Wright, Major-General Leonard Wood, Colonel Philip Reade, Major Hugh L. Scott, Captain E. N. Jones, Captain C. H. Martin, Captain Henry C. Cabell, Captain George Bennett, Captain John P. Finley, Dr. David P. Barrows, Mr. Tobias Eppstein, and many others too numerous to mention, who gave me such valuable and cordial assistance in my recent investigations throughout the Archipelago.

This book is not written to promote the interests of any person or party, and so far as is consistent with guiding the reader to a fair appreciation of the facts recorded, controversial comment has been avoided, for to pronounce a just dictum on the multifarious questions involved would demand a catholicity of judgement never concentrated in the brain of a single human being.

I am persuaded to believe that the bare truth, unvarnished by flattery, will be acceptable to the majority, amongst whom may be counted all those educated Americans whose impartiality is superior to their personal interest in the subject at issue.

It is therefore confidently hoped that the present Edition may merit that approval from readers of English which has been so graciously accorded to the previous ones.

J. F. September, 1905.

Table of Contents

[Introduction]

Chapter I

[General Description of the Archipelago]

  • Geographical features of the Islands. Limits. Mountains. 13
  • Rivers. Lakes. Volcanoes. Eruptions of the Mayon and Taal Volcanoes. 14
  • Monsoons. Seasons. Temperature. Rains. Climate. Earthquakes. 22

Chapter II

[Discovery of the Archipelago]

  • Hernando de Maghallanes. Treaty of Tordesillas. 24
  • Discovery of Magellan Straits and the Ladrone Islands. 27
  • Death of Maghallanes. Elcanoʼs voyage round the world. 28
  • The Loaisa expedition. The Villalobos expedition. Andrés de Urdaneta. 31
  • Miguel de Legaspi; his expedition; he reaches Cebú; dethrones King Tupas. 33
  • Manila is proclaimed the capital of the Archipelago. 36
  • Martin de Goiti. Juan Salcedo. Native Local Government initiated. 37

Chapter III

[Philippine Dependencies, Up To 1898]

  • The Ladrone, Caroline, and Pelew Islands. 39
  • First mission to the Ladrone Islands. Pelew Islanders. Caroline Islanders. 40
  • Spainʼs possession of the Caroline Islands disputed by Germany. 44
  • Posadillo, Governor of the Caroline Islands, is murdered. 45
  • The Ladrone, Caroline, and Pelew Islands (except Guam) sold to Germany. 46

Chapter IV

[Attempted Conquest by Chinese]

  • Li-ma-hong, a Chinese corsair, attacks Manila. 47
  • He settles in Pangasinán; evacuates the Islands. 49
  • Rivalry of lay and Monastic authorities. Philip II.ʼs decree of Reforms. 51
  • Manila Cathedral founded. Mendicant friars. Archbishopric created. 55
  • Supreme Court suppressed and re-established. Church and State contentions. 57
  • Murder of Gov.-General Bustamente Bustillo. The monks in open riot. 60

Chapter V

[Early Relations with Japan]

The Catholic Missions

  • The Emperor of Japan demands the surrender of the Islands. 63
  • Fray Pedro Bautistaʼs mission; he and 25 others are crucified. 65
  • Jesuit and Franciscan jealousy. The martyrsʼ mortal remains lost at sea. 67
  • Emperor Taycosama explains his policy. Further missions and executions. 68
  • Missionary martyrs declared saints. Emperor of Japan sends a shipment of lepers. 70
  • Spaniards expelled from Formosa by the Dutch. Missions to Japan abandoned. 71

Chapter VI

[Conflicts with the Dutch]

  • The Spanish expedition to the Moluccas fails. 72
  • Chinese mutiny, murder the Spanish leader, and take the ship to Cochin China. 73
  • Expeditions of Bravo de Acuna and Pedro de Heredia. Battle of Playa Honda. 74
  • Koxinga, a Chinese adventurer, threatens to attack the Colony. 76
  • Vittorio Riccio, an Italian monk, visits Manila as Koxingaʼs ambassador. 77
  • Chinese goaded to rebellion; great massacre. 77
  • Vicissitudes of Govs.-General. Defalcations. Impeachments. 78
  • Gov.-General Fajardo de Tua kills his wife and her paramour. 80
  • Separation of Portugal and Spain (1640). Spanish failure to capture Macao. 81
  • Nunneries. Mother Ceciliaʼs love adventures. Santa Clara Convent. 81
  • The High Host is stolen. Inquisition. Letter of Anathema. 82
  • The Spanish Prime Minister Valenzuela is banished to Cavite. 83
  • Monseigneur Maillard de Tournon, the Papal Legate. 84
  • His arrogance and eccentricities; he dies in prison at Macao. 85
  • Question of the Regium exequatur. Philip V.ʼs edict of punishments. 86

Chapter VII

[British Occupation of Manila]

  • Coalition of France and Spain against England by the “Family Compact.” 87
  • Simon de Anda y Salazár usurps the Archbishop-Governorʼs authority. 88
  • British bombard Manila. Archbishop-Governor Rojo capitulates. 89
  • British in possession of the City. Sack and pillage. Agreed Indemnity. 90
  • Simon de Anda y Salazár defies Governor Rojo and declares war. 91
  • British carry war into the provinces. Bustos opposes them. 92
  • Bustos completely routed. Chinese take the British side. 93
  • Massacre of Chinese. Villa Cortaʼs fate. The Philipino treasure. 94
  • Simon de Anda y Salazár offers rewards for British heads. 95
  • Austin friars on battle-fields. Peace of Paris (Feb. 10, 1763). 96
  • Archbishop-Governor Rojo dies. La Torre appointed Gov.-General. 97
  • British evacuate Manila. La Torre allows Anda to receive back the City. 98
  • Anda goes to Spain; is rewarded by the King; returns as Gov.-General. 99
  • Anda is in conflict with the out-going Governor, the Jesuits, and the friars. 99
  • Anda dies in hospital (1776). His burial-place and monument. 100
  • Rebellion succeeds the war. Ilocos Rebellion led by Diego de Silan. 100
  • Revolt in Bojol Island led by Dagóhoy. 101
  • Revolts in Leyte Island, Surigao (Mindanao Is.), and Sámar Island. 102
  • Rebellion of “King” Málong and “Count” Gumapos. 103
  • Rebellion of Andrés Novales. Execution of A. Novales and Ruiz. 104
  • Apolinario de la Cruz declares himself “King of the Tagálogs.” 105
  • General Marcelo Azcárraga, Spanish War Minister, Philippine born. 105
  • The Cavite Conspiracy of 1872. The Secret Society of Reformers. 106
  • The Philippine Martyrs, Dr. Búrgos and Fathers Zamora and Gomez. 107
  • Illustrious exiles—Dr. Antonio M. Regidor and José M. Basa. 108

Chapter VIII

[The Chinese]

  • The China-Manila trade in the days of Legaspi. 109
  • The Alcayceria. The Parian. Chinese banished. Restrictions. 110
  • The Chinese as immigrants; their comparative activity. 112
  • Chinese mandarins come to seek the “Mount of Gold” in Cavite. 114
  • The Chinese are goaded to revolt. Saint Francisʼ victory over them. 115
  • Massacre of Foreigners. The Chinese Traders; their Guilds. 116
  • Chinese patron saint; population. The Sangley. The Macao. 118
  • Restrictions on Chinese immigration. Their gradual exclusion. 119

Chapter IX

[Wild Tribes and Pagans]

  • The Aetas or Negritos or Balugas. 120
  • The Gaddanes. The Itavis. The Igorrotes. The Ibanacs. 122
  • Attempt to subdue the Igorrotes. Its failure. 124
  • The Calingas. The Igorrote-Chinese. The Tinguianes. 125
  • The Basanes. The Manguianes. The Hindoos. Albinos. 128

Chapter X

[Mahometans and Southern Tribes]

  • Early history of the Mahometans, called Moros. 129
  • The First Expedition against the Mindanao Moros. 130
  • Gov.-General Corcuera effects a landing in Sulu Island. 131
  • The scourge of Moro Piracy. Devastation of the coasts. Captives. 132
  • Zamboanga Fort; cost of its maintenance. Fighting Friars. 133
  • Vicissitudes of Sultan Mahamad Alimudin. 134
  • The Sultan appeals to his suzerainʼs delegate and is made prisoner. 134
  • His letter to Sultan Muhamad Amirubdin. 135
  • The charges against the Sultan. Extermination of Meros decreed. 136
  • Mindanao and Sulu Moros join forces. Extermination impossible. 137
  • The Treaty with Sultan Mahamad Alimudin. 138
  • The Claveria and Urbiztondo expeditions against Moros. 139
  • Gov.-General Malcampo finally annexes Joló (1876). 140
  • Spain appoints Harun Narrasid Sultan of Sulu (1885). 141
  • The ceremony of investiture. Opposition to the nominee. 142
  • Datto Utto defies the Spaniards. Terreroʼs expedition (Jan., 1887). 143
  • Colonel Arolasʼ victory at Maybun (Sulu Is.) (April, 1887). 144
  • The Marahui Campaign (1895). The Moro tribes. 145
  • The Juramentado. Moro dress; character; arts; weapons. 146
  • Moro customs. The Pandita. The Datto. 148
  • Joló (Sulu) town. H.H. the Sultan of Sulu. 149
  • A juramentado runs amok. Across Sulu Island to Maybun. 152
  • The Sultanʼs official reception. Subuános of Zamboanga. 154
  • Climate in the South. Palaúan Island. Spanish settlers. 157
  • Across Palaúan Island. The Tugbanúas tribe. 158
  • Their dress, customs, and country. 159
  • Efforts to colonize Paláuan Island. The Moro problem. 160

Chapter XI

[Domesticated Natives—Origin—Character]

  • Theory concerning the first inhabitants of these Islands. 163
  • Their advent before the Spanish Conquest. 165
  • Japanese and Chinese early immigrants. 166
  • Native character; idiosyncracies and characteristics. 167
  • Notion of sleep. “Castila!”. 169
  • Tagálog and Visayo hospitality. The nativeʼs good qualities. 172
  • Native aversion to discipline; bravery; resignation; geniality. 175
  • Mixed races. Native physiognomy; marriages; minorsʼ rights. 176
  • Family names. The Catapúsan. 179
  • Dancing; the Balitao; the Comitan. The Asuan. 180
  • Mixed marriages. The Half-caste (Mestizo). 181
  • The Shrines and Saints. The Holy Child of Cebú. St. Francis of Tears. 183
  • Our Lady of Cagsaysay. The Virgin of Antipolo. 184
  • Miraculous Saints. Santones. Native Conception of Religion. 187
  • Musical talent. Slavery. Education in Spanish times. 190
  • The Intellectuals. The Illiterates. State aid for Schools. 192
  • The Athenæum. Girlsʼ Colleges. St. Thomasʼ University. 194
  • The Nautical School. The provincial student. Talented natives. 195
  • Diseases. Leprosy. Insanity. Death-rate. Sanitation. 197

Chapter XII

[The Religious Orders]

  • Their early co-operation a necessity. 199
  • Their power and influence. 200
  • Opinions for and against that power. 201
  • The Spanish parish priest. Father Piernavieja. 202
  • Virtueless friars. Monastic persecution. 204
  • The Hierarchy. The Orders. Church revenues and State aid. 206
  • Rivalry of Religious Orders. Papal intervention to ensure peace. 209

Chapter XIII

[Spanish Insular Government]

  • The Encomiendas. The Trading-Governors. 211
  • The Judge-Governors (Alcálde Máyor). The Reforms of 1886. 213
  • Cost of Spanish Insular Government. The Provincial Civil Governorʼs duties. 214
  • The position of Provincial Civil Governor. Local Funds. Provincial poverty. 216
  • Highways and Public Works. Cause of national decay. 218
  • Fortunes made easily. Peculations. Town Local Government. 220
  • The Gobernadorcillo (petty-governor). The Cabeza de Barangay (Tax-collector). 222
  • The Cuadrillero (guard). The Fallas (tax). The Cédula personal. 224
  • The Tribunal (town hall). Reforms affecting travellers. 225

Chapter XIV

[Spanish-Philippine Finances]

  • Philippine budgets. Curious items of revenue and expenditure. 227
  • Spanish-Philippine army, police, and constabulary statistics. 230
  • The armed forces in the olden times. 232
  • Spanish-Philippine navy and judicial statistics. 233
  • Prison statistics. Brigandage. The brigandsʼ superstition. 235
  • A chase for brigands. The anting-anting. Pirates. 237
  • The notorious Tancad. Dilatory justice. A cause célèbre. 239
  • Spanish-Philippine Criminal Law procedure. 241

Chapter XV

[Trade of the Islands from Early Times]

  • Its early history. Its State galleons. 243
  • The Consulado merchants. The Mexican subsidy. 244
  • In the days of the Mexican galleons. The Obras Pias. 245
  • Losses of the treasure-laden galleons. Trade difficulties. 246
  • The period of restrictions on trade. Prohibitory decrees. 248
  • The Manila merchants alarmed; appeal to the King. 249
  • Penalties on free-traders. Trading friars. The budget for 1757. 250
  • Decline of trade. Spanish trading-company failures. 252
  • The Real Compañia de Filipinas; its privileges and failure. 253
  • The dawn of free trade. Foreign traders admitted. 254
  • Manila port, unrestrictedly open to foreigners (1834), becomes known to the world. 256
  • Pioneers of foreign trade. Foreign and Philippine banks. 257
  • The Spanish-Philippine currency. Mexican-dollar smuggling. 259
  • Ports of Zamboanga, Yloilo, Cebú, and Sual opened to foreign trade. 261
  • Mail service. Carrying-trade. Middlemen. Native industries. 263
  • The first Philippine Railway. Telegraph service. Seclusion of the Colony. 265

