Volume 29 — Value of Corcuera’s Seizures in Jolo
Reading edition
[Under date of Manila, August 2, 1638, the city cabildo of Manila write the king a detailed account of Corcuera’s campaign in Joló, which was begun in December, 1637. Inasmuch as this letter covers ground sufficiently treated in documents already presented in this series, it is not here given. The original is conserved in the Archivo general de Indias with pressmark, “est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 32;” and it is presented by Pastells in his edition of Colin (iii, pp. 528–532). Pastells (iii, pp. 532, 533) follows this letter by a document showing the value of the artillery and other things seized from the Joloans, and the money value of the captives who were sold as slaves. This document is conserved in the same archives and has the same pressmark as the above. It is as follows:]
The relation of the expense incurred on his Majesty’s account during the expedition made to the kingdom of Joló by Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera, in December, 1637; also the value of what was seized and gained from the enemy; and the net gain. Subtracting the one from the other, the result is as follows:
pesos tomins granos
Gained from the enemy, 28,345 7 0
Expenses of the expedition, 26,314 5 4
Net remainder of gain, 2,031 1 6
The value of what was gained from the enemy can be analyzed in the following form:
[A list, partially duplicate, of the artillery taken from the Joloans follows, of which we present only the final summary, in order to avoid such duplication. It appears that the artillery when taken to Manila was appraised by one Melchor Pérez, royal chief of artillery and artillery-founder.]
Firearms
pesos
3 Vizcayan arquebuses 12
10½ Macao muskets 31
11 Vizcayan field muskets 66
1 Dutch arquebus 4
19 Macao arquebuses 57
16 Dutch muskets 64
1 musket de pinote of Macao 4
2 Vizcayan arquebuses 10
7 arquebuses from Macao 21
7 Japanese small guns [escopetillas] 21
2 Vizcayan field muskets 12
5 Dutch arquebuses 15
10 Dutch muskets 50
1 bit of a Vizcayan gun [escopeta] 1
Besides the above, in cloth or money, 2,866 [pesos]; in small darts and blowpipes, 50 [pesos].
Lastly, from 192 captive Indians—men, women, and children—sold as his Majesty’s slaves at royal auction, 20,815 pesos. Of this amount 10,375 pesos were in cash, in coin; and the 10,440 remaining were charged to the pay due the infantry and seamen.