The fathers write from Jolo that Dato Ache has been entirely unable to do anything since the occurrence at Lami, in which he was buried.[8] It is added that since these things are so, all the Joloans are perishing from famine. They will never humiliate themselves or give signs of surrendering. In some raids that have been made, the Spaniards have killed and captured some of their chiefs. Among them was a pirate who captured the beneficed priest Francisco Vazquez, and refused to give him up for less than two thousand pesos. Now he is paying it in the galleys, where he has been put at the oar.
Father Alexandro Lopez writes from Jolo that the commandant of that island [i.e., Xines Ros] begged pardon in public from God and the fathers for the insults that he had uttered, and for the injuries that he had done them; and that he was building the church for them with much fervor, before his successor should arrive.
A champan arrived here on May 30, with fifty arrobas of nails which had been taken from the wreckage of the ship which, as I said, had run aground on the coast of Paracali. Those whose opinion is most accurate in that matter have examined it, and believe that it is all from the almiranta “San Ambrosio.” On that account the profound sadness that was general in April and May has ceased; for it had been reported that indubitable signs were found that the flagship had been wrecked.
On June 17 arrived a despatch from Sanboangan. The news brought by it will be told by a letter from Father Pedro Gutierrez. “On setting out for Terrenate, the commander, Don Pedro de Almonte, left an order that, when the boats of the volunteers arrived at Samboangan, they were to skirt the coast of Jolo. Six caracoas did that, as well as six other boats from Basilan, under command of Adjutant Cristoval de las Heras, and manned by some Spaniards. Inside of a fortnight, they coasted about the island of Jolo and came to another small islet near by. They burned many boats, killed some Joloans, and brought back a goodly number of captives, without having lost any of our men. They did not delay longer because a fixed time had been assigned to them. The said commander Don Pedro came back from Terrenate on the sixth of March. As the almiranta had not arrived, he despatched Sargento-mayor Don Pedro del Rio to La Zabanilla with most of the fleet, so that he might fortify himself in La Sabanilla and reduce a village of Caragas who had formerly come to Corralat, when fleeing from the Spaniards. Thereupon, as soon as the said sargento-mayor arrived at La Zabanilla, he began to build the fort, which was finished in good shape, and he reduced the Caragas; and, when the general arrived, he was already holding them in La Zabanilla. As the almiranta did not arrive, the commander Don Pedro came with the rest of the fleet. While he was in La Zabanilla, a despatch from Captain Don Francisco de Atensa was brought. It gave advices that he had arrived at the lake of Malanao,[9] having entered by the gulf of Pangi [i.e., Panguil] with the Spaniards whom he had in Caraga, as well as with Caragas and Butuanes; and having fought with those of the lake, the Moros fled, and immediately, on the next day, the chiefs began to come in to submit to the Spaniards. They all did that except one, named Mancaya. In order to accomplish that, the commander sent Sargento-mayor Don Pedro del Rio, with his company and about five hundred Indians. They all reached the lake where they found it unnecessary to stop, as Captain Don Francisco de Atensa had pacified all the inhabitants of the lake, and Mancaya; and they had given hostages and firearms, and had registered themselves to pay tribute to the number of one thousand tributes. They promised to receive fathers. Thus those villages of the lake were already reduced, and had also given up some Christian captives whom they had taken. The lake of Malanao is of a cold rather than a warm temperature, and the people have plenty of rice and native fruits. Between the lake of Malanao and La Zabanilla there are three chiefs who were related to Borongon; those chiefs proceeded to some very rough mountains near the lake. It is said that they have about three thousand warriors, who are devoted to Corralat; and as he was not a declared friend of the Spaniards, they gave us plenty to suffer on the return. For, as the road was in such shape that it was necessary to go single file, some of the Indians who accompanied the Spaniards were wounded. But although the enemy made several ambuscades, they could not inflict more damage, because of the care with which the march was made—until Holy Saturday, when it began to rain; when a great number of them attacked us from ambush and killed one Spaniard, who was without [fire: crossed out in MSS.] arms, as he was sick. They also killed four Indians, and wounded four others. It was our Lord’s pleasure that, notwithstanding the rain, the arquebuses of the Spaniards, who were near, were not without effect. With that, no more damage was done us; the enemy fled, dropping about thirty shields in their flight, and they received some damage. The troops of Sargento-mayor Don Pedro del Rio arrived at La Zavanilla, where Captain Pedro Navarro had been left in command of the infantry, which was in the fort. The commander, Don Pedro de Almonte, had gone to Buayen with the rest of the fleet; and, having sent a message to Moncay, the latter answered that he would fight. In order to seize the posts of the enemy, the commander, Don Pedro, sent two boats to the mouth of a creek, by which reënforcements could be taken, so that they could not reach Moncay by that way; and also to a lake which was up the river of Buayen, which was not only an entrance to Buayen, but also where the enemy had their retreat in an excellent fortification. The best fortification was in a swamp. On that undertaking, the commander, Don Pedro, sent Captain Juan Lopez Luçero with his company, and our ally Manaquior and his men. That was all very necessary, because of the great number of men that the enemy had. They fought for three days, at the end of which, it was our Lord’s pleasure to let our men dislodge the enemy with heavy loss. Of our men only one Spaniard was wounded and one or two of Manaquior’s men were killed, and one or two others wounded. Our men burned all the houses and fortifications.