Chapter XVI

[Agriculture]

  • Interest on loans to farmers. Land values and tenure in Luzon Island. 269
  • Sugar-cane lands and cultivation. Land-measures. 271
  • Process of sugar-extraction. Labour conditions on sugar-estates. 273
  • Sugar statistics. Worldʼs production of cane and beet sugar. 275
  • Rice. Rice-measure. Rice machinery; husking; pearling; statistics. 276
  • Macan and Paga rice. Rice planting and trading. 278

Chapter XVII

[Manila Hemp—Coffee—Tobacco]

  • Musa textilis. Extraction and uses of the fibre. Machinery. 281
  • Hemp experiments in British India. Cultivation. Qualities. 283
  • Labour difficulties. Statistics. Albay province (local) land-measure. 286
  • Coffee. Coffee dealing and cultivation. 289
  • Tobacco. The Government Tobacco Monopoly. 292
  • Tobacco-growing by compulsory labour. Condition of the growers. 294
  • Tobacco Monopoly abolished. Free trade in tobacco. 296
  • Tobacco-trading risks; qualities; districts. Cigar values. 299

Chapter XVIII

[Sundry Forest and Farm Produce]

  • Maize. Cacao-beans. Chocolate. 300
  • Cacao cultivation. Castor oil. Gogo. 302
  • Camote. Gabi. Potatoes. Mani (pea-nut). Areca-nut. Buyo. 303
  • Cocoanuts. Extraction of Tuba (beverage). 304
  • Cocoanut-oil extraction. Coprah. Coir. 305
  • Nipa palm. Cogon-grass. Cotton-tree. 307
  • Buri palm. Ditá. Palma brava. Bamboo. 308
  • Bojo. Bejuco (Rattan-cane). Palásan (Bush-rope). 310
  • Gum mastic. Gutta-percha. Wax. Cinnamon. Edible Birdʼs-nest. 311
  • Balate (Trepang). Sapan-wood. Tree-saps. 312
  • Hardwoods; varieties and qualities. 313
  • Molave wood tensile and transverse experiments. 315
  • Relative strengths of hardwoods. Timber trade. 317
  • Fruits; the Mango; the Banana; the Papaw, etc. 318
  • Guavas; Pineapples; Tamarinds; the Mabolo. 320
  • Sundry vegetable produce. Flowers. 321
  • Botanical specimens—curious and beautiful. Orchids. 322
  • Firewoods; Locust beans; Amor seco. 324
  • Botanical names given to islands, towns etc. 324
  • Medicinal herbs, roots, leaves and barks. Perfumes. 325

Chapter XIX

[Mineral Products]

  • Coal import. Coal-mining ventures. 326
  • Comparative analyses of coal. 328
  • Gold-mining ventures. The Paracale and Mambulao mines. 329
  • Iron-mining ventures. Failures, poverty and suicide. 332
  • Copper. Marble. Stone. Gypsum. Sulphur. Mineral oil. 334

Chapter XX

[Domestic Live-stock—Ponies, Buffaloes, Etc.]

  • Ponies. Horses. Buffaloes (carabaos). 336
  • Donkeys. Mules. Sheep. Fish. Insects. Reptiles. Snakes. 338
  • Butterflies. White ants. Bats. Deer. Wild boars. 340
  • Fowls. Birds. The Locust plague. Edible insects. 341

Chapter XXI

[Manila Under Spanish Rule]

  • The fortified city. The moats. The drawbridges. 343
  • Public buildings in the city. The port in construction. 344
  • Manila Bay. Corregidor Island and Marivéles. 345
  • The Pasig River. Public lighting. Tondo suburb. 346
  • Binondo suburb. Chinese and native artificers. 347
  • Easter week. The vehicle traffic. 348
  • The Theatres. The Carrillo. The “Moro Moro” performance. 349
  • The bull-ring. Annual feasts. Cock-fighting. 350
  • European club. Hotels. The Press. Spanish journalism. 351
  • Botanical gardens. Dwelling-houses. 353
  • Manila society. Water-supply. Climate. 354
  • Population of the Islands in 1845; of Manila in 1896. 355
  • Typhoons and earthquakes affecting Manila. 356
  • Dress of both sexes. A “first-class” funeral. 357
  • Excursions from Manila. Los Baños. 359
  • The story of Los Baños and Jalajala. The legend of Guadalupe Church. 360

Chapter XXII

[The Tagálog Rebellion of 1896–98]

First Period

  • The Córtes de Cadiz. Philippine deputies in the Peninsula. 362
  • The Assembly of Reformists. Effect of the Cavite Rising of 1872. 363
  • Official acts conducive to rebellion. The Katipunan League. 364
  • Arrest of prominent Filipinos. The first overt act of rebellion. 366
  • War commences. The Battle of San Juan del Monte. 368
  • Execution of Sancho Valenzuela and others. 369
  • Andrés Bonifacio heads the movement. He is superseded by Emilio Aguinaldo. 370
  • Imus (Cavite) is captured by the rebels. The history of Imus. 372
  • Atrocities of the rebels. Rebel victory at Binacayan. 373
  • Execution of 13 rebels in Cavite. The rebel chief Llaneras in Bulacan. 374
  • Volunteers are enrolled. Tragedy at Fort Santiago; cartloads of corpses. 375
  • A court-martial cabal. Gov.-General Blanco is recalled. 376
  • The rebels destroy a part of the railway. They threaten an assault on Manila. 377
  • General Camilo Polavieja succeeds Blanco as Gov.-General. 378
  • General Lachambre, the Liberator of Cavite. Polavieja returns to Spain. 379
  • Dr. José Rizal, the Philippine ideal patriot; his career and hopes. 381
  • His return to Manila; banishment, liberation, re-arrest, and execution. 383
  • The love-romance of Dr. José Rizalʼs life. 387
  • General Primo de Rivera succeeds Polavieja as Gov.-General. 389
  • The Gov.-General decrees concentration; its bad effect. 391
  • The rebels define their demands in an exhortation to the people. 392
  • Emilio Aguinaldo now claims independence. 394
  • Don Pedro A. Paterno acts as peace negotiator. 395
  • The Protocol of Peace between the Rebels and the Gov.-General. 396
  • The alleged Treaty of Biac-na-bató (Dec. 14, 1897). 397
  • The Primo de Rivera-Paterno agreement as to indemnity payment. 398
  • Emilio Aguinaldo in exile. Peace rejoicings. Spain defaults. 399
  • The rebel chiefs being in exile, the people are goaded to fresh revolt. 400
  • The tragedy of the Calle de Camba. Cebú Island rises in revolt. 401
  • The Cebuánosʼ raid on Cebú City; Lutao in flames; piles of corpses. 402
  • Exciting adventures of American citizens. Heartrending scenes in Cebú City. 404
  • Rajahmudah Datto Mandi visits Cebú. Rebels in Bolinao (Zambales). 406
  • Relief of Bolinao. Father Santos of Malolos is murdered. 408
  • The peacemaker states his views on the reward he expects from Spain. 409
  • Don Máximo Paterno, the Philippine “Grand Old Man”. 411
  • Biographical sketch of his son, Don Pedro A. Paterno. 411
  • General Basilio Augusti succeeds Primo de Rivera as Gov.-General. 413
  • The existence of a Peace Treaty with the rebels is denied in the Spanish Cortés. 414

Chapter XXIII

[The Tagálog Rebellion of 1896–98]

Second Period

American Intervention

  • Events leading to the Spanish-American War (April–Aug., 1898). 417
  • Events preliminary to the naval Battle of Cavite (May 1, 1898). 419
  • Aspirations of the Revolutionary Party. 420
  • Revolutionary exhortation denouncing Spain. 421
  • Allocution of the Archbishop of Madrid to the Spanish army. 423
  • Gov.-General Basilio Augusti issues a call to arms. 424
  • His proclamation declaring a state of war with America. 425
  • War in the Islands approaching. Flight of non-combatants. 426
  • The naval Battle of Cavite. Destruction of the Spanish Fleet. 427
  • The Stars and Stripes hoisted at Cavite. 429
  • The first news of the naval defeat raises panic in Madrid. 431
  • Emilio Aguinaldo returns from exile to Cavite (May 19, 1898). 432
  • Revolutionary exhortation to the people to aid America. 433
  • In the beleaguered city of Manila. German attitude. 434
  • The merchantsʼ harvest. Run on the Banco Español-Filipino. 435
  • General Aguinaldo becomes Dictator. Filipinos congratulate America. 436
  • Conditions in and around Manila. Señor Paternoʼs pro-Spanish Manifesto. 438
  • The revolutionistsʼ refutation of Señor Paternoʼs manifesto. 440
  • General Monetʼs terrible southward march with refugees. 445
  • Terror-stricken refugeesʼ flight for life. The Macabebes. 446
  • The Revolutionary Government proclaimed. Statutes of Constitution. 448
  • Message of the Revolutionary President accompanying the proclamation. 454
  • The Revolutionistsʼ appeal to the Powers for recognition. 457
  • Spain makes peace overtures to America. The Protocol of Peace. 458
  • The Americans prepare for the attack on Manila. 460
  • The Americans again demand the surrender of Manila. 461
  • The Americansʼ attack on Manila (Aug. 13, 1898). 462
  • Spainʼs blood-sacrifice for “the honour of the country”. 464
  • Capitulation of Manila to the Americans (Aug. 14, 1898). 465
  • The Americansʼ first measures of administration in Manila. 467
  • Trade resumed. Liberty of the Press. Malolos (Bulacan) the rebel capital. 468
  • General Aguinaldoʼs triumphal entry into Malolos. 470
  • The Paris Peace Commission (Oct.-Dec., 1898). 471
  • Peace concluded in Paris between America and Spain (Dec. 10, 1898). 472
  • Innovations in Manila customs. Spanish government in Visayas. 473
  • Strained relations between the rebels and the Americans. 475
  • Rebels attack the Spaniards in Visayas. The Spaniards evacuate the Visayas. 476
  • The end of Spanish rule. The rebelsʼ disagreement. 478
  • Text of the Treaty of Peace between America and Spain. 479

Chapter XXIV

[An Outline of the War of Independence Period, 1899–1901]

  • Insurgents prepare for the coming conflict. 484
  • Anti-American manifesto. The Philippine Republic. 486
  • The war begins; the opening shot. Battle of Paco. 487
  • Fighting around Manila; Gagalanging. Manila in flames. 489
  • Battle of Marilao. Capture of Malolos, the insurgent capital. 490
  • Proclamation of American intentions. Santa Cruz (La Laguna) captured. 493
  • Effect of the war on public opinion in America. 495
  • Insurgent defeat. Calumpit captured. Insurgents ask for an armistice. 496
  • Insurgent tactics. General Lawton in Cavite. 499
  • Violent death of General Antonio Luna. 501
  • General Aguinaldoʼs manifesto; his pathetic allusion to the past. 502
  • Insurgents destroy the s.s. Saturnus. Death of General Lawton. 503
  • War on the wane. Many chiefs surrender. 505
  • Partial disbandment of the insurgent army urged by hunger. 506
  • Capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo (March 23, 1901). 507
  • He swears allegiance to America. His home at Canit (Cavite Viejo). 509

Chapter XXV

[The Philippine Republic in the Central and Southern Islands]

  • The Spaniards evacuate Yloilo (Dec., 1898). Native Government there. 511
  • General Miller demands the surrender of Yloilo. The Panay army. 512
  • Riotous insurgent soldiery. Flight of civilians. 513
  • The Yloilo native Government discusses the crisis in open assembly. 514
  • Mob riot. Yloilo in flames. Looting, anarchy, and terrorism. 515
  • Bombardment of Yloilo. The American forces enter and the insurgents vanish. 516
  • Surrender of insurgent leaders. Peace overtures. “Water-cure”. 517
  • Formal surrender of the Panay army remnant at Jaro (Feb. 2, 1901). 518
  • Yloilo town. Native Government in Negros Island. Peaceful settlement. 519
  • An armed rabble overruns Negros Island. 521
  • Native Government in Cebú Island. American occupation of Cebú City. 522
  • Cebuáno insurgents on the warpath. Peace signed with Cebuános. 524
  • Reformed government in Cebú Island. Cebú City. 526
  • American occupation of Bojol Island. Insurgent rising quelled. 528
  • Native Government in Cottabato. Slaughter of the Christians. 529
  • The Spaniardsʼ critical position in Zamboanga (Mindanao Is.). 531
  • Rival factions and anarchy in Zamboanga. Opportune American advent. 532
  • The Rajahmudah Datto Maudi. Zamboanga town. 534
  • Sámar and Marinduque Islands under native leaders. 535
  • Slaughter of American officers and troops at Balangiga (Sámar Is.). 536

Chapter XXVI

[The Spanish Prisoners]

  • The approximate number of Spanish prisoners and their treatment. 537
  • The Spanish Governmentʼs dilemma in the matter of the prisoners. 538
  • Why the prisoners were detained. Baron Du Maraisʼ ill-fated mission. 539
  • Further efforts to obtain their release. The captors state their terms. 541
  • Discussions between Generals E. S. Otis and Nicolás Jaramillo. 542
  • The Spanish commissionersʼ ruse to obtain the prisonersʼ release fails. 543
  • The end of the Spaniardsʼ captivity. 544

Chapter XXVII

[End of the War of Independence and After]

  • The last of the recognized insurgent leaders. Notorious outlaws. 545
  • Apolinario Mabini. Brigands of the old and of the new type. 546
  • Ferocity of the new caste of brigands. 548
  • The Montalón and Felizardo outlaw bands. 549
  • The “Guards of Honour.” The Pulaján in gloomy Sámar. 550
  • Army and Constabulary Statistics. Insurgent navy. 553
  • Sedition. Seditious plays. 554
  • Landownership is conducive to social tranquillity. 555

Chapter XXVIII

[Modern Manila]

  • Innovations under American rule. 556
  • Clubs. Theatres. Hotels. “Saloons.” The Walled City. 558
  • The Insular Government. Feast-days. Municipality. 560
  • Emoluments of high officials. The Schurman Commission. 561
  • The Taft Commission. The “Philippines for the Filipinos” doctrine. 563
  • The Philippine Civil Service. Civil government established. 565
  • Constabulary. Secret Police. The Vagrant Act. 567
  • Army strength. Military Division. Scout Corps. 569

Chapter XXIX

[The Land of the Moros]

  • The Bates Agreement with the Sultan of Sulu. 571
  • The warlike Dattos and their clansmen. 573
  • Captain Pershingʼs brilliant exploits around Lake Lanao. 574
  • Storming the Cottas. American pluck. 575
  • American policy in Moroland. Maj.-General Leonard Wood. 576
  • Constitution of the Moro Province. 577
  • Municipalities. Tribal Wards. Moro Province finances. 578
  • Moro Province armed forces. Gen. Woodʼs victory at Kudaran͠gan. 580
  • Datto Pedro Cuevas of Basílan Island. His career. 582
  • General Wood in Sulu Island. Panglima Hassan. Major H. L. Scott. 584
  • Major Hugh L. Scott vanquishes Panglima Hassan. A bichâra. 585
  • Joló town. H.H. The Sultan of Sulu. 587
  • American policy towards the Moro chiefs. 588
  • The Manguiguinʼs eventful visit to Zamboanga. 589
  • Education and progress in the Moro Province. 591
  • What the Moro Province needs. The prospect therein. 592

Chapter XXX

[The Spanish Friars, After 1898]

  • Free cult. Causes of the anti-friar feeling. 594
  • Attitude of the Philippine clergy. Monsignor Chapelle. 596
  • The question of the friarsʼ lands. American view. 597
  • The American Government negotiates with the Holy See. 599
  • The Popeʼs contrary view of the friarsʼ case. 600
  • The friarsʼ-lands purchase. The approximate acreage. Monsignor Guidi. 601
  • The anti-friar feeling diminishes. The Philippine Independent Church. 602
  • The head of the Philippine Independent Church throws off allegiance to the Pope. 604
  • Conflict between Catholics and Schismatics. 606
  • Aglipayan doctrine. Native clergy. Monsignor Agius. 607
  • American education. The Normal School. The Nautical School. 608
  • The School for Chinese. The Spanish Schools. 610
  • The English language for Orientals. Native politics. 611
  • The Philippine Assembly. The cry for “independence”. 612
  • The native interpretation of the term “Protection”. 613
  • Capacity for self-government. Population. Benguet road. 614
  • Census Statistics. Regulations affecting foreign travellers. 616
  • Administration of justice. Provincial Courts. Justices of the peace. 618

Chapter XXXI

[Trade and Agriculture Since the American Advent]

  • Trade in war-time. After-effect of war on trade and agriculture. 620
  • Losses in tilth-cattle. The Congressional Relief Fund. 621
  • Fruitless endeavours to replace the lost buffalo herds. 622
  • Government supplies rice to the needy. Plantersʼ embarrassments. 623
  • Agitation for an Agricultural Bank. Bureau of Agriculture. 624
  • Land-tax. Manila Port Works. The Southern ports. 626
  • Need of roads. Railway projects. 627
  • The carrying-trade. The Shipping Law. Revenue and Expenditure. 628
  • The Internal Revenue Law. Enormous increase in cost of living. 630
  • “The Democratic Labour Union.” The Chinese Exclusion Act. 632
  • Social position of the Chinese in the Islands since 1898. 634
  • The new Philippine currency (Peso Conant). 635
  • American Banks. The commercial policy of the future. 637
  • Trade Statistics. Total Import and Export values. Hemp shipments. 639
  • Total Chief Exports. Total Sugar Export. 640
  • Tobacco, Cigar, and Coprah shipments. Values of Coprah and Cocoanut-oil. 644
  • Sapan-wood, Gum Mastic, and Coffee shipments. 646
  • Gold and Silver Imports and Exports. Tonnage. Exchange. 647
  • Proportionate table of Total Exports. 648
  • Proportionate table of Total Imports. 649
  • Proportionate table of Staple Exports and Rice Imports. 650

[Chronological Table of Leading Events]. 651

Index. 655

List of Illustrations

Maps

Introduction

“Nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice.”
Othello, Act V., Sc. 2.

During the three centuries and a quarter of more or less effective Spanish dominion, this Archipelago never ranked above the most primitive of colonial possessions.

That powerful nation which in centuries gone by was built up by Iberians, Celts, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Visigoths, Romans, and Arabs was in its zenith of glory when the conquering spirit and dauntless energy of its people led them to gallant enterprises of discovery which astonished the civilized world. Whatever may have been the incentive which impelled the Spanish monarchs to encourage the conquest of these Islands, there can, at least, be no doubt as to the earnestness of the individuals entrusted to carry out the royal will. The nerve and muscle of chivalrous Spain ploughing through a wide unknown ocean in quest of glory and adventure, the unswerving devotion of the ecclesiastics to the cause of Catholic supremacy, each bearing intense privations, cannot fail to excite the wonder of succeeding generations. But they were satisfied with conquering and leaving unimproved their conquests, for whilst only a small fraction of this Archipelago was subdued, millions of dollars and hundreds of lives were expended in futile attempts at conquest in Gamboge, Siam, Pegu, Moluccas, Borneo, Japan, etc.—and for all these toils there came no reward, not even the sterile laurels of victory. The Manila seat of government had not been founded five years when the Governor-General solicited royal permission to conquer China!

Extension of dominion seized them like a mania. Had they followed up their discoveries by progressive social enlightenment, by encouragement to commerce, by the concentration of their efforts in the development of the territory and the new resources already under their sway, half the money and energy squandered on fruitless and inglorious expeditions would have sufficed to make high roads crossing and recrossing the Islands; tenfold wealth would have accrued; civilization would have followed as a natural consequence; and they would, perhaps even to this day, have preserved the loyalty of those who struggled for and obtained freer institutions. But they had elected to follow the principles of that religious age, and all we can credit them with is the conversion of millions to Christianity and the consequent civility at the expense of cherished liberty, for ever on the track of that fearless band of warriors followed the monk, ready to pass the breach opened for him by the sword, to conclude the conquest by the persuasive influence of the Holy Cross.

The civilization of the world is but the outcome of wars, and probably as long as the world lasts the ultimate appeal in all questions will be made to force, notwithstanding Peace Conferences. The hope of ever extinguishing warfare is as meagre as the advantage such a state of things would be. The idea of totally suppressing martial instinct in the whole civilized community is as hopeless as the effort to convert all the human race to one religious system. Moreover, the common good derived from war generally exceeds the losses it inflicts on individuals; nor is war an isolated instance of the few suffering for the good of the many. “Salus populi suprema lex.” “Nearly every step in the worldʼs progress has been reached by warfare. In modern times the peace of Europe is only maintained by the equality of power to coerce by force. Liberty in England, gained first by an exhibition of force, would have been lost but for bloodshed. The great American Republic owes its existence and the preservation of its unity to this inevitable means, and neither arbitration, moral persuasion, nor sentimental argument would ever have exchanged Philippine monastic oppression for freedom of thought and liberal institutions.

The right of conquest is admissible when it is exercised for the advancement of civilization, and the conqueror not only takes upon himself, but carries out, the moral obligation to improve the condition of the subjected peoples and render them happier. How far the Spaniards of each generation fulfilled that obligation may be judged from these pages, the works of Mr. W. H. Prescott, the writings of Padre de las Casas, and other chroniclers of Spanish colonial achievements. The happiest colony is that which yearns for nothing at the hands of the mother country; the most durable bonds are those engendered by gratitude and contentment. Such bonds can never be created by religious teaching alone, unaccompanied by the twofold inseparable conditions of moral and material improvement. There are colonies wherein equal justice, moral example, and constant care for the welfare of the people have riveted European dominion without the dispensable adjunct of an enforced State religion. The reader will judge the merits of that civilization which the Spaniards engrafted on the races they subdued; for as mankind has no philosophical criterion of truth, it is a matter of opinion where the unpolluted fountain of the truest modern civilization is to be found. It is claimed by China and by Europe, and the whole universe is schismatic on the subject. When Japan was only known to the world as a nation of artists, Europe called her barbarous; when she had killed fifty thousand Russians in Manchuria, she was proclaimed to be highly civilized. There are even some who regard the adoption of European dress and the utterance of a few phrases in a foreign tongue as signs of civilization. And there is a Continental nation, proud of its culture, whose sense of military honour, dignity, and discipline involves inhuman brutality of the lowest degree.

Juan de la Concepcion,[1] who wrote in the eighteenth century, bases the Spaniardsʼ right to conquest solely on the religious theory. He affirms that the Spanish kings inherited a divine right to these Islands, their dominion being directly prophesied in Isaiah xviii. He assures us that this title from Heaven was confirmed by apostolic authority,[2] and by “the many manifest miracles with which God, the Virgin, and the Saints, as auxiliaries of our arms, demonstrated its unquestionable justice.” Saint Augustine, he states, considered it a sin to doubt the justice of war which God determines; but, let it be remembered, the same savant insisted that the world was flat, and that the sun hid every night behind a mountain!

An apology for conquest cannot be rightly based upon the sole desire to spread any particular religion, more especially when we treat of Christianity, the benign radiance of which was overshadowed by that debasing institution the Inquisition, which sought out the brightest intellects only to destroy them. But whether conversion by coercion be justifiable or not, one is bound to acknowledge that all the urbanity of the Filipinos of to-day is due to Spanish training, which has raised millions from obscurity to a relative condition of culture. The fatal defect in the Spanish system was the futile endeavour to stem the tide of modern methods and influences.

The government of the Archipelago alone was no mean task.

A group of islands inhabited by several heathen races—surrounded by a sea exposed to typhoons, pirates, and Christian-hating Mussulmans—had to be ruled by a handful of Europeans with inadequate funds, bad ships, and scant war material. For nearly two centuries the financial administration was a chaos, and military organization hardly existed. Local enterprise was disregarded and discouraged so long as abundance of silver dollars came from across the Pacific. Such a short-sighted, unstable dependence left the Colony resourceless when bold foreign traders stamped out monopoly and brought commerce to its natural level by competition. In the meantime the astute ecclesiastics quietly took possession of rich arable lands in many places, the most valuable being within easy reach of the Capital and the Arsenal of Cavite. Landed property was undefined. It all nominally belonged to the State, which, however, granted no titles; “squatters” took up land where they chose without determined limits, and the embroilment continues, in a measure, to the present day.

About the year 1885 the question was brought forward of granting Government titles to all who could establish claims to land. Indeed, for about a year, there was a certain enthusiasm displayed both by the applicants and the officials in the matter of “Titulos Reales.” But the large majority of landholders—among whom the monastic element conspicuously figured—could only show their title by actual possession.[3] It might have been sufficient, but the fact is that the clergy favoured neither the granting of “Titulos Reales” nor the establishment of the projected Real Estate Registration Offices.

Agrarian disputes had been the cause of so many armed risings against themselves in particular, during the nineteenth century, that they opposed an investigation of the land question, which would only have revived old animosities, without giving satisfaction to either native or friar, seeing that both parties were intransigent.[4]

The fundamental laws, considered as a whole, were the wisest devisable to suit the peculiar circumstances of the Colony; but whilst many of them were disregarded or treated as a dead letter, so many loopholes were invented by the dispensers of those in operation as to render the whole system a wearisome, dilatory process. Up to the last every possible impediment was placed in the way of trade expansion; and in former times, when worldly majesty and sanctity were a joint idea, the struggle with the King and his councillors for the right of legitimate traffic was fierce.

So long as the Archipelago was a dependency of Mexico (up to 1819) not one Spanish colonist in a thousand brought any cash capital to this colony with which to develop its resources. During the first two centuries and a quarter Spainʼs exclusive policy forbade the establishment of any foreigner in the Islands; but after they did settle there they were treated with such courteous consideration by the Spanish officials that they could often secure favours with greater ease than the Spanish colonists themselves.

Everywhere the white race urged activity like one who sits behind a horse and goads it with the whip. But good advice without example was lost to an ignorant class more apt to learn through the eye than through the ear. The rougher class of colonist either forgot, or did not know, that, to civilize a people, every act one performs, or intelligible word one utters, carries an influence which pervades and gives a colour to the future life and thoughts of the native, and makes it felt upon the whole frame of the society in embryo. On the other hand, the value of prestige was perfectly well understood by the higher officials, and the rigid maintenance of their dignity, both in private life and in their public offices, played an important part in the moral conquest of the Filipinos. Equality of races was never dreamed of, either by the conquerors or the conquered; and the latter, up to the last days of Spanish rule, truly believed in the superiority of the white man. This belief was a moral force which considerably aided the Spaniards in their task of civilization, and has left its impression on the character of polite Philippine society to this day.

