the squadron, they took possession successively of the churches of
Malate, La Hermita, San Juan de Bagunbayan, and Santiago, and of all
the houses in those suburbs of Manila.

Two piquet guards made a sortie, but not being able to sustain the
heat of the enemy's fire from the church of Santiago, they were
obliged to retire.

If our troops had, in the first instance, opposed the landing of the
enemy, they possibly might have repulsed them, for they effected it
in the day-time, when the sea ran high, and there was a very great
surf, which occasioned the loss of one of the launches, carrying
an eighteen pounder, with the whole of her crew. The other launches
landed their troops, the water breast high, carrying their muskets
and cartouch boxes on their heads; and under these disadvantages two
hundred reached the shore, who immediately drew up in line, covering
the landing of the rest. If under these circumstances they had been
attacked, what might not have been expected from the gallantry of
our troops? But our numbers were so insignificant, that they were
no more than adequate to the defence of the walls. The whole force
in Manila consisted of the King's regiment, which was so reduced by
death and desertion, and by different detachments in the galleons and
garrisons, that they could scarcely muster five hundred and fifty men,
of which the artillery consisted of eighty, most of them Indians,
very little accustomed to the use of great guns.

On the arrival of the English, four companies of militia were formed
from among the merchants, and a few days after five thousand Indians
came to our aid, who not knowing how to handle a musket were of very
little use. The English had one thousand five hundred European troops,
consisting of Draper's regiment, two companies of artillery, three
thousand seamen, eight hundred seapoy fusileers, and one thousand four
hundred seapoy pioneers, making in all a force of six thousand eight
hundred and thirty men. How was it possible to resist such a force,
and think of preventing it from disembarking?

On the following day, the 24th, our batteries of San Diego and
San Andres commenced their fire, but with very little effect, the
enemy being under cover of a church. The same day arrived a galley,
which had been despatched by the commander of the Philipino, Acapulco
ship, which had put into Palapag. As soon as the enemy perceived this
galley, they despatched a light frigate and four shallops in chase,
when perceiving itself pursued, it bore up for Navotas, where it
was run on shore, and the crew quitted it, leaving on board only the
captain and some passengers, who were made prisoners. Not being able
to get off the galley, the English set it on fire, after stripping
it of every thing valuable. Those who escaped informed the Governor
that the Philipino was at Palapag, and that the captain was desirous
of measures being adopted, without loss of time, for securing the
treasure she had on board.

The English likewise, by means of the despatches they had taken in the
galley, got information of the situation of the Philipino, and sent
off that night a ship of the line and a frigate in quest of her; but
instead of her they fell in with the Trinidad, which had just arrived
on that part of the coast in her route to Acapulco, and of which they
made a prize, with her valuable cargo. Contenting themselves with
this, they gave the Philipino an opportunity of putting her treasure
on shore, thus preserving what proved our only resource during this
war, as we shall see afterwards. In the night a sortie was made from
the fort, with a view to dislodge the enemy from the churches, in
which they had strongly established themselves. The command of this
sortie was given to Monsieur Faller, a Frenchman, who had served in
Manila. He sallied out with two four-pounder field pieces, and the
requisite number of artillerymen, fifty fusileers of the regulars,
a few militia, and eight hundred Indians, armed with lances. He
attacked the enemy at his quarters, and the action lasted the whole
night; but observing that the English received fresh succours, he
withdrew his people towards the church of San Juan de Bagunbayan,
from which he kept up a fire against the church of Santiago until
the following morning, and from thence, by means of a reinforcement
which was sent him from the fort, he was enabled to make good his
retreat. This sortie could be considered only as an empty vaunt,
for how could they flatter themselves, with a handful of men, with
dislodging the English from the churches, which may be considered,
in fact, like so many castles, having such immensely thick walls of
square stone? Faller by this attempt incurred the charge of treason,
however unjustly.

The artillery now began to play incessantly on both sides; the
enemy did some injury to the buildings with their bombardment, and
some eighteen-inch shells were picked up in the fort quite entire,
and returned to them in their own camp. At night we used charges of
canister shot, and kept up a brisk fire of musketry, which produced
some effect, for the next day we perceived many of their dead between
the esplanade and their trenches.

On the morning of the 27th, at eight o'clock, some Indians and
Mestizoes, without having any orders to that effect, presented
themselves before the advanced guards of the English camp, fell upon
them, and drove them from their posts, but a reinforcement of three
hundred men arriving, the advantage was lost, and the Indians repulsed,
to whom a signal was made to leave the field open, in order that the
artillery might play upon the enemy. During this action, an English
officer was seen approaching with a white flag, accompanied by a youth
in negro's dress, and beating the chamade on his drum: our artillery
suspended their fire, but the Indians attacking the English officer,
murdered him and the boy who accompanied him.

The youth in the negro dress turned out to be a nephew of the
Archbishop, whom the English had made prisoner in the galley which
they took at Navotas, and the officer was bringing him to deliver him
up to his uncle. On the morning of the 28th, a letter was received
from the English general, demanding peremptorily the head of the
officer who fell on this occasion, the body having, the evening
before, been found without the head. He demanded also the author of
this atrocious act, with a threat that if he was not delivered up,
he would send the heads of all the prisoners in his possession. The
Governor replied to this demand by exculpating himself from the act,
pleading the uncivilized customs of the Indians, and throwing the
blame principally on the sepoys, who did not discontinue their fire
on our people even whilst the officer was advancing with the prisoner.

The bombardment now continued with vigour. The enemy had, in the
commencement of the siege, placed three mortars behind the church of
Santiago, to which they added another battery of three more mortars,
which threw the whole city into consternation. On the 29th they fired
against the houses of the Governor and Admiral, but without effect;
the shots which were fired horizontally reaching only to the beach,
and those which they threw by elevation passing over the fort to the
other side.

We on our part mounted two mortars in the bulwark of San Diego, from
whence were thrown shells against the enemy's camp. On the 30th, we
observed from the fort four shallops overset in the surf, with the crew
and troops which they were bringing on shore, and the same accident
happened to a sampan; and in the evening a south-wester freshening up,
a bomb vessel foundered which was advancing against the place. The
wreck of this vessel was discovered near Pasay, of which the Indians
gave information the day following, and the Governor despatched some
cavalry to take possession of it; but having arrived on the spot,
they were repelled by the enemy's fusileers, who made a sortie from
the quarters at Malate in defence of it.

On the 2d of October, at day-break, a battery of eight twenty-four
pounders opened against the angle of the foundery bulwark, and by
ten in the morning the whole of the parapet was a ruin. The enemy
at the same time directed their shells against that battery from
nine mortars of various calibres, assisted by the fire of two ships
in front; and so hot was the fire, that we picked up four thousand
balls of twenty-four pounds. But what incommoded the place most was
the fusileers, who could see from the tower and church of Santiago
all that passed in the city, and they could fire as they pleased
against its defenders. Notwithstanding such a heavy fire directed
against a bulwark without a parapet, only seven men were killed,
and about twenty wounded. Our people endeavoured to get possession of
the church of Santiago and the artillery, but could not succeed. The
ships discontinued their fire about sun-set, but the fire from
the camp continued all night, and dismounted the artillery of our
bastion, so that it became necessary to abandon it: the same night,
or rather in the morning of the 3d, it was resolved that a sortie
should be made from the fort. About five thousand Indians had arrived
from the provinces, of which two thousand Pampangos were selected for
this undertaking; they were divided into three columns, to advance by
different routes; the first, under command of Don Francisco Rodriguez,
was to attack the church of Santiago; the second, commanded by
Don Santiago Orendain, was ordered to throw itself upon Malate and
Hermita; and the third was to attack the troops on the beach, and
was commanded by Eslava y Bastos; the whole to be supported by two
piquets of fusileers. The Indians were no sooner on the outside of the
fort than they began a loud outcry, which prepared the enemy for their
reception; and when the column commanded by Rodriguez arrived near the
English camp, the Indians hesitated to advance; but being urged on by
the famous Manalastas, their chief, they proceeded, and finding the
church of Santiago abandoned, they ascended the tower, and began to
ring the bells; but the peals were of very short duration, for the
English fell upon them, and scarcely allowed them time to retreat.

The other column, which was ordered to advance on Hermita, marched
with the utmost silence until Orendain gave them orders to attack,
when they began with their accustomed howlings and beating of their
drums, and thus threw the English camp into complete disorder. The
English general put his troops under arms, and commenced a fire on
the Pampangas, who were speedily put to flight, and their confusion
was so great that every shot told. Two hundred were left dead on the
field, and Orendain clapping spurs to his horse, was very soon out
of all personal danger. From this time forward he was considered as
a traitor, and after Manila was delivered up to the English, many
were the more inclined to believe this, as he was much seen with
the English, although nothing was actually proved against him. The
third column was more fortunate, as, without having done or received
any damage they retired with more honour than the rest. This action,
however, so intimidated the Indians, that they almost all retreated to
their towns. The fire from the battery did not cease during all this
time, and demolished the whole face and platform of the works of the
foundery, whose ruins filled up the fosse; but what caused the greatest
uneasiness was a battery which the enemy had constructed, and which,
at twelve o'clock at noon, was opened against the works of San Andres
and San Eugenio, and so hot was the fire, that in two hours the guns
were dismounted from their carriages, the parapets thrown down, and
several fusileers and workmen killed, and though new parapets were
twice replaced with timber and bags of sand, they were immediately
demolished. The Governor held a council of war that same evening, at
which were present the staff officers, the Royal Audience, the deputies
of the city, and the prelates. The military men gave their opinion for
a capitulation, the rest were for obstinately continuing the defence,
availing themselves of the usual methods of repairing the works. Orders
were accordingly given to this effect, but they could not be put in
execution, as the few Indians who remained would not undertake such
dangerous work, and the Spaniards could not support the fatigue.

