The galleon “San Yldefonso” became the flagship. The season was already advanced, and especially for the galleys, which need more calm weather to enable them to navigate. Accordingly, the galleys were despatched ahead July 26, under command of Don Pedro Alcarazo. On August 17, the chief part of the fleet, namely, the galleons and pataches, left port. Governor Don Juan Niño de Tabora was in the flagship; master-of-camp Don Lorenzo de Olaso in the almiranta; in the “Peña de Francia,” Sargento-mayor Alonso Martin Quirante, an old and well-tried soldier; in the ship “Rosario,” Captain Lazaro de Torres, a daring man in war; and in the other two pataches, two other captains. Each vessel carried a quantity of artillery, each galleon having more than forty very large pieces. There were many and very courageous men; although when they saw that contrary weather was setting in it did not fail to dishearten them, as was immediately seen. For scarcely had they left the port of Cavite (even before emerging from that bay), when so fierce a storm overtook them that the fleet was in danger of being wrecked. One patache sprang a leak, and commenced to take in water so badly that it was forced to make port and remain there. The governor—seeing that as the season was so late, it was quite possible that he could not get to the island of Hermosa and return to port with the fleet; and as quite a long period had passed since any reënforcement had been sent to our fort on the same island of Hermosa; and since he imagined that they were suffering very great need of everything necessary—in the probability of what might happen, determined to send Captain Lázaro de Torres ahead with his little vessel the “Rosario,” which was carrying a large quantity of food. As it was a small, swift-sailing ship, he hoped that it would surely arrive, which was not looked for in regard to the rest of the fleet. We shall relate the experience of this vessel later.
Our fleet proceeded on its course, but with so contrary winds from the north that they [as it were,] consumed the vessels; and the seas ran mountain high toward the heavens, so that one would believe that they were trying to engulf them. They reached Cape Bojeador, although after considerable danger. That is the end of the island of Manila, where one crosses to the island of Hermosa. At that point the storms increased so violently that, a council of the pilots having been called, all thought that they should put in to port; for it was impossible to go any farther until the next year, when the expedition could be undertaken at a better season. They put back, and the fleet reentered Cavite on September 6. That was considered as not a little [good fortune by the Dutch]; for, as was afterward learned from some Dutchmen, whom the Portuguese of Macan captured, the enemy on the island of Hermosa were very weak and determined not to fight, but to leave their fort at the arrival of our fleet. Now the Dutch will be in a state of readiness, so that it will cost a triumph to capture the fort; and, even, may it please God that we can gain such a result.
Some fathers of St. Dominic and of our Society were going in the fleet with the intention of remaining in the island of Hermosa, in order to engage in the conversion of its natives who are heathen. As servants of our fathers were also going two disguised Japanese fathers, in order to see whether they might go to Japon by way of the island of Hermosa. Their provincial had sent them for that purpose from Macan; for, as the door of Japon is so tightly closed, Ours seek extraordinary means to enter there, to aid that afflicted Christian people.
But let us return to follow our galleys. One can well guess how they would fare, when so large galleons suffered from the storm. They were struck very severely, but they made their voyage nevertheless, until they sighted the fort of the Dutch enemy on the island of Hermosa. From there, they put back to this island of Manila, in the province of Ylocos, because of the violence of the weather. While in port there, they had so fierce a storm that, having been hardly used by the past storm, their seams opened and they went to the bottom. Twenty convicts were drowned, and three Spaniards. The other men, even the commander himself, got away by swimming, and, as the land was near, they were able to reach it without much difficulty. That disastrous news reached this city October 20.
We come now to the ship “Rosario” in which Captain Lazaro de Torres was sailing. It made its voyage, although not without trouble. It reached our fort on the island of Hermosa, and its arrival gladdened and rejoiced our men greatly, for they were in great need of food. It had been more than a year since aid had been sent to them from Manila. At the ship’s arrival, it was found that a disaster had overtaken our men. It happened that there was a chief on the river of Tanchuy, not far from our fort, who professed great friendship for our men for his reasons of state, which are not wanting even among barbarians. Those reasons were that that chief had wars of long standing with another chief whose domain was on the other side of the river; and he wished to have our men on his side, for whatever might happen. Our men trusting to his friendship, and forced by the necessity that they were suffering, the commander sent Captain Don Antonio de Vera with twenty Spaniards to the said river of Tanchuy to bring back rice to our men; for that is the ordinary bread, and that country abounds plentifully with it. Captain Antonio de Vera and his twenty Spaniards remained one or two months with the chief of Tanchuy, who, although he feasted them, did not conclude by giving them the provisions to return. The captain began to fear some detention, and sent to our fort for more men, in order to negotiate with arquebuses what they were unable to compass by kindness; but these were not sent. The chief concerted secretly with his opponent, and made peace with him. One day he took Captain Don Antonio and the other Spaniards out hunting; and suddenly attacked them, and killed the said captain and seven others. They first sold their lives, and with greed for death itself, killed some of their false friends, really their enemies—among them the very chief who contrived that treachery. The other Spaniards sought shelter in a small boat which they had there, left the river, and went to our fort, giving news of the disaster just as Captain Lazaro de Torres arrived. With the help that had just come to them, they determined to take vengeance for that perfidy. The commandant sent the said captain, Lazaro de Torres, with one of the galleys which they had there, accompanied by one hundred infantrymen. They entered the river of Tanchuy, which is very beautiful, and densely inhabited by the natives. The latter immediately deserted their settlements, and our men went to the rice granaries, and filled their galley and four large champans, which are used as freight ships in these seas. They could have filled fifty if they had had them, so great is the abundance in that country. They captured I know not how many persons; then without doing any more evil or burning their villages, they retired with plenty of food, which was the most important thing. This feat having been performed, the said Lazaro de Torres returned with his ship to Manila, where he entered February 21, 1628.
