Note 1 — Moro Pirates and their Raids in the Seventeenth Century

After the disaster to Admiral Morales, the Guimbanos of the villages of Paran were very arrogant and haughty, so that, however much they were invited, with assurance of peace and pardon, to lay down their arms before those of our king, and to restore the Spanish weapons that they were keeping, they paid no heed to it. Seeing this, Sargento-mayor Don Augustin de Çepeda, the better to justify the expedition that he intended to make against them, sent word to them through other Guimbanos who were our friends, that they must restore the arms that they had taken from the Spaniards, and that if they did not restore these he would wage war against them. To this they replied that those arms were converted into lances, and that nothing would be given up to the Spaniards, whether Don Agustin marched against them or not. The captain and sargento-mayor received this reply on Tuesday, December 29, and on Wednesday, the thirtieth of the same month, he determined to make a daylight attack on them with the utmost secrecy. Accordingly, at four in the afternoon, almost all the soldiers made their confessions, and the sargento-mayor exhorted them to rouse all their courage, as brave soldiers, since they were fighting for both the majesties [i.e., the divine and the royal], and they had the sure protection of the mother of God, our Lady of Good Success. Then they set out from the hill of Jolo with only twenty-five Spaniards and three officers, [Cepeda’s lieutenants being] Adjutant Diego de los Reyes and Alférez Gaspar de Chaves; and twenty-two Pampangos and Cagaians, with their officers, also ten or fifteen servants with their pikes and shields. Of this infantry the captain formed three divisions, giving to each one its own watchword—to the first one, “Jesus be with all;” to the second, “Our Lady of Good Success;” to the third, “Saint Ignatius”—and each division was ordered to render aid according to its watchword, and as the enemy should sound the call to arms. With this order, they began their march, and proceeded until nightfall, when they marched in single file, since the road and the darkness gave no opportunity for doing otherwise. They passed rivers, ravines, marshes, and miry places, until they arrived at a village of a Guimbano chief named Ulisten, near which they heard coughing in the houses; and [they moved] so cautiously that they were not perceived. The sargento-mayor did not choose to enter this village, not only because the chief had showed his friendship for the Spaniards, but because his only intention was to punish the people of Paran, who had merited this by their acts in the past and by the haughty spirit that they showed. For the same reason, he would not enter another village near this one, belonging to another chief, named Sambali—who, if it were not for the purpose that the commander had in mind, deserved to lose his head for his rebellious disposition in not being friendly to the Spaniards. From the hill to these two villages may be a journey of about two leguas and a half; the road is very bad, and of the sort that has been described, [passing through] marshes and rough places; and, with the darkness of a moonlight night, to go among trees, thickets, and tangled briers was intolerable and full of difficulty. Not less wearisome was the road which they still must take to reach the people and village of Paran, and even more difficult: but neither the one nor the other could weaken or diminish the tenacity, spirit, and valor which not only the captain but his soldiers displayed. They traveled all night in this way until a little before daybreak, when they mistook the road, and took another, which did not lead to the village where they meant to go; but God chose that the people of that very village should serve as guides [to the Spaniards], by furnishing them light—for on account of quieting some infants who were crying, they kindled lights in the houses. The sargento-mayor ordered them to march toward that place, where they arrived at daybreak; and there they remained about half an hour, waiting for the dawn to brighten so that they might break the countersign1 and make the daylight attack [dar el albasso] on the said village, which they did. For when it became light, and the day was brightening, they broke the watchword, which was “St. Ignatius;” and the division to which that belonged made the first attack on the houses, jointly with the vanguard, which went ahead to reconnoiter. All the forces united to make this assault on the houses, and to break through the defenses of the village and enter, all in order, with lighted matches and to sound of drums, as they did. In their houses this occasioned a great tumult; some were slain by musket-balls, some by lance-thrusts; others escaped naked, fleeing without thought of their kindred or their possessions, abandoning their weapons and whatever they had; others, finally, were burned to death in their houses, to which our men set fire—the natives remaining in them either through fear, or that they might not fall into our hands and be slain by our lances. They hid themselves, therefore, for the greater protection—only to have their houses, and their granaries of rice, and their bodies burned [here], and finally their souls in hell. Besides this, their cultivated fields were laid waste, set out with all the plants that they rear—bananas, sugar-cane, and other plants which furnish them with food; and our men did the same with these, destroying and burning everything. This done they looked about, scanning the country in all directions, and saw an impregnable height; and when the commander understood that this was (as it proved to be) the citadel of the enemies, he gave the order to march thither. They proceeded by a path or trail so narrow that they were obliged to ascend in single file; and when they reached the top of the said hill they found a plateau, more spacious than that of our hill of Jolo, on which were houses, some fortified and some small ones. The former were full of provisions and contained some Guimbanos. These, seeing our men and recognizing them as enemies, immediately abandoned the houses and took to flight, throwing themselves headlong from the heights. Our men entered the place, and burned the houses with the rice and other things contained in them; and they laid waste the fields and destroyed what had been planted in them, as they had done in the villages before ascending the hill. Our men were occasioned no little anxiety by their failure, after this exploit, to find the road by which to leave the hill; for, as it had in every direction precipices and rugged heights, they had great difficulty and hardship in getting away from the hill, on account of not being able to strike the path by which they had entered. But finally the Blessed Virgin who hitherto had been our Lady of Success, chose to show also that she was our Lady of Good Success—which she did by enabling our men to depart in safety from the hill. For the alférez, going to make a hasty reconnoissance with four arquebusiers, and some servants armed with pikes and shields, saw [traces of men’s] work among the trees that covered the hill; and, upon reaching the place, ascertained that there was a path by which he could descend. Notifying the troops of this, they went down the hill by this path, and thus returned to the houses that they had burned, all marching in regular order. They approached the seashore through a level field, passing near the harbor where the natives had slain Admiral Morales; and, as they advanced through the open country, they encountered four Guimbano Indians, shouting [or grimacing?—haciendo carracheo], who came from a grove that was growing on the said seashore. When our men tried to get near them, these Indians took to their heels, retreating toward the grove—where, it was understood, they had an ambuscade; and as it was now eleven o’clock, the sargento-mayor did not think it best to delay [his return] longer. Accordingly, they marched in the same order, and to the sound of drums, toward the fortification that stood on the seashore, going through fields and mangrove thickets, and along beaches and pools of water, another two leguas and a half, until they reached the harbor where they had provided some boats. In these the sargento-mayor and all his troops embarked, and returned to these forts, with great satisfaction and rejoicing at so complete a success, without losing one of our men, or encountering any danger. Many salvos were fired from the boats in which they came, and from the forts, in honor of their protectors, Jesus, Mary, and Ignatius.