On the morning of the 4th the enemy began to throw carcases into the
fort; they set fire to some buildings, and the soldiers and inhabitants
of Manila were in the greatest consternation. In this state of things,
Monsieur Faller went to the Governor, and endeavoured to induce him
to capitulate, but as he had already incurred the charge of being
a traitor in the first sortie which he made against the English,
and the suspicion had been increased from the circumstance of his
going to the enemy's camp with a present from the Governor to the
English Commander in Chief, the Oidors would not permit him to have
a voice in the matter, suspecting his fidelity. On this account, when
the English left this for the peninsula, he was obliged to accompany
them, from the apprehension that at Manila they would institute some
suit against him. At one o'clock in the afternoon of this day, the
English troops presented themselves before the lines, showing a very
extensive front. The grenadiers were somewhat advanced, and in position
to make the assault. The town on this became in complete confusion,
and many inhabitants, with the clergy, seeing that no capitulation was
in agitation, determined to quit the city, which they could easily do,
as the guard of the Parian gate was composed of the town's people of
Manila. The English maintained their threatening position for some
time, and retiring without making any further attempt, the inhabitants
resumed their tranquillity, and thought no more of capitulation. On
the night of the 4th the fire of the enemy was terrible from the
artillery, the mortars and small arms by land, and principally from
the roof of the church of St. Jago, until two o'clock in the morning,
when it ceased, and was not resumed. From the commencement of the siege
they had thrown more than twenty thousand balls, five thousand shells,
and twenty-five carcases, which ruined a great many buildings in the
city, and set it on fire in five different places. We cannot account
for this otherwise than that the English, to give more splendor and
value to their conquest, resolved on such an enormous expenditure of
powder and ball, for much less would have sufficed to take a place
which was only in a state to defend itself against Asiatic nations,
and not against Europeans.

CHAPTER XIV.

    Of the Capture of Manila by the English, and its Capitulation.

The suspension of the enemy's fire appeared to the Spaniards a
favourable omen, instead of its being considered as a prelude to an
important operation, and no one entertained an idea of capitulation
except Monsieur Faller, who had waited on the Governor at an early
hour, and endeavoured to persuade him to that measure. He there found
the Oidor Señor Galban, who opposed it strenuously, and while they were
in the midst of a warm dispute on the subject, intelligence arrived
that the enemy had entered the city. In fact the English general had
despatched in the night forty Frenchmen, of those he had made prisoners
in Pondicherry, with orders to fill up the ditch with the ruins of the
works, to examine the breach effectually, clear the way as much as
possible, and give due notice of their progress. They performed all
this to his entire satisfaction, for there was no one to interrupt
them, and about six in the morning they made the signal that all was
ready; upon which four hundred men were despatched under the command of
Major Fell, who not being able to mount the breach in line on account
of its steep ascent, they effected it with shouldered arms, and in such
order as they could, apprehending nothing but the springing of mines;
for such silence and tranquillity, in a place assaulted in breach, must
have appeared incredible, except as the result of stratagem. Meeting
with no opposition, Major Fell divided his troops, ordering one half
by the curtain of the sea, and the other towards the royal gate, where
the guard was very quietly enjoying their ease until the centinel gave
the alarm, which was immediately followed by a volley. Thus surprised,
they all took to their heels, and the English redoubling their pace,
they overtook the stragglers, and not one of them escaped. A detachment
filed off from the wall, and opened the royal gate for those British
troops to enter, which approached in that direction. General Draper
entered with his column, with two field-pieces in front, which, with
the incessant fire of the musketry, completely cleared the Calle Real
as they advanced. The same mode of attack was observed by the two
columns, which enfiladed by the city walls, with this precaution,
that in turning the corners of the streets, or public edifices, a
temporary halt was made to observe if there were any of our troops
at hand. The city continued in such a state of consternation, that
the major part of the people thought of nothing but escaping, and as
the gates were shut, they climbed over the wall by the side of the
river, at a place which offered every facility, and by embarking in
boats or swimming, they escaped to the other side. One of the English
columns marching along the wall, when it arrived at this spot, saw
a great many people passing over the river, or waiting to embark,
and discharging a volley at them, made very great slaughter. General
Draper advanced through the Calle Real as far as the palace with
considerable risk, for in Fort Santiago there was a field-piece which
commanded the whole street, and being loaded with canister shot,
might have swept down immense numbers; but the Archbishop, who had
retired to this fort with the Oidors, would not allow them to fire
it, apprehending that the English would afterwards revenge themselves
on the inhabitants of Manila. Colonel Monson, despatched by Draper,
presented himself at the fort, intimating, on the part of his general,
that the surrender of the place was expected. The Archbishop presented
him a paper, containing the terms of capitulation which he proposed,
and requested him to be the bearer of them to his commanding officer
for his approbation. The Colonel declined so doing, having no orders
to that effect, and threatened that hostilities should proceed if he
did not immediately surrender. The Archbishop seeing no other remedy,
and taking the word of honour of the Colonel for his personal safety,
resolved to leave the fort, and accompanied by the Colonel of the
Spanish troops to present himself to the English general, who was by
this time in the palace. On his arrival there he was about to kneel,
but the General, Draper, would not permit him. He then delivered
himself up as a prisoner, and presented the paper, which contained
the terms of capitulation, and which chiefly consisted in the free
exercise of our religion, the security of private property, a free
trade to all the inhabitants of the islands, and the continuation of
the powers of the Royal Audience, to keep order among the ill disposed.

The English General retired to consult on these points, and very
shortly returned an answer accordingly to all of them, with certain
restrictions and additions, which were suggested on the part of his
Britannic Majesty, and the capitulation thus arranged was signed by the
General Draper and his Excellency the Archbishop. The Colonel took it
to the fort, in order to have it counter-signed by the Oidors, which
being done, they immediately delivered up the fort to the English, and
retired to the palace to pay their respects to the conqueror. When the
enemy's ships perceived the British flag displayed on the fort, they
made a most tremendous and confused noise, by repeated cheering, and in
the midst of it a nephew of Admiral Cornish, in his attempt to reach
Manila, was overset on the bar. This expedition cost the English more
than a thousand men, if the diary of the Archbishop may be credited,
which says, "They have not been able to ascertain exactly the number of
killed on the part of the enemy; it is only known by the circumstance,
that in reviewing the troops two days after the taking of the place,
the enemy missed more than a thousand men, of which number sixteen
were officers. Among these was the first major of the regiment of
Draper, who died of a wound by an arrow, which he received on the
day of the assault, and the commandant of the regiment of Chamal,
who was killed by a musket shot while reconnoitring with a glass
from the tower of Santiago. The vice-admiral was drowned coming on
shore in a boat." On our part, a major, two captains, two subalterns,
and fifty soldiers of the regulars, with thirty militia, fell.

Before they delivered up the city to plunder, the English general
ordered all the Indians to be sent away. These consisted of such as
had been collected from the country for the defence of the place, and
of servants or others, who, in the general confusion, found themselves
under no control, and were committing great excesses throughout the
different divisions of the city.

At the request of the Archbishop, guards were placed at the convent
of Santa Clara, and the other nunneries, to prevent the soldiers from
committing any outrages on them. These dispositions being made, the
city was delivered up to pillage, and the soldiers spreading themselves
over the town, plunder and robbery became general, and was accompanied
by those atrocities which are usual with victorious troops, although,
to say the truth, there was no reason to complain of the English
soldiers, as they were sufficiently moderate, in comparison to what
generally takes place on such occasions. The Indians were much worse
than they, for they discovered where the riches of their masters lay,
in order that they might participate in the plunder. The Indians, who
had been sent out of the town, with those who lived in the suburbs,
and the prisoners whom the English had the imprudence to liberate from
the prisons, spread themselves through the quarters of Santa Cruz and
Binondoc, and exercising all the rights of conquerors, plundered them,
murdered all that resisted, ravished the women, and committed every
species of atrocity; but the greatest cruelties were exercised upon
the highways on an infinite number of people, who, flying without
knowing wherefore, fell into the hands of these banditti, and were
with impunity murdered for the sake of what they possessed.

The time allowed to plunder was only three hours, but the following
day it continued as at first, which the Archbishop representing to the
English, and intreating them to have some compassion on the miserable
city, the General gave orders that those found pillaging should be
punished with death, and actually some Chinese were hanged. General
Draper himself killed one, whom he found in the act of robbery, and
he ordered that every thing that had been taken from the churches
should be restored; but some priests' vestments only were found, in
which the seapoys having dressed themselves, had paraded through the
town. On the 6th of October, the English presented to the Archbishop
and magistrates the capitulation, duly arranged, and among other
things they required that Cavite should be delivered up to them. The
Spaniards agreed to this, but the commanding officer of the castle
not being of that opinion, was determined to hold it. The Archbishop
sent the major of that garrison, who had been made prisoner at Manila,
with orders to surrender the fort, as the English had shut the gates
of Manila, and put their troops under arms, threatening to murder all
the Spaniards if Cavite was not given up, and the other articles of
the capitulation fulfilled, which the Archbishop had acceded to. The
major went accordingly to Cavite, openly declaring that it was to
be delivered up to the English: he presented his despatches to the
commanding officer, who called a council of war, but on being informed
that the troops had quitted their posts, and that the Indians were
plundering the arsenal, he embarked in a vessel, and left the major
to make the surrender.

The British also demanded in their terms of capitulation a contribution
of four millions of dollars: this proposition made to a city which had
been just delivered up to a plunder of upwards of twenty-four hours
was tyrannical; but as our people perceived they were at the mercy
of the conquerors, they at last consented to make up two millions in
specie, and draw bills on the royal treasury at Madrid for the other
two millions.

They immediately began to make contributions on the inhabitants; and
the result was, that with all the silver which the pious establishments
could furnish, together with the ornaments of the churches, and the
Archbishop's wrought plate, including his rings and breast cross,
they could only make up the sum of five hundred and forty-six thousand
dollars. The English officer intimated that he would be satisfied with
one million down, and that the rest should be drawn from the cargo
of the Philipino, in case it should prove that the English had not
got possession of her previous to the day on which the capitulation
was signed; even one million, however, could not be raised. The day
before the capture of Manila, a royal messenger had been despatched
with one hundred and eleven thousand dollars, with orders to secure
the money in some place of safety near the Lake Bay. The Archbishop
being hard pressed to make up the million, sent orders to the
Marquisses of Villamediana and Monte Castro to bring that money to
Manila. But on this being intimated to the Franciscan friars, who,
in fact, governed that part of the country, they armed the Indians,
and compelled the officer who had it in charge to convey the money to
the province of Pampanga, furnishing him with Indians to carry it,
who took it over the mountains, and succeeded in securing it from
the English, lodging it in safety with the missionaries of Ytuy,
bordering on Pampanga, Cagayan, and Pangasinan. In the end, every
thing of value which could be discovered, either public or private
property, was delivered up to the English, but notwithstanding there
was much discontent and misunderstanding on this subject.

