9. Such is the lading of the said ships, which return to Europa with chà or tea, and with some porcelain, some articles of furniture in lacquered or varnished wood, rosewood escritoires, and candlesticks and other articles of white copper;[28] and, finally, they carry a great amount of silk, both raw and in fabrics, which is their principal lading. The raw silk is used for the European manufactures, and with the fabrics they transact most of their trading. Each of the aforesaid nations has its agent in Canton, who during the year disposes of such goods as his ships could not sell; he furnishes to the Chinese the designs [for fabrics] which are every year invented, and they weave the stuffs of the same width as those of Europa. Afterward they sell these, as coming from Francia, Inglaterra, and other European countries, without any one being able to detect the fraud except those who have been in these islands—where it is notorious to all that this is true; and he who may doubt it will find this statement confirmed in the “Universal Dictionary” of Sabary.[29] A large portion of the said fabrics or stuffs come to Nueva España in our trading-fleets, and, although they are of the same quality as those which the galleons carry from here to Acapulco—with only the difference that the latter are wider and somewhat more lustrous than the former—there is a very great difference in the prices; for the mere name of “French” or “English” confers value and estimation on the said fabrics throughout the kingdom of Mexico, and the mere name of their being “Chinese” renders those which go by way of Acapulco of little value.
10. This fraud only the traders of Manila thoroughly understand, because they see it every year; the traders of Cadiz would be equally aware of it if they carried on commerce in the empire of China, as the foreigners do. They would also discover in the same way numberless small wares of Canton make which are sold in España as made in Londres and Paris, as is the case with the snuff-boxes of all kinds, whether gold or silver, or of tortoise-shell or other material; with lace-bobbins [palillos] of mother-of-pearl, ornamented with gold, and those of finely lacquered or varnished work, painted; and with various other curious articles of mother-of-pearl, ivory, etc.
11. All of these desirable articles, and many more, could be obtained by our ships, if they came via the Cape of Good Hope to these islands, which are on the route to Canton. At Cadiz they could take on cargoes of woolen stuffs, which here are used for riding caps and coats,[30] liveries, and in China for outer garments, as I have said; Brussels camlets, which both here and in that country are greatly used; wines (and thus the Swedes, who carry it from Cadiz to Canton, and the Dutch and the English—all of whom carry away our money, and make us pay sometimes a peso fuerte for a single bottle of red wine, and for that of Xeres—would be deprived of this [source of] profit); hats, which the foreigners sell to us at high prices; silk hose and thread under-stockings; mirrors; crystal chandeliers; branched candlesticks, and lanterns; vases, cups, and other kinds of glassware; European paper; thread for sewing; britannia linens, fabrics from Cambray, etc. (which are brought at much cost from Batavia); silver and gold galloons and laces, which also the Dutch sell (and would to Heaven that the great extravagance of Manila in this respect might be prohibited!); and numerous other articles, which persons who have a practical acquaintance with commerce can name better than I, and which, if used, would be recognized as highly beneficial.
12. Of course the said lines are of recognized utility and large profits, both for the Spaniards who may ship them by the said route of the Cape, and for those who will buy the goods in these islands, at more moderate prices. Above all, the profit would remain among Spaniards; our Spanish manufactures would have this additional market; we would succeed in stopping the foreigners from draining away all our silver. For it is an intolerable grief to good Spaniards that, when more than two hundred millions of pesos have come to these islands since they were conquered, there are not now found in them eight hundred thousand pesos in ready money. [This is] because our own inactivity and lack of application causes us to buy from foreigners the very articles with which these dominions abound, or which they bring from our own España—as is the case with the iron, the copper, the lead, the saltpetre; with the cinnamon, cloves, and pepper; with the wines; with the woolen stuffs; with the mirrors; with the hats, hose, galloons, and other articles, of which some are manufactured in our España, and others are produced in these islands.
13. The Spanish ships which make their navigation by way of the Cape could supply, as I have said, these islands with what they need, and carry from them to Canton many excellent products which the foreign ships cannot include in their cargoes. Such are birds’-nests, nacre or mother-of-pearl, carey or black tortoise-shell, indigo and dyes from Pampanga, balate, tapa, deer’s sinews, hides, sybucao, ebony, lumber, and other things, which have a great consumption in China; on this account every year cargoes of these commodities are carried thither by the champans which come here to trade, and by the barks which depart from here for Emui and Macao. With these products, and with the commodities from España, the said vessels would ship at Canton the same goods that the foreigners are taking on; the royal duties at Cadiz would be the same; our manufactures would be greatly promoted; the profits would be as great [to the Spaniards] as the losses to the said foreigners; the products of these islands would be cultivated according to the market for them; and, finally, in time many other advantages and benefits would be made evident.
