The champans departed one after another; and on the day when the last three—those of the ambassador and two others which he carried in his convoy—were to set sail, which was June 10, his Lordship ordered that the chimes should be rung as a token of rejoicing over false news of the ships from Nueva España (which he caused to be published), artfully brought in by an advice-boat. This was done in order that the ambassador and the Sangleys, persuaded that we had received succor of men and money, might with this belief aid in repressing the fierceness of the barbarian, artfully supplying what was lacking in our reputation for strength. But God, who directs the hearts of rulers, made the bells ring for true news, bringing to port on that very day the patache which came from Nueva España, July 13, when people were becoming discouraged by the delay of the second advice-boat.
His Lordship gave orders to collect in the Parián all the remaining Sangleys under penalty of death to any who should leave it; and although in a few days he gave them more space, it did not extend beyond the range of the artillery. With the same severity he compelled them to sleep within the Parián; and as the regiment from Cagayan came unexpectedly—a warlike people, who, as they belong to a province so remote, cannot wait for news of the necessity, but can only forestall it—he lodged these near the Parián in full readiness for any disturbance. The regiments of Caragas, Cebuans, and Boholans arrived; the Caragas were sent to the point of Cavite, and the rest were quartered in La Estacada,[10] the Cagayans proceeding to Santa Cruz. With these forces the river was thoroughly occupied from the bar to the upper reaches, and its passage was closed to the Sangleys. The same plan was observed with the cavalry, the two companies at Cavite being quartered in the fields there and the rest in Binondo and Meyhaligue. The Sangleys were thus more thoroughly imprisoned than if they were in the jail.
From the first day [of the commotion] his Lordship directed all his efforts to supplying the city with provisions, and succeeded in bringing in 120,000 cabans of rice with meat, fish, and vegetables. Now with greater energy he attended to its fortification, personally overcoming the difficulties: in [procuring] the lime—which were great, for the rains had begun and the lime was brought so far (from Bulacan and Bacolor)—and in the construction itself, for eleven defenses were begun in different places. His Lordship gave personal attention to those which were most important—eating his meals and despatching business on the beach in a straw hut that was built for him, so light that it was carried on men’s shoulders from one place to another as the importance of the work required; and was watchful on every side, not only on account of the ardor which caused him to give his aid, but also for the sake of his example. He was the first and most steadfast in the work of conveying earth and stones for earth-works and masonry; and his example was followed by the citizens with the men in their service. Besides this fatigue he was overburdened with the minor cares of the work, sending in all directions for the lime, and himself allotting it as if he had no other matters to attend to. In order that the dissensions among the military leaders might not delay the execution of his plans, he suppressed the office of chief master-of-camp and sargento-mayor—which had been created to divide his cares, and when necessary, to supply his place when absent, since he must render aid in all quarters—and took upon himself all those cares, in order that those who were working should find no obstacle that would delay them. Thus he finished in a short time and with less than 6,000 pesos of expense, works which would have consumed half a million [pesos] and caused ten years of hardships to the provinces—availing himself of the opportunity to attain his endeavor, and arranging that the Sangleys should be exchanged in shifts, 300 together in these. The [various native] peoples [were exchanged] by companies in the same manner as were the Spaniards; and the people of the neighboring villages with longer time for resting their relays, so that they might not be hindered from attending to their grain-fields. And in this there was much latitude in the execution of orders, the neglects and omissions which are so usual to the sloth of those peoples being overlooked—although the way in which the people were treated, their willingness, and their consideration of its importance, all facilitated so difficult an enterprise as the repair of the castle, which toward the river was threatening to fall. A fausse-braye[11] was applied to it, which commenced at a cupola and ended at the bar, with a very handsome platform; and five redoubts were erected which ran from that point toward the sea as far as the bulwark at the foundry (which defends the gate on the land side), as the wall was there very weak and its defenses were far apart and not very convenient. From this bulwark to the gate was built a covert-way, and in front of it a ravelin, from which again ran the covert-way until it connected with the bulwark of Dilao, and met the estuary which crosses from Malosa the land as far as the moat. At the gate of Santo Domingo another redoubt was erected, and another at the postern of the Almacenes [i.e., magazines], so that these shook hands with the cupola at the river. At the gate of the Parián a spacious ravelin was made with its covert-way toward the bridge over the river, cutting the land between the inner and outer ditches, and leaving a passage sunken around the ditches for a movable bridge. The wall was strengthened toward the river and Bagumbayan by its fausse-braye. A fine bridge was built on the estuary of Santa Cruz, so that the cavalry and troops could reconnoiter unhindered the other side of the river, as well as Sagar and Antipolo.[12]
At the same time, public prayers were offered. The Augustinian religious began this with the opportunity afforded by the fiesta of the canonization of St. Thomas of Villanova. They were followed by the fathers of the Society of Jesus with the triumphal reception of the bodies of Sts. Martial and Jucundus and the relics of other martyrs, which were deposited in the cathedral, and were carried in a grand procession to the church of the Society; the governor, the Audiencia, the cabildos, and the citizens, with the regiment of soldiers (who fired a salute) took part in this. The governor paid the expenses of an octave festival in the cathedral in honor of the archangel St. Michael on the fourteenth of January; it began with a procession which marched through the Calle de Palacio, past the house of the Misericordia, the convent of San Agustin, and the college of the Society; thence it turned toward the Recollects by way of the convent of San Francisco to that of Santo Domingo; and by the college of Santo Tomas returned to the cathedral. The said prayers were continued until Lent.