The principal feature in the capitulation was the surrender of the
whole of these islands to the English, an article in it which the
Archbishop and Oidors were compelled by circumstances to accede to,
though reluctantly; but this was not so easily accomplished, as Señor
Anda was charged with the defence of them, and he was not disposed
to submit without an appeal to arms. General Draper being informed of
this, thought himself justified in availing himself of stratagem. He
issued a proclamation, in which he commiserated the fate of the
Indians, on account of the tribute which they paid to the Spaniards,
giving the assurance that the King of Great Britain would not exact
it of them, and thus endeavouring to excite them to open rebellion. He
then persuaded the Archbishop that he was the proper Governor, and as
such got him to despatch an escort, to induce the Spanish families,
who had taken refuge in the provinces, to return to Manila, and to
appoint an Englishman as Corregidor of Tondo, who had been some time
married and established in Manila. General Draper treated the religious
orders with much respect, and granted permission to the monks to return
to their convents, in order to draw over to his interest this body,
which, from what the Franciscans had done, he judged must have great
influence in the interior of the country. Above all things, he was
desirous of bringing over to his views the Friar Francisco Remigio
Hernandez, who was at the head of the Augustines in the provinces,
in consequence of the recent death of the provincial. He pressed him
repeatedly by letters to come to Manila, but he could not succeed,
that father adhering firmly to his first answer, in which he told him,
that if he had any thing to communicate to him, he might do it in
writing. As General Draper saw that no progress was made in this way,
he ordered the Archbishop to assemble a congress of the principal
people of the city, and to propose to them the cession of all the
islands to his Britannic Majesty; but Señor Viana, the royal fiscal,
opposed it most strenuously. The day following, however, in consequence
of threats held out by the English, the Spaniards had the weakness to
sign this cession. Monsieur Faller, who had been suspected of treason,
conducted himself more honourably, as he would on no account accept
the government of Zamboanga, where the English commander wished to
send him with a sufficiency of troops to take possession, in case they
were unwilling to receive him; and a similar conduct was observed by
a poor but honourable Spaniard, named Don Louis Sandobal.

Unsuccessful in his plans, the English general resolved to return
to Europe. He left Major Fell as military commander, and Drake as
governor, with Smith and Brock as council. Breton was left in charge of
Cavite. When on the point of embarking, he gave orders for two frigates
to be despatched in search of the treasure on board of the Philipino,
and that the Oidor Villa Costa, and the royal Fiscal, should embark
in them, in order that their influence might be exerted in attaining
the object; but on the intimation being conveyed to them they both
declined it, and were in consequence imprisoned. At the request of the
Archbishop, Draper afterwards gave them their liberty, and named in
their room two merchants and two regidores. The frigates sailed, but
were very long in making the island of Capul, where an English Jesuit
was the residing priest. The currents and foul winds contributed much
to retard the expedition, but seeing them determined to prosecute
their voyage, and insisting that a pilot should be given them for
that purpose, threatening they would raise all the Indians in case
of refusal, a Meztizo, in whom the Spaniards could confide, was sent
for that purpose, but he was enjoined to detain the frigates in the
harbour mouth as long as possible. So well did the Meztizo fulfil the
charge given to him by the Jesuit father, that they had time to save
the treasure in the provinces of Albay and Camarines, the galleys which
conveyed it passing in view of the enemy's frigates, which, however,
soon lost sight of them in a squall. The English commander, suspecting
the plate to be placed out of his reach, and in safety, returned to
Manila, where he was ill received by his commanding officer.

CHAPTER XV.

    Of the Defence of the Islands by the Oidor Don Simon de Anda.

On the day before the capture of Manila, Señor Anda quitted the city,
with the title of visitor and lieutenant governor, in order to maintain
the islands in obedience to the King of Spain. He arrived at Bulacan
with forty orders under the royal seal, which were the only supply
of arms and money with which he was furnished, as the treasure had
been sent to the Lake Bay. As soon as it was known in Bulacan that
the English were in possession of Manila, he summoned a meeting,
at which were present the Father Hernandez, who filled the office of
provincial of St. Augustine, the chief magistrates of the province,
and other Spaniards and Augustine friars, and laying before them the
resolutions of the Royal Audience, and the authority with which he was
furnished by the Governor to defend the islands, he at the same time
adverted to the insufficiency of their force to make resistance to the
English. They highly praised all the measures of the Royal Audience
and the Governor of Manila, and promised to spill the last drop of
their blood rather than forsake him. The monks offered to raise troops
in the towns for the service, and conduct them to the field. He gave
them thanks for their loyalty, and thinking that the title of visitor
appeared of too little importance for the undertaking he was upon,
he declared himself under the necessity of having recourse to certain
old established regulations, which ordain that the Royal Audience may
be preserved in the person of one Oidor, and in case of a vacancy in
the government seat, that the Royal Audience may take the government,
and the oldest Oidor command the military, unless any other arrangement
should be made by his Majesty. And on this occasion the other Oidors
and Governor being prisoners of war, and dead in the eye of the law,
all these offices fell of necessity on him. He accordingly got himself
acknowledged as Governor of the islands, in which capacity, joined
to the office of Royal Audience, he circulated his orders to the
different alcaldes and ecclesiastical superintendants of missions,
no one, in the smallest degree, questioning his authority.

Señor Anda fixed his residence, and the seat of government, at the
town of Bacolor, the capital of the province of Pampanga, where he
sent the Augustine friars, accompanied by some troops, some fugitives
from Manila, and some Indian militia: the friars were directed to
watch over the tranquillity and security of the provinces of Pampanga
and Bulacan. Had the English then despatched a small detachment for
the purpose, they would have got possession of those two provinces;
but General Draper was not disposed to think the acquisition of these
islands an object of such difficult attainment as to require such
prompt measures.

The British council left by General Draper in Manila followed his
plans, and convening a meeting of the principal inhabitants of the
city, Señor Anda was declared by this assembly a seditious person,
and deserving of capital punishment. The same censure extended to
the Marquis of Monte Castro, who having been allowed his parole of
honour, had not returned at the appointed time, and likewise to the
provincial of Saint Augustine, who had joined the party of Señor
Anda: all the Augustine friars too were declared traitors. At this
meeting much discussion took place on the subject of making up the
deficiency of the million in specie which had been stipulated for,
but the Spaniards replied, that with what had been taken in the
Trinidad, which, according to the articles of capitulation, was
not to be deemed a prize, the amount had been made good, and the
religious establishments pleaded that they had been stripped of all
their valuables.

The English council forcibly recommended, that the friars should
impress upon the Indians the necessity of peaceable conduct under the
novelty of their situation, as otherwise their interference with them
would be totally interdicted. But the prior of St. Augustine being
urged to use his influence with the friars of Bulacan and Pampanga,
answered, that they were not under his authority, but under the
provincial, who was his superior. For this guarded reply he was ordered
to be confined in his convent; and although he in person represented
to the council that he ought not to be considered as a prisoner of war,
having come to Manila under a protection granted by them, they refused
to listen to him, but ordered him to be escorted back to his convent
with bayonets fixed, leaving a guard to prevent his quitting it.

The English perceiving that decrees were of very little service, and
that it was necessary to have recourse to force, determined to take
possession of a position on the Pasig, in order to open a passage for
provisions from the Lake Bay; and Thomas Backhouse, whom the Spaniards
called Becus for that purpose, filed off with five hundred men to the
left of the river. He arrived in front of Maybonga, where the famous
Bustos was stationed with his Cagayans, ready to defend the passage
of the river. He fired upon the first English party that advanced,
but as soon as they returned it, he retired to Maraquina with his
people. The enemy passed the river without hesitation, and sent an
officer with a white flag, to summons the Indians to surrender. The
boasting little Governor answered, that the Pasig was not Manila, and
if the Spaniards had given that up to them in a treacherous manner,
he would defend his post to the last; adding, that should the officer
return with the white flag (a trick he might deceive children with),
he would hang him on the first tree. This reply being reported to
Backhouse, he immediately ordered the troops to march, and the two
field-pieces he had with him beginning to play, the Indians became
alarmed to such a degree, that they fled precipitately. Such, indeed,
was their hurry and confusion at the bridge near the convent, that
numbers of them were drowned.

The English got possession of the convent without resistance, and
pursued the Indians as if they had been a flock of goats as far as
the river Bamban, which they swam over, at least all those who had
the good fortune to escape the enemy's bullets. The King of Jolo,
attempting to defend a post occupied by his family, was obliged to
surrender. The English fortified this post, and maintained themselves
in it till the peace.

By this time Señor Anda had collected some troops, which he was enabled
to maintain with the money which had been saved in Pampanga. Bustos,
in the capacity of his lieutenant-general, paraded the province
of Bulacan, making an ostentatious display of the power of Señor
Anda; and the Pampangan Indians, commanded by a Franciscan and an
Augustine friar, advanced to Maysilo, about two leagues distance
from Manila, idly expecting that Bustos would support them under
all circumstances. The English sallied out to dislodge them; and
our Indians formed an ambuscade, in which they hoped to succeed
by counterfeiting death, when it was said that many of the enemy
fell; but a friar asserted, that by means of a glass he had observed
from the Tambobon tower that the Indians only let fly their arrows,
and immediately made the best of their way. Certain it is that the
English burnt Maysilo, and re-entered Manila with their field-pieces,
without any diminution of their numbers.

The Augustine friars still remained prisoners in their convents,
although sometimes permitted to leave them, but restricted within the
walls of the city. A counter order, however, was very unexpectedly
issued, depriving them of that indulgence. It was thought that the
English had recourse to this method, to compel them to deliver up the
money, which, it was said, they had secreted. Persevering, however,
in their firmness, they were accused of a participation in the plans
of the Augustine friars of Pampanga, who favoured the views of Anda,
and twelve of them were embarked for Europe, of whom, however, one
was liberated at the request of the Archbishop.