On the same day that our fleet reached the port of Cavite, which was, as aforesaid, September 6, 1627, a cho (a craft which is used in these waters, whose sails are made of rushes) came from Macan. It warned the Portuguese galliots which had come from that city to this with great wealth of merchandise, and which were about to return with about one million in silver, that they should take note that the Dutch enemy were stationed in the passage of Macan, awaiting them with four ships in order to capture them, and that they should change their direction and course. Thereupon, Governor Don Juan Niño de Tabora, seeing that our fleet was ready, and that it would be a fine thing to effect some stroke with the Dutch, as well as for other ends which will be told later, resolved to send two galleons, to act as escort to the Macan galliots. The Portuguese gave twenty thousand pesos to help the soldiers. On October 13 the said galliots, five in number, left with the flagship “San Yldefonse,” in which Don Juan de Alcarazo went as commander; in the other galleon, the “Peña de Francia,” Don Pedro de Mendiola went as commander. Each galleon carried about six hundred persons. They were so well equipped that they could fight with any Dutch ships whatever. Father Ygnacio de Muxica of our Society, and a brother, were in the flagship, and a father of St. Francis in the other galleon. Both galleons suffered great troubles from whirlwinds, seas, and storms all the way to Macan. One day our flagship snapped the topmast of its mainmast and it fell down. Another day the mast sprang, and knocked the rudder out of place, and it had to be repaired. Another day they were all but wrecked on the reefs of La Plata. On another occasion they lost their rudder completely, and they had to steer the ship with the sheets of the mizzenmast; on another, they lost their anchors while quite near Macan. They grounded in two and one-half brazas of water, and had not the bottom been sandy they would have been smashed into a thousand pieces. They cut down the mainmast and lightened the ship, and got it out of the sand after the greatest of toil, for it was almost buried. The other galleon had its troubles too, but it was fortunate in making port at Sanchuan on the Chinese coast, where our father St. Francis Javier died, about thirty leguas from Macan. The galliots entered the latter place safely, for the Dutch ships were no longer in the strait, as I shall recount later in order not to interrupt at present the thread of our history of our galleons and their adventures. The latter were very ill received by the Portuguese because of the twenty thousand pesos which they cost, and because it was seen that the Dutch had deserted the strait. They judged the matter by the effect and not by what might have happened had the enemy captured their galliots with so great a sum of silver. Our galleons stayed more than three months at that place refitting, stepping a mast and replacing the rudder, and getting food in Macan. They bought a patache, of which they had great need. On the eighteenth of February the two galleons and patache sailed out to pursue their voyage. The latter was sent by the commander, Don Juan Alcarazo, to take its station in the bay of the kingdom of Tonquin and Cochinchina, in order to await a ship from Siam of which it should make a prize; and then to go with it in search of the two galleons. The fact is that they had an order from Governor Don Juan Niño de Tabora to capture all the Siamese vessels for reprisal, inasmuch as five years ago a ship was taken from us in that kingdom, although it was friendly to us. The ship was said to be valued at one million in merchandise, and was on its way from Macan to Manila. Several Spaniards were killed. An embassy having been sent under Father Pedro de Morejon, as I wrote in another relation, the Siamese returned to us only the value of ten thousand pesos.
