The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 by - (read any book TXT) 📕

Moros would supply him with food. Thereupon the Moros rebelled, and the prisoners were placed, bareheaded, in the stocks. This was the occasion of a suit brought against one Osorio, the constable, in whose house was the prison. He claims that he was not guilty of the offense, saying that one Sancho Ortiz de Agurto, sergeant of Captain Velasquez, killed them, or ordered certain slaves to kill them. The suit was decided accordingly.

11. The first attack was made on the day of St. Andrew the Apostle. On Tuesday, the last of September [2] of the year seventy-four, the captains began the fortifications, making with boards, stakes, and boxes and barrels filled with sand, a palisade from the river to the sea. Although it was the best they could build, it was weak enough. The next day, Wednesday, at noon the three soldiers came to warn the people, as I have previously mentioned. At nightfall of this day arrived Juan de Saucedo. As before stated, he had been stationed in Ylocos with fifty soldiers. He came almost within sight of the Chinese fleet, and upon entering the bay, took the left-hand side, leaving the right side of the port to the Chinese. The people were overjoyed to see him and his soldiers, and that night they assisted in the work of the fortifications. Very early upon the next day (Thursday) the Chinese advanced in martial array, as if determined upon revenge. At four o'clock the whole fleet appeared in front of the city, in the form of a great crescent, so that they might be there before daybreak; and three salutes were fired from all the guns of the whole fleet. Then at dawn they lowered the small boats, finally disembarking near the house of the master-of-camp, which they had burned. The chief landed, but it is reported that he did not fight, or leave, that place, where he remained seated in a chair. He divided his soldiers there—numbering, it is said, about one thousand men—into two bodies. Part of them he sent through the principal street of the city, and the others along the beach. The latter took the same route as those who arrived on the first day. Besides these two squadrons, other men were sent along the river-bank.

12. They were allowed to land, which has been considered a great mistake; for all along the shore the land is covered with grass high enough to form a fine ambuscade, where the arquebusiers could easily have been placed under cover. The corsair might haye been easily killed with one shot, when he landed in his chair to take command.

13. This day the pirates, as if previously determined, did not burn any houses that seemed to be of good quality. They went straight to the fort, and assailed it vigorously on two sides. They encountered a strong resistance from the river side and in front, and some of them were killed. On the side next the sea, the guard of the fort was entrusted to a sergeant, named Sancho Hortiz de Agurto. He went down to the shore, leaving the post, where he was stationed to find but from what quarter the Chinese were coming. They were already so near that, upon one of the Chinese meeting him, the lance of the latter must have proved the longer weapon; for he wounded the soldier, who was armed only with a halberd, in the neck. Either this wound or some other obliged him to retire; and, upon his doing so, the Chinese shot him in the back with an arquebuse, which caused his death. They assert that this must have occurred as narrated, for he was seen to measure his halbert against the lance of the Chinese. They found him wounded with a lance-thrust, and the larger hole caused by the bullet was in his breast, a proof that the bullet left his body there. But his friends tried to say that while he was fighting with the Sangley, they shot him in the back—which might have been so; for as the enemy were forcing their way into the fort, they naturally met with resistance from those defending that position. Thus according to his friends, the mistake in leaving the palisade caused the harm. On this account it happened that, when they forced that position, they found there the least resistance. About eighty Chinese entered the fort at that point, and all of them might have done so had they all been of equal courage. Our soldiers attacked them immediately, with lance and arquebuse, killing them all, according to report. This result was aided by the resistance experienced by the assaulters in other parts of the fort, which forced the Chinese to commence a retreat. Now when the main division of those who had entered the fort saw the others retreat, they too retreated and did not enter, abandoning the eighty, all of whom the Spaniards killed whether they sought flight by land or sea. On this day they burned the Augustinian church, the church of the city, and a galley that was grounded near the river; and they also destroyed an old ship. This galley was about to sail to Mindanao, as previously stated. Three Spaniards were killed and several wounded on this day, and mare than two hundred Chinese. The greatest damage was caused by the fire; for a great fire-bomb fell upon some powder, which exploded causing the death of two or three other men.

14. It is said that the corsair Limahon tried to force his men to remain, but was unsuccessful, so he retired, embarked in his boats, and set sail with his vessels for the port of Cavite.

15. It is thought that allowing the Chinese to embark on their retreat without hindrance was a mistake. Some of the Spaniards did attempt to prevent them, but the corsair, fearing that this might happen, sent some boats by sea to the river, so that the Spaniards should continue their guard, and not hinder the embarkation; and so that they might believe that those in the boats were reinforcements sent to take them in the rear. Thus it was believed, regarding it casually, that if the corsair had had much force and had taken thought in the beginning to attack in so many different places, he would have done it; but that either he did not understand this, or did not dare to do it. Therefore he collected his men, without any damage being inflicted on him in his retreat.