The remaining friars being embarked, the English entered the convent,
and stripped it of every valuable. They found six thousand dollars
in coin in the garden, together with the wrought silver they had hid
during the treaty for the million. The reliques of the Saints even
were not spared, and were torn down, in order to carry off the cases
which contained them. Before the vessels sailed in which the friars
were embarked, the British commander determined upon an expedition
against Bulacan, in the expectation that this would finally close the
undertaking, and enable him to sail for Bombay and England. The convent
of Bulacan was in some respect fortified with three small guns and six
falconetes, and there were in it some artillerymen, and many Indians
with bows and arrows. It was the object of the English, of course,
to dislodge these troops, for which purpose a squadron sailed on the
18th of January, 1763, under the command of Captain Eslay, of the
grenadiers, who arrived with about six hundred men, ready for action,
many of them Chinese, who followed the English. Their intention was
to enter the bar of Binoangan, but being prevented by contrary winds,
they proceeded to that of Pumarava, close to Malolos. The following
day they arrived there, and coasting for two leagues by the marshes
they arrived at Malolos, where they effected the landing without
any impediment whatever, for the troops which we had there retired
precipitately, the Indians to their houses, and the Spaniards to the
convent of Calumpit. Whilst the English were marching to Bulacan,
Bustos sallied out to reconnoitre them, and seeing they were superior
to him in numbers, he returned to the convent, persuading the alcalde
mayor and the Franciscan friar who commanded there, to burn the convent
and retire; but unable to succeed in his object, he retreated with
his people. The English force arriving in sight of the convent, our
people did much mischief by means of a cannon loaded with case-shot,
which commanded the street, and as the Chinese composed the vanguard,
they alone suffered, and that severely. The English commander ordered
his field-pieces to be pointed at this gun; and so correct was the
aim, that the head of Ybarra, who commanded there, was carried off,
which so appalled the Indians, that they fled in a most tumultuous
manner; the consequence of which was, that the gates being forced,
the enemy entered sword in hand, and an indiscriminate slaughter took
place. The alcalde mayor and the Franciscan friar (who was the head
of the clergy there) fell in this action, and of two Augustines one
escaped, and the other being taken, was, with all the Indians found in
the place, delivered up by the English to the Chinese, who murdered
them in cold blood, in revenge for the death of their countrymen
during the attack. Having got possession of Bulacan, the English
commandant despatched the principal part of his force to Manila,
remaining with three hundred seapoys only. Bustos and Eslava advanced
against him, and though they brought with them eight thousand men,
all Indians, six hundred of whom were cavalry, they were not hardy
enough to attempt to dislodge him; and they contented themselves with
cutting off his communications, and giving him occasional alarms. The
English commandant having sent some small parties against them with
little effect, he sallied out in person, with the major part of his
people, and made our troops run in a most dastardly manner, under the
apprehension that he would pursue them to the province of Pampanga;
but he did no more than cut down the underwood, which served as an
ambush for the Indians, and then returned to the convent.

Bustos, as soon as the English retired, returned to occupy his old
position; but from this he was a second time dislodged as shamefully
as at first. This kind of warfare, however, was very useful; for the
English commander, not daring to advance far, obtained permission from
the British council to retire from the position, which he executed
in an orderly manner, without any interruption from our people,
having first burnt the church and convent of Bulacan.

Admiral Cornish now determined to return to the peninsula, but before
his departure, he ordered the remaining two millions to be raised and
paid in, threatening to give the city, and its suburbs, up to plunder
a second time, if his requisition was not complied with. This gave
the Archbishop excessive uneasiness, and he did not rest until he
persuaded him to take an order on the treasury of Madrid. Señor Anda,
in consequence of the death of the alcalde of Bulacan, appointed Bustos
governor of that province, continuing him as his lieutenant-general,
and ordering him to raise troops, and teach them the manual exercise,
while the inhabitants in the neighbourhood of Manila, with the monks,
contributed arms, lead, and other articles of war, exciting, at the
same time, desertion from the city, and expecting by all these means
to enable Anda to form a respectable body of troops, with which he
might confine the English to Manila, and possibly drive them out of
it. A French serjeant, named Bretaña, favoured much the desertion
of the Frenchmen, which the English had brought with them of those
they captured in Pondicherry; and he himself having also deserted,
Señor Anda made him a captain.

The Spanish regulars, too, who had been made prisoners in Manila,
deserted very generally, and at a public entertainment which the
English gave, many of them escaped through a small breach in the fort,
whilst the attention of the enemy was otherwise engaged.

In order to check this spirit of desertion, Admiral Cornish confined
all the Frenchmen, and the Spanish regulars, to the side of the town
next the sea, using every precaution in his power to prevent Señor
Anda from receiving any succours from the town and its suburbs. In
consequence of these precautions, many were caught in the act of
absconding, and friars and secular clergy formed a large portion of
the number. In that number were Señor Viana, the fiscal, and Señor
Villa Corta. This latter, whilst a prisoner, very incautiously wrote
to Señor Anda, and gave a man fifty dollars to convey the letter. The
guard intercepted the money and letter; and a council of war was held
on him, which sentenced him to be hanged, and his four quarters to
be exhibited in the public places. Having accordingly confessed,
and prepared himself for his fate, the Archbishop obtained his
pardon, on condition that Señor Anda would retire from Pampanga to
another province. The Archbishop and Villa Corta wrote to Señor Anda,
supplicating him to accede to the proposal of the English, in order
that that magistrate might be saved from the ignominious death which
awaited him. He replied to Villa Corta, lamenting his situation,
but refusing to accede to his application. To the Archbishop his
letter was of so shameful a nature, that the English having perused
it, ordered it to be burnt by the common hangman, not permitting the
Archbishop to read it.

This mode of saving Villa Corta's life having failed, he availed
himself of other means, and for three thousand dollars paid down,
the sentence pronounced against him was remitted.

During these transactions in Manila, the commanding officer of Pasig
(Backhouse) had gone to the provinces of the Lake and Batangas, in
order to intercept the money of the Philipino, which, it was said, was
on its way thither. He left his position on the Pasig with eighty mixed
troops, arrived at the bar of Tagui, and removing the sampans (which
our people had grounded on the bar to prevent his passage), he entered
the Great Lake, and proceeded to Tunasan; from whence dislodging the
troops which had fortified themselves in the government-house, he
plundered it of every thing. He did the same in Biñan and Santa Rosa,
where he embarked for Pagsanhan, the capital of the province of the
Lake. As soon as our people perceived him, they set fire to the church
and convent, and took precipitately to flight. Backhouse returned
to Calamba, and entering the province of Batangas, he traversed it
completely, making prisoners of some Augustine friars, who had the
direction of that province; and in the town of Lipa he got possession
of three thousand dollars, which some Spaniards had secreted there. In
this town he took up his quarters, in expectation of the money being
landed from the Philipino; but he shortly after understood that
it had been secretly ordered away by sea to the opposite coast of
Santor, a town of Pampanga, by which precaution the money was saved;
and Backhouse, being woefully disappointed of his booty, returned
to Pasig. Señor Anda, by the possession of the Philipino's money,
was enabled to collect a respectable force; all the Spaniards who had
retired from Manila, and lived in misery, enlisting under his banners,
to procure pay and subsistence. This force being appointed and rendered
effective, he ordered his Lieutenant-General, Bustos, to form a camp
at Malinta, a house belonging to the Augustine friars, a league and
a half from Manila. The officers took up their quarters in the house,
and the soldiers pitched their tents around. This disposition of the
encampment being made, to strengthen it some redoubts and palisadoes
were constructed by the Serjeant Bretaña, who had been promoted to
a company, and was apparently the most intelligent of the whole of
them. From this place our people made excursions to the outskirts
of Manila, and on one occasion they took the horses from the coach
belonging to a dignified clergyman. On another occasion, the English
commander himself had nearly been taken by them. One night Bustos sent
a piquet guard to get possession of the bells of the town of Quiapo,
close to the walls of Manila, in order to be cast into cannon, which
were much wanted; and so alarmed were the English, that they sent
out one hundred fusileers, and fifty horse, with an immense number
of Chinese; but notwithstanding this, after an action of an hour and
a half, the piquet succeeded in bringing off the bells. The English
finding themselves very weak, and rather alarmed at these incursions of
the troops of Malinta, called in all the piquets which were without the
city, and dug ditches, in order to cut off the communication, and have
a less extended line to cover; and in a manifesto which they published,
ordering the Spaniards to retire within the walls of the city, out of
the range of the artillery, which they were obliged to keep playing
against these Malinta troops, to prevent their surrounding them,
they bestowed on these troops the appellations of canaille and robbers.

On the 19th of May, 1763, Señor Anda published in Bacolor
a counter-manifesto, in which he complains that the English put
the guns they took in Bulacan under the gallows, in contempt of the
magistrate from whom they had taken them; that they called the King's
troops robbers and canaille; that they had promised five thousand
dollars for his head, dead or alive; and in consequence of all this,
he declared Drake and his colleagues, Smith and Brock, tyrants, common
enemies, and unworthy of human society, offering for either of them,
alive or dead, ten thousand dollars. The English council replied to all
these charges in a manifesto, in which they complain of the conduct of
the Spaniards; but as a paper war was of little avail in furnishing
them with the provisions they were deprived of by the interruption
occasioned by the Malinta troops, they resolved to dislodge Bustos,
and with the greatest secrecy despatched three hundred and fifty
fusileers, fifty horse, together with a great number of Chinese,
to convey the necessary guns and ammunition. The English made this
sortie on the 27th of June, and arrived at the river, in front of
our post, before day-break. As soon as our people discovered them
they began to form, but before we were prepared the fire with their
field-pieces commenced, the Spaniards answering with five small guns,
followed up by the musketry; but neither daring to pass the river,
they were expending their powder to no purpose until eleven o'clock,
when the English retired in good order to the King's house at Maysilo,
where they remained until it was understood that Bustos had burnt
Malinta house, and removed his camp to Meycavayan. They then retired
into Manila in the evening. On our side we had two killed and seven
wounded, of which five afterwards died; and of the enemy there
were thirteen wounded, of which five or six died afterwards in the
hospital. The Indians of Caloocan intercepted some people conveying
provisions to the English camp; and another party of Indians made
prisoners a party of Chinese, who had strayed for the purpose of
plunder. These were the last actions of this war, for on the 23d
of July an English frigate arrived with the preliminaries of peace,
and a cessation of hostilities of course took place.

CHAPTER XVI.

    Of the internal Commotions raised by the Indians and Chinese
    during the War.

The provinces of Tondo and Cavite, during the war, were in
general in a state of tranquillity, submitting patiently to
the law of the strongest, but still retaining their bias to the
King of Spain. Notwithstanding which, however, many robberies and
irregularities occurred, and even murders were perpetrated; for those
who had been released so imprudently from prison by the English,
joining with others who had been thrown out of employment, or whose
inclinations led that way under the shelter of such a convulsed
period, committed great atrocities, with impunity, on such Spaniards
and Mestees as had quitted Manila, and were scattered about the towns
and country; and these disturbances at last attained such a height,
that regular parties were formed, which infested the highways, and
plundered the estates, even murdering, in some instances, the poor
ignorant peasantry, till eventually this class of people, wearied
out by such attacks, abandoned their farms, leaving their cattle and
effects in the power of these wretches.

In the province of Batangas, one of the principal inhabitants of the
town of San Pablo collecting a body of Chinese and Indians, murdered
the friar, in revenge for some supposed injury. Even the commandant
of the troops in the town of Rosario, having collected some of those
whom the English had liberated from prison, satiated his fury on the
resident minister, (who had complained that he was not allowed the
number of servants which the King ordered) by setting fire to his
house in the first instance, and murdering him in the act of escaping
from the flames.