In the midst of these pious exercises the ambassador from China found us: this was the same religious as before, Fray Victorio Riccio. To the salute which he fired his Lordship commanded answer to be made with ball, as one who, having been challenged, awaited the envoy on a war footing; and despatched to the shore the sargento-mayor of the garrison to tell him that, on account of the hostilities which he had announced in the name of Cot-sen, we had expected him to come as an enemy and were prepared to receive him with the sternness that is customary in war, and that he must inform the governor of the nature of the despatches that he carried. The ambassador answered that he came in peace; and by the news which he at once related it was learned that, only a few days after his Lordship had placed his forces under the powerful protection of the holy archangel, Cot-sen had died.
That ruler was ready in all the strength given by ships, men, and provisions to deliberate according to the news that he should receive from here upon the measures that would have to be taken, when the first Sangleys [from Manila] arrived. They, driven by fear and urged on by desperation, scorning the cannon-shots that were fired from the castle, seized a royal champan which was ready to sail; and those Sangleys who had left [the Pasig River] in the talisays, for whom there was no room, seized other champans in the channels of Mariveles. These fugitives regarded as already executed that of which their fear persuaded them; and they told the corsair that the governor had commanded that all the Sangleys should be slain, not only the traders but those who were living in this city. At this he was kindled to such anger that he immediately undertook to sally forth for vengeance without heeding the obstacles that he would now meet in the expedition from unfavorable weather. It seemed to the Chinese that with only half of their fleet, even though the other half should perish, they could carry abundant force for the enterprise. Upon this disturbance of his mind came the rebellion of his son whom he had commanded to be slain;[13] and the mandarins of his city, Vi-cheo, [Fuh-chau, or Foo-chow] protected the son, having resolved to defend him. With these anxieties Cot-sen was walking one afternoon through the fort on Hermosa Island which he had gained from the Dutch. His mind began to be disturbed by visions, which he said appeared to him, of thousands of men who placed themselves before him, all headless and clamoring for vengeance on the cruelty and injustice which had been wreaked on them; accordingly, terrified at this vision (or else a lifelike presentation by his imagination) he took refuge in his house and flung himself on his bed, consumed by a fierce and burning fever. This caused him to die on the fifth day, fiercely scratching his face and biting his hands—without any further last will than to charge his intimate friends with the death of his son, or more repentance for his cruelty than to continue it by the orders that he gave for them to kill various persons; thus God interrupted by his death many cruel punishments.
Moreover, some mandarins were pacified who were resentful because the alcaldes of Pangasinan and Cagayan had seized some goods from their agents; and the father ambassador made satisfactory answers to the complaints made on account of the incorrect reports of the fugitives. The Chinese therefore solicited peace, and the continuance of the trade. This was a piece of good-fortune so timely that it enabled us to send this year a ship to Nueva España for the usual aid, the building of this ship having been stopped for lack of iron; for, since the iron which came in three ships from China had been bought on his Majesty’s account, it became necessary to beg iron from the religious orders and the citizens and to tear out the few iron gratings which such emergencies as these had left in the city. This necessarily made evident to that [Chinese] nation how greatly we depend on them for our means of support.
The ambassador, Fray Victorio Riccio, finally came hither on April 8 with news of the peace; it had been concluded so much to our favor that no further conditions were imposed beyond the restitution of the property which had remained here placed in the hands of private citizens, and that which the alcaldes-mayor had withheld in Cagayan and Pangasinan. Thus the country was quieted, and all its people were freed from the affliction which the haughty and cruel kingdom of China had caused us by its threats.
