[12] Short, round-headed tarpauling nails.
[13] Apparently another name for the palm-tree called by the Tagáls cauong (Arenga saccharifera—Labill.; Caryota onusta—Bl.), also known as negro cabo (“black head”). The leaf yields fibers that are long, black, and very strong; the cordage made from them is very durable, resisting even salt water. This is evidently the product elsewhere mentioned as “black cordage.” See U.S. Gazetteer, p. 72; Blanco’s Flora, p. 511. Concerning the abacá, see Vol. III, p. 263.
[14] That is, the natives were drafted from their respective villages for public works—nominally for wages paid them, but in reality, as this document alone would show, kept in a condition of practical slavery. Cf. the royal decree of May 26, 1609 (Vol. XVII, p. 79), regulating the services of the Indians.
[15] Habas: a species of bean. Garbanzos: see Vol. XII, p. 88, note 17.
[16] Gerguetas, for jerguetas: a coarse frieze or other coarse cloth.
[17] Our transcript reads at this point: ”quedaron en la ciudad de manila y puerto de cabite siete galeones los seis el uno de los quales.” We omit translation of the words ”los seis,” “the six,” as being apparently a lapsus calami.
[18] See description of this naval contest ante, p. 37.
[19] See Vol. XVI, p. 272, note.