Volume 3 — Relation of the Conquest of the Island of Luzon

An account of the discovery and conquest of the islands of Luzón and Mindoro, together with the most important events which took place therein, being a brief and summarized relation of the conquest and reduction of all that has been conquered and subdued in these islands up to the present time. Likewise is contained herein a description of the civilization of the people and their mode of living; the weapons which they possess and use; and the forts which they build to defend themselves against their enemies. I have ventured to write this relation because I have been informed that many things concerning events in this land have been written, and sent to Nueva España, which are the merest fable and conjecture. For instance, they say that there are in this country Moors like those of Barberia [Barbary], and that their strength in arms is quite equal to that of those people; and that they fight and defend themselves like the Turks. Those who have so written are in error. Much to the contrary, it is quite certain that the natives of this island of Luzón, whom we Spaniards commonly call Moros, are not so; for the truth is that they do not know or understand the law of Mahoma—only in some of the villages on the Page 121seacoast they do not eat pork, and this for the reason that they have had dealings with the Moros of Burney, who have preached to them a little of the teaching of Mahoma. As I shall farther on treat more in detail of the rites and ceremonies of these natives, I shall in the first place describe the wars between them and the Spaniards, without useless amplification or omission; for thus have I been instructed to do by a certain person who has ordered me to write, and thus whatever I may say in defense of these natives will be read without any mistrust whatever, for whosoever reads this will know the truth with regard to what occurs here.

The ships having arrived at the said island of Panay, orders were given for all the other captains who were scattered with their companies through the other islands to assemble. The papers and letters of his Majesty were opened, and it was seen that it was his will for the lands to be settled and divided among those who conquered and subdued them. Other and greater favors were conferred by his Majesty, who has always striven and will always strive that our Lord should be served. The will of his Majesty having thus been revealed to the governor, he determined to go to found a colony on the island of Cubu, which he did, naming it El Nombre de Jesús. He left this colony populated by forty or fifty colonists, giving them some villages and islands in the immediate environs. From that island he returned to the above-named island of Panay, whence he decided to sail, with the rest of his men and all his munitions of war, to the island of Luzón. He was detained here, however, for five or six months, during which time the people suffered great distress from the lack of rice in the island, because of the swarms of locusts which had prevailed for two or three years. Therefore the father provincial preached to us each day, and strongly urged the governor, in all his public sermons and private conversations, that he should depart from this island and not permit the people to suffer so great distress. Therefore, influenced Page 132by the prayers and warnings of the said father, and because he saw that there was reason therefor, he decided to sail out of the said river of Panay with all his fleet and army, to settle the island of Luzón.

Accompanied by the ships necessary for such an expedition, the governor set sail in the year one thousand five hundred and seventy-one, on the day after Easter, taking with him the father provincial, Fray Diego de Herrera, the master-of-camp and all the other captains, and two hundred and thirty arquebusiers. It was on the twentieth of the month that he set sail, and with fair weather he arrived at the island of Mindoro with his whole fleet of twenty-six or twenty-seven ships, large and small, including both our own and those of the natives who came with us. He remained on that island fifteen or sixteen days, and from thence set out for the island of Luzón, where we arrived a week later, at the bay which I have before mentioned and on which Manilla is situated. When the natives knew that the governor had come with his entire force to settle upon their lands, and when they saw him entering the bay, they set fire to their village of Manilla (which they had rebuilt after its burning, a year before, by the master-of-camp); and this time many of the houses were consumed and many remained standing, while the natives crossed to the opposite shore, to the village of Alcandora. The governor having arrived at the port of Manylla one day in the middle of the month of May, at two o'clock in the afternoon, Alcandora came out in a little boat to welcome him in peace and friendship, and speak to him on behalf of Raxa Solimán and Laya, begging that he would treat them with Page 133friendship, and pardon them for having taken up arms the past year against the master-of-camp. He said that on the following day they would come, under safe conduct from him, to talk with him and make peace. The governor received him very well, and told him through an interpreter to retire for the night to his house and to come on the next day with the two Raxas, saying that he would make peace with the latter, and would treat them as sons; for he had no ill-feeling toward them, but rather regretted that they had resisted the master-of-camp. Thus with these assurances, Alcandora took his leave, going to his house greatly pleased. The next day the governor disembarked in Manilla and the three chiefs came to talk with him and declare themselves his friends. It should not be understood in Nueva España or in España that the chiefs in this land are absolute rulers, or that they have great authority or power. Rather the very opposite is true, for there exist among them the most primitive conditions to be found in any race. It often befalls that in one village, however small it may be, there are five, six, or ten chiefs, each of whom possesses twenty or thirty slaves, whom he has the power to sell, or treat as he pleases. Others there are who are called timaguas (that is to say, freemen), over whom the chiefs have no power—except that the timaguas are under obligation to follow their own chief when war arises between the different factions; and even this service is not compulsory and cannot be obtained by force. As I have said, there prevails among them the utmost rudeness and lack of harmony; so that if one says “basket,” the other responds “crossbow.” He who has the most gold and riches is the greatest chief and Page 134of the highest nobility, and is the most respected, in accordance with the vanity and vainglory of this world. It occurs to me now that this is borne out by the proverb current among the Spaniards, namely, “Dost thou wish to know thy value? see what thou hast.”

These three chiefs, having become our friends, offered to bring all the surrounding country to terms of peace with us, a thing which they did not succeed in accomplishing, for they were not sufficiently powerful, as I have said, each village having its own chiefs. Indeed there are but very few chiefs who have authority over as many as two or three villages, for the reason which I have given above. The character and customs of these people, and their clothing, ornaments, and mode of government I shall describe further on—that is to say, of the people of this island of Luzon and of the other islands round about. As for those farther away in China, we are informed by those who come from there to trade with these islands that they are a cleanly, well-clothed race, and of higher morals. This is worthy of some belief, on account of the Chinese who come to these islands to trade, and whom we see walking about, well and decently clothed. Leaving this subject for its proper time and place, I shall continue to relate the governor's actions after disembarking in Manilla, on the sixteenth of May of the year one thousand five hundred and seventy-one. At the end of a week he published an edict that, in accordance with the command of his Majesty, he would give lands and repartimientos to those who desired to settle in the city of Manilla, which he was founding in the name of his Majesty. Accordingly, all those who came Page 135with him, captains, soldiers, and gentlemen, settled as citizens in this city; but up to the present, and it is now about a year since the city was founded, there are very few who have repartimientos or even homesteads. This is, as I have said, a very unsatisfactory manner in which this city was founded and settled. I shall now return to relate briefly the war with the natives, which the Spaniards have carried on even to the present day.

All that I have above related having taken place, it was decided to make peace with the nearest villages, some of whom had come to beg it from the governor, and others would not. Among those who would not come was a village called Butas, situated on an inlet on the other side of the river flowing past Manilla, and about a league and a half away. This village, uniting with the others near by, sent word that they did not wish peace or friendship with the governor; and had the boldness to come as far as the village of Alcandora, quite close to Manilla, whence they sent defiance to the governor and the captains. Having endured this a number of times and having made offers of peace, it finally became impossible to endure such insolence; and the governor had to send the master-of-camp, with seventy soldiers and several native leaders, by sea to fight with those Indians at their village, where they were waiting with twenty or thirty of their boats, with one or two culverins in each boat. He set out (after having heard mass) on the day of the Feast of the Holy Ghost, which was the third of the month of June in the year above mentioned. The master-of-camp, having embarked with the soldiers, arrived at the place where the enemy were assembled at twelve o'clock on that day. Page 136When they saw that he was entering the port, they sailed out to attack him with their boats (which were, as I said, twenty or thirty in number), and with a great outcry began to fire their culverins and many arrows. It was God's will that they caused no injury to our forces. Taking note of the order used by the enemy, the command was given for the Spaniards to fasten their boats by twos, and to row slowly toward the opposing forces. When they were in close proximity, all the arquebusiers began to shoot and to cause injuries among the enemy—who, not being able to endure the firing, which killed many of them, began to turn their backs and retreat to the land. When the Pintados Indians who accompanied the master-of-camp saw the enemy in retreat, they threw themselves into the water in pursuit, and caused great slaughter among them; for they are bitter enemies of the natives of this island of Luzón. And thus they attacked them on land, capturing all their boats and taking two hundred of the natives prisoners; and later they captured two or three hundred more. On the land there were five or six culverins in a little fort, which was captured. In this manner were routed those Indians, who had shown so much pride and had so little courage. On the morning of the next day the master-of-camp came to the city with all the booty, and divided the prisoners as slaves among the soldiers, reserving a fifth for his Majesty.

