| [Map of thePhilippine Islands]; photographic facsimile from original map inMurillo Velarde’s Historia de la provincia dePhilipinas (Manila, 1749); from copy in possession of Edward E.Ayer, Chicago | Frontispiece | |||||||
| [Map of Leyte],from original MS. of P. Pagteel, in collection of Charts byAlexander Dalrymple ([London], 1788), ii, p. 76; photographic facsimilefrom copy in Library of Congress | 39 | |||||||
| [Plan of the newAlcaicería of San Fernando, 1756]; photographic facsimilefrom original manuscript in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla | 181 | |||||||
| [View of Spanishcity and fort of Gammalamma, Terrenate]; photographic facsimile fromRecueil des voiages Comp. Indes orientales (Amsterdam,1725); iii, p. 348; from copy in library of Wisconsin HistoricalSociety | 213 | |||||||
| [Plan of the citadelof Santiago at Manila]; photographic facsimile from originalmanuscript in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla | 219 | |||||||
| [Map of Mindanao,1757]; by Nicolás Norton Nicols; photographic facsimile fromoriginal manuscript in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla | 281 | |||||||
PREFACE
The contents of the present volume (dated 1751–65) include accounts of the missionary efforts of the Augustinian and Dominican orders, and events in Filipinas from 1739 to the beginning of the English invasion; and the survey of the condition and needs of the islands which is presented in the memorial by the royal fiscal Viana. A valuable feature in the missionary reports is the ethnological information furnished therein regarding the savage tribes of Central Luzón; and the self-sacrifice and devotion of the missionaries themselves appear in striking contrast with the unscrupulous greed displayed, as one of the short documents shows, in the management of the friar estates near Manila. The times are troublous for the colony: several insurrections occur among the natives, the Acapulco galleon of 1743 is captured by the English, the Moro pirates ravage the archipelago with enormous destruction of life and property, and the Spaniards are defeated by them. Governor Arandia attempts to establish reforms, and thus incurs much odium; he is engaged in numerous controversies, and finally dies. Viana’s memorial presents a vivid picture of the distressed condition of the Philippine colony after the English invasion, its urgent need of relief, and the ways in which this may be accomplished.
A letter by Fernando VI to the Manila Audiencia (November 7, 1751) expresses his approval of the proceedings of Auditor Enriquez in pacifying the insurgent Indians of certain villages near Manila and in Bulacan—a revolt caused by the usurpation of Indian lands by the managers of the friar estates, and the fraudulent proceedings of government officials who aided such usurpation. Enriquez had pacified the natives, deprived the friars of such lands as they held illegally, and distributed these among those natives who were aggrieved; he also investigated the titles by which the orders held their estates, and regulated the proper boundaries of their lands. The king also commands the Manila government to exercise vigilant care for the welfare of the Indians, and to notify them that in their difficulties they must have recourse to the royal fiscal for redress or aid.
In a rare pamphlet published at Manila in 1755, apparently written by one of the Jesuit missionaries in Leyte, are enumerated various instances when the raids of Moro pirates against the Visayan villages in 1754 are repulsed by the natives, under the direction of their spiritual guides; and one of these, the defense of Palompong, is related at length. An official report (in MS.) made by the Augustinian provincial (1760) shows the parishes and missions then in charge of his order in the Philippines, with the population (classified as to sex, age, etc.) of each one.
In the eighteenth century several important missions were conducted by the Augustinians and Dominicans among the savage and untamed head-hunting tribes of Central Luzón. Those of the former order are recorded by Fray Antonio Mozo in his Noticia histórico natural (Madrid, 1763); he presents much valuable information regarding those people, whose first contact with European civilization was mainly found in their intercourse with those missionaries. This begins, for the Italons (now called Ibilao) and Abacas in 1702, when the Augustinians attempt to christianize them—with fair success, considering the wildness and ferocity of those people. They also carry the gospel among the Isinay, a work which the Dominicans had been compelled to abandon as hopeless; and within a quarter of a century the entire tribe have been baptized and civilized by Fray Alejandro Cacho. In 1740 these Isinay missions are ceded to the Dominican order. Among all these wild peoples, the missionaries have introduced not only the gospel, but instruction in farming and irrigation, and supplies of cattle and plows; and, wherever possible, they have formed “reductions” or settlements of their converts, usually in localities best adapted to the cultivation of the soil.
The Augustinians carry on their missions among the Ilocans, the Tinguians, the Igorots, the Zambals, and the Negritos—this last having stations throughout the islands; also in Cebú and Panay, and in China. Mozo narrates the progress of these missions, but devotes much of his space to accounts of the wild tribes and their peculiar customs and beliefs; this is especially fortunate for our purpose in regard to the Negritos, about whom less has been known than about the other Philippine peoples, Mozo’s residence of three years among them rendering his observations extremely valuable. He also gave particular attention to the practices and medicines used by the natives in sickness, and to the plants which are useful therein. Among these missions the most arduous, according to our writer, was that to the “apostates” and infidels who had taken refuge in a certain mountainous and densely-wooded district; these renegades and heathen dwelt together, each making the other worse. Among these people were preserved many of the ancient pagan customs which the missionaries had in most places been able to extirpate; and these are described by Mozo. Even in this hard field, “multitudes of infidels were baptized and hundreds of apostates reclaimed.” The Augustinians also conduct missions in the interior of Cebú and Panay, where not only are the mountains rugged and the forests dense, but there are wizards among the natives who “by conversing with the demon do things which cause terror;” some account of their practices is given, as also of the converts gained by missionaries among those people. He then describes some of the medicines that are used by the natives. Among these are the gall and fat of the python; a stone which, when applied to a woman’s thigh, would facilitate childbirth; and a plant which intoxicates and infuriates those who go into battle. Another plant temporarily paralyzes the muscular system. Mozo concludes with an account of the Augustinian missions in China, which does not concern our work.
Some account of the Dominican missions in Central Luzón is given by Bernardo Ustáriz (Manila, 1745) and Manuel del Río (Mexico? ca. 1740). In Paniqui the missionaries have formed within six years seven native churches, with nearly a thousand converts; they are erecting substantial wooden buildings for religious purposes, and have opened new roads and repaired old ones in order to facilitate intercourse between the provinces. A neighboring tribe of head-hunters have harassed the Christian districts, but a government expedition is sent against them and checks their insolence; this success greatly increases that of the missions, to which hundreds of natives flock for instruction and baptism. Río gives a more detailed account of the Paniqui mission, and of its early beginnings. Some of the first missionaries were poisoned by heathen savages. The most interesting feature of the Dominicans’ labor in this region is their opening a high-road from Asingan, Pangasinan, to Buhay in Ituy.