In the port of Mohala, in the kingdom of Borney, on the twenty-first day of the month of March, one thousand five hundred and seventy-nine, the illustrious Don Juan de Arce summoned to his presence the captain and pilot of a Chinese ship, which was anchored in the said port, each one of them alone; and before me, the said notary, through the Moro Simagat, an interpreter of the Sangley [i.e., Chinese] and Spanish tongues, questioned them on the condition of affairs in the land, and whether the king Soltan Lixar had returned to his former settlement; and in regard to the panguilans Maraxa de Raxa and Salalila, and other matters pertaining to the service of his Majesty. They answered that they had entered the said port three days ago; that upon this said day the king and his people had received news of the coming of the Spaniards; and that the king of Borney had ordered them to enter the said river with another Chinese vessel there. But they refused because they did not know what would happen to them. From that time, when night came they began to annoy them with their small boats and conpites. They said that the king Soltan Lijar was in Borney, and that the panguilan Salalila had died by some disease. They had heard, from the fishermen who came to their boat to sell fish, that the king had a fort up the river where he had placed the women and the food-supplies of the city when he heard of our coming. The said fishermen told them that the king had ordered a quantity of poison to be thrown into the water, in order to kill the people. They had heard even that the death of the said Salalila happened thus. They knew naught else, for they were come hither but recently. This is the truth, and they know naught else. I, the present notary, attest the same; and the said interpreter Simagat, as well as the said captain, signed it.
Don Juan de Arce
Before me:
Manuel de Caceres, notary
And after the above events, on the twenty-second day of the month of March, of the said year, in the presence of me, the said notary, and the witnesses who here signed, appeared the said Moros Sipopat and Esin, whom his Grace had sent to the said city of Borney. They brought a paper written in Bornean, which they said was given them by the king, Soltan Lijar. They declared that the said king had received the letters addressed to the said panguilans Maraxa de Raxa and Salalila, as the said Salalila was dead, and Maraxa de Raxa had gone to the river of Saragua. The king said that he wished alliance with the said captain, and therefore sent that written letter, in which he says the same thing. He wrote it so that the Spaniards might believe it. Likewise he had sent two caracoas, which came in care of the above-named envoys. And I, the said notary, and many others saw these boats. They came flying white flags, and anchored near our fleet. From there they sent the said Moros, our messengers, in a baroto. [31] All of the above was interpreted by Simaguat, Moro interpreter of the said language. The said captain having seen this, and because he had no one who could read the letter, gave a verbal response to the said Moros, through Simagat, ordering them to tell the king that he had no one who knew how to read and write the said Bornean language, and for this reason he did not write to him. He said that the wish of the said governor, and his own through the former's order, was that the king should become our ally, and recognize as seignior the king of Castilla, our sovereign; and that he should come to treat with the said captain, or send one of his chiefs, so that the latter might discuss the matter, since this was so desirable for his tranquillity and his honor. Thereupon he ordered the messengers to be despatched. The witnesses present were Luis Briseño, Alonso Locano, Bartolome de Tapia, and many other persons.
Don Juan Arce
I attest the above:
Manuel de Caceres, notary
Thereupon on this said day, month, and year abovementioned, a Moro whom the said captain said he knew last year as a slave of the panguilan Salalila, appeared then before the said captain Don Juan de Arce. The said Moro said that he was the abovementioned person, and that he had come into the possession of the king through the death of his master. The king treated him badly; and, as soon as he knew that the Spaniards were in this port, he came to them. Then the said captain, through the said Simagat, ordered the said Moro to be questioned about the death of the said Salalila, his master; the whereabouts of the panguilan Maraja de Raxa; whether the king, Soltan Lijar, was in Borney; where he had hidden when the very illustrious Doctor Francisco de Sande, the governor, was here last year; whether the said king was fortified; what artillery and provisions he had; and what he was now doing. This witness replied that his name was Sisian, and that he was a native of Sian. He came to this kingdom of Borney with his mother, and had always been the slave of the panguilan Maraxa de Raxa, and served the said Salalila likewise when occasion offered. After the said governor went to Manila, this Indian served the said Salalila the entire time. He saw that, some days after the said Maraxa de Raxa had despatched advice that the Spaniards had gone, King Soltan Lijar came to his settlement of Borney with about fifty vessels, large and small—among them being a galley of Manrijar in which was the body of the old king, his father, who had died at Baran, a few days before, from a disease. They buried him with solemnity in the river of Borney. With the said Soltan Lijar came the vandaran, who serves as steward and treasurer, and the tumangan, or chief justice, the panguilan Salam, and others. As soon as he entered the river, the other persons and panguilans who were fugitives outside the city began to return. The king began to collect all his artillery, and has collected by this time about two hundred pieces. He summoned all his Bisayan and Moro allies in order to build a fort, which he has built up the river, from palm-trees four brazas high. He placed there all his artillery, wives, food, and provisions, as soon as he heard of our coming. Only the men stayed on the river, keeping close watch. As to the death of his master, as soon as the king had come, he asked Salalila why he had married his daughter to Don Agustin, chief of Tondo in the city of Manila, who had come to this said river with the said governor. He said that Salalila replied that he had done it for fear, and to please the Spaniards. Thereupon the king dissimulated until, after a month, there came a large galleon and a galley of Portuguese, who negotiated by letters and in person with the king, and went up to the city and traded about a hundred slaves, wax, and other goods. At the end of ten days the Portuguese left for Maluco; and three days after Salalila was dead, from a sickness that lasted less than half a day. It was a sudden looseness of the bowels, which proved so severe that, on getting up to ease himself, he fell dead. It was rumored among the people that the king had ordered him to be poisoned; but so great was the fear of the said king that no one dared to discuss it. It is now five months since the said Maraxa de Raxa left the city of Borney with two caracoas. This witness has heard it said that the king sent him to Tolobaran, and to all the other rivers as far as Saragua, in order to look for a good location in which to settle with all his people in a strong and well-provisioned place; and he has not returned. He knows nothing more of this. After the death of the said Salalila, the king took all his property and slaves, among the latter this witness. Because he was very tired and worn out in making the fort which he has mentioned, and in cutting wood for another fort, which the king intended to build on the site where the said governor had settled near the mosque, this witness resolved to flee to the Spaniards, in order to go to the city of Manila to the daughter of the panguilan Salalila, his master. When asked how many Portuguese vessels came, and if this witness saw them, and if he went to them, he answered that he had gone to them many times with his master; that they were in a ship of deep draught and a large Castilian galley; that the galley was much larger than this flagship; that it carried ninety men and three large pieces at the bow, and falcons at the stern. The large ship carried one hundred Portuguese, eight large pieces, and many culverins. The crew of the galley, or rowers, were chained, and the galley was in poor condition from storms that it had suffered. In this port a mast and other equipment were made. And in regard to what he knows touching the hiding-place of the king during his Lordship's stay in this river, he says that it was well-known that he was in a river of Bisayas in the province of Malanao, near to Saragua. This is all that he can tell and no more. This his deposition being read, he declared it true. By his appearance his age must be about forty years. The said captain signed the above in the presence of many witnesses.
Don Juan Arce Before me: