View of one of Ladrones Islands—Levinus Hulsius (Franckfurt am Mayne, M.DC.XX)
[From original in Library of Harvard University]
Since July 7 there have been very severe storms of wind and rain. On the nineteenth the passage boat[10] was wrecked in the bay and it is said that eighteen persons were drowned. Many illnesses have occurred during that time, in which a great number of people of all nations have perished. Because of this, and because many have been persuaded that the two ships of the past year have been wrecked—not only because of the signs that the sea has thrown up, but because news of their arrival is so belated—there is a universal gloom and sorrow over all the country, such as it has never had before. May God in His mercy console the land.
On July 19, a letter was received from the alcalde-mayor of Nueva Segovia, which states that two English galleons had anchored in a port of that coast, and that they are coming to this port of Cavite to trade; if the weather permits them to reach this place, their intentions will be known.
In the afternoon of July 24, six of the men who had sailed in the flagship of last year, which was wrecked September 20, 1638, by the fury of a tempest in the Ladrones Islands—on an island thirty-five leguas away from the islands where our ships generally land on the voyage—arrived here. Besides those who were drowned, many were killed by lance-thrusts from the natives. Those who escaped went from island to island to those of Uan and Harpana,[11] where they have been well treated. The reason alleged for that was, that the Spaniards are good men, and leave them iron when they pass there. From the island of Uan the natives despatched six Spaniards and two Indians in two boats, furnishing them with food from what they had. They commended themselves to God, crossed the open stretch of more than three hundred leguas, which they did in but one fortnight—a wonderful thing, if one will but consider those small boats which are of much less burden and steadiness than pirogues and canoes, and even smaller than they. They arrived almost dead with hunger, thirst, and lack of sleep. Our fathers of the Society of Jesus received them in Palapag, and cared for them for several days; after that they recovered, and immediately set out in a champan with a good supply of food. The Indians of Uan sent those Spaniards, so that they could give the news and send a boat for the other twenty-two Spaniards who are there alive, with some Indians and negroes, and carry them iron, etc.
As soon as the tidings were told in this port of Cavite, the sobs and cries were so many that all were stunned, for there is no one who has not lost a son, a father, a brother, a brother-in-law, a father-in-law, a son-in-law, or a husband. The loss has been one of the greatest that has ever visited these islands, because of the loss of men and the poverty of the islands.[12]
Good news is received of the almiranta, for they say that they saw it but shortly before they were wrecked, sailing on a good tack; and that it was a swift sailer, and seaworthy. Consequently it is thought that it has arrived at Nueva España. May God grant that it has so happened.
[1] Tawi Tawi is the largest island of a group having the same name, in the extreme southwest of the Philippine Archipelago, nearly 700 miles distant from Manila. It contains over 100 islands, mostly very small; but five of these contain ten or more square miles of area. The island Tawi Tawi contains 187 square miles; its surface is one of fertile plains interspersed with forests, and broken by five peaks ranging from 736 to 1,941 feet in height. The islands are thinly populated (estimated at 1,815 fighting men) by Malayan tribes supposed to have migrated thither from Borneo—the Suluanos, Camucones, and Tirones. Navigation among the islands is difficult and dangerous, except for the small, light native craft; and they have been the hiding-places of pirates from the earliest times.