Another party in this province was commanded by a mulatto, who styled
himself a King. His first attack was on Liyan estate, belonging to
the Jesuits, upon which were some Spaniards and monks, who made terms
with him on his granting them their lives, and delivered up the house
to be plundered. Some of his people went to rob the prior of Tanavan,
who was an Augustine, and had retired to the granary in order to avoid
the English; but finding on him only two rials, they murdered him in
a most cruel and wanton manner.

In the province of Lake Bay the Indians made many attacks on the
Spaniards, who had retired to that country, particularly on the
alcalde mayor, with whom they had before been on very bad terms, and
on the monks, because they had favoured the conveyance of the money
to Manila, which the Franciscan friars remitted to Señor Anda. The
Archbishop issued an order, in which he desired that if the English
went into that quarter they might be well treated, and not to make
any resistance to them, as, by that conduct, less mischief would be
done. The alcalde sent this order over the mountains to Pagsanhan,
but the officer commanding there issued a counter-order to that of
the alcalde, designating him as a traitor, who wanted to deliver up
the province to the English. The alcalde being informed of this,
contrived to put him in confinement, and had him publicly whipped
under the gallows. This enraged the Indians, and collecting in
considerable numbers, they attacked and ill treated the alcalde's
family; they killed his cousin, his son in law, and a German who
lived with him, and they took the alcalde himself to the gallows,
where, after flogging him most cruelly, they stabbed him to death.

The aggressors presented themselves before Señor Anda, suing for
pardon for this offence; and he not deeming this a proper season to
show due severity, let the matter pass unnoticed.

The provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga firmly adhered to their
allegiance, and, indeed, were the only districts on which the Spaniards
could place reliance, although there were not wanting some malicious
spirits, who, taking advantage of the times, by menaces extorted money,
robbed and plundered the estates, and even murdered a poor Dominican,
who resided at Pandi. These, however, were the crimes of individuals,
and not chargeable on the body of the people: it may therefore be said,
that these provinces, which were in the immediate neighbourhood of
Manila, were tranquil, and preserved their allegiance to the Spaniards.

Although the Señor Arandia had sent away all the Pagan Chinese,
others replaced them after his death, and the augmentation of their
numbers which took place in three years was incredible. There were
besides many Chinese Christians in Parian, and scattered over the
provinces, and almost all of them declared for the English. The moment
they took possession of Manila, these Chinese gave them every aid,
and accompanied them in all their expeditions. They had it, indeed,
in contemplation to make a general rising, which would have caused
much bloodshed had it not been discovered in time, for it was their
plan to murder Señor Anda and all his people in Bacolor church,
on Christmas eve, 1762; and by committing every description of
outrage in the churches that same night, they expected to render the
Spaniards incapable of resisting the English, with whom they had a
secret understanding.

The authors of this most atrocious scheme were the Chinese of the town
of Uava, in the province of Pampanga, where many of that nation had
fixed their residence, and fabricated a species of cannon which they
made of large cane, well tied together with tarred rushes, and which
bore two or three discharges. They deceived the officiating clergyman
of the town, telling him they were preparing all those things against
the English, but Señor Anda had his suspicions of them. In this state
of things a poor simple Chinese, who was going to marry an Indian
of a village, called Mexico, advised Señor Anda not to go to mass,
and in the end discovered all the plot. The Indian girl likewise
made a full discovery to the Augustine curate of that town, and he
communicated her story to Anda, who went to Uava with some troops on
the 23d of December.

The Chinese went out to meet him in two detachments, with their
cane guns, by a discharge of which one of his people was killed; the
Spaniards returned the fire, and obliged the Chinese to retire to the
convent. Señor Anda sent a Spaniard to propose an amicable arrangement
with them, but, blind and obstinate in their rebellion, they refused
it. Our people then advanced, seeing they must have recourse to arms,
and made an immense carnage among them; many of them likewise were
taken alive, and hanged next day in Bacolor. Señor Anda gave orders
that those who escaped should be tried for their conduct, in whatever
part they were found; but having found some letters which proved that
they had an understanding with those of Parian on the subject of these
commotions, he ordered that all the Chinese in the islands should be
hanged, which orders were put in execution very generally, but where
the order had been disregarded, he readily overlooked the omission.

In the province of Cagayan the disturbances had commenced as soon
as the capture of Manila was known, and in the town of Yligan, the
Indians, whom we call Timavas, had flogged the commandant of the
place. They presented themselves to the chiefs, who were appointed
receivers of the royal revenue, declaring themselves no longer
tributary to the Spanish government: other towns followed their
example, and the rebellion thus gained ground. The chiefs called in
the aid of the infidel Indians, and some skirmishes took place; but
not being able to succeed in reducing the insurgents to submission,
they applied to the fountain head, imploring the assistance of the
Spaniards. Don Manuel de Arza had just arrived in the province with
the title of Captain-general of the three provinces of Cagayan,
Ylocos, and Pangasinan (the two latter being likewise in a state of
insurrection); and collecting a number of loyal Indians and some
Spaniards, he overpowered the rebels, hanged the ringleaders, and
restored tranquillity in the province. His presence being no longer
necessary in Cagayan, he went to Ylocos, where sedition had taken a
still deeper root. Diego de Silang, an Indian, very quick and artful,
and who being a native of Manila, spoke the Spanish language well,
began to revolutionize this province, by telling his countrymen,
that in order to maintain the Catholic faith, and to preserve the
country in obedience to the King, it was requisite to join together
and arm against the Spaniards, and deliver them up to the English,
against whom they had no means of resistance. These specious arguments
made an impression on the minds of the chiefs, and many plebeians,
particularly those of Bigan, which is the capital of the province,
and residence of the Bishop. The seduced Indians presented themselves
armed, and demanded that the Alcalde should give up the staff of
government, and deposit it in the hands of the Vicar-general. The
majority advised the Alcalde to defend himself against this attack;
but instigated by his fears, or swayed by the opinion of injudicious
friends, he resigned the command to the Vicar-general, and with
no inconsiderable share of hazard of his life, effected his escape
from the province. Emboldened by their success in this instance, the
rebels demanded of the Bishop elect, Señor Ustariz, a Dominican, an
exemption from the tribute, declaring that they acted justifiable in
deposing the Alcalde. The Bishop pledged himself to lay before Señor
Anda a favourable representation of their claims; but Silang being
determined on acquiring the command, and little satisfied with what
he had done, began to collect troops for more extensive operations.

The house of the Vicar-general was too well fortified for the rebels
to attack it, but they presented themselves armed on the hills in the
vicinity. The Vicar-general ordered the loyal Indians to assemble
at Bigan, armed and accoutred, from whence the whole sallied out,
and surprising the rebels, they took some of them; but discontinuing
the action too soon, and separating in their usual unsoldier-like
manner, they thus gave the rebels an opportunity to rally, and a day
or two after they set fire to and burnt down part of the city. The
Indians from the south, who came to the defence of the town, seeing
it in flames, returned, as did those of the north, by which means the
rebels were enabled to take possession of the Vicar-general's house,
and the arms it contained.

Silang, rendered vain by these successes, despatched emissaries towards
the north, who, raising all the native towns, committed many robberies
and atrocities, directing their vengeance in particular against some
of the chiefs and Augustine friars, insisting on its having been
their fault that the tribute had not been abolished; but in the end
their avarice prevailed, and they agreed to accept a consideration in
money by way of ransom for their lives. The authority of Silang being
acknowledged by the towns of the north, his emissaries proceeded to
those of the south, directing each of them to name a chief as their
representative, who was ordered to Bigan, where their powers were to be
ratified. By this means he levied considerable sums of money. In a few
days he found himself master of the whole province, and he appointed
Jesus of Nazareth to be Captain-general of it, he himself assuming the
title of his Alcalde Mayor for the protection of the Catholic religion,
and of the dominions of the King of Spain. He published a manifesto,
which breathed the true spirit of Christianity; always wore his rosary;
and obliged the Indians to hear mass, ordering them to confess, and to
take care that the children went regularly to school. In the midst of
all the sepious actions, he, by means of his emissaries, robbed the
estates of cattle, and obliged the proprietors to ransom their lives
with money: he levied a sum of one hundred dollars from every friar,
but reduced the fine to eighty dollars, on the petition of one of them
who had formerly done him favours. Under the pretext of defending the
province from the English, he had centinels placed in all directions,
with a view to prevent information being conveyed to Señor Anda
of what passed. An Augustine friar, however, contrived to forward
a despatch to that effect; but Señor Anda having scarcely troops
enough to defend himself, merely sent an order to Silang to present
himself at Bacolor in nine days, to give an account of his conduct,
under the penalty of being considered as a traitor, and arrested, for
which purpose he threatened to send a force to Pampanga, if necessary.

This order was published, accompanied by many vague reports that the
Spaniards were coming against Ylocos; in consequence of which, and
the friars refusing to grant absolution to the rebels, many of them
deserted from Silang, particularly those of the northern towns, and on
this account many of the clergy were made prisoners and conducted to
Bigan, although Silang very soon liberated them; for he still affected
to respect the Catholic religion, whereby he deceived the clergy, and
many Indians who put confidence in him. This rebel had sent to Manila,
as a present to the English, two junks, loaded with various effects,
which he had plundered in the provinces. A letter accompanied this
present, in which he acknowledged the King of Great Britain to be
his legitimate Sovereign, and offered to deliver up the province
to them. The English government sent a vessel bearing despatches,
and a present to Silang, and conferred on him the title of Alcalde
Mayor, which he directly made public, to the great regret of the
Indians, who had urged him to deliver them from the English, and now
saw themselves subjected to them under the orders of the despot,
Diego Silang, who exacted from them contributions, and subjected
them to more vexations than they ever suffered before; at the same
time that they no longer dared to express their sentiments. As the
chief magistrate of the English, and in their name, he ordered some
soldiers whom he had raised from the mountaineers of other provinces,
who had taken refuge at Ylocos, to make all the friars prisoners;
and that there might be no resistance on the part of the towns,
he promised them that the English should send them other clergy to
administer the sacrament to them. The monks, who were Augustines,
made no resistance, and with all possible despatch joined their Bishop
in the convent of Bantay (which is merely a short walk from Bigan),
waiting the ultimate determination of the tyrant. The Bishop declared
Silang excommunicated; and he, pretending to be sensible of his error,
granted permission to some of the clergy to return to their towns;
but they had received intelligence of arrangements he had made for
murdering them all, and that he was in expectation of the arrival
of some infidels from the mountains to execute his wicked designs,
for the Indians not only refused to lay their hands on the clergy, but
were determined to die with them. They all prepared for death, without
further hopes than what arose from the intentions of the principal
Indians, who were making dispositions to come to their assistance;
but this was delayed so long, that a Spanish mestizo, named Vicos,
presenting himself to the Bishop, said, "Señor, I am going to make
an end of that vile Indian; give me your benediction, that I may
go and kill the tyrant." He went out of the convent, accompanied
by Captain Buecbuee, with a blunderbuss in very bad condition, and
reaching the house of Silang, discharged the contents in his side,
which caused his immediate death. In consequence of this his party
became completely broken and dismayed, and the same evening the bells
were set a ringing, and the evening service sung, to the satisfaction
of all, and in the midst of exclamations of "Long live the King of
Spain!" The Bishop wished to appoint Vicos chief justice, but the
latter advised him to name Buecbuee, who had a considerable party, and
could therefore the better overawe any ill disposed persons. The friars
immediately returned to their towns, and through their persuasions,
seconded by the authority of Don Manuel Arza, who had just arrived,
they tranquillized such as were in any way discontented. The death
of Silang happened the 28th of May, 1763, and he had commenced his
rebellion the 14th of December, 1762.

The most obstinate rebellion of the Indians was that in the province
of Pangasinan. The sedition broke out at the town of Binalatongan on
the 3d of November, 1762, in consequence of the Alcalde Mayor having
sent a commission to collect the royal tribute. The news spread over
all the towns of the province; a general request was made that the
tribute should be remitted, and that the Alcalde Mayor and judges of
the different towns should be replaced by others. About the end of
November arrived Don Antonio Panelo at Pangasinan, with the title
of lieutenant-general, and with orders from Señor Anda to confine
the Alcalde, who was a creature of the Archbishop, and suspected
of tampering with the English, although nothing like this was ever
proved. As soon as Panelo arrived, the revolted Indians presented
themselves, demanding that the tribute should be abolished, and that
the Spaniards should quit the province. The latter were fourteen in
number, with muskets and pattereros, and the Dominican friars advised
them to defend themselves against this mob; but they were alarmed
at their numbers, and abandoning the province, the Indians continued
their rebellious proceedings.

The Dominican friars assembled in the town of Asingan, and wrote to
their respective parishioners that they would forsake them if they
did not submit to the King of Spain; the result of which was, that
the Indians came from all quarters, supplicating them to return to
their towns, and promising to go to Pampanga to beg of Señor Anda,
an Alcalde Mayor; however, they performed none of their promises,
so that our Governor and Captain-general was obliged to send troops
to reduce them to subjection. Don Fernando Araya went out with
thirty-three Spaniards and four hundred Indian archers; they took
with them five hundred cartridges, which was all the ammunition that
could be spared, in consequence of the scarcity of that article at
Pampanga. These troops arrived in Lent time at the river Bayamban,
on the opposite bank of which the enemy had entrenched themselves
with some cannon and pattereros. The firing commenced on both sides;
our people passed over the river, took the entrenchments, and put
the Indians to flight, although they were ten thousand in number,
and followed them up a short distance; but before they expended all
their cartridges they thought proper to retreat, which they did in
good order; on our part four Spaniards and four Indians were killed,
whose heads the rebels carried off to the towns, where they amused
themselves with dancing, according to their custom, and became bolder
than ever. The Dominican friars, in endeavouring to escape, often ran
the risk of their lives; some were, however, enabled to get away,
but those who remained were obliged to refuse the sacrament to the
Indians, and for which they intended to murder them, until the voice
of the women, as also of those who had not entered into the rebellion
by choice, prevailing, it was resolved to spare their lives. To
add to all their troubles, those poor friars had the additional
regret to find their fidelity suspected, merely because they were
not murdered by the Indians. Miserable, indeed, was the situation of
the missionaries in those times; if they abandoned their duty they
were blamed, because it was said the flame of rebellion became more
extended; and if they remained among them, and were not killed by
the Indians, out of respect, or because they wanted a confessor in
the hour of death, they were deemed accomplices in their crimes.

The Dominican friars completely vindicated their honour by means of
their discourses, and by the aid of the Bishop Ustariz, who, having
tranquillized the inhabitants of Ylocos, came to give his assistance
in the pacification of the province of Pangasinan. The rebels were
in some degree quieted, and, at last, were induced to proceed to
Pampanga to solicit an Alcalde Mayor of Señor Anda. They were very
kindly received, their former crimes were pardoned, and he gave them
Azevedo for their Alcalde, who took possession of his magistracy on
the 5th of December, 1763.

Señor Azevedo was not long in discovering that the flame of rebellion
was only smothered, and not extinguished; and he gave information
to Señor Anda to that effect, requesting him to send a force to keep
the deluded in awe. Señor Anda despatched one hundred and eighty men
from his camp to Pangasinan, and gave orders to Don Manuel Arza to
extirpate the last remains of the rebellion from Ylocos, that he might
form a junction with the troops going to Manila under command of Don
Pedro Bonardel. As soon as the rebels knew that troops were going
from Manila, they assembled tumultuously in the town of Calasiao,
where the Alcalde was with two Spaniards and two Dominican friars in
the convent. The Indians besieged them, but they defended themselves
with their muskets; and the rebels not daring to make an assault on the
convent, chose the alternative of setting it on fire. The unfortunate
party besieged had no other resource but to take refuge on the tower
of the church, with the little provisions they could find at hand,
where they maintained themselves five days, until our troops learning
their unfortunate situation made a forced march to their assistance,
routing the rebels in their way.

Bonardel pursued his march to Lingayen, the capital of the province,
and putting every detachment of rebels to flight which came in his
way, he fortified that town, and was joined by Don Manuel de Arza
with a body of Indians which he brought from Ylocos, both by sea and
land. Bonardel leaving the remainder of his people in Lingayen, took
fifty men, and went to St. Fabian to liberate the Bishop and some
Dominicans, whom the rebels detained as prisoners; he routed them,
and although they had possessed themselves of the passes, he managed
to join the rest of the army.

In the beginning of the year 1764 nobody opposed our authority in the
towns, the rebels had retired to the mountains, taking with them the
friars who were not able to join the Spaniards: each troop of rebels
had its particular chief, and the rebellion could not be quelled
merely by one battle. It was therefore determined upon to distribute
detachments over the country, and subdue it in detail. They proceeded
by hanging the leaders of the mutiny as they took them, pardoning
the great mass of their followers; but they were so very obstinate,
that although sensible they could offer no resistance, and that it
was easy for them to obtain a general amnesty, they still continued
in rebellion, nor was it effectually quelled till March, 1765. On our
side we lost in this expedition seventy Spaniards, and one hundred and
forty Indians, and of the rebels more than ten thousand perished. Many
of the rebels too died of hunger, or passed over to other provinces,
and the first enumeration that was made of the province after the
rebellion, it was found that twenty-six thousand nine hundred and
twenty-seven persons were deficient of the proper number, composing
nearly half the population. All the other provinces of the islands
were restored to tranquillity, and maintained in their allegiance to
the King of Spain, under the orders of Señor Anda.

CHAPTER XVII.

    Of the Restoration of Manila by the English at the Peace,
    anno 1763.

On the 23d of July, 1763, an English frigate arrived with the
armistice which had been agreed on by the powers of Spain, France,
and England. In any other part of the world hostilities would have
ceased, and the chiefs of the contending parties would have been
anxious to exchange reciprocal civility and kindness the moment
such intelligence was received; but in the Philippines, such were
the misunderstandings which had arisen, that the armistice which
in Europe had been carried into effect, was here of no avail. The
English commander acknowledged no other governor than the Archbishop,
and to him he communicated, in the usual form, the contents of his
despatches from his court. The Archbishop transmitted them to Señor
Anda, who replied, "That in a matter of such importance and delicacy,
the English commander ought immediately to have made him acquainted
with it, without the intervention of his Excellency." On the 27th of
August, an English vessel arrived with the preliminaries of peace,
and the British council directly handed over the despatches to Señor
Anda, sealed and directed to the Commander in Chief of his Catholic
Majesty's arms; but because the addition of Captain-general of the
Philippines was omitted, he would not receive it, observing, that
being without the corresponding titles, it might be doubted whether
the despatches were intended for him.

The British commander, to establish the authority of it, published a
manifesto on the 19th of September, pointing out the line of conduct
he had observed to Señor Anda, in order to procure a cessation of
hostilities as soon as he received the preliminaries of peace, and
which, he stated, had been forwarded to him by the prime minister,
signed by the British and Spanish ambassadors, and he declared Señor
Anda responsible for the blood which might be spilled in consequence
of the measures he adopted, so contrary to those laws of humanity
which had induced the European powers to sheath the sword. Señor Anda
replied to this manifesto by another, published in Bacolor the 28th of
September, in which he set forth that he had not been made acquainted
with the preliminaries of peace in due form; that as Governor he had
not been treated as such, but in that character he should answer the
English manifesto, by protesting that the continuation of hostilities
could not be imputed to him, but to those who, pursuing a line of
conduct little conformable to the orders of their sovereign, had
indirectly impeded their execution.

From this moment, however, the English allowed greater latitude to the
prisoners in Manila; and Señor Villa Corta, who was considered in that
light, availed himself of the indulgence to conceal himself in the
house of Don Tomas Dorado, from whence he escaped in a coach under
a female dress, and embarked for Pampanga. Señor Anda received him
with great affability; and as a mark of his friendship and affection,
he left him in Bacolor to transact some matters of business for him,
and departed for the camp, in order to transfer it to the town of
Polo from Maycavayan, where he had taken up his quarters since the
battle of Malinta. In his absence the Archbishop being taken ill,
the question was agitated who should be Governor in the event of his
death, and Señor Villa Corta observed, that he thought it fell to him,
as being senior Oidor. This conversation was not so secret but Señor
Anda became acquainted with it, and without waiting to remove his
camp to Polo, he left proper instructions, and returning to Bacolor
he retorted on Villa Corta, who endeavoured to exculpate himself,
by pleading that it was merely conversation, and undeserving serious
notice: his enquiries and solicitude terminated in discovering that
Señor Galban and the royal fiscal were of opinion that Senor Ustariz,
Bishop of New Segovia or Ylocos, ought to succeed to the government,
in case of the death of the Archbishop, conformable to the recent
orders of his Majesty. Señor Anda was anxious to obtain the opinions
of the various parties in the islands, and consulted Señor Matos,
Bishop of Camarines, and the provincial clergy on the subject. Señor
Matos returned him for answer, that the subject was quite foreign to
his profession, and that it was the province of the Royal Audience to
decide the point, and that he, as a good subject, should acquiesce in
that decision. The provincial friars of St. Augustine and St. Domingo
answered him in nearly the same terms; but the provincial of the
Jesuits and the Franciscans told him, that in the then situation of
the islands he alone could preserve the public tranquillity, and on
that account he ought to retain the supreme authority. This diversity
of opinion was not very gratifying to Señor Anda, and although the
troops were in his favour, he was by no means desirous of having
recourse to violence. This induced him to submit so far as to take
the opinion of the British commander, and he accordingly wrote to
him from Bacolor the 2d of November, 1763.