The people who followed this corsair amounted to over a million of men of war alone. The champans (which are their ships), large and small, numbered 15,000 and many of them carried forty pieces of artillery. So arrogant was the corsair with his power, that he aspired to gain the kingdom from the Tartar king (who is also ruler of Great China) and be crowned at Nanquin, assured that, as Fortune showed herself friendly to him, the entire empire would follow him as the man who maintained the authority of it all—not only as he was captain-general for the dead king but because he had been confirmed in this office by the king now living, who is called Ens-lec.[14] He also intended to maintain the superstitions, dress, rites, and customs of his ancestors—especially the garments and [mode of wearing] the hair, to which the Chinese are excessively attached. This purpose had caused them to endure his cruelty, which had been so great that more than three millions of men had died for his satisfaction alone. This fierce captain would have succeeded in that enterprise, if he had not been drawn off from it to gain the neighboring cities, nine in number (the smallest one containing 200,000 souls), thus giving the Tartar king time for better preparation. Nevertheless, he had the courage to invest Nanquin, the court city of Great China, which is defended by three walls two leguas distant from one another, the circuit of the first being thirty leguas.[15] He gained the first wall and brought affairs to such a crisis that the king, fearing his fierce determination, talked of fleeing from his court of Pequin. The mandarins warned him that by such a course he would lose the entire kingdom; for the inhabitants of the city, dispirited by such tokens of weakness, would instantly surrender in order not to experience the corsair’s ferocity. They said that this victory would give him so much reputation that he would easily subdue the entire kingdom; that it was most important to make all the rest of their power effective, withdrawing all the troops from other strongholds to increase the royal forces with a multitude of veterans and well-disciplined soldiers. The king did so and attacked the enemy with 400,000 horsemen; and as Cot-sen on account of having left his islands had no cavalry worth mention, he was compelled to yield to a power so formidable. With the loss of 80,000 men and most of his champans, he left the river on which the court city stands, and returned to his own town, Vi-chen. But this blow left him so little inclined to profit by experience and his strength so little diminished that, when the entire Chinese force pursued him in a fleet of many ships, he went out to meet them at a legua’s distance from his principal island,[16] and fought with them the greatest battle that those seas have ever seen. Cot-sen sent most of their champans to the bottom, and captured many; few escaped, and those were damaged. This filled that country with such fear that their precautions [against him] wrought more destruction than his cruelty could have accomplished; for these obliged the king of China to depopulate the extensive coasts of his entire kingdom, a strip of land six leguas wide embracing cities of 100,000 or 200,000 inhabitants, in order that they might not be the prey of the conqueror.[17] This was a measure tending to the latter’s prosperity; for all those many people, finding themselves without land or settled mode of life, crowded into the corsair’s service to spend their lives and to maintain themselves on the abundant booty offered to them by his power as absolute master of the seas.
The intention of this barbarian [Cot-sen] was to become the master of China, profiting by the hatred of the Chinese to the Tartars, and on the present occasion by the fact of the king’s death. But as Cot-sen needed land whereon to maintain so many people, he was minded to conquer Hermosa and these islands. Accordingly, he landed [on Hermosa] first in April, 1660, with 100,000 men, a hundred cannon for batteries, and a still larger number of field-pieces; the cannons carried balls of forty to fifty libras. At first the Dutch scoffed at their forces, calling them “men of the paypay”—that is, “of the fan,” which all of that nation use, as if they were women. Confident in the impregnable nature of their fortress (into which they gathered the feeble garrison of the island), and in the large and splendid force of men which defended it, more than two thousand in number, although they had nineteen ships, they did not take these out of the river when they could; and the Sangleys attacked them on the sea to great advantage overcoming the Dutch with their champans, and inflicting much injury on them—for these champans are lighter vessels [than those of the Dutch], and their people are very skilful in the management of artillery. The Dutch at once sallied out with 300 men to prevent them from occupying the islet in the Mosamboy entrance,[18] on which the Chinese expected to plant their battery; but the multitude charged upon the Dutch and cut off the heads of all, except one or two who escaped by swimming. This humbled the pride of the Dutch and dispirited their men. As soon as the Chinese landed their men they attacked the eminence, where the Dutch had a fort called Chiacam garrisoned with sixty soldiers; but it surrendered on the third day, and the Chinese used the Dutchmen for handling the artillery, assigning them to various stations. In the harbor they burned three ships and boarded one; and such was the fear that filled the hearts of the timid of falling into the hands of so bloody and savage an enemy, that twelve Dutch fugitives with other people went to him [as those who surrendered] with five brigantines which the [Dutch] fort had employed for many purposes.