The above is what occurs to me in regard to the first part. In regard to the second, namely, that it is not advisable for us to have a port in the island of Hermosa, whether the Dutch are there or not, my opinion is the following.
Since the Dutch are there, one would think it advisable to prevent them by force of arms from the commerce of China. But for that one must attack either the Chinese or the Dutch. Since the Chinese are our friends, and since we cannot live in the Filipinas without their trade, I do not see how it can be done justifiably, as they are free to trade with all. Even should we attempt it, they will oblige us to permit them [to trade as they choose] by taking the trade from the Filipinas. But if it should have to be by attacking the ships of the Dutch, new and very long and costly wars would be renewed which would complete the exhaustion of the Filipinas, as has been done in those of Terrenate. Then, too, we would not have greater advantages in this war in the island of Hermosa than in those of Terrenate; for it also is a war to be carried on with ships, and the Dutch have their factories of Japon very near by. They are not inferior to us in accommodations, although the island of Hermosa is near the Filipinas.
But if the Dutch were expelled from it, neither do I find any advantage in the Spaniards having a fort and settlement in that island at present, considering the condition of the Filipinas, unless it be to prevent the return of the enemy to refortify it. For first we must determine for that purpose, whether we can prevent that, by the nature of the island and by other circumstances that would render it very difficult—as was seen in Terrenate, when, although we had five hundred or more Spaniards there, the Dutch built another fort almost in sight of ours (which they still hold), as soon as we gained that small island. Now, too, although the Dutch were fortified first in the island of Hermosa, they have not prevented us from effecting a settlement there. For among other things, for such purposes, more men are necessary, and the cost of those men with whom a fortress in a kingdom not one’s own is generally maintained.
But, as this object is not involved in the other considerations which present themselves to my mind for keeping up a Spanish settlement in that island, I do not see that, for the present, the Spaniards are obliged to do that. For that island is not of importance to us, either for its own products or for the commerce of China—on the former ground, because it is a poor and barren land, of which it is now always said in the Filipinas that it only produces fruits and timber; nor is it for the second, for if it be made a way-station, wherein to invest in the silks of China, that means to add a new voyage from the Filipinas, which on account of its expenses cannot make up for the convenience of purchasing in Filipinas those same products, which the Chinese carry to Manila. If one tries to say that, by this means, the Chinese ships would not be stopped by the Dutch ships that await them on the coasts of Filipinas; and that if that voyage be made from the island of Hermosa in Spanish ships, they will sail more secure: I answer that there is less danger for the ships as they sail now. For, since the Chinese do not understand latitude and the directions of the compass perfectly, they do not know enough to go [by direct routes] to sight land in the Filipinas, thus making safe the coast where the Dutch await them;[2] but in that case [i.e., if they go only to Formosa] the Dutch, changing their position, would go to await the Chinese and our ships near our port or the island of Hermosa. Since those ships would have to sail so well equipped that they could defend themselves, it would be so costly an undertaking that it could not be maintained—especially at the present time, when the Filipinas are so exhausted and so in need of men, by reason of the reënforcements to Maluco, the entrances into Mindanao, and the insurrections in certain provinces of the natives. Besides, there is the so great danger to Manila from the swarms of abandoned heathen Sangleys who live there, besides other Chinese residents who are married and Christians, but lazy, and the great number of non-producing Japanese there also; and for security and defense from all these, the Spaniards do not even possess what is necessary.
Neither has that island of Hermosa such a location that it can be desirable for the ships of Filipinas that sail both to Japon and to Macan, to put in or to seek shelter there; and even less so for those returning from a port where they have taken refuge when they sail to Nueva España, or when, in sailing from Nueva España to Filipinas, by arriving late, the vendavals overtake them; or for ships on any other of the courses that we sail today.
But if one would say that it is a matter of importance for greater attempts that could be offered in time, by reason of the entrance into or conversion of China, that is not approved now. On the contrary, I fear from the caution and mistrust of the Chinese, that if we maintain a settlement in the island of Hermosa, and it is not clear to them that it is strictly necessary for that conservation, [they will act] without heeding other ends which they must obtain by way of diverting the trade with the Filipinas (since we see that they forced the Portuguese to tear down the fortification that they permitted them to erect in Macan, in view of the risk of its being captured by the Dutch in the year 622, who threatened to return to attempt it with a greater fleet the following year, although they had not returned up to the year 625). They are not unaware that Castilians and Portuguese are vassals of one and the same king. Neither have the Dutch failed to publish (as they did in Japon), that it is the custom of the king of España to conquer kingdoms under pretext of religion. That report, according to the religious of Japon themselves, has been one of the chief causes for the instigation of so terrible a persecution against Christians. Very true is it that the success in conversion in which his Majesty has so disinterested and holy an end, can neither be assured nor guided only by human reason. Consequently, what I judge to be an unsuitable thing might be the best method to attain it. In this argument one ought also to consider the heathen natives themselves in the island of Hermosa; but, admitting this, even for them at present I conclude that his Majesty is under no obligations whatever, because he has in the Filipinas not a few Indians who pay tribute, but who do not have sufficient ministers to instruct them. Also there are many heathen, who, because their country is not yet conquered, are without any knowledge at all of the holy gospel. But I shall not go into greater detail on this point, for it may, perhaps, seem to be outside the question.
Neither do I imagine that all that has occurred to me concerning this matter, and much more, has been left unconsidered by Don Fernando de Silva, governor of Filipinas, at whose order a site was occupied on Hermosa Island; for he is a very prudent gentleman and a gallant soldier, and one who will not have permitted the desire for glory and honor, of which the discoverers and conquerors of new lands are justly worthy, to carry him away. Yet I do not, on that account, regard myself as under no obligations to advise you of my opinion. Madrid, December 20, 1627.
[1] Referring to William Adams, an Englishman who landed in Japan in April, 1600, and soon became a favorite with the ruler Iyéyasu. He was in the employ of the East India Company from November, 1613, to December, 1616; and at other times rendered various services to Iyéyasu, traded on his own account, or acted as interpreter to the English and the Dutch in Japan. He remained in that country until his death, May 16, 1620. See Cocks’s Diary (Hakluyt Society’s publications), i, pp. iii–xxxiv.