Christianity was not only the basis of education, but the symbol of civilization; and that the Government should have left education to the care of the missionaries during the proselytizing period was undoubtedly the most natural course to take. It was desirable that conversion from paganism should precede any kind of secular tuition. But the friars, to the last, held tenaciously to their old monopoly; hence the University, the High Schools, and the Colleges (except the Jesuit Schools) were in their hands, and they remained as stumbling-blocks in the intellectual advancement of the Colony. Instead of the State holding the fountains of knowledge within its direct control, it yielded them to the exclusive manipulation of those who eked out the measure as it suited their own interests.

Successful government by that sublime ethical essence called “moral philosophy” has fallen away before a more practical régime. Liberty to think, to speak, to write, to trade, to travel, was only partially and reluctantly yielded under extraneous pressure. The venality of the conquerorʼs administration, the judicial complicacy, want of public works, weak imperial government, and arrogant local rule tended to dismember the once powerful Spanish Empire. The same causes have produced the same effects in all Spainʼs distant colonies, and to-day the mother country is almost childless. Criticism, physical discovery of the age, and contact with foreigners shook the ancient belief in the fabulous and the supernatural; the rising generation began to inquire about more certain scientific theses. The immutability of Theology is inharmonious to Science—the School of Progress; and long before they had finished their course in these Islands the friars quaked at the possible consequences. The dogmatical affirmation “qui non credit anathema sit,” so indiscriminately used, had lost its power. Public opinion protested against an order of things which checked the social and material onward movement of the Colony. And, strange as it may seem, Spain was absolutely impotent, even though it cost her the whole territory (as indeed happened) to remedy the evil. In these Islands what was known to the world as the Government of Spain was virtually the Executive of the Religious Corporations, who constituted the real Government, the members of which never understood patriotism as men of the world understand it. Every interest was made subservient to the welfare of the Orders. If, one day, the Colony must be lost to them, it was a matter of perfect indifference into whose hands it passed. It was their happy hunting-ground and last refuge. But the real Government could not exist without its Executive; and when that Executive was attacked and expelled by America, the real Government fell as a consequence. If the Executive had been strong enough to emancipate itself from the dominion of the friars only two decades ago, the Philippines might have remained a Spanish colony to-day. But the wealth in hard cash and the moral religious influence of the Monastic Orders were factors too powerful for any number of executive ministers, who would have fallen like ninepins if they had attempted to extricate themselves from the thraldom of sacerdotalism. Outside political circles there was, and still is in Spain, a class who shrink from the abandonment of ideas of centuriesʼ duration. Whatever the fallacy may be, not a few are beguiled into thinking that its antiquity should command respect.

The conquest of this Colony was decidedly far more a religious achievement than a military one, and to the friars of old their nationʼs gratitude is fairly due for having contributed to her glory, but that gratitude is not an inheritance.

Prosperity began to dawn upon the Philippines when restrictions on trade were gradually relaxed since the second decade of last century. As each year came round reforms were introduced, but so clumsily that no distinction was made between those who were educationally or intellectually prepared to receive them and those who were not; hence the small minority of natives, who had acquired the habits and necessities of their conquerors, sought to acquire for all an equal status, for which the masses were unprepared. The abolition of tribute in 1884 obliterated caste distinction; the university graduate and the herder were on a legal equality if they each carried a cédula personal, whilst certain Spanish legislators exercised a rare effort to persuade themselves and their partisans that the Colony was ripe for the impossible combination of liberal administration and monastic rule.

It will be shown in these pages that the government of these Islands was practically as theocratic as it was civil. Upon the principle of religious pre-eminence all its statutes were founded, and the reader will now understand whence the innumerable Church and State contentions originated. Historical facts lead one to inquire: How far was Spain ever a moral potential factor in the worldʼs progress? Spanish colonization seems to have been only a colonizing mission preparatory to the attainment, by her colonists, of more congenial conditions under other régimes; for the repeated struggles for liberty, generation after generation, in all her colonies, tend to show that Spainʼs sovereignty was maintained through the inspiration of fear rather than love and sympathy, and that she entirely failed to render her colonial subjects happier than they were before.

One cannot help feeling pity for the Spanish nation, which has let the Pearl of the Orient slip out of its fingers through culpable and stubborn mismanagement, after repeated warnings and similar experiences in other quarters of the globe. Yet although Spainʼs lethargic, petrified conservatism has had to yield to the progressive spirit of the times, the loss to her is more sentimental than real, and Spaniards of the next century will probably care as little about it as Britons do about the secession of their transatlantic colonies.

Happiness is merely comparative: with a lovely climate—a continual summer—and all the absolute requirements of life at hand, there is not one-tenth of the misery in the Philippines that there is in Europe, and none of that forlorn wretchedness facing the public gaze. Beggary—that constant attribute of the highest civilization—hardly exists, and suicide is extremely rare. There are no ferocious animals, insects, or reptiles that one cannot reasonably guard against; it is essentially one of those countries where “manʼs greatest enemy is man.” There is ample room for double the population, and yet a million acres of virgin soil only awaiting the co-operation of husbandman and capitalist to turn it to lucrative account. A humdrum life is incompatible here with the constant emotion kept up by typhoons, shipwrecks, earthquakes, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, brigands, epidemics, devastating fires, etc.

It is a beautiful country, copiously endowed by Nature, where the effulgent morning sun contributes to a happy frame of mind—where the colonistʼs rural life passes pleasantly enough to soothe the longing for “home, sweet home.”

“And yet perhaps if countries we compare

And estimate the blessings which they share,

Though patriots flatter, yet shall wisdom find

An equal portion dealt to all mankind.”

Such is Americaʼs new possession, wherein she has assumed the moral responsibility of establishing a form of government on principles quite opposite to those of the defunct Spanish régime: whether it will be for better or for worse cannot be determined at this tentative stage. Without venturing on the prophetic, one may not only draw conclusions from accomplished facts, but also reasonably assume, in the light of past events, what might have happened under other circumstances. There is scarcely a Power which has not, in the zenith of its prosperity, consciously or unconsciously felt the “divine right” impulse, and claimed that Providence has singled it out to engraft upon an unwilling people its particular conception of human progress. The venture assumes, in time, the more dignified name of “mission”; and when the consequent torrents of blood recede from memory with the ebbing tide of forgetfulness, the conqueror soothes his conscience with a profession of “moral duty,” which the conquered seldom appreciate in the first generation. No unforeseen circumstances whatever caused the United States to drift unwillingly into Philippine affairs. The war in Cuba had not the remotest connexion with these Islands. The adversaryʼs army and navy were too busy with the task of quelling the Tagálog rebellion for any one to imagine they could be sent to the Atlantic. It was hardly possible to believe that the defective Spanish-Philippine squadron could have accomplished the voyage to the Antilles, in time of war, with every neutral port en route closed against it. In any case, so far as the ostensible motive of the Spanish-American War was concerned, American operations in the Philippines might have ended with the Battle of Cavite. The Tagálog rebels were neither seeking nor desiring a change of masters, but the state of war with Spain afforded America the opportunity, internationally recognized as legitimate, to seize any of the enemyʼs possessions; hence the acquisition of the Philippines by conquest. Up to this point there is nothing to criticize, in face of the universal tacit recognition, from time immemorial, of the right of might.

American dominion has never been welcomed by the Filipinos. All the principal Christianized islands, practically representing the whole Archipelago, except Moroland, resisted it by force of arms, until, after two years of warfare, they were so far vanquished that those still remaining in the field, claiming to be warriors, were, judged by their exploits, undistinguishable from the brigand gangs which have infested the Islands for a century and a half. The general desire was, and is, for sovereign independence; and although a pro-American party now exists, it is only in the hope of gaining peacefully that which they despaired of securing by armed resistance to superior force. The question as to how much nearer they are to the goal of their ambition belongs to the future; but there is nothing to show, by a review of accomplished facts, that, without foreign intervention, the Filipinos would have prospered in their rebellion against Spain. Even if they had expelled the Spaniards their independence would have been of short duration, for they would have lost it again in the struggle with some colony-grabbing nation. A united Archipelago under the Malolos Government would have been simply untenable; for, apart from the possible secessions of one or more islands, like Negros, for instance, no Christian Philippine Government could ever have conquered Mindanao and the Sulu Sultanate; indeed, the attempt might have brought about their own ruin, by exhaustion of funds, want of unity in the hopeless contest with the Moro, and foreign intervention to terminate the internecine war. Seeing that Emilio Aguinaldo had to suppress two rivals, even in the midst of the bloody struggle when union was most essential for the attainment of a common end, how many more would have risen up against him in the period of peaceful victory? The expulsion of the friars and the confiscation of their lands would have surprised no one cognizant of Philippine history. But what would have become of religion? Would the predominant religion in the Philippines, fifty years hence, have been Christian? Recent events lead one to conjecture that liberty of cult, under native rule, would have been a misnomer, and Roman Catholicism a persecuted cause, with the civilizing labours of generations ceasing to bear fruit.

No generous, high-minded man, enjoying the glorious privilege of liberty, would withhold from his fellow-men the fullest measure of independence which they were capable of maintaining. If Americaʼs intentions be as the world understands them, she is endeavouring to break down the obstacles which the Filipinos, desiring a lasting independence, would have found insuperable. America claims (as other colonizing nations have done) to have a “mission” to perform, which, in the present case, includes teaching the Filipinos the art of self-government. Did one not reflect that America, from her birth as an independent state, has never pretended to follow on the beaten tracts of the Old World, her brand-new method of colonization would surprise her older contemporaries in a similar task. She has been the first to teach Asiatics the doctrine of equality of races—a theory which the proletariat has interpreted by a self-assertion hitherto unknown, and a gradual relinquishment of that courteous deference towards the white man formerly observable by every European. This democratic doctrine, suddenly launched upon the masses, is changing their character. The polite and submissive native of yore is developing into an ill-bred, up-to-date, wrangling politician. Hence rule by coercion, instead of sentiment, is forced upon America, for up to the present she has made no progress in winning the hearts of the people. Outside the high-salaried circle of Filipinos one never hears a spontaneous utterance of gratitude for the boon of individual liberty or for the suppression of monastic tyranny. The Filipinos craving for immediate independence, regard the United States only in the light of a useful medium for its attainment, and there are indications that their future attachment to their stepmother country will be limited to an unsentimental acceptance of her protection as a material necessity.

Measures of practical utility and of immediate need have been set aside for the pursuit of costly fantastic ideals, which excite more the wonder than the enthusiasm of the people, who see left in abeyance the reforms they most desire. The system of civilizing the natives on a curriculum of higher mathematics, literature, and history, without concurrent material improvement to an equal extent, is like feeding the mind at the expense of the body. No harbour improvements have been made, except at Manila; no canals have been cut; few new provincial roads have been constructed, except for military purposes; no rivers are deepened for navigation, and not a mile of railway opened. The enormous sums of money expended on such unnecessary works as the Benguet road and the creation of multifarious bureaux, with a superfluity of public servants, might have been better employed in the development of agriculture and cognate wealth-producing public works. The excessive salaries paid to high officials seem to be out of all proportion to those of the subordinate assistants. Extravagance in public expenditure necessarily brings increasing taxation to meet it; the luxuries introduced for the sake of American trade are gradually, and unfortunately, becoming necessities, whereas it would be more considerate to reduce them if it were possible. It is no blessing to create a desire in the common people for that which they can very well dispense with and feel just as happy without the knowledge of. The deliberate forcing up of the cost of living has converted a cheap country into an expensive one, and an income which was once a modest competence is now a miserable pittance. The infinite vexatious regulations and complicated restrictions affecting trade and traffic are irritating to every class of business men, whilst the Colonyʼs indebtedness is increasing, the budget shows a deficit, and agriculture—the only local source of wealth—is languishing.

Innovations, costing immense sums to introduce, are forced upon the people, not at all in harmony with their real wants, their instincts, or their character. What is good for America is not necessarily good for the Philippines. One could more readily conceive the feasibility of “assimilation” with the Japanese than with the Anglo-Saxon. To rule and to assimilate are two very different propositions: the latter requires the existence of much in common between the parties. No legislation, example, or tuition will remould a peopleʼs life in direct opposition to their natural environment. Even the descendants of whites in the Philippines tend to merge into, rather than alter, the conditions of the surrounding race, and vice versa. It is quite impossible for a race born and living in the Tropics to adopt the characteristics and thought of a Temperate Zone people. The Filipinos are not an industrious, thrifty people, or lovers of work, and no power on earth will make them so. The Colonyʼs resources are, consequently, not a quarter developed, and are not likely to be by a strict application of the theory of the “Philippines for the Filipinos.” But why worry about their lethargy, if, with it, they are on the way to “perfect contentment”?—that summit of human happiness which no one attains. Ideal government may reach a point where its exactions tend to make life a burden; practical government stops this side of that point. White men will not be found willing to develop a policy which offers them no hope of bettering themselves; and as to labour—other willing Asiatics are always close at hand. Uncertainty of legislation, constantly changing laws, new regulations, the fear of a tax on capital, and general prospective insecurity make large investors pause.

Democratic principles have been too suddenly sprung upon the masses. The autonomy granted to the provinces needs more control than the civil government originally intended, and ends in an appeal on almost every conceivable question being made to one man—the Gov.-General: this excessive concentration makes efficient administration too dependent on the abilities of one person. There are many who still think, and not without reason, that ten years of military rule would have been better for the people themselves. Even now military government might be advantageously re-established in Sámar Island, where the common people are not anxious for the franchise, or care much about political rights. A reasonable amount of personal freedom, with justice, would suffice for them; whilst the trading class would welcome any effective and continuous protection, rather than have to shift for themselves with the risk of being persecuted for having given succour to the pulajanes to save their own lives and property.