Major Fell, who commanded the English troops, had at this time quitted
his command, with the view of proceeding to London, to complain of
certain proceedings respecting Monsieur Faller, who was ordered for
execution by Admiral Cornish, on account of letters written by him to
the commandant at Batavia, in which he termed the admiral a pirate and
robber. Governor Drake protected him, and kept him in the hall of the
Royal Audience. Fell demanded him, and the Governor refusing to deliver
him up, Fell took with him a file of grenadiers, and repaired to the
palace. Ascending the staircase, he met the Governor coming down, when
an altercation took place, and Fell snatching a fusee from a grenadier,
was in the act of bayoneting the Governor, when one of his own soldiers
prevented him, and took the musket from him. During this disturbance on
the staircase, the grenadiers went to the hall of the Royal Audience,
took Faller, and carried him on board ship. Major Fell, in consequence
of this, embarked for London, in order to complain of the Governor,
and Don Thomas Backhouse took the command. To him it was that Señor
Anda wrote, complaining bitterly of the vexations which the English
soldiers had given to his soldiers, and finished by observing, that if
he meant to write, he must address him by the titles and in the style
due to his rank. Backhouse replied by disclaiming the ground of his
complaints, as they referred to a period when he had not the command;
and in regard to the government of the islands, he pleaded ignorance
of our statutes and laws, but he said he saw, with great grief, strong
symptoms of civil war, which threatened the desolation of Manila as
soon as evacuated by his Britannic Majesty's troops. Señor Anda well
knew that the English would not acknowledge any other Governor than
the Archbishop, and began to spread suspicions that the preliminaries
of peace were forged by the English Governor, who found himself driven
to extremity by the incursions our people made from the camp of Polo,
and which occasioned a scarcity of provisions in Manila.

The English adhering to the resolution of committing no act of
hostility, and keeping on the defensive, only endeavoured to procure
their provisions in the provinces. With this view they sent to the
province of Batan a sloop, with a very few people, to the town of
Orion, and taking refuge in the convent, they purchased what provisions
they wanted. Señor Anda hearing of this, sent troops against them:
the Indians assaulted them through the kitchen, and surprised them, but
they saved themselves in the sloop by the negligence of the officer who
commanded, and who arrived too late with the rest of the people. In the
river Pasig also our people made them abandon two vessels which were
going to the Lake for provisions, and they took a galley from the very
door of the store-houses. In this manner did the two nations continue
their hostilities until the 30th of January, 1764. On this day the
Archbishop died, oppressed in mind by the miseries he saw the people
suffer, and the many inquietudes his employment occasioned him at a
moment of such calamity. His Excellency was guilty of only one material
error during this war, and that was his engagement to pay four millions
to the English, and deliver up the islands to them. It would have been
better to have surrendered at discretion than with conditions so hard,
and out of his power to comply with: it must be remembered, however,
in his justification, that he granted them with the bayonet at his
breast, and that the Spaniards who were with him signed the same terms.

Immediately after the funeral of the Bishop, Señor Anda received
despatches, by way of China, from his Catholic Majesty, communicating
the conclusion of peace with the English, to his Governor at Manila;
he informed the English commandant of it, offering a suspension of
hostilities, and requesting them to take measures for delivering up
the place. The English assented to this, and sent to the town of
Tambobon the chief engineer, Stevenson, accompanied by Don Edward
Vogan as an interpreter, who had been at St. Joseph's College, and
returned to the islands with this expedition as a pilot or guide. On
our side was appointed Don Francisco Salgado, with his interpreter,
Don Geronimo Ramirez. Their respective powers being produced, they
entered on the negociation; but all was reduced to mere squabbling,
Salgado exaggerating our strength, which, he said, was equal to the
capture of Manila, to which the English officer very archly replied,
by asking why they did not take the fort on the Pasig, which was
scarcely in a state of defence? Nine days were thus wasted, and
nothing concluded on. While under these circumstances, an English
vessel arrived, with orders to evacuate the place, and the negociation
ceased. This occurrence served to revive the old disputes relative to
the succession to the government, and receiving the place from the
English. Señor Villa Corta had his supporters, and Señor Ustariz,
who had the greatest right, did not want for partizans. Señor Anda
had in his favour the circumstance of having defended the islands, and
having prevented the English from advancing to the northern provinces;
and, above all, he commanded the troops, who were attached to him, and
this served to check the pretensions of the others. Most fortunately,
at this time, arrived at Marinduque, in the Santa Rosa frigate,
Don Francisco de la Torre, despatched by the Viceroy of Mexico as
the King's Lieutenant. Señor Anda sent him a galley, on board of
which he embarked and came to Bacolor, where Señor Anda, with much
honour and disinterestedness, resigned the government into his hands,
conformable to his Sovereign's orders, on the 17th of March, 1764.

Señor Torre sent to Backhouse and Brereton, his Britannic Majesty's
commanding officers at Manila, the despatches, by which he ordered
the evacuation of Manila, and they replied, that they were ready to
deliver up the place to him in form. He took possession of a house in
Santa Cruz, placed a Spanish guard, with advanced centinels, as far
as the great bridge, where the advanced guard of the English was,
and a friendly communication took place. Governor Drake felt hurt
that he had not been consulted on these proceedings, and ordered the
Spanish Governor to retire, or abide the consequences. Brereton and
Backhouse ordered the troops under arms to arrest the Governor for
sending such a hostile message, as the sincerity of both parties was
unquestionable. Drake heard of it, and escaping from the city with
his suite, embarked on board the frigate and put to sea.

The terms were concluded in an amicable manner, and the day was fixed
for giving possession of the place, for which purpose Señor Anda came
with the troops which he had in Polo; and Señor Torre being indisposed,
he received the town from the English, placed the Spanish guards at
the gates, and hoisted the Spanish flag on the fort of Sant Jago,
in the midst of salutes of artillery.

The English commander, before he quitted Manila, published a manifesto,
in which he desired any person who had cause of complaint against the
late government to apply to him, and he would do him justice. Señor
Villa Corta presented himself, and demanded the repayment of the
three thousand dollars he had paid, to redeem the sentence of death
passed on him. Brereton ordered them to be returned, observing, that
if the sentence was just, it ought to have been put in execution,
and not be commuted for money; and if unjust, the restitution of the
sum was highly proper. The provincial of the Jesuits claimed a sloop
which Governor Drake had requested of him, and which he had given
gratuitously for the service of the King of Great Britain; but the
Governor having appropriated it to his own use, he now requested it
might be returned, or four thousand dollars paid for it, which was
the sum it was valued at. This was immediately paid him: various
other demands were made of less magnitude, which Brereton satisfied
with justice and equity.

At the instance of the English chiefs, our government published
a manifesto, in which a pardon was granted to the Chinese who had
joined their party, although some of the ringleaders, not confiding
in the manifesto, went away with the English, as did also Faller and
Orandain, who were under apprehensions, if they remained in Manila,
that they would be beheaded as traitors. Orandain, in his retreat,
passed over to Tonquin, and having landed, the natives rose on him, in
consequence of some excesses which had been committed by the sailors:
they attacked him, and being unable to gain the boats in consequence
of waiting for his daughter, whom he had married to an Englishman,
and who was on shore with him, both he and his daughter were murdered,
thus atoning for the crimes with which he was charged.

Manila, Cavite, and Pasig, being delivered up, Brereton embarked and
went to Mariveles, where the transport ships were waiting for him;
and having despatched a packet-boat with the King of Jolo to restore
him to his throne, he set sail for India.

The religious orders had co-operated very considerably with Señor Anda,
in enabling him to maintain the Indians of the respective districts
in obedience to his orders, by inspiring a horror of the English as
enemies of the King and their religion, exciting them even to die
in fighting cheerfully against them; likewise offering their houses,
estates, and riches, and finally exposing their own persons to very
imminent risks. All of them exerted themselves uniformly to this end,
for which they jointly and individually were honoured with the thanks
of his Majesty for their distinguished loyalty; but the Augustines
suffered most, for as Señor Anda retired into the provinces of
Bulacan and Pampanga, which these friars governed, they supplied
him with recruits and with provisions. They exhorted the Indians,
and even forced them, to serve against the English, and to be ready,
at all times, to obey orders. The enemy knew that without this resource
Señor Anda could not have acquired the means of resistance; and finding
that the Augustines gave him every aid, they were declared traitors,
eleven were arrested, and carried away to London and India. All were
made prisoners whom they could lay their hands on, and confined in
the dungeons of the fort; and they would have been taken away to
sea if the preliminaries of peace had not arrived. They plundered
a second time their convent; they sold the bells and the library;
and a person was even found to purchase the building; in short,
every thing they had was confiscated. When Manila was delivered up,
in order to repossess themselves of their convent, it was necessary
for the provincial to make a contract to pay ten thousand dollars
for it, in case the courts of Madrid and London should confirm the
confiscation of their property. The British court approved of the
conduct of the English council, and, in virtue of its sentence,
an Englishman went to Madrid to receive the ten thousand dollars;
but our court not consenting to pay this sum, considering it a mere
imposition, the English threatened that another opportunity they
would make up the loss; but this dispute, as also that respecting
the four millions which the Archbishop promised to pay, is buried in
oblivion long ago, and was fully covered by the millions sacrificed
in the treaties respecting Nootka Sound, and the whale fisheries on
the northern coast of America.

All these services of the Augustines to Señor Anda were, however,
thrown away, for some of the individuals of their body in the disputes
which arose on the succession after the death of the Archbishop,
attached themselves to the party of Villa Corta; and consulting their
provincial, they replied to Señor Anda, that it was their opinion
the dispute ought to be decided by the Royal Audience, and that their
decision should be final. So disgusted was he by this determination
of the Augustines, that he not only forgot all the services they had
rendered him, but on his return as Governor, under some frivolous
pretence, he sent soldiers to Pampanga, confiscated their property,
and put the whole of the order in confinement at Manila, substituting
Indian clergy in their room.

His Majesty considered attentively all the services the Augustines
had rendered in Manila, and ordered that all their property should
be restored to them, together with the province of Pampanga; but when
this order arrived, the furniture of the poor monks was already rotten
in the store-houses, and the friars themselves having been driven
into other provinces or dead, were unable to avail themselves of his
Majesty's kindness, and take possession of the province of Pampanga
thus allotted to them by his decision. To all which, if the desolation
caused by the war is added, the friars will be found to have suffered
the most severe losses, and which they have yet scarcely been able
to retrieve.

