The above is not the sole motive of the Dutch for desiring to gain control of the Filipinas, but they recognize that they are, by their location, the most suitable of all the islands in the Orient for carrying on the general commerce of these kingdoms and nations. Already we have discussed the domestic and private commerce that is now conducted, which is scanty and limited; and we have stated that what most enriches the islands, and makes them most valuable, is the foreign trade. For it is rich and of great volume, and furnishes so great profits to the European merchants that, for the sake of these, in spite of the expenses, risks, and dangers of so long a voyage, the Portuguese go to seek it by way of India, the Castilians by Nueva España; the Turks by way of Persia, the Venetians by way of Egipto; and the Dutch, now by the Eastern route, entering India, or by the Western, crossing the immense open stretch of the South Sea, or even by way of the north and Nueva Zembla.
Number 21. Estimation of the commerce of the Orient, and its condition
That commerce, then, consists, according to what the Filipinas can enjoy of it, in different products and trades because of the difference of the kingdoms or islands with which they do or can communicate. And inasmuch as the explanation of this commerce is the chief part of the matter; and so that one may see in what estimation it has always been held, and what it deserves, and that there is no other medium by which to maintain this crown except by the conservation of India and the Filipinas: we will here describe, as briefly as possible, the times through which that trade has run, and its varying conditions up to the present. Now it all belongs to the two royal crowns of Castilla and Portugal, but it is usurped in part from both by the Dutch, whose only aim is to secure possession of it; and this they will attain on that day when either of the two extremes presented [for which these—MS.] which are maintained shall fail.[20]
Number 22. Oriental commerce; why it is valued
For many centuries has the oriental commerce been known as the foremost, and most valuable and rich in the world, as appears from Divine and human writings.[21] The kingdoms of Europa, Asia Minor, and part of Africa produce, for their mutual intercourse, certain fruits almost the same, and commodities for merchandise, which differ rather in quality or quantity than in essence. But in Asia and the regions of the Orient, God created some things so precious in the estimation of men, and so peculiar to those provinces, that, as they are only found or manufactured therein, they are desired and sought by the rest of the world. Accordingly, different voyages and routes have been taken, which have been varied by the change of monarchies, on which such accidents depend.
Number 23. Beginnings of the Oriental commerce by way of Persia
The islands of Maluco, to begin with what is most suitable for my purpose, were peopled by Chinese [sic] and Jaos, who, with the practice of navigation, commenced to traffic in cloves, a precious and peculiar drug of the forests there, with India, there meeting the traders in pepper, cinnamon, and other articles; thus going from port to port and from nation to nation, all these spices reached the Persian Gulf. There came together various peoples, with still greater diversity of drugs, perfumes, and precious stones, which were brought into Persia; and, being disseminated throughout Asia, these commodities were imparted, although at a great price, to the eastern lands of Africa, and to the south of Europa. That commerce having become known for the precious and wonderful character of its wares, was at once esteemed so highly that it was one of the causes which induced Alexander the Great to direct his conquests toward India, in order to make himself master of the kingdoms which he imagined (and without error) to be the richest of the world, as from them originated the most precious thing that was known in it.
Number 24. Commerce of the Orient through the Arabian Gulf and other parts
Later, the monarchy of the Persians having become extinct and ruined, a part of that commerce passed, on account of the division of the states and the increase of trade among the peoples, by way of the Red Sea to the Arabian Gulf. Then, entering by way of the two Arabias, the nations of Asia Minor snared the spices and drugs; and through Africa they went down by the river Nilo to Egipto, stopping now in Cayro by land, now in Alexandria by water. As the latter was a frequented port in the Mediterranean, the communication of that commerce was easy, almost without knowing from what beginnings it sprang. By that voyage, the commerce increased so greatly that the king Ptolomeo Auleta[22] collected there as many as one thousand five hundred talents in duties: if these were Attic talents, they amounted to nine and one-half million Castilian escudos. The Romans came into the monarchy, and, having made Egipto a province of the empire, they enjoyed that commerce by way of the Arabian Gulf—by which the spice-trade penetrated at that time (even to the city of Arsinoe, or that of Berenice), and by the Nile, or went overland to Alexandria, which came to be one of the richest cities in the world because of this trade. Later, as the sultans of Babilonia went on gathering power, until they gained possession of the best part of Asia, the spice again came to have an exit more by way of Persia and Trapisonda [i.e., Trebizond] to the Caspian Sea, whence it was taken down to the ports of the Mediterranean, and in one or another place, was received by the merchants of Italia, who imparted it, in the utmost abundance, to Europa. In Asia Minor, the Ottoman house succeeded, and the Turks got control of that commerce, which they divided—directing it, through the cities of Juda and Meca, to the interior of their lands; and, by the gulf and port of Suez, to Alexandria.