Civil government, prematurely inaugurated, without sufficient preparation, has had a disastrous effect, and the present state of many provinces is that of a wilderness overrun by brigand bands too strong for the civil authority to deal with. But one cannot fail to recognize and appreciate the humane motives which urged the premature establishment of civil administration. Scores of nobodies before the rebellion became somebodies during the four or five years of social turmoil. Some of them influenced the final issue, others were mere show-figures, really not more important than the beau sabreur in comic opera. Yet one and all claimed compensation for laying aside their weapons, and in changing the play from anarchy to civil life these actors had to be included in the new cast to keep them from further mischief.

The moral conquest of the Philippines has hardly commenced. The benevolent intentions of the Washington Government, and the irreproachable character and purpose of its eminent members who wield the destiny of these islanders, are unknown to the untutored masses, who judge their new masters by the individuals with whom they come into close contact. The hearts of the people cannot be won without moral prestige, which is blighted by the presence of that undesirable class of immigrants to whom Maj.-General Leonard Wood refers so forcibly in his “First Report of the Moro Province.” In this particular region, which is ruled semi-independently of the Philippine Commission, the peculiar conditions require a special legislation. But, apart from this, the common policy of its enlightened Gov.-General would serve as a pattern of what it might be, with advantage, throughout the Archipelago.

So much United States money and energy have been already expended in these Islands, and so far-reaching are the pledges made to their inhabitants, that American and Philippine interests are indissolubly associated for many a generation to come. It does not necessarily follow that the fullest measure of national liberty will create real personal liberty. Such an idea does not at all appeal to Asiatics, according to whose instinct every man dominates over, or is dominated by, another. If America should succeed in establishing a permanently peaceful independent Asiatic government on democratic principles, it will be one of the unparalleled achievements of the age.

[1] “Historia General de Philipinas,” Chap. I., Part I., Vol. I., by Juan de la Concepcion published in 14 vols., Manila, 1788.

[2] “No es necessario calificar el derecho á tales reinos ó dominios, especialmente entre vasallos de reyes tan justos y Cathólicos y tan obedientes hijos de la suprema autoridad apostólica con cuia facultad han ocupado estas regiones.”—Ibid.

[3] “Dominium a possessione coepisse dicitur.”—Law maxim.

[4] In September, 1890, a lawsuit was still pending between the Dominican Corporation and a number of native residents in Calamba (Laguna) who disputed the Dominicansʼ claim to lands in that vicinity so long as the Corporation were unable to exhibit their title. For this implied monastic indiscriminate acquisition of real estate several of the best native families (some of them personally known to me) were banished to the Island of Mindoro.

General Description of the Archipelago

The Philippine Islands, with the Sulu Protectorate, extend a little over 16 degrees of latitude—from 4° 45′ to 21° N., and longitude from 116° 40′ to 126° 30′ E.—and number some 600 islands, many of which are mere islets, besides several hundreds of rocks jutting out of the sea. The 11 islands of primary geographical importance are Luzon, Mindanao, Sámar, Panay, Negros, Palaúan (Parágua), Mindoro, Leyte, Cebú, Masbate, and Bojol. Ancient maps show the islands and provinces under a different nomenclature. For example: (old names in parentheses) Albay (Ibalon); Batangas (Comintan); Basílan (Taguima); Bulacan (Meycauayan); Cápis (Panay); Cavite (Cauit); Cebú (Sogbu); Leyte (Baybay); Mindoro (Mait); Negros (Buglas); Rizal (Tondo; later on Manila); Surigao (Caraga); Sámar (Ibabao); Tayabas (Calilayan).

Luzon and Mindanao united would be larger in area than all the rest of the islands put together. Luzon is said to have over 40,000 square miles of land area. The northern half of Luzon is a mountainous region formed by ramifications of the great cordilleras, which run N. to S. All the islands are mountainous in the interior, the principal peaks being the following, viz.:—

Feet above sea level
Halcon (Mindoro) 8,868
Apo[1] (Mindanao) 8,804
Mayon (Luzon) 8,283
San Cristóbal (Luzon) 7,375
Isarog (Luzon) 6,443
Banájao (Luzon) 6,097
Labo (Luzon) 5,090
South Caraballo (Luzon) 4,720
Caraballo del Baler (Luzon) 3,933
Maquíling (Luzon) 3,720

Most of these mountains and subordinate ranges are thickly covered with forest and light undergrowth, whilst the stately trees are gaily festooned with clustering creepers and flowering parasites of the most brilliant hues. The Mayon, which is an active volcano, is comparatively bare, whilst also the Apo, although no longer in eruption, exhibits abundant traces of volcanic action in acres of lava and blackened scoriae. Between the numberless forest-clad ranges are luxuriant plains glowing in all the splendour of tropical vegetation. The valleys, generally of rich fertility, are about one-third under cultivation.

There are numerous rivers, few of which are navigable by sea-going ships. Vessels drawing up to 13 feet can enter the Pasig River, but this is due to the artificial means employed.

The principal Rivers are:—In Luzon Island the Rio Grande de Cagayán, which rises in the South Caraballo Mountain in the centre of the island, and runs in a tortuous stream to the northern coast. It has two chief affluents, the Rio Chico de Cagayán and the Rio Magat, besides a number of streams which find their way to its main course. Steamers of 11-feet draught have entered the Rio Grande, but the sand shoals at the mouth are very shifty, and frequently the entrance is closed to navigation. The river, which yearly overflows its banks, bathes the great Cagayan Valley,—the richest tobacco-growing district in the Colony. Immense trunks of trees are carried down in the torrent with great rapidity, rendering it impossible for even small craft—the barangayanes—to make their way up or down the river at that period.

The Rio Grande de la Pampanga rises in the same mountain and flows in the opposite direction—southwards,—through an extensive plain, until it empties itself by some 20 mouths into the Manila Bay. The whole of the Pampanga Valley and the course of the river present a beautiful panorama from the summit of Arayat Mountain, which has an elevation of 2,877 feet above the sea level.

The whole of this flat country is laid out into embanked rice fields and sugar-cane plantations. The towns and villages interspersed are numerous. All the primeval forest, at one time dense, has disappeared; for this being one of the first districts brought under European subjection, it supplied timber to the invaders from the earliest days of Spanish colonization.

The Rio Agno rises in a mountainous range towards the west coast about 50 miles N.N.W. of the South Caraballo—runs southwards as far as lat. 16°, where it takes a S.W. direction down to lat. 15° 48′—thence a N.W. course up to lat. 16°, whence it empties itself by two mouths into the Gulf of Lingayen. At the highest tides there is a maximum depth of 11 feet of water on the sand bank at the E. mouth, on which is situated the port of Dagupan.

The Bicol River, which flows from the Bató Lake to the Bay of San Miguel, has sufficient depth of water to admit vessels of small draught a few miles up from its mouth.

In Mindanao Island the Butuan River or Rio Agusan rises at a distance of about 25 miles from the southern coast and empties itself on the northern coast, so that it nearly divides the island, and is navigable for a few miles from the mouth.

The Rio Grande de Mindanao rises in the centre of the island and empties itself on the west coast by two mouths, and is navigable for some miles by light-draught steamers. It has a great number of affluents of little importance.

The only river in Negros Island of any appreciable extent is the Danao, which rises in the mountain range running down the centre of the island, and finds its outlet on the east coast. At the mouth it is about a quarter of a mile wide, but too shallow to permit large vessels to enter, although past the mouth it has sufficient depth for any ship. I went up this river, six hoursʼ journey in a boat, and saw some fine timber near its banks in many places. Here and there it opens out very wide, the sides becoming mangrove swamps.

The most important Lakes are:—In Luzon Island the Bay Lake or Laguna de Bay, supplied by numberless small streams coming from the mountainous district around it. Its greatest length from E. to W. is 25 miles, and its greatest breadth N. to S. 21 miles. In it there is a mountainous island—Talim,—of no agricultural importance, and several islets. Its overflow forms the Pasig River, which empties itself into the Manila Bay. Each wet season—in the middle of the year—the shores of this lake are flooded. These floods recede as the dry season approaches, but only partially so from the south coast, which is gradually being incorporated into the lake bed.

Bombon Lake, in the centre of which is a volcano in constant activity, has a width E. to W. of 11 miles, and its length from N. to S. is 14 miles. The origin of this lake is apparently volcanic. According to tradition it was formed by the terrific upheaval of a mountain 7,000 or 8,000 feet high, in the year 1700. It is not supplied by any streams emptying themselves into it (further than two insignificant rivulets), and it is connected with the sea by the Pansipít River, which flows into the Gulf of Balayan at lat. 13° 52′ N.

Cagayán Lake, in the extreme N.E. of the island, is about 7 miles long by 5 miles broad.

Lake Bató, 3 miles across each way, and Lake Buhi, 3 miles N. to S. and 2½ miles wide, situated in the eastern extremity of Luzon Island, are very shallow.

In the centre of Luzon Island, in the large valley watered by the above-mentioned Pampanga and Agno Rivers, are three lakes, respectively Canarem, Mangabol, and Candava; the last two being lowland meres flooded and navigable by canoes in the rainy season only.

In Mindoro Island there is one lake called Naujan, 2½ miles from the N.E. coast. Its greatest width is 3 miles, with 4 miles in length.

In Mindanao Island there are the Lakes Maguindanao or Boayan, in the centre of the island (20 miles E. to W. by 12 N. to S.); Lanao, 18 miles distant from the north coast; Liguasan and Buluan towards the south, connected with the Rio Grande de Mindanao, and a group of four small lakes on the Agusuan River.

The Lanao Lake has great historical associations with the struggles between Christians and Moslems during the period of the Spanish dominion, and is to this day a centre of strife with the Americans.

In some of the straits dividing the islands there are strong currents, rendering navigation of sailing vessels very difficult, notably in the San Bernadino Straits separating the Islands of Luzon and Sámar, the roadstead of Yloilo between Panay and Guimarrás Islands, and the passage between the south points of Cebú and Negros Islands.

Most of the islets, if not indeed the whole Archipelago, are of volcanic origin. There are many volcanoes, two of them in frequent intermittent activity, viz. the Mayon, in the extreme east of Luzon Island, and the Taal Volcano, in the centre of Bombon Lake, 34 miles due south of Manila. Also in Negros Island the Canlaúan Volcano—N. lat. 10° 24′—is occasionally in visible eruption. In 1886 a portion of its crater subsided, accompanied by a tremendous noise and a slight ejection of lava. In the picturesque Island of Camiguín a volcano mountain suddenly arose from the plain in 1872.

Taal Volcano.

The Mayon Volcano is in the north of the Province of Albay; hence it is popularly known as the Albay Volcano. Around its base there are several towns and villages, the chief being Albay, the capital of the province; Cagsaua (called Darága) and Camáling on the one side, and Malinao, Tobaco, etc., on the side facing the east coast. The earliest eruption recorded is that of 1616, mentioned by Spilbergen. In 1769 there was a serious eruption, which destroyed the towns of Cagsaua and Malinao, besides several villages, and devastated property within a radius of 20 miles. Lava and ashes were thrown out incessantly during two months, and cataracts of water were formed. In 1811 loud subterranean noises were heard proceeding from the volcano, which caused the inhabitants around to fear an early renewal of its activity, but their misfortune was postponed. On February 1, 1814,[2] it burst with terrible violence. Cagsaua, Badiao, and three other towns were totally demolished. Stones and ashes were ejected in all directions. The inhabitants fled to caves to shelter themselves. So sudden was the occurrence, that many natives were overtaken by the volcanic projectiles and a few by lava streams. In Cagsaua nearly all property was lost. Father Aragoneses estimates that 2,200 persons were killed, besides many being wounded.

Mavon Volcano.

Another eruption, remarkable for its duration, took place in 1881–82, and again in the spring of 1887; but only a small quantity of ashes was thrown out, and did very little or no damage to the property in the surrounding towns and villages.

The eruption of July 9, 1888, severely damaged the towns of Libog and Legaspi; plantations were destroyed in the villages of Bigaá and Bonco; several houses were fired, others had the roofs crushed in; a great many domestic animals were killed; fifteen natives lost their lives, and the loss of live-stock (buffaloes and oxen) was estimated at 500. The ejection of lava and ashes and stones from the crater continued for one night, which was illuminated by a column of fire.

The last great eruption occurred in May, 1897. Showers of red-hot lava fell like rain in a radius of 20 miles from the crater. In the immediate environs about 400 persons were killed. In the village of Bacacay houses were entirely buried beneath the lava, ashes, and sand. The road to the port of Legaspi was covered out of sight. In the important town of Tobaco there was total darkness and the earth opened. Hemp plantations and a large number of cattle were destroyed. In Libog over 100 inhabitants perished in the ruins. The hamlets of San Roque, Misericordia, and Santo Niño, with over 150 inhabitants, were completely covered with burning débris. At night-time the sight of the fire column, heaving up thousands of tons of stones, accompanied by noises like the booming of cannon afar off, was indescribably grand, but it was the greatest public calamity which had befallen the province for some years past.

The mountain is remarkable for the perfection of its conic form. Owing to the perpendicular walls of lava formed on the slopes all around, it would seem impossible to reach the crater. The elevation of the peak has been computed at between 8,200 and 8,400 feet. I have been around the base on the E. and S. sides, but the grandest view is to be obtained from Cagsaua (Darága). On a clear night, when the moon is hidden, a stream of fire is distinctly seen to flow from the crest.