16. As the natives of this place, who are Moros, saw what took place the first day, thinking that the Chinese were victorious, they all rebelled on the second day. In that short space of time there gathered around the city of Manila more than ten thousand Moros, in their little boats, ready to obey the commands of the corsair. They say, too, that messengers were sent to Cavite, and the news spread broadcast. Wherever friars were stationed, the Moros captured and insulted them, threatened them with death, and robbed them of everything. They defiled the churches, killing goats there; and slew all the Spaniards possible, and their slaves. It is for this reason, the soldiers say, that they did not leave the fort, in order to prevent the departure of the corsairs, for the Moros surrounded them on all sides. When the Moros knew that the Sangleyes had gone, and that the Spaniards had been victorious, they set the friars free; and, little by little, they again became submissive—apologizing for their revolt because of the chiefs who had been slain in prison.

17. The artillery was badly mounted, and there was no gunner who knew how to fire it. If the Spaniards had had sufficient artillery, that would have proved very effectual; and, as the vessels neared the city, some of them might have been sent to the bottom. No damage, however, was done to any vessel, although they were fired upon; so that all the resistance which they made was with lances and arquebuses.

18. The corsair went to the port of Cavite with his fleet, and did not appear again; and not one ship could be found at the dawn of day. He departed to Ylocos, whence he came. He determined to establish himself in this island, settling in the province of Pangasinan, in the vicinity of Ylocos. There he founded a settlement, consisting of a great fort, in which dwelt all those who had accompanied him; and a counter-fort in the middle with an excellent and well-constructed house for himself, where he was recuperating, forty leagues from this city of Manila.

19. The wall of the fort was very high and built of palm-logs, and the counter-fort was built of palm-wood planks. When the corsair arrived there, he seized by treachery several chiefs of that land, through whom he obtained supplies. He robbed them of all their substance, and, in general treated them badly. As he had their chiefs, the common people could not flee; and because the corsair did not kill them, as he had done with others, they supported and served him. On this account he was very well supplied with provisions, wood, and other necessary things.

20. The Spanish people who were not in the city during that attack were scattered throughout the province of Camarines, one hundred leagues from here. There were almost a hundred men with a captain in the island of Çubu, and seventy more in Ylocos under Juan de Saucedo, who had gone thither to form a settlement, since these men were the encomenderos of that province. When the corsair went away, a ship was sent to find out where he had halted; and, upon discovering this, all the Spanish people were summoned, who came to Manila as quickly as possible. In the meantime Guido de Lavezares appointed Juan de Saucedo master-of-camp, and all began preparations to meet the enemy. During the time of preparation for the expedition, in order to leave the city in security, they constructed a fort; it is now finished, and was made by the natives, the wood being paid for at the expense of your Majesty. Your Majesty's carpenters here also assisted, so that the work was completed. The master-of-camp, Juan de Saucedo, and all the Spaniards who had gathered, and were available for the expedition, were summoned. They numbered about two hundred and fifty-six, together with two thousand five hundred friendly Indians; and they set out in fifty-nine native vessels, commanded by Captains Chacon, Chaves, Rribera, and Rramirez. These officers were instructed to consult together in regard to whatever the said master-of-camp should freely and voluntarily communicate to them, as it was he who was conducting the present undertaking.

21. They say that the corsair had, in all, about three thousand men and as many women, whom he had forcibly taken from China and Japan. The best people that he had were natives of those countries.

22. The Spaniards left Manila on the twenty-third of March of 75, and arrived at the river of Pangasinan on Holy Wednesday, the thirtieth of March. They entered by the bar of the river, two hours before daybreak; and, without being seen, landed the soldiers and four pieces of artillery. They selected the spot where the river was narrowest, to see whether they could obstruct the passage of the Chinese ships. They sent out spies, who returned with the information that the Chinese were off their guard, and were careless. Upon this the master-of-camp sent Captains Chaves and Chacon in haste, with nine vessels, in each of which were about eight men, with orders to approach the Chinese boats and to try to capture one or more of them—especially the big ones, so that he might be able with them to obstruct the bar of the river. He also sent Captain Ribera with twenty-eight men and some Indians by land, so that, at the same time when the captains were examining the river in their ships the former could assault the fort, in order to divert the people in it, and to enable those on the river to seize the said vessels. The plan for the enterprise failed, but success came in an unexpected manner; for it pleased God that, when the Spanish ships discovered the Chinese, thirty-five Chinese vessels were setting out to look for supplies for the corsair. As they were sailing along quite free from care, they caught sight of the Spaniards, and turned about and fled. It happened that, as the Spaniards pursued them, firing their arquebuses, the Chinese ships almost ran aground; whereupon all the men jumped overboard and fled to the fort, abandoning their ships. The same thing occurred to the sailors of the other fleet, so that in a moment the entire fleet was captured, together with all it contained; but it was thoughtlessly fired, and was entirely burned.

23. By this time, about ten