A few days having passed in peace and rest, there came certain Indians who told the governor that in the province of Capanpanga there were many densely-populated rivers; and that most of the people thereon did not desire to have friendly relations with the Spaniards. The master-of-camp had to go therefore Page 137upon this conquest with one hundred soldiers. When he had entered the said province, some of the natives retired to forts which they had built, and tried to resist him. He routed them, and took from them some culverins in their possession and they were left pacified. While he was subjugating this province, there came news that two ships had arrived from Nueva España, sent by the viceroy Don Martín Enrriquez, with a reënforcement of one hundred soldiers, under the captaincy of Juan López de Aguirre. The governor thereupon ordered the master-of-camp to go to Panay, to send the said ships to this port of Manilla, and to bring back his wife, who was in Çubú. In consideration of this service the first repartimiento in this island and a river called Bonbón was allotted to him.

I have told above how the master-of-camp had gone to Cubú for his wife; arriving there, he returned with her to this city. There was a river in the province of Capanpanga, named Vites, the inhabitants of which refused to be friends of the Spaniards; they were reputed to be very powerful. The master-of-camp had to take upon this expedition one hundred and fifty soldiers, and was accompanied by a native guide from the same river who was an Indian chief hostile to the natives of Vites. This man had come to the Spaniards with the offer to conduct them into Vites in perfect safety, without any danger whatever; and this he did, getting the master-of-camp and the hundred and fifty soldiers with him into the place. When the natives saw the Spaniards so safely within their gates and at their fort, they surrendered themselves in peace and friendship and destroyed their fort. All the other villages round about came to offer their friendship; and thus we gained possession of this stronghold, which, by reason of the reports of the natives, was regarded as somewhat dangerous—but there was no more resistance experienced from it than what I have related. With this expedition was ended the last of the wars which have been waged in this island and in that of Mindoro, the most important being written in this relation.

I shall now give my attention to the treatment of certain facts with regard to the natives of this land, simply telling their manner of living, dressing, and dealing with one another. I shall describe a few things which I have seen as to the idols worshiped Page 142by them, and shall not enlarge upon other details.

In the first place, the men are of medium size, and dark. They wear their hair clipped short, like the Spaniards. They wear a little cloth headdress and a small piece of cloth to conceal their private parts. From the belt upward, some wear a short doublet of coarse material, with half-sleeves and open in front. There is no manner of footwear. Among them the manner of dress and ornamentation is very indecent. The women are exceedingly ugly and most indecent. They clothe themselves with a piece of cloth hanging down from the belt, and a very small doublet, so that their bellies are left exposed. They can only be compared to mares glutted with hay. They have no personality or rank whatever, and eat and drink most vulgarly. There is no difference between the chief and his slave, or between the slave and his master, in the matter of eating and drinking.

When any chief is ill, he invites his kindred and orders a great meal to be prepared, consisting of fish, meat, and wine. When the guests are all assembled and the feast set forth in a few plates on the ground inside the house, they seat themselves also on the ground to eat. In the midst of the feast (called manganito or baylán in their tongue), they put the idol called Batala and certain aged women who are considered as priestesses, and some aged Indians—neither more nor less. They offer the idol some of the food which they are eating, and call upon him in their tongue, praying to him for the health of the sick man for whom the feast is held. The natives of these islands have no altars nor temples whatever. This manganito, or drunken revel, to give it a better name, usually lasts seven or eight days; and when it is finished they take the idols and put them in the Page 144corners of the house, and keep them there without showing them any reverence. As I have said, they all, from the least to the greatest, eat and drink to the point of losing their senses. In the villages nearest the sea some do not eat pork, the reason for their not eating it, which I have already given, being that, in trading with the Moros of Burney, the latter have preached to them some part of the nefarious doctrine of Mahoma, charging them not to eat pork. In this they act most childishly, and when, by chance any of them are asked why they do not eat it, they say that they do not know why; and if one asks them who Mahoma was and what his law commands, they say that they do not know the commandment or anything about Mahoma, not even his name; nor do they know what his law is, nor whence it came. It is true that some of them who have been in Burney understand some of it, and are able to read a few words of the Alcorán; but these are very few, and believe that he who has not been in Burney may eat pork, as I have heard many of them say. They swear by the sun and by the moon, and all the islands have this oath in common—a fact that I have noticed since our coming to this land. It does not seem to me that they are accustomed to worship animals, stars, clouds, or other things which many idolatrous pagans are wont to adore. I believe, nevertheless, that they have many other customs with regard to sacrifices and witchcraft, for they actually practice these; but there is little advantage in wasting the time or burdening the mind therewith, for any rational person will be able to understand sufficiently the rest after reading what is herein written. Among them, up to the present day, I have not observed any sin against nature, which Page 145is saying a great deal of so uncivilized a race; yet with regard to their treatment of women, they are so vicious and licentious that any race whatever might excel them, and this is no insignificant evil and sin. Their custom in taking wives is the following.

Whoever is the richest and has the most gold also has the most wives, and offends most God. There is a law among these natives which is not bad—namely, that however many wives a man has, among them all he regards one as his legitimate wife; and if, when he dies, he has no children by this woman, the children of the others do not inherit. In illustration of the truth of this, one may cite the death of Laya, whom I have already mentioned. When this man died, a Christian, he had no children by his legitimate wife, and although he had many by his other wives, they did not inherit; therefore his property descended to a legitimate nephew of his. It is true, however, that the bastard children may deprive them of their property. I have above shown the characteristics and mode of government among these natives. They do not care to know more than that they are Indians, like all the other Indians. The chiefs are but slightly distinguished in dress from the slaves and freemen. Both women and men wear anklets of gold, and bracelets upon their arms. In regard to the wars waged between them and the Spaniards hitherto, I have already told the principal exploits of captains and soldiers among them. I have already designated the captains who have achieved the most noted deeds in this conquest; and nothing further will be found. If it were necessary to give proof by calling upon all who are in this land, I would be ready to do that. As to what has taken place among the Pintados and Page 146among the Portuguese, my relation does not concern itself therewith; but I claim that the most important events which have occurred on these islands, touching the relations between the natives and the Spaniards, are those related and declared by me. As for the Portuguese, I shall say only that the Spaniards have shown great fidelity and bravery in the service of his Majesty, although they never came to a hand-to-hand struggle with the Portuguese—except in a few ambuscades, where they took some captives, as has been written at great length by many chroniclers who live here. May God grant that they write the truth; for, as far as I can learn, very little credit can be given them except in the case of father Fray Diego de Herrera and Fray Martín de Herrada, who, being religious and strongly attached to the service of God and the public good, will write the whole truth; and yet I do not believe that they will interest themselves in secular affairs. Now that I have written the customs and practices of the natives of these islands, I shall make a few remarks on the Indians of China, for I had begun to state them before. I said that they come to trade with the natives and the Spaniards of this island of Luzón as well as to all the islands in this region, to import and sell silk stuffs, very good cotton robes, and other small articles, very neat and similar in make and style to those worn by them. As I began to say above, both men and women are vigorous and light complexioned. I say women, for some are to be found living in this island of Luzón. These Chinese live among these natives because they have fled from their own country, on account of certain events which took place there. They brought their wives with them; all of them, both men and women, number Page 147about one hundred and fifty. They became Christians after coming here. They are a very unassuming and modest people; they clothe themselves with long robes of cotton cloth and with silk. They wear wide breeches, and sleeves and stockings, like the Spaniards. They are a very ingenious and cleanly people. This, is in brief what we have seen. They wear their hair very long, men as well as women, tied up and well arranged upon their heads. I have treated thus far of various matters; I come now to speak of the fertility of these islands, of what is gathered and sown in them, mainly with regard to those in which I have been.

I could write many other things about this land, and the conditions existing in it; but I omit them, in order to avoid prolixity. Therefore I bring the present relation to a close, to the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one and everlasting God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and of the glorious Virgin Mary, our Lady, in the year one thousand five hundred and seventy-two, in this city of Manilla, on the twentieth day of the month of April. Page 152

Some writers claim that the name is a corruption of Maydila, from the Tagal words may and dila, meaning “the place that has a tongue”—alluding to a tongue-shaped island formerly at the mouth of Pasig River.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.

The term Dîwata (devata, diobata), also of Sanscrit origin, is applied variously by different races in the archipelago—sometimes to the souls of ancestors (whom they invoke); sometimes to any inferior spirits, whether good or bad (ut supra pp. 45, 46).