Taal Volcano is in the island of the Bombon Lake referred to above. The journey by the ordinary route from the capital would be about 60 miles. This volcano has been in an active state from time immemorial, and many eruptions have taken place with more or less effect. The first one of historical importance appears to have occurred in 1641; again in 1709 the crater vomited fire with a deafening noise; on September 21, 1716, it threw out burning stones and lava over the whole island from which it rises, but so far no harm had befallen the villagers in its vicinity. In 1731 from the waters of the lake three tall columns of earth and sand arose in a few days, eventually subsiding into the form of an island about a mile in circumference. In 1749 there was a famous outburst which dilacerated the coniform peak of the volcano, leaving the crater disclosed as it now is. Being only 850 feet high, it is remarkable as one of the lowest volcanoes in the world.

The last and most desolating of all the eruptions of importance occurred in the year 1754, when the stones, lava, ashes, and waves of the lake, caused by volcanic action, contributed to the utter destruction of the towns of Taal, Tanaúan, Sala, and Lipa, and seriously damaged property in Balayán, 15 miles away, whilst cinders are said to have reached Manila, 34 miles distant in a straight line. One writer says in his MS.,[3] compiled 36 years after the occurrence, that people in Manila dined with lighted candles at midday, and walked about the streets confounded and thunderstruck, clamouring for confession during the eight days that the calamity was visible. The author adds that the smell of the sulphur and fire lasted six months after the event, and was followed by malignant fever, to which half the inhabitants of the province fell victims. Moreover, adds the writer, the lake waters threw up dead alligators and fish, including sharks.

The best detailed account extant is that of the parish priest of Sala at the time of the event.[4] He says that about 11 oʼclock at night on August 11, 1749, he saw a strong light on the top of the Volcano Island, but did not take further notice. At 3 oʼclock the next morning he heard a gradually increasing noise like artillery firing, which he supposed would proceed from the guns of the galleon expected in Manila from Mexico, saluting the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Cagsaysay whilst passing. He only became anxious when the number of shots he heard far exceeded the royal salute, for he had already counted a hundred times, and still it continued. So he arose, and it occurred to him that there might be a naval engagement off the coast. He was soon undeceived, for four old natives suddenly called out, “Father, let us flee!” and on his inquiry they informed him that the island had burst, hence the noise. Daylight came and exposed to view an immense column of smoke gushing from the summit of the volcano, and here and there from its sides smaller streams rose like plumes. He was joyed at the spectacle, which interested him so profoundly that he did not heed the exhortations of the natives to escape from the grand but awful scene. It was a magnificent sight to watch mountains of sand hurled from the lake into the air in the form of erect pyramids, and then falling again like the stream from a fountain jet. Whilst contemplating this imposing phenomenon with tranquil delight, a strong earthquake came and upset everything in the convent. Then he reflected that it might be time to go; pillars of sand ascended out of the water nearer to the shore of the town, and remained erect, until, by a second earthquake, they, with the trees on the islet, were violently thrown down and submerged in the lake. The earth opened out here and there as far as the shores of the Laguna de Bay, and the lands of Sala and Tanaúan shifted. Streams found new beds and took other courses, whilst in several places trees were engulfed in the fissures made in the soil. Houses, which one used to go up into, one now had to go down into, but the natives continued to inhabit them without the least concern. The volcano, on this occasion, was in activity for three weeks; the first three days ashes fell like rain. After this incident, the natives extracted sulphur from the open crater, and continued to do so until the year 1754.

In that year (1754), the same chronicler continues, between nine and ten oʼclock at night on May 15, the volcano ejected boiling lava, which ran down its sides in such quantities that only the waters of the lake saved the people on shore from being burnt. Towards the north, stones reached the shore and fell in a place called Bayoyongan, in the jurisdiction of Taal. Stones and fire incessantly came from the crater until June 2, when a volume of smoke arose which seemed to meet the skies. It was clearly seen from Bauan, which is on a low level about four leagues (14 miles) from the lake.

Matters continued so until July 10, when there fell a heavy shower of mud as black as ink. The wind changed its direction and a suburb of Sala, called Balili, was swamped with mud. This phenomenon was accompanied by a noise so great that the people of Batangas and Bauan, who that day had seen the galleon from Acapulco passing on her home voyage, conjectured that she had saluted the Shrine of Our Lady of Cagsaysay on her way. The noise ceased, but fire still continued to issue from the crater until September 25. Stones fell all that night; and the people of Taal had to abandon their homes, for the roofs were falling in with the weight upon them. The chronicler was at Taal at this date, and in the midst of the column of smoke a tempest of thunder and lightning raged and continued without intermission until December 4.

The night of All Saintsʼ day (Nov. 1) was a memorable one, for the quantity of falling fire-stones, sand, and ashes increased, gradually diminishing again towards November 15. Then, on that night, after vespers, great noises were heard. A long melancholy sound dinned in oneʼs ears; volumes of black smoke rose; an infinite number of stones fell, and great waves proceeded from the lake, beating the shores with appalling fury. This was followed by another great shower of stones, brought up amidst the black smoke, which lasted until 10 oʼclock at night. For a short while the devastation was suspended prior to the last supreme effort. All looked half dead and much exhausted after seven months of suffering in the way described.[5] It was resolved to remove the image of Our Lady of Cagsaysay and put in its place the second image of the Holy Virgin.

On November 29, from seven oʼclock in the evening, the volcano threw up more fire than all put together in the preceding seven months. The burning column seemed to mingle with the clouds; the whole of the island was one ignited mass. A wind blew. And as the priests and the mayor (Alcalde) were just remarking that the fire might reach the town, a mass of stones was thrown up with great violence; thunderclaps and subterranean noises were heard; everybody looked aghast, and nearly all knelt to pray. Then the waters of the lake began to encroach upon the houses, and the inhabitants took to flight, the natives carrying away whatever chattels they could. Cries and lamentations were heard all around; mothers were looking for their children in dismay; half-caste women of the Parian were calling for confession, some of them beseechingly falling on their knees in the middle of the streets. The panic was intense, and was in no way lessened by the Chinese, who took to yelling in their own jargonic syllables.

After the terrible night of November 29 they thought all was over, when again several columns of smoke appeared, and the priest went off to the Sanctuary of Cagsaysay, where the prior was. Taal was entirely abandoned, the natives having gone in all directions away from the lake. On November 29 and 30 there was complete darkness around the lake vicinity, and when light reappeared a layer of cinders about five inches thick was seen over the lands and houses, and it was still increasing. Total darkness returned, so that one could not distinguish anotherʼs face, and all were more horror-stricken than ever. In Cagsaysay the natives climbed on to the housetops and threw down the cinders, which were over-weighting the structures. On November 30 smoke and strange sounds came with greater fury than anything yet experienced, while lightning flashed in the dense obscurity. It seemed as if the end of the world was arriving. When light returned, the destruction was horribly visible; the church roof was dangerously covered with ashes and earth, and the chronicler opines that its not having fallen in might be attributed to a miracle! Then there was a day of comparative quietude, followed by a hurricane which lasted two days. All were in a state of melancholy, which was increased when they received the news that the whole of Taal had collapsed; amongst the ruins being the Government House and Stores, the Prison, State warehouses and the Royal Rope Walk, besides the Church and Convent.

The Gov.-General sent food and clothing in a vessel, which was nearly wrecked by storms, whilst the crew pumped and baled out continually to keep her afloat, until at length she broke up on the shoals at the mouth of the Pansipit River. Another craft had her mast split by a flash of lightning, but reached port.

With all this, some daft natives lingered about the site of the town of Taal till the last, and two men were sepulchred in the Government House ruins. A woman left her house just before the roof fell in and was carried away by a flood, from which she escaped, and was then struck dead by a flash of lightning. A man who had escaped from Mussulman pirates, by whom he had been held in captivity for years, was killed during the eruption. He had settled in Taal, and was held to be a perfect genius, for he could mend a clock!

The road from Taal to Balayan was impassable for a while on account of the quantity of lava. Taal, once so important as a trading centre, was now gone, and Batangas, on the coast, became the future capital of the province.

The actual duration of this last eruption was 6 months and 17 days.

In 1780 the natives again extracted sulphur, but in 1790 a writer at that date[6] says that he was unable to reach the crater owing to the depth of soft lava and ashes on the slopes.

There is a tradition current amongst the natives that an Englishman some years ago attempted to cut a tunnel from the base to the centre of the volcanic mountain, probably to extract some metallic product or sulphur. It is said that during the work the excavation partially fell in upon the Englishman, who perished there. The cave-like entrance is pointed out to travellers as the Cueva del Inglés.

Referring to the volcano, Fray Gaspar de San Agustin in his History[7] remarks as follows:—“The volcano formerly emitted many large fire-stones which destroyed the cotton, sweet potato and other plantations belonging to the natives of Taal on the slopes of the (volcano) mountain. Also it happened that if three persons arrived on the volcanic island, one of them had infallibly to die there without being able to ascertain the cause of this circumstance. This was related to Father Albuquerque,[8] who after a fervent deesis entreating compassion on the natives, went to the island, exorcised the evil spirits there and blessed the land. A religious procession was made, and Mass was celebrated with great humility. On the elevation of the Host, horrible sounds were heard, accompanied by groaning voices and sad lamentations; two craters opened out, one with sulphur in it and the other with green water (sic), which is constantly boiling. The crater on the Lipa side is about a quarter of a league wide; the other is smaller, and in time smoke began to ascend from this opening so that the natives, fearful of some new calamity, went to Father Bartholomew, who repeated the ceremonies already described. Mass was said a second time, so that since then the volcano has not thrown out any more fire or smoke.[9] However, whilst Fray Thomas Abresi was parish priest of Taal (about 1611), thunder and plaintive cries were again heard, therefore the priest had a cross, made of Anobing wood, borne to the top of the volcano by more than 400 natives, with the result that not only the volcano ceased to do harm, but the island has regained its original fertile condition.”

The Taal Volcano is reached with facility from the N. side of the island, the ascent on foot occupying about half an hour. Looking into the crater, which would be about 4,500 feet wide from one border to the other of the shell, one sees three distinct lakes of boiling liquid, the colours of which change from time to time. I have been up to the crater four times; the last time the liquids in the lakes were respectively of green, yellow, and chocolate colours. At the time of my last visit there was also a lava chimney in the middle, from which arose a snow-white volume of smoke.

The Philippine Islands have numberless creeks and bays forming natural harbours, but navigation on the W. coasts of Cebú, Negros and Palaúan Islands is dangerous for any but very light-draught vessels, the water being very shallow, whilst there are dangerous reefs all along the W. coast of Palaúan (Parágua) and between the south point of this island and Balábac Island.

The S.W. monsoon brings rain to most of the islands, and the wet season lasts nominally six months,—from about the end of April. The other half of the year is the dry season. However, on those coasts directly facing the Pacific Ocean, the seasons are the reverse of this.

The hottest season is from March to May inclusive, except on the coasts washed by the Pacific, where the greatest heat is felt in June, July, and August. The temperature throughout the year varies but slightly, the average heat in Luzon Island being about 81° 50′ Fahr. In the highlands of north Luzon, on an elevation above 4,000 feet, the maximum temperature is 78° Fahr. and the minimum 46° Fahr. Zamboanga, which is over 400 miles south of Manila, is cooler than the capital. The average number of rainy days in Luzon during the years 1881 to 1883 was 203.

Commencing July 11, 1904, three days of incessant rain in Rizal Province produced the greatest inundation of Manila suburbs within living memory. Human lives were lost; many cattle were washed away; barges in the river were wrenched from their moorings and dashed against the bridge piers; pirogues were used instead of vehicles in the thoroughfares; considerable damage was done in the shops and many persons had to wade through the flooded streets knee-deep in water.

The climate is a continual summer, which maintains a rich verdure throughout the year; and during nine months of the twelve an alternate heat and moisture stimulates the soil to the spontaneous production of every form of vegetable life. The country generally is healthy.

The whole of the Archipelago, as far south as 10° lat., is affected by the monsoons, and periodically disturbed by terrible hurricanes, which cause great devastation to the crops and other property. The last destructive hurricane took place in September, 1905.

In Rizal Province (Near Manila). Effect of the Hurricane of September 26, 1905.

Earthquakes are also very frequent, the last of great importance having occurred in 1863, 1880, 1892, 1894, and 1897. In 1897 a tremendous tidal wave affected the Island of Leyte, causing great destruction of life and property. A portion of Taclóban, the capital of the island, was swept away, rendering it necessary to extend the town in another direction.

In the wet season the rivers swell considerably, and often overflow their banks; whilst the mountain torrents carry away bridges, cattle, tree trunks, etc., with terrific force, rendering travelling in some parts of the interior dangerous and difficult. In the dry season long droughts occasionally occur (about once in three years), to the great detriment of the crops and live-stock.

The southern boundary of the Archipelago is formed by a chain of some 140 islands, stretching from the large island of Mindanao as far as Borneo, and constitutes the Sulu Archipelago, the Sultanate of which was under the protection of Spain (vide Chap. [xxix].). It is now being absorbed, under American rule, in the rest of the Archipelago, under the denomination of Moro Province (q.v.).

[1] According to the Spanish Hydrographic Map, it is 8,813 feet: the Pajal and Montano Expedition (1880) made it 10,270 feet; the Schadenberg and Koch Expedition (1882) computed it at 10,827 feet.

[2] Vide pamphlet published immediately after the event by Father Francisco Aragoneses, P.P. of Cagsaua, begging alms for the victims.

