9. This arm of land is almost a hundred leguas long and fifty or sixty wide; on its eastern coast the province of Baler is conquered and pacified. The region midland of all these five provinces is called Ytui, and is peopled by heathen Indians, not yet subdued. On the south lies Pampanga; northward, Cagayan; to the east, Baler; to the west, Ylocos and Pangasinan. All these provinces have their alcaldes-mayor. The ports on the eastern coast are mentioned below in section 91.
10. In the eastern arm of this island of Luzon there are two provinces; both abound in rice and other products, and are very populous; and each one has its own distinct language. The first is Tagalos, which begins at the city of Manila, and belongs wholly to that archbishopric. It contains the environs of the city; and the lake of Bay (a freshwater lake, of many leguas in circumference), and extends along the coasts of this arm, both northern and southern, more than fifty leguas in a direct line, southeast and northeast—that is, from Manila to Silangan, which is an island very near to that of Luzon. There ends the archbishopric [of Manila]; also the Tagal province (which is divided into six or eight districts of alcalde-mayor and corregidor) and the Tagal language.
11. The second and last province of this eastern arm is Camarines, which has a different language, and belongs to another bishopric. It begins at the village of Paracali, which is on the northern coast and has some rich gold mines. It is distant from Manila sixty leguas, and extends almost forty eastward, as far as the extremity of this island. Here is the city of Nueva Caceres, where there is a bishopric and a cathedral, and an alcalde-mayor; the Spanish population is very small, but there are many Indians, as also in the entire province. Inland from these two provinces there are some Çimarron Indians, who are not yet conquered. This arm [of land] is almost a hundred leguas long, and ten to twenty wide; its northern ports are mentioned below in section 91.
12. At the center where these two arms of land meet, in the middle and on the shores of a beautiful bay—closed in from the sea; thirty leguas in circumference, and eight wide; and everywhere clear, soundable, and safe—at the mouth and on the banks of the great river of Bay [i.e., Pasig River] (which, having flowed four leguas from its own lake, empties into this sea) is built the distinguished city of Manila, the capital and court of Filipinas. It is, for its size, the richest in the world; a special account of it will soon be given. Entrance into this bay is furnished by a passage on its western side, four leguas in width. In the middle of this passage, eight leguas from Manila and opposite this city, is an islet called Maribelez; it is inhabited, and is two leguas in circuit in 14½° latitude. It serves as a watch-tower to look for foreign ships, which can be seen fifteen leguas at sea.
13. The “Modern Geographer,” which was printed at Amsterdam in four large volumes in Latin and Castilian, containing the geographical maps of the world, does not present a map of these islands, although it gives a special one of the Molucas or Ternate Islands which are adjacent to the Filipinas. For lack of facilities, I do not insert here a map of these islands, which I have drawn by hand, with the greatest exactness, from my personal knowledge. In place thereof, I will write a description so clear that any geographer can reduce it to a map; and for greater clearness the above-mentioned island of Maribelez will be the center of this description—which is divided into four parts or voyages: to the east, southeast, south, and north, respectively.
14–28. [These paragraphs contain data for the map that Letona would have made—the location, latitude, size, and names of islands, with distances and direction by compass. We note a few points of interest which contain new information. In Mindoro is “El Baradero, a celebrated bay and a very safe harbor.” With the island of Burias “ends the archbishopric of Manila; the next lands [i.e., Banton] belong to the bishopric of Zebu.” In Catanduanes reside a beneficed curate and a corregidor. “The interior of Mindanao is still unsubdued; its natives are heathen in the eastern part, and Mahometan pirates in the west. They have been reduced to his Majesty’s obedience and to the Church, and among them are four garrisons of Spaniards—one in the east, at Tandag; two in the north, at Bacilan and Malanao; and another in the west, at Samboanga. In this island some cinnamon is collected.” “Sanguil, or Calonga, is a small island under a petty king—who is a Catholic Christian—named Don Juan Buntuan. At his request, I sent thither in the year 1651 with my credentials and instructions father Fray Joseph de Truxillo, a deserving son of our father St. Francis in this convent of La Puebla; ... who, with his excellent example, preaching, and instruction—aided by his companion father Fray Mateo Rodriguez, a man of his own spirit—established and renewed the faith, built a church, and converted and baptized many infidels, both children and adults.” “Macazar is an island yet to be conquered; its people are Mahometans and heathen, and are very numerous. It is 180 leguas in circuit; in its eastern part it has a powerful Mahometan king, who has at his capital factories from Europa and Assia; and he has the utmost devotion and reverence for the king our sovereign.” The four islands of Bolinao form the boundary of the archbishopric of Manila; from these extends the bishopric of Cagayan. The following islands are depopulated (some of them being mentioned in earlier accounts as having inhabitants): Ticao, San Bernardino, Maesse de Campo, Cimara, Panaon, and Capones (fifteen leguas from Maribeles); islets near Luban, Panay, Bantayan, Mindoro, and Cuyo; and islets between Leyte and Cebú.]
