The patache “San Nicolas” is going with the relief for Terrenate; its chief pilot is Captain Machado, a pilot of long standing and great experience. This vessel has orders to go, on the return voyage from Terrenate to the Ladrones Islands, in order to carry away the Spaniards and other people from the wrecked ship who are there.
On the fifth of November the relief for Terrenate left this port; it carries an abundant supply of men and provisions, and is under the command of Captain Andres de Urbina. On the same day we learned of the depredations committed by the Camucones; and it is believed that Dato Ache is coming, who was in Borney, urging the king to send a large armed fleet against these islands.
On the twenty-first of November, in the morning, confused reports reached us that the Sangleys had revolted at Calamba; and all the rest of the day they spent in strengthening their forces. They killed the alcalde-mayor and two priests, and burned the church; and destroyed other churches in neighboring villages. Don Sebastian received the news on the twentieth, at night; he had the gates of Manila opened, although keeping them under close watch, in order that the people living outside the walls might take refuge within, with their goods. That very night, he despatched by land Captain Pedro Martin de Aduna with his company of horsemen, in order to find out how the matter stood, and punish the insurgents. On the morning of the twenty-first, they encountered the Sangleys, who, they said, amounted to three thousand men, while the Spanish cavalry numbered only thirty. The captain and three others carelessly advanced into a marshy place, where they could neither extricate themselves nor be aided, and were slain. The rest, after killing some Chinese, retreated, as they were so few and their horses were tired out, to Parañaque, to await the orders of the governor; and this was the condition in which affairs remained yesterday. It is said that the Sangleys attack like mad dogs, and that the weapons that they carry are the sickles with which they cut their rice, fastened to poles, and some lances.
At this port of Cavite the Chinese have remained peaceable, and with the Indians and Japanese they very willingly dragged out some pieces of artillery, with which Sargento-mayor Alonso Garcia Romero, who is in command of the port, armed two small forts, which are at the end of the village. With these and other precautions of an excellent soldier, we all consider ourselves very safe. The natives, although they have not forsaken their village, have sought shelter, as far as possible, with the religious orders. The Japanese, blacks, and Indians are full of courage, whatever be the outcome; I believe that they will rejoice, if the opportunity arise, to satiate themselves for once with killing Chinese.
In order that the origin of this disturbance may be understood, it must be noted that Don Sebastian, desirous of augmenting the estate of his Majesty, set a great number of Chinese at work in some large meadows which are watered and rendered fertile by certain rivers, and are called Calamba. Many of these men were levied by force, and entirely against their will; many of them fell sick during the past months, and it is said that more than three hundred of them died. Accordingly, they became desperate; and it is well known that the season is an unwholesome one. The time came for the Chinese to pay their license money and rent, which in all was more than twenty-five pesos for each one. The officials harassed them for the pay, and they had not the means to pay what was due; accordingly they have broken loose in this revolt. The rents from the lands, too, have proved to be unprofitable, from the manner in which they have been let; while, if they belonged to individuals, they would be a source of gain.
Since the twenty-second of November, when I wrote the above, I have purposely omitted to write an account of current events, for along with the facts were reported a thousand lies; but today, the twenty-eighth of the same month, everything is now known and manifest.
After the Chinese killed Captain Martin de Aduna, they came close to Manila, rousing to revolt all the Sangleys whom they encountered. They arrived at San Pedro de Macati, the novitiate’s residence of the Society of Jesus. As the church there was strongly built, and vaulted, Father Francisco Vicente and the brothers Esteban de Oliver and Raimundo Alberto, who were the only inmates of the house at that time, went up into it. Some mulattoes and house-servants had also taken refuge there, as well as over one hundred persons from the native village. These made some resistance to the enemy, but, as they had no other weapons than tiles and bricks, finally the multitude of the Sangleys (who numbered more than three thousand) broke down the doors of the church and the house, and set fire to the buildings. Those who were in the church, tormented by the smoke and flames, within twenty-four hours came to an agreement with the insurgents, who assured them of their lives and kind treatment. Some of the mulattoes and natives came out with the father and the brethren; the Chinese treated the father well, and manacled the brethren, but they killed all the rest (fifteen in number), on the spot. At this sight, those who had not come out of the church held back, and refused to leave it; and this saved their lives, for at that time the sargento-mayor, Don Juan de Arceo, arrived, with two hundred Spanish infantry and eighty horsemen. He also had a hundred Pampango and four hundred Tagal Indians, all carrying firearms; and two field-pieces. These began to do damage to the enemy, but only for a short time; for the Sangleys asked for a truce, which was granted them. The Sangleys sent Father Francisco Vicente to negotiate a peace for them with the Spaniards. By a special providence of Heaven, at that very time arrived, by way of the river, Adjutant Benavides with twenty-five men. He dashed upon them like a lion, and with his men made so fierce an attack upon the crowded Sangleys that many of the enemy were slain. The Sangleys who were engaged in discussing a peace sent Brother Alberto to tell the Spaniards who had come from the river not to do them any harm, because they were already making an agreement for peace. Arriving, he saw that some of the enemy were beginning to make some resistance, and he called aloud, “Spaniards, at those who are fleeing!” But they had no need to do so, for the enemy were already in flight; the Spaniards followed them and dislodged them from the church, and all the Sangleys, in confusion, began to disperse. In this confusion, Brother Esteban was able to make his escape, and those who were in the church could now leave it. The troops of Don Juan de Arceo seized their weapons, and also fell on the conquered ones; and the latter were quickly dispersed through the fields, leaving some three hundred Sangleys dead. The mulattoes and Indians from Manila killed many, and captured more than three hundred; most of these are here in the galleys. More than a thousand Sangleys must have been killed in these encounters.
Don Juan de Arceo, thinking that most of the enemy would go back toward Calamba, went after them. At this time Don Fernando Galindo, who was then at Los Baños, assembled five hundred Indians, to fall on the Sangleys. But the sargento-mayor arrived, and learned that fifteen hundred Sangleys had fortified themselves on a lofty hill[5] that is above Calamba; and they agreed that their men should ascend this hill, the Indians on one side, and the Spaniards on the other. This was accordingly done; the Spaniards reached the top first, and overcame the enemy, killing more than thirteen hundred Sangleys. The rest broke away on the side where the Indians were, and have been driven into the mountains; a company of Spaniards and some Indians have gone in pursuit of them. With this encounter, which was on Saturday, the whole affair has come to an end; and therefore on yesterday, which was Sunday, the Te Deum laudamus was sung in Manila.
Among those who distinguished themselves in this last combat were Juan de Montoya, Lezcano, and Ugalde. This last one came here this year; although he had received three lance-thrusts, he pursued the enemy, fighting valiantly. Don Fernando Galindo, moreover, did valuable service in urging forward the men to the attack.
Among those whom we mentioned above as being killed with Aduna in the marshes of Viñan was Alférez Don Antonio Tornamira, who fell senseless when they attacked him with clubs, and they left him for dead. Later, he came to himself, and while he was looking for some place where he could hid himself he came upon a Sangley, who also had hidden in a thicket; he did not wish to go with the insurgents. They agreed together to seek for some way of escape, and the Sangley advised the Spaniard to dress himself in Chinese garb; he did so, and finally the two reached Manila. The governor, Don Sebastian, gave Alférez Tornamira a suit of his own garments; and to the Sangley he granted an exemption [from tributes?] for several years. The latter declared that he wished to be baptized.