[3] “Hist. de la Prov. de Batangas,” por D. Pedro Andrés de Castro y Amadés. Inedited MS. in the Bauan Convent, Batangas.

[4] MS. exhaustive report of the eruptions of Taal Volcano in 1749 and 1754, dated December 22, 1754, compiled by Fray Francisco Vencuchillo. Preserved in the archives of the Corporation of Saint Augustine in Manila.

[5] Still it appears that all classes were willing to risk their lives to save their property. They were not forcibly detained in that plight.

[6] “Hist. de la Prov. de Batangas,” por Don Pedro Andrés de Castro y Amadés. Inedited MS. in the Bauan Convent, Province of Batangas.

[7] “Hist. de Filipinas,” by Dr. Gaspar de San Agustin, 2 vols. First part published in Madrid, 1698, the second part yet inedited and preserved in the archives of the Corporation of Saint Augustine in Manila.

[8] P.P. of Taal from 1572 to 1575.

[9] In the same archives of the Saint Augustine Corporation in Manila an eruption in 1641 is recorded.

Discovery of the Archipelago

The discoveries of Christopher Columbus in 1492, the adventures and conquests of Hernan Cortés, Blasco Nuñez de Balboa and others in the South Atlantic, had awakened an ardent desire amongst those of enterprizing spirit to seek beyond those regions which had hitherto been traversed. It is true the Pacific Ocean had been seen by Balboa, who crossed the Isthmus of Panamá, but how to arrive there with his ships was as yet a mystery.

On April 10, 1495, the Spanish Government published a general concession to all who wished to search for unknown lands. This was a direct attack upon the privileges of Columbus at the instigation of Fonseca, Bishop of Búrgos, who had the control of the Indian affairs of the realm. Rich merchants of Cadiz and Seville, whose imagination was inflamed by the reports of the abundance of pearls and gold on the American coast, fitted out ships to be manned by the roughest class of gold-hunters: so great were the abuses of this common licence that it was withdrawn by Royal Decree of June 2, 1497.

It was the age of chivalry, and the restless cavalier who had won his spurs in Europe lent a listening ear to the accounts of romantic glory and wealth attained across the seas. That an immense ocean washed the western shores of the great American continent was an established fact. That there was a passage connecting the great Southern sea—the Atlantic—with that vast ocean was an accepted hypothesis. Many had sought the passage in vain; the honour of its discovery was reserved for Hernando de Maghallanes (Portuguese, Fernão da Magalhães).

This celebrated man was a Portuguese noble who had received the most complete education in the palace of King John II. Having studied mathematics and navigation, at an early age he joined the Portuguese fleet which left for India in 1505 under the command of Almeida. He was present at the siege of Malacca under the famous Albuquerque, and accompanied another expedition to the rich Moluccas, or Spice Islands, when the Islands of Banda, Tidor, and Ternate were discovered. It was here he obtained the information which led him to contemplate the voyage which he subsequently realized.

On his return to Portugal he searched the Crown Archives to see if the Moluccas were situated within the demarcation accorded to Spain.[1] In the meantime he repaired to the wars in Africa, where he was wounded in the knee, with the result that he became permanently lame. He consequently retired to Portugal, and his companions in arms, jealous of his prowess, took advantage of his affliction to assail him with vile imputations. The King Emmanuel encouraged the complaints, and accused him of feigning a malady of which he was completely cured. Wounded to the quick by such an assertion, and convinced of having lost the royal favour, Maghallanes renounced for ever, by a formal and public instrument, his duties and rights as a Portuguese subject, and henceforth became a naturalized Spaniard. He then presented himself at the Spanish Court, at that time in Valladolid, where he was well received by the King Charles I., the Bishop of Búrgos, Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, Minister of Indian Affairs, and by the Kingʼs chancellor. They listened attentively to his narration, and he had the good fortune to secure the personal protection of His Majesty, himself a well-tried warrior, experienced in adventure.

The Portuguese Ambassador, Alvaro de Acosta, incensed at the success of his late countryman, and fearing that the project under discussion would lead to the conquest of the Spice Islands by the rival kingdom, made every effort to influence the Court against him. At the same time he ineffectually urged Maghallanes to return to Lisbon, alleging that his resolution to abandon Portuguese citizenship required the sovereign sanction. Others even meditated his assassination to save the interests of the King of Portugal. This powerful opposition only served to delay the expedition, for finally the King of Portugal was satisfied that his Spanish rival had no intention to authorize a violation of the Convention of Demarcation.

Between King Charles and Maghallanes a contract was signed in Saragossa by virtue of which the latter pledged himself to seek the discovery of rich spice islands within the limits of the Spanish Empire. If he should not have succeeded in the venture after ten years from the date of sailing he would thenceforth be permitted to navigate and trade without further royal assent, reserving one-twentieth of his net gains for the Crown. The King accorded to him the title of Cavalier and invested him with the habit of St. James and the hereditary government in male succession of all the islands he might annex. The Crown of Castile reserved to itself the supreme authority over such government. If Maghallanes discovered so many as six islands, he was to embark merchandise in the Kingʼs own ships to the value of one thousand ducats as royal dues. If the islands numbered only two, he would pay to the Crown one-fifteenth of the net profits. The King, however, was to receive one-fifth part of the total cargo sent in the first return expedition. The King would defray the expense of fitting out and arming five ships of from 60 to 130 tons with a total crew of 234 men; he would also appoint captains and officials of the Royal Treasury to represent the State interests in the division of the spoil.

Orders to fulfil the contract were issued to the Crown officers in the port of Seville, and the expedition was slowly prepared, consisting of the following vessels, viz.: The commodore ship La Trinidad, under the immediate command of Maghallanes; the San Antonio, Captain Juan de Cartagena; the Victoria, Captain Luis de Mendoza; the Santiago, Captain Juan Rodriguez Serrano; and the Concepcion, Captain Gaspar de Quesada.

The little fleet had not yet sailed when dissensions arose.

Maghallanes wished to carry his own ensign, whilst Doctor Sancho Matienza insisted that it should be the Royal Standard.

Another, named Talero, disputed the question of who should be the standard-bearer. The King himself had to settle these quarrels by his own arbitrary authority. Talero was disembarked and the Royal Standard was formally presented to Maghallanes by injunction of the King in the Church of Santa Maria de la Victoria de la Triana, in Seville, where he and his companions swore to observe the usages and customs of Castile, and to remain faithful and loyal to His Catholic Majesty.

On August 10, 1519, the expedition left the port of San Lúcar de Barrameda in the direction of the Canary Islands.

On December 13 they arrived safely at Rio Janeiro.

Following the coast in search of the longed-for passage to the Pacific Ocean, they entered the Solis River—so called because its discoverer, João de Solis, a Portuguese, was murdered there. Its name was afterwards changed to that of Rio de la Plata (the Silver River).

Continuing their course, the intense cold determined Maghallanes to winter in the next large river, known then as San Julian.

Tumults arose; some wished to return home; others harboured a desire to separate from the fleet, but Maghallanes had sufficient tact to persuade the crews to remain with him, reminding them of the shame which would befall them if they returned only to relate their failure. He added that, so far as he was concerned, nothing but death would deter him from executing the royal commission.

As to the rebellious captains, Juan de Cartagena was already put in irons and sentenced to be cast ashore with provisions, and a disaffected French priest for a companion. The sentence was carried out later on. Then Maghallanes sent a boat to each of three of the ships to inquire of the captains whom they served. The reply from all was that they were for the King and themselves. Thereupon 30 men were sent to the Victoria with a letter to Mendoza, and whilst he was reading it, they rushed on board and stabbed him to death. Quesada then brought his ship alongside of the Trinidad, and, with sword and shield in hand, called in vain upon his men to attack. Maghallanes, with great promptitude, gave orders to board Quesadaʼs vessel. The next day Quesada was executed. After these vigorous but justifiable measures, obedience was ensured.

Still bearing southwards within sight of the coast, on October 28, 1520, the expedition reached and entered the seaway thenceforth known as the Magellan Straits, dividing the Island of Tierra del Fuego from the mainland of Patagonia.[2]

On the way one ship had become a total wreck, and now the San Antonio deserted the expedition; her captain having been wounded and made prisoner by his mutinous officers, she was sailed in the direction of New Guinea. The three remaining vessels waited for the San Antonio several days, and then passed through the Straits. Great was the rejoicing of all when, on November 26, 1520, they found themselves on the Pacific Ocean! It was a memorable day. All doubt was now at an end as they cheerfully navigated across that broad expanse of sea.

On March 16, 1521, the Ladrone Islands were reached. There the ships were so crowded with natives that they were obliged to be expelled by force. They stole one of the shipʼs boats, and ninety men were sent on shore to recover it. After a bloody combat the boat was regained, and the fleet continued its course westward until it hove to off an islet, then called Jomonjol, now known as Malhou, situated in the channel between Sámar and Dinagat Islands (vide map). Then coasting along the north of the Island of Mindanao, they arrived at the mouth of the Butuan River, where they were supplied with provisions by the chief. It was Easter week, and on this shore the first Mass was celebrated in the Philippines. The natives showed great friendliness, in return for which Maghallanes took formal possession of their territory in the name of Charles I. The chieftain himself volunteered to pilot the ships to a fertile island, the kingdom of a relation of his, and, passing between the Islands of Bojol and Leyte, the expedition arrived on April 7 at Cebú, where, on receiving the news, over two thousand men appeared on the beach in battle array with lances and shields.

The Butuan chief went on shore and explained that the expedition brought people of peace who sought provisions. The King agreed to a treaty, and proposed that it should be ratified according to the native formula—drawing blood from the breast of each party, the one drinking that of the other. This form of bond was called by the Spaniards the Pacto de sangre, or the Blood compact (q.v.).

Maghallanes accepted the conditions, and a hut was built on shore in which to say Mass. Then he disembarked with his followers, and the King, Queen, and Prince came to satisfy their natural curiosity. They appeared to take great interest in the Christian religious rites and received baptism, although it would be venturesome to suppose they understood their meaning, as subsequent events proved. The princes and headmen of the district followed their example, and swore fealty and obedience to the King of Spain.

Maghallanes espoused the cause of his new allies, who were at war with the tribes on the opposite coast, and on April 25, 1521, he passed over to Magtan Island. In the affray he was mortally wounded by an arrow, and thus ended his brief but lustrous career, which fills one of the most brilliant pages in Spanish annals.

Maghallanes called the group of islands, so far discovered, the Saint Lazarus Archipelago. In Spain they were usually referred to as the Islas del Poniente, and in Portugal as the Islas del Oriente.

On the left bank of the Pasig River, facing the City of Manila, stands a monument to Maghallanesʼ memory. Another has been erected on the spot in Magtan Island, where he is supposed to have been slain on April 27, 1521. Also in the city of Cebú, near the beach, there is an obelisk to commemorate these heroic events.

It was perhaps well for Maghallanes to have ended his days out of reach of his royal master. Had he returned to Spain he would probably have met a fate similar to that which befell Columbus after all his glories. The San Antonio, which, as already mentioned, deserted the fleet at the Magellan Straits, continued her voyage from New Guinea to Spain, arriving at San Lúcar de Barrameda in March, 1521. The captain, Alvaro Mesquita, was landed as a prisoner, accused of having seconded Maghallanes in repressing insubordination. To Maghallanes were ascribed the worst cruelties and infraction of the royal instructions. Accused and accusers were alike cast into prison, and the King, unable to lay hands on the deceased Maghallanes, sought this heroʼs wife and children. These innocent victims of royal vengeance were at once arrested and conveyed to Búrgos, where the Court happened to be, whilst the San Antonio was placed under embargo.

On the decease of Maghallanes, the supreme command of the expedition in Cebú Island was assumed by Duarte de Barbosa, who, with twenty-six of his followers, was slain at a banquet to which they had been invited by Hamabar, the King of the island. Juan Serrano had so ingratiated himself with the natives during the sojourn on shore that his life was spared for a while. Stripped of his raiment and armour, he was conducted to the beach, where the natives demanded a ransom for his person of two cannons from the shipsʼ artillery. Those on board saw what was passing and understood the request, but they were loath to endanger the lives of all for the sake of one—”Melius est ut pereat unus quam ut pereat communitas” (Saint Augustine)—so they raised anchors and sailed out of the port, leaving Serrano to meet his terrible fate.

Due to sickness, murder during the revolts, and the slaughter in Cebú, the exploring party, now reduced to 100 souls all told, was deemed insufficient to conveniently manage three vessels. It was resolved therefore to burn the most dilapidated one—the Concepcion. At a general council, Juan Caraballo was chosen Commander-in-Chief of the expedition, with Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa as Captain of the Victoria. The royal instructions were read, and it was decided to go to the Island of Borneo, already known to the Portuguese and marked on their charts. On the way they provisioned the ships off the coast of Palaúan Island (Parágua), and thence navigated to within ten miles of the capital of Borneo (probably Brunei). Here they fell in with a number of native canoes, in one of which was the Kingʼs secretary. There was a great noise with the sound of drums and trumpets, and the ships saluted the strangers with their guns.