Climate, population, and products
29. The climate of these islands is, for sensible people, for the most part reasonably healthful and temperate. On the coasts it is hot; in the mountains it is cool, pleasant, and refreshing. There is no certain knowledge of the time or source of their settlement. The nearest mainland is Great China, the eastern end of Assia (one of the first which were inhabited after the general deluge). On the west of China is the gulf and kingdom of Bengal, from which (through the strait of Sincapura) it seems very probable that the first settlers of these islands came,[2] to judge from the similarity in their color, customs, and language. They are of average size, light-colored, and have well-shaped features and much intelligence. They live in high wooden houses, and support themselves by tilling the soil, fishing, and other industries. At the time of this writing, there are more than 600,000 Christians here, vassals of the king our sovereign; and the Catholic piety of his Majesty maintains them in the holy faith, although they are 5,000 leguas from his court, at the cost of immense expenditures from his royal treasury. It appears from the books of the royal accountancies that his Majesty has, in only twenty years, expended more than 300,000 ducados in sending religious to Filipinas—from which it will be seen that incalculable treasure has been spent for this purpose during only the ninety-eight years since the islands were discovered.
30. Their products are: Rice in great abundance, which is the wheat of that country and the usual food of its people, serving as their bread. Everywhere, whether in mountains or plains, there is abundant growth of cocoanut palms. These nuts are as large as average-sized melons, and almost of the same shape; the shell is hard, and contains a sweet liquid which makes a palatable beverage, and a meat which is a delicious food. This is the most useful plant in the world; for not only are food and drink, and wine and oil, obtained from it, but innumerable other things—comprising all that is necessary to human life, for the dwellings, food, and clothing of man. There are plantations of these trees, as in España there are vineyards—although the former are at less cost and labor. In these islands there is abundance of salt, fowls, and cattle, besides swine, deer, and buffaloes; there are also several kinds of beans, and other vegetables. With these foods not only do the people support themselves, but the fleets and garrisons, and the ships that make long sea-voyages are furnished with provisions. On all the coasts, and in all the rivers and lakes, excellent fish are caught in abundance; and in the mountains the people gather much honey and wax. In the gardens, they raise a great deal of delicious fruit, and much garden-stuff. Oranges and bananas not only grow in abundance, but are of the best quality in the world. In some of the islands nutmeg, pepper, cloves, and cinnamon are found. The country is everywhere fertile, and green and pleasant all the year round; and in some places wheat is sown and harvested.
31. In these islands grows much cotton, from which the people make Ylocan blankets, lampotes, white cloth, medriñaques, material for hose, and other useful fabrics. In many (indeed in most) islands are found amber and civet, and gold mines—these especially in the mountain ranges of Pangasinam and Paracali, and in Pampanga; consequently; there is hardly an Indian who does not possess chains and other articles of gold. Besides these products (which are peculiar to the country), others are brought to Manila from Great China, Xapon, and numberless other kingdoms and islands of this archipelago—wheat, iron, copper, some quicksilver, tin, and lead; cinnamon (from Zeilan), pepper, cloves, nutmeg, musk, and incense; silks (both raw and woven), and linens; Chinese earthenware, ivory, and ebony; diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones; valuable woods; and many uncommon and delicious fruits. In Manila, gunpowder is manufactured, and excellent artillery and bells are cast; and various articles are exquisitely wrought in filigree of gold and silver. All things necessary to human life [are found there] and even articles of superfluity, ostentation, pomp, and luxury.