That patache, whose captain was Diego Lopez Lobo, a Portuguese, and which carried thirty Spaniards, waited two months in the said place, sailing about hither and thither. When the king of Cochinchina saw it, fearing lest it capture some vessels that he was expecting in his kingdom, he sent a father of the Society (one of those who reside in his court and other places, who I think are sixteen in number) in a small ship to tell the captain not to do any harm to anything belonging to his kingdom, and that he had always been a friend to us. Answer was returned that the presence of the ship in that region was not to do harm to Cochinchina, but to attain certain purposes which his captain-general had ordered him. Finally, on Thursday, the twentieth of April, a great freight ship was sighted, one of the sort that sail these seas. The Spaniards attacked it, and although its occupants tried to defend themselves, they were obliged to see that they had no defense against our artillery and musketry. They surrendered, and it was found to be the ship which was being sought. It was one which the king of Siam sends every year to Canton with some tribute for the king of China. It was returning with great wealth of silks and other things, and carried sixty Siamese and sixty Chinese. Half of the men were placed aboard our patache, and soldiers were transferred from the patache to the said Siamese ship. The strict vigilance necessary was maintained, as our men were so few, so that they should not be killed some night. The patache set out in search of the galleons, in the direction that had been set. But the winds were contrary in that direction, and they were unable to make any distance. Consequently, they had to sail with a stern wind to Manila. With their captured reprisal they reached this city on May 14. The cargo of the Siamese ship was unladed carefully, and it was found that it was worth about one hundred thousand pesos. It was placed on deposit in a building and excellent treatment is being given to the Siamese. But I think that they will be sent to their king, so that he may return us what he took from us, in which case we shall return what we captured from him. If that is not done, then we shall continue to capture their ships.
When the two galleons left Manila, the governor offered to send a patache after them to a certain place, and did so a little later; it was under command of Don Fernando Becerra, with about sixty men. They had bad weather. They looked for our galleons, and although they found traces of their having been in certain parts, they did not find the vessels. They only found a fine ship which was well equipped with artillery, and, thinking it to be one of our galleons, drew near it. But when quite near they saw that it was a Dutch ship, and consequently began to retire in all haste. The ship followed our patache, but as the latter was as swift as a bird it made so much headway in a short time that the ship abandoned the chase in despair. Our patache continued to retire toward Manila, where it arrived June 6, having lost fifteen men, who died of sickness, among them a Franciscan religious who was aboard. Consequently, our galleons were left without any patache, for one patache came in with the Siamese ship and the other did not find them. That was a matter of considerable damage; for, as the galleons were so large, they drew much water, and could not well go close to the shore in order to secure the desired results—as we shall see during the course of their voyage, which was as follows.
As soon as they left the patache in the said passage for the purpose of capturing the Siamese ship, they ran along the whole coast of Asia until they reached the island of Hainam, where the fishery of Great China is located, a place most plentifully supplied with food. They went to the kingdom of Champa, and anchored at Pulo Condor, where they sent out their lanchas with forty Spaniards, and about twenty Indians and negroes, to see whether they could get the water which was very necessary to them. In the meantime the galleons kept moving about on one tack or another; but they were overtaken by so violent a storm that they had to go to another island called Pulo Ubi, leaving the lanchas with their men ashore, and as yet nothing has been heard of the latter. But it is thought that they are in Camboja, for that king is friendly to us, and will have welcomed them, as they were only eight leguas from the bar of Camboja.[2] Thus the galleons were left without pataches or lanchas. They went to Pulo to land at the kingdom of Pan, where they anchored and got water; and they took food from the inhabitants of the country until the latter arose against and wounded some of our men. But our men killed some of them, among them a nephew of the king of Pan himself. The Spaniards took away two boats from them, from which they made boats such as we use. While at that place, a ship manned by Chinese and Malays was captured. They were coming with flags and passports from the Dutch, with whom they were trading. They were captured on that account, although they had nothing of any value, for they had left their merchandise in the kingdom of Pan. It was heard that there were Dutch ships in the strait of Malaca, which were committing depredations. The Spaniards sent a lancha manned by soldiers and an adjutant, to reconnoiter; but after spying carefully until they were quite near Malaca, no Dutch were discovered, and they returned to the galleons with that news. While they were there, the king of Pan wrote in very complimentary manner to our commander, and, not saying that he knew of the death of his nephew, offered our men everything that they needed, so great fear had seized him. A lancha was sent to the kingdom of Patani to see whether there was a Dutch factory there, as was usual. Two Javanese were brought back, who said that two years ago, when that kingdom was in power, they had driven the Dutch from that place. They had a great quantity of pepper (which is the product yielded by that kingdom), for there was no one to whom to sell it, as they had sold it to the Dutch before. The commander wrote to them to have their men take a load of it to Manila, and that it would be bought from them; and also that he would give them indemnity for a slight injury which some of his men had done them, not knowing that they were friends, by taking a small quantity of rice from them, which the fleet and those who brought it needed. The men fled, without giving any account of themselves.
The galleons went to the coasts of Ligor and Siam, and discovered three somas, freight ships of these seas. The lanchas attacked them; and, while fighting with them, fire was set to two jars of powder that the Spaniards had there. Twelve persons were burned, seven of whom died. Thereupon they retired, and the somas escaped. Afterward three other somas were discovered, which were coming from Siam. The lanchas were sent after them and defeated them, and brought them to the galleons. They were carrying as merchandise, rice, considerable pepper, and some cloth. The last named was much needed by the infantry, who already had rib shirts on account of the long voyage. The galleons entered the bay of Siam, and found three somas on the bar. One was Japanese, and carried drugs and merchandise. It was captured in good faith, but the justification of this act is being discussed. It is thought that the Japanese will be remunerated for the injury received, as they ought not to have been harmed.