This expedition was a sad mistake, and failed from the beginning. The Mindanao Mohammedans resisted all efforts of the Spanish to land, and Roderigues lost his life in the very first battle. His body was taken to Manila for burial. Several other expeditions were sent out, from time to time, to punish the Moros and force a settlement upon the island; but none of them succeeded.
The efforts of the Spanish only aroused the anger and hatred of these people. For two hundred and fifty years after that Moro pirates harried the shores of all the islands where the Spanish dwelt. They killed and robbed both Europeans and Filipinos; they burned towns and villages, and carried off the people to be their slaves. For fear of them the coasts were deserted. No one dared live near the sea; fishermen dared not follow their calling, nor farmers till their fields. Traders dared not come to the island ports to buy or to sell, and the coastwise trade of the country was all but ruined.
While the Spanish were busy trying to gain a foothold in the south, there came to Manila two visitors who were the innocent cause of still more trouble in the country. These were two high mandarins of China, who reached the city in the year 1603. Their story was that the emperor of China had heard that there existed, near the city of Cavite, a great mountain of pure gold. The emperor, they said, could hardly believe this to be true; so he had sent them to see this mountain, that they might come back and tell him about it.
At that time Bravo de Acuña (brä´vō dā ä kön yä) was governor-general. He received the mandarins politely, and sent them with an escort to Cavite, to see for themselves that no such mountain was there. The visitors were royally entertained during their stay in Manila, and at last went home with their report to their emperor.
A MEMBER OF THE GUIANGA TRIBE OF MINDANAO.
This visit caused a great fright in Manila, for the Spanish at once suspected that there was a plot behind it for the Chinese to seize the city. They believed, or pretended to believe, that the mandarins had come merely to spy out the land and prepare the way. At once the city was made ready against invasion. The garrisons were increased, new ones were formed, and every Spaniard armed himself. The Filipinos were much excited over the stories told of coming trouble; while the Chinese, suspected and insulted by all, could not but understand that some danger threatened them.
At last the Chinese, wild with fear, took matters into their own hands. They began to fortify places outside the city, and one evening opened the battle by firing upon some Filipinos inside the city walls. They followed up this act by crossing the river and making a savage attack on Binondo (bē nón´dō), then only a small village on the river bank. After that they gathered their forces at Tondo, and kept up the siege of Binondo all that night.
WARRIORS OF MINDANAO.