14. The said ships returning from Canton by way of this city, in order to pursue their voyage to Cadiz, could carry some products of the islands—such as very fine petates or mats, hats of the same kind, and cotton; tortoise-shell, palomaria; tamarinds, dragon’s blood; manungal,[31] and jars of the same wood, which is very medicinal; various especial roots; gold; sibucao, which resembles brazil-wood, for dyeing; pepper, which yields very abundantly wherever it is cultivated; sugar, which does not cost here two cuartos a libra; dried candied fruits; and, finally, they would have the benefit of the cinnamon, with which our mountains abound from Samboanga to Caraga in the island of Mindanao; it would be the most valuable line of commerce. These mountains are in the same degree of north latitude as those of Ceylan, where the Dutch obtain all the cinnamon; and it is judged, on account of their location, that the quality of the cinnamon also is the very same. For in Ceylan likewise cinnamon grows that is thick and gummy, like that of Samboangan, and if the latter were cultivated like the former, it would be equally good.[32] The cinnamon of Mindanao will be as good as that of Ceylan if the king prohibits the latter in his dominions, and facilitates the consumption of the former; and if the Spaniards had begun to sell their cinnamon before the Dutch did so, ours would now be of better quality than theirs.
15. As soon as I arrived in these islands and had made myself somewhat acquainted with this subject, the inactivity and indolence of our people caused me much sorrow; for although we possessed this exceedingly rich treasure, there had been no one who devoted himself to its development. This I explained, among other things, to his Majesty in my report of June 5, 1760, showing what these islands could produce, the valuable products with which they abound, and the possibility of maintaining them without the situado which annually comes from Mexico. In the following year came Don Nicolas Norton Nicols,[33] who, it seems, proposed at the court the project for [developing] the cinnamon, and brought a royal order from his Majesty that he should be aided therein. I did so, with the utmost energy and readiness, and this famous and skilful Englishman began to make plantations in Caraga; people assure me that he would have carried this work to completion if God had not taken away his life, through the grief which he experienced at the attack on us by the English, from whom he expected no favor. It was necessary that a foreigner should accomplish what no Spaniard had done in some two hundred years;[34] he died on account of our misfortunes, and now there will be no one who will devote himself to the same enterprise; for these citizens have no thought of any further occupation than their everlasting laziness, nor have they the spirit to risk four reals, or any zeal for the nation.
16. Even without its cultivation, there is a wide market for all the cinnamon which comes from Samboangan. The greater part of it is used in these islands, for chocolate, and brings a very good price; for ragouts and for liquors, it is stronger than that of Ceylan; and it is being shipped, as for several years past, to Nueva España. In Samboangan no cinnamon is procured besides what the natives gather in order to better their wretched condition, but this produces a sufficient quantity. This is enough to prove that if the Spaniards would apply themselves to the cultivation of the cinnamon of the said mountains; to making new plantations, the bark of which, as being more delicate, would yield better cinnamon than that of Ceylan; and to gather what Nature herself produces, without any [human] labor: this commodity alone would be capable of enriching the islands and the Spanish commerce, and of annihilating that of the Dutch. The Dutch company supports existence, notwithstanding its many losses and obligations, on the cinnamon and [other] spices, fixing the prices of these at its pleasure, as being masters of this commerce—which indemnifies them for their losses on other things, and for the incredible costs of fortresses, troops, and [commercial] establishments in the aforesaid island of Ceylan (which would not be incurred in our cinnamon mountains).
17. The iron is another valuable product of these islands; there are mountains of this metal, the ores of which yield seventy-five per cent, only twenty-five per cent being lost in the fire. To judge from the abundance of ores in the said mountains, iron to supply the world can be obtained from them. Before the English came to attack us, the working of these mines was vigorously pushed; it was in charge of Don Juan Solano and Don Francisco Casañas. In less than eight months they established furnaces, coalpits, barracks, forges, and other facilities, and they mined a large quantity of iron; but everything was destroyed, as a result of the loss of Manila, because some malevolent persons went to plunder and destroy all the works. But it is absolutely certain that all the iron can be obtained [here] which the islands need for nails, plows, bolts, cannon-balls, bombs, grenades, cannons, and carajayes, and for other uses, which amount to more than one hundred thousand pesos every year, without the iron costing three pesos a pico. [It is also certain] that if this money remains within the islands—an amount of which hitherto the Dutch, English, and Chinese have drained us—they will become rich, and diminish the commerce of the foreigners.
18. The commerce in the iron that is necessary for these islands will alone produce, in fifteen or twenty years, more money than what they now have; and if the Indians were compelled to clothe themselves with the fabrics of the land, even with the little commerce that we have the islands would abound with silver. The trade with Nueva España in iron would be extremely advantageous to his Majesty; for the mines of Sonora and other provinces further inland cannot be worked, on account of the transportation from Mexico of the great amount of iron and quicksilver that is necessary; and this, and the expenses which are added for the conveyance of silver to Mexico, leave very little profit to the miners.