“At that same time the commander, Don Pedro de Rozas, marched from the Spanish fort to that of Moncay, which was very strong; for, besides being surrounded by swamps and water, and by a dike that had been made, and besides the fort (which was built long ago) of stone, there had been added ditches, terrepleins, and stockades with their bulwarks. Having reached it, our men planted two bulwarks upon fascines with which they could bombard the enemy’s fort. At the end of three days, a white flag was displayed; and there was a cessation in the hostilities, for the time being. Moncay, having declared that he wished to become a friend, abandoned the fort that night, after setting fire to some of the houses. Next day our men finished burning what was left. Not a little wonder was caused, and thanks to our Lord, at seeing that so strong a fort had been gained with the loss there of one Spaniard and two wounded, one of whom died afterward; and four wounded Indians, of whom one died. Besides that, they burned many fortified houses, and destroyed palm-trees and sago plantations. Some days afterward, the commander sent Don Agustin de Çepada to reconnoiter the creeks. The latter came upon a well-fortified house, which he burned. He sent Sargento-mayor Pedro de la Mata to coast along the shores, and do all the damage possible to the enemy. He found a fortified hill also, and it was regarded as a miracle that it was taken without any loss of our men. It is thought that the chief man in the post was one who was in the bulwark; for as soon as he was laid low by a volley from the Spaniards, all the enemy fled, and the Spaniards burned all the fortifications and the neighboring houses.
“The commander, Don Pedro, also sent Captain Don Francisco del Castillo to an islet which was situated opposite the bar of Buayen. He captured some Lutaos, destroyed a great number of boats (and the same was done by Adjutant Don Albaro Galindo, who destroyed some boats); but found no people. He sent the chief Manaquior to discover whether there were any means of finding Moncay, and returned at the end of fourteen or fifteen days. As there was no way of being able to pursue Moncay, and as the season was advanced, and many were falling sick, and as he had to go to Jolo, the commander, Don Pedro Almonte, went with the rest of his fleet to La Zabanilla, after having planned that the Spaniards who remained in the fort of Buayen, and the men of Manaquior, should continue to pursue Moncay—all being under the order of Captain Juan Lopez Luçero, castellan and captain of the said post.
“The inhabitants of Basilan, who had gone to Jolo to do all the damage possible to the Joloans—in company with six Spaniards, under command of Alférez Juan de Ulloa—returned with seventy-seven captives and some of our Bisayans, who had been seized by the enemy. They destroyed about two hundred boats, counting large and small, first selecting for themselves fifteen of the best. They reported that a Lutao chief of Jolo, named Lohon, had taken to the fort of Jolo fifty other captives, with which, necessarily, the [forces of the] Joloans must be exhausted.
“The commander, Don Pedro de Almonte, coming from Buayen, reached the passage of the river of Sibuguei; and Datan, the chief of the river, registered eight hundred tributes, and handed over the arms and Bisayan slaves that he had there.”
We received news here, on the twenty-fifth of June, that the sea of Camarines is continually floating ashore more fragments of the wrecked ship, which some think that they recognize as belonging to the flagship. Consequently, it has begun to be rumored again as more probable that, if only one ship has been wrecked, it is the flagship. But others are of the opinion that the wreckage shows unmistakable signs of the two ships, both flagship and almiranta. That casts a gloom over all the land. If that has happened (which may God not have permitted), it is thought that it will be impossible for these islands to recover in many years.
June 27, a destructive hurricane came down upon this port from the northwest, and veered about to almost all points of the compass. It overturned some houses, and did great damage in all the others and in the churches. It blew the tiles through the air as if they were bits of paper. The galleons along the shore were a great cause for anxiety; and the commander, Don Geronimo de Sumonte, and Captain Pedro Muñoz hastened to them quickly, with the prominent men of this port, all of whom worked valiantly. That was very necessary; for the galleon “San Juan Baptista,” although held by eleven cables, came dragging upon “La Concepcion,” which was being made ready to sail to Mexico. They would infallibly have been dashed to pieces, had they not been attended to so carefully and diligently. Of the other smaller craft, some have been wrecked; and some men were drowned. It was God’s pleasure to allow the wind’s fury to last only four hours. Had it blown with the same violence during all the twenty-four hours while it lasted, no ship would have escaped, and not a house or church would have been left standing. Two hundred houses were overthrown in the village of the Indians. But what caused most fear to those natives (and the old men say that they have never seen such a thing, or heard it told by their ancestors), is that the hurricane carried into the air the small boats that they use, which are called bancas and resemble canoes. It is said that they were blown about like paper, and that when they fell again they were broken to pieces. The hurricane blew with the same violence in all the surrounding villages, and caused the same damage; it blew down one hundred and seventy houses in Palañaque.