The natives came on board, embraced the Spaniards as if they were old friends, and asked them who they were and what they came for. They replied that they were vassals of the King of Spain and wished to barter goods. Presents were exchanged, and several of the Spaniards went ashore. They were met on the way by over two thousand armed men, and safely escorted to the Kingʼs quarters. After satisfying his Majestyʼs numerous inquiries, Captain Espinosa was permitted to return with his companions. He reported to Caraballo all he had seen, and in a council it was agreed that the town was too large and the armed men too numerous to warrant the safety of a longer stay. However, being in need of certain commodities, five men were despatched to the town. As days passed by, their prolonged absence caused suspicion and anxiety, so the Spaniards took in reprisal the son of the King of Luzon Island, who had arrived there to trade, accompanied by 100 men and five women in a large prahu. The prince made a solemn vow to see that the five Spaniards returned, and left two of his women and eight chiefs as hostages. Then Caraballo sent a message to the King of Borneo, intimating that if his people were not liberated he would seize all the junks and merchandise he might fall in with and kill their crews. Thereupon two of the retained Spaniards were set free, but, in spite of the seizure of craft laden with silk and cotton, the three men remaining had to be abandoned, and the expedition set sail.

For reasons not very clear, Caraballo was deprived of the supreme command and Espinosa was appointed in his place, whilst Juan Sebastian Elcano was elected Captain of the Victoria. With a native pilot, captured from a junk which they met on the way, the ships shaped their course towards the Moluccas Islands, and on November 8, 1521, they arrived at the Island of Tidor. Thus the essential object of the expedition was gained—the discovery of a western route to the Spice Islands.

Years previous the Portuguese had opened up trade and still continued to traffic with these islands, which were rich in nutmegs, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, sage, pepper, etc. It is said that Saint Francis Xavier had propagated his views amongst these islanders, some of whom professed the Christian faith.

The King, richly attired, went out with his suite to receive and welcome the Spaniards. He was anxious to barter with them, and when the Trinidad was consequently laden with valuable spices it was discovered that she had sprung a leak. Her cargo was therefore transferred to the sister ship, whilst the Trinidad remained in Tidor for repairs, and Elcano was deputed to make the voyage home with the Victoria, taking the western route of the Portuguese in violation of the Treaty of Tordesillas. Elcanoʼs crew consisted of fifty-three Europeans and a dozen natives of Tidor. The Victoria started for Spain at the beginning of the year 1522; passed through the Sunda Straits at great risk of being seized by the Portuguese; experienced violent storms in the Mozambique Channel, and was almost wrecked rounding the Cape of Good Hope. A few of the crew died—their only food was a scanty ration of rice—and in their extreme distress they put in at Santiago Island, 350 miles W. of Cape Verd, to procure provisions and beg assistance from the Portuguese Governor. It was like jumping into the lionʼs mouth. The Governor imprisoned those who went to him, in defence of his Sovereignʼs treaty rights; he seized the boat which brought them ashore; inquired of them where they had obtained the cargo; and projected the capture of the Victoria.

Captain Elcano was not slow to comprehend the situation; he raised anchor and cleared out of the harbour, and, as it had happened several times before, those who had the misfortune to be sent ashore were abandoned by their countrymen.

The Victoria made the port of San Lúcar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, so that in a little over three years Juan Sebastian Elcano had performed the most notable voyage hitherto on record—it was the first yet accomplished round the world. It must, however, be borne in mind that the discovery of the way to the Moluccas, going westward, was due to Maghallanes—of Portuguese birth—and that the route thence to Europe, continuing westward, had long before been determined by the Portuguese traders, whose charts Elcano used.

When Elcano and his 17 companions disembarked, their appearance was most pitiable—mere skeletons of men, weather-beaten and famished. The City of Seville received them with acclamation; but their first act was to walk barefooted, in procession, holding lighted candles in their hands, to the church to give thanks to the Almighty for their safe deliverance from the hundred dangers which they had encountered. Clothes, money, and all necessaries were supplied to them by royal bounty, whilst Elcano and the most intelligent of his companions were cited to appear at Court to narrate their adventures. His Majesty received them with marked deference. Elcano was rewarded with a life pension of 500 ducats (worth at that date about £112 10s.), and as a lasting remembrance of his unprecedented feat, his royal master knighted him and conceded to him the right of using on his escutcheon a globe bearing the motto, “Primus circundedit me.”

Two of Elcanoʼs officers, Miguel de Rodas and Francisco Alva, were each awarded a life pension of 50,000 maravedis (worth at that time about 14 guineas), whilst the King ordered one-fourth of that fifth part of the cargo, which by contract with Maghallanes belonged to the State Treasury, to be distributed amongst the crew, including those imprisoned in Santiago Island.

The cargo of the Victoria consisted of twenty-six and a half tons of cloves, a quantity of cinnamon, sandal wood, nutmegs, etc. Amongst the Tidor Islanders who were presented to the King, one of them was not allowed to return to his native home, because he had carefully inquired the value of the spices in the Spanish bazaars.

Meanwhile the Trinidad was repaired in Tidor and on her way to Panamá, when continued tempests and the horrible sufferings of the crew determined them to retrace their course to the Moluccas. In this interval Portuguese ships had arrived there, and a fort was being constructed to defend Portuguese interests against the Spaniards, whom they regarded as interlopers. The Trinidad was seized, and the Captain Espinosa with the survivors of his crew were granted a passage to Lisbon, which place they reached five years after they had set out with Maghallanes.

The enthusiasm of King Charles was equal to the importance of the discoveries which gave renown to his subjects and added glory to his Crown. Notwithstanding a protracted controversy with the Portuguese Court, which claimed the exclusive right of trading with the Spice Islands, he ordered another squadron of six ships to be fitted out for a voyage to the Moluccas. The supreme command was confided to Garcia Yofre de Loaisa, Knight of Saint John, whilst Sebastian Elcano was appointed captain of one of the vessels. After passing through the Magellan Straits, the Commander Loaisa succumbed to the fatigues and privations of the stormy voyage. Elcano succeeded him, but only for four days, when he too expired. The expedition, however, arrived safely at the Moluccas Islands, where they found the Portuguese in full possession and strongly established, but the long series of combats, struggles and altercations which ensued between the rival Powers, in which Captain Andrés de Urdaneta prominently figured, left no decisive advantage to either nation.

But the King was in no way disheartened. A third expedition—the last under his auspices—was organized and despatched from the Pacific Coast of Mexico by the Viceroy, by royal mandate. It was composed of two ships, two transports and one galley, well manned and armed, chosen from the fleet of Pedro Alvarado, the late Governor of Guatemala. Under the leadership of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos it sailed on November 1, 1542; discovered many small islands in the Pacific; lost the galley on the way, and anchored off an island about 20 miles in circumference which was named Antonia. They found its inhabitants very hostile. A fight ensued, but the natives finally fled, leaving several Spaniards wounded, of whom six died. Villalobos then announced his intention of remaining here some time, and ordered his men to plant maize. At first they demurred, saying that they had come to fight, not to till land, but at length necessity urged them to obedience, and a small but insufficient crop was reaped in due season. Hard pressed for food, they lived principally on cats, rats, lizards, snakes, dogs, roots and wild fruit, and several died of disease. In this plight a ship was sent to Mindanao Island, commanded by Bernado de la Torre, to seek provisions. The voyage was fruitless. The party was opposed by the inhabitants, who fortified themselves, but were dislodged and slain. Then a vessel was commissioned to Mexico with news and to solicit reinforcements. On the way, Volcano Island (of the Ladrone Islands group) was discovered on August 6, 1543. A most important event followed. The island, now known as Sámar, was called the Isla Philipina, and a galiot was built and despatched to the group (it is doubtful which), named by this expedition the Philippine Islands in honour of Philip, Prince of Asturias, the son of King Charles I., heir apparent to the throne of Castile, to which he ascended in 1555 under the title of Philip II. on the abdication of his father.

The craft returned from the Philippine Islands laden with abundance of provisions, with which the ships were enabled to continue the voyage.

By the royal instructions, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos was strictly enjoined not to touch at the Moluccas Islands, peace having been concluded with Portugal. Heavy gales forced him nevertheless to take refuge at Gilolo. The Portuguese, suspicious of his intentions in view of the treaty, arrayed their forces against his, inciting the King of the island also to discard all Spanish overtures and refuse assistance to Villalobos. The discord and contentions between the Portuguese and Spaniards were increasing; nothing was being gained by either party. Villalobos personally was sorely disheartened in the struggle, fearing all the while that his opposition to the Portuguese in contravention of the royal instructions would only excite the Kingʼs displeasure and lead to his own downfall. Hence he decided to capitulate with his rival and accepted a safe conduct for himself and party to Europe in Portuguese ships. They arrived at Amboina Island, where Villalobos, already crushed by grief, succumbed to disease. The survivors of the expedition, amongst whom were several priests, continued the journey home via Cochin China, Malacca and Goa, where they embarked for Lisbon, arriving there in 1549.

In 1558 King Charles was no more, but the memory of his ambition outlived him. His son Philip, equally emulous and unscrupulous, was too narrow-minded and subtly cautious to initiate an expensive enterprise encompassed by so many hazards—as materially unproductive as it was devoid of immediate political importance. Indeed the basis of the first expedition was merely to discover a Western route to the rich Spice Islands, already known to exist; the second went there to attempt to establish Spanish empire; and the third to search for, and annex to, the Spanish Crown, lands as wealthy as those claimed by, and now yielded to, the Portuguese.

But the value of the Philippine Islands, of which the possession was but recent and nominal, was thus far a matter of doubt.

One of the most brave and intrepid captains of the Loaisa expedition—Andrés de Urdaneta—returned to Spain in 1536. In former years he had fought under King Charles I., in his wars in Italy, when the study of navigation served him as a favourite pastime. Since his return from the Moluccas his constant attention was given to the project of a new expedition to the Far West, for which he unremittingly solicited the royal sanction and assistance. But the King had grown old and weary of the world, and whilst he did not openly discourage Urdanetaʼs pretensions he gave him no effective aid. At length, in 1553, two years before Charles abdicated, Urdaneta, convinced of the futility of his importunity at the Spanish Court, and equally unsuccessful with his scheme in other quarters, retired to Mexico, where he took the habit of an Augustine monk. Ten years afterwards King Philip, inspired by the religious sentiment which pervaded his whole policy, urged his Viceroy in Mexico to fit out an expedition to conquer and christianize the Philippine Islands. Urdaneta, now a priest, was not overlooked. Accompanied by five priests of his Order, he was entrusted with the spiritual care of the races to be subdued by an expedition composed of four ships and one frigate well armed, carrying 400 soldiers and sailors, commanded by a Basque navigator, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. This remarkable man was destined to acquire the fame of having established Spanish dominion in these Islands. He was of noble birth and a native of the Province of Guipúzcoa in Spain. Having settled in the City of Mexico, of which place he was elected Mayor, he there practised as a notary. Of undoubted piety, he enjoyed reputation for his justice and loyalty; hence he was appointed General of the forces equipped for the voyage.

The favourite desire to possess the valuable Spice Islands still lurked in the minds of many Spaniards. Amongst them was Urdaneta, who laboured in vain to persuade the Viceroy of the superior advantages to be gained by annexing New Guinea instead of the Philippines, whence the conquest of the Moluccas would be but a facile task. However, the Viceroy was inexorable and resolved to fulfil the royal instructions to the letter, so the expedition set sail from the Mexican port of Navidad for the Philippine Islands on November 21, 1564.

The Ladrone Islands were passed on January 9, 1565, and on the 13th of the following month the Philippines were sighted. A call for provisions was made at several small islands, including Camiguín, whence the expedition sailed to Bojol Island. A boat despatched to the port of Butuan returned in a fortnight with the news that there was much gold, wax, and cinnamon in that district. A small vessel was also sent to Cebú, and on its return reported that the natives showed hostility, having decapitated one of the crew whilst he was bathing.

Nevertheless, General Legaspi resolved to put in at Cebú, which was a safe harbour; and on the way there the ships anchored off Limasana Island (to the south of Leyte). Thence, running south-west, the port of Dapítan (Mindanao Is.) was reached.

Prince Pagbuaya, who ruled there, was astonished at the sight of such formidable ships, and commissioned one of his subjects, specially chosen for his boldness, to take note of their movements, and report to him. His account was uncommonly interesting. He related that enormous men with long, pointed noses, dressed in fine robes, ate stones (hard biscuits), drank fire, and blew smoke out of their mouths and through their nostrils. Their power was such that they commanded thunder and lightning (discharge of artillery), and that at meal times they sat down at a clothed table. From their lofty port, their bearded faces, and rich attire, they might have been the very gods manifesting themselves to the natives; so the Prince thought it wise to accept the friendly overtures of such marvellous strangers. Besides obtaining ample provisions in barter for European wares, Legaspi procured from this chieftain much useful information respecting the condition of Cebú. He learnt that it was esteemed a powerful kingdom, of which the magnificence was much vaunted amongst the neighbouring states; that the roadstead was one of great safety, and the most favourably situated amongst the islands of the painted faces.[3]

The General resolved, therefore, to filch it from its native king and annex it to the Crown of Castile.

He landed in Cebú on April 27, 1565, and negotiations were entered into with the natives of that island. Remembering, by tradition, the pretensions of the Maghallanesʼ party, they naturally opposed this renewed menace to their independence. The Spaniards occupied the town by force and sacked it, but for months were so harassed by the surrounding tribes that a council was convened to discuss the prudence of continuing the occupation. The General decided to remain; little by little the natives yielded to the new condition of things, and thus the first step towards the final conquest was achieved. The natives were declared Spanish subjects, and hopeful with the success thus far attained, Legaspi determined to send despatches to the King by the priest Andrés de Urdaneta, who safely arrived at Navidad on October 3, 1565, and proceeded thence to Spain. In a letter written by Legaspi in 1567 he alluded, for the first time, to the whole archipelago as the Islas Filipinas.