Señor Torre being recovered of his indisposition, which was probably
only assumed, in order to afford Señor Anda the opportunity of
entering triumphantly into Manila to receive it from the English,
as many suspected was the case, he went to reside at the palace, and
began, by degrees, to restore order, and to repair the various ravages
occasioned by the war. He made arrangements for tranquillizing the
province of Pangasinan, and conducted the government with sufficient
ability until the arrival of his successor, Field-Marshal Don Joseph
Raon; but the occurrences during his and the succeeding government
are of too recent a nature to be committed to the press with that
candour which the fidelity of historical record requires.

                                EXTRACT

         From Monsr. Sonnerat's Voyage aux Indes et a la Chine.

                          Vol. III. Chap. 10.

                                 OF THE

                       PHILIPPINES AND MOLUCCAS.

These Archipelagos have been already noticed in my Voyage to New
Guinea; but I have, since that period, had occasion to make some
further observations, equally new as necessary.

I follow M. le Gentil in giving the position, latitude, and seasons
of the principal of these islands. This judicious observer has made
a particular study of the subject, and his work appears to me correct.

The Philippines and Moluccas are commonly divided into two distinct
Archipelagos; but, in my opinion, all these islands in reality form but
one; and if they were all under one Sovereign, they would, doubtless,
be comprehended under one designation.

The Philippines are attached to the crown of Spain, and the Dutch
possess the Moluccas. These last are more deserving of consideration,
and richer than the first. They owe their fertility to the industry
of a nation laborious, commercial, and addicted to cultivation. Every
thing, on the contrary, in the Philippines, indicates the indolence
of a people who direct all their efforts to religion, and whose sole
object seems to be to acquire proselytes.

OF THE PHILIPPINES.

The Philippines extend from the 3d or 4th, to the 19th or 20th degree
of north latitude. They comprehend a great number of islands, which,
for the most part, are very little known. The principal, and those
on which the Spaniards have establishments, are Luçon, Mindoro,
Panay, and Mindanao. Next, in point of extent, are ranked Palawan,
Buglas or Isle of Negroes, Zebu, Leyt or Leita, and Samar. To the
east of Zebu is the little island of Mactan, where Magellan lost his
life. Exclusive of these there is a multitude of small islands.

Luçon lies to the north of all the others: it is likewise the largest,
being not less than 450 miles in length, and about 85 at its least
breadth. The Spaniards have upon this island established Manila, the
capital of their settlements in the Archipelago. Its advantageous
position for the commerce of China, and that of other parts of
India, ought to render this city the richest in the world; but what
Spaniard would occupy his time in the pursuit of transitory riches,
which must be acquired by the assiduities of commercial industry,
and at the expense of his national prejudices?

Manila lies in 40° 30' N. latitude. The climate is nearly the same
as that of Pondicherry and Madras; the town is large and well built;
the houses are handsome, and the streets in straight lines. There are
several superb churches. It is fortified, and is situated upon the
bank of a considerable river, which washes its walls, and communicates
through the island of Luçon in every direction. The country which
surrounds it is fertile, and adapted to every species of cultivation;
but in the hands of the Spaniards it lies an useless waste. They have
neither availed themselves of the position of the town, or of the
fertility of the surrounding soil; they allow it to exhaust itself,
and bear of its own accord crops which they will not be at the trouble
of getting in. Even the law, which ought to lend its aid in support
of the cultivator of the soil, is at Manila inimical to his views,
and the exportation of that abundance which nature holds out to man
is prohibited. The treasures of the earth exceed the wants of the
limited number of inhabitants in this island, and they are allowed to
perish on the soil which gives them birth. The consequence is, that
should it happen in any year that a variable atmosphere, hurricanes,
or a wet or dry season, should substitute scarcity for abundance,
the most dreadful famine would be the lot of a country which ought
never to feel the effects of it.

Such is the general ignorance, such their indolence, their blind
and culpable confidence in Providence, that the extent of their
cultivation, and the collection of their produce, is limited to their
immediate wants. The most horrible misery is often the result of this
perilous security, so much at variance with the benevolent views of
nature. Common animal instinct teaches us to provide for the future,
but the Spaniards cannot boast of even this foresight.

It is computed that there are about 12,000 Christians in Manila. The
population of this city was formerly much more extensive while it was
resorted to by the Chinese. Many of that nation were settled there,
and others were engaged in commercial intercourse; but a bigoted
Governor, under the influence of a wretched policy, absolutely drove
them out of the island. Commerce and the arts immediately declined,
and have never since recovered. Misery and depopulation have been
the fatal consequences of this mal-administration.

Vessels do not anchor abreast of Manila; the mouth of the river is
interrupted by a bar, which is very dangerous in stormy weather. Small
vessels, however, may enter, and their cargoes are discharged at
Privateer harbour. Such vessels as are obliged to winter at Manila
retire to the port of Cavite, situated in the bottom of the bay to
the S. E. and three leagues distant from Manila.

Cavite is provided with a fort, which is not in a state to resist
the attack of an European enemy. It is constructed on a tongue of
low land, which the sea threatens with submersion; its harbour is
not sheltered from the north and N. N. W. winds; and it is infested
with a species of worm which attacks vessels, and soon renders them
unfit to keep the sea. Another great inconvenience is, that water is
procured at a great distance; and for this purpose it is necessary
to employ the flat-bottomed boats of the country, which are alone
capable of penetrating sufficiently far up the river. Three parts of
the town, little considerable in itself, are occupied, like all the
Spanish possessions, by convents; the suburbs are called Fauxbourg
Saint Roch. It consists of a collection of houses, built of bamboo,
and covered with palm leaves; but there are in it, however, the ruins
of a church which appears to have been sufficiently handsome. The
Indians, who joined the English in 1762, destroyed it, and that which
was formerly held in such respect is now become a shelter for cattle.

The Spaniards have many religious establishments in the island of
Luçon. It might be averred, that it never was their intention to plant
colonies, for they have only sent monks, and appear to have had no
other end in view than the propagation of the Catholic faith. The
people, therefore, who have submitted to the Spanish yoke, scarcely
exhibit any traits of a polished nation. Languishing in inactivity,
they are without energy, and appear equally indifferent to virtue as to
vice. Indolence, a dereliction of life and timidity, constitute their
character, and misery is their habitual state; but there are districts
to which the Spaniards have been unable to penetrate. In vain have they
tried to subdue those who have retired thither; in vain applied force,
severity, and punishment, to subjugate and convert them. These people
have escaped from the yoke by removing themselves to defiles where
the Spaniards cannot attack them: they have carried with them into
the retreat they have chosen the recollection of the injuries they
have suffered, and of those with which they have been threatened;
they nourish, in the extremity of their asylum, an implacable hatred
against the strangers, whom they consider as the oppressors of their
native land; they incessantly meditate on, and prepare the means
of revenge. Supported by their courage, animated by their hatred,
they dare approach even the gates of the capital: their progress is
marked with pillage, murder, devastation, and rape; they even live
at the expense of such of their countrymen as have submitted; they
carry off, they tear from them the support of a miserable existence,
which these latter have neither the strength nor the courage to defend.

There is, besides these, in the mountainous parts, a description of
people absolutely in a savage state; they shun the face of man, they
even shun each other; they are solitary wanderers; they stop when night
overtakes them, and take their rest in the hollows of trees; they are
strangers even to domestic life. The invincible propensities of nature
are alone capable of bending their stubborn character, and impelling
the men to satisfy themselves with such females as chance throws
in their way, and towards whom desire is the only attraction. The
inhabitants of the island of Luçon call themselves Tagals, as do
likewise all the inhabitants of the Philippines--they appear to
derive their origin from the Malays, and exhibit features of their
character--their language, though different from that of the Malays,
has its pronunciation and its sweetness. All these islands seem to
be inhabited by the same people, among whom their customs alone have
been subjected to change. In Manila, such has been the intercourse
with the Chinese and other nations, that they have become a mixed race.

The Manilians are of a swarthy complexion, large and well made; their
dress is composed of a shirt of a kind of linen made of the filaments
of the abaca, a species of palm; this shirt is very short, and is
worn over a large and wide pair of drawers: but their greatest luxury
consists in handkerchiefs, with red borders, of the finest quality;
of these they usually wear three, one on the head, one on the neck,
and the third is held in the hand. The English manufacture them at
Madras expressly for their consumption.

The women wear a kind of little shift, which scarcely reaches to
the navel, with a handkerchief loosely covering the neck; a white
linen cloth encircles the body, and is fastened by a button at the
waist: they throw over this a coloured stuff, manufactured by the
inhabitants of Panay. Over all is worn a mantle, for the most part
black, which covers the body from head to foot. Their hair, which
is black and highly beautiful, sometimes reaches to the ground:
they bestow the greatest care on it, anoint it with cocoa-nut oil,
plait it in the Chinese fashion, and, towards the crown of the head,
form it into a knot, fastened with a gold or silver pin. They wear
embroidered slippers, so very small that they only cover the toes.

The houses of the Indians of Manila are constructed of bamboo, covered
with palm leaves. They are erected on pillars of wood, at the height
of from eight to ten feet from the ground, and they ascend to them
by a small ladder, which is drawn up every night. The custom of thus
raising their houses to this elevation, has for its object their
protection from the humidity of the soil; but that of drawing up the
ladders, by which they mount to them, has in view their security
against ferocious animals, and those of their neighbours who live
in a savage state. Their bed is, for the most part, a simple mat,
spread on the floor.

Their food is rice, plain boiled, which they eat either with salted
fish, or by putting into the water in which it is dressed a spice,
which takes off its insipid taste.

There are many lakes in the island of Luçon; the most considerable is
that called by the Spaniards Laguna de Bay. The river, which washes the
walls of Manila, flows out of this lake, and thus a communication,
by means of boats, is open to its surrounding shores. This lake
is about 30 leagues in circumference, and about 120 fathoms in
depth. In the middle of it is an island, which holds out a refuge
to some Indian families. They live by fishing, and preserve their
liberty by prohibiting the approach of strangers to their asylum. This
lake is bounded on the west by high mountains; the level country is
fertile, and is inhabited by a people of gentle manners: they employ
themselves in manufacturing matting, cloth, and different fabrics,
from the abaca. Perhaps the first monks who were sent to convert them
were attracted there by the mildness of their character.

The Spaniards, in supplying them with a religion, have left their laws
unaltered; in fact, their ancient usages are retained, and they are
governed by an Indian of their village, nominated, however, by the
Spaniards, and whose authority they acknowledge.

This people, though of a mild character, treat crimes with severity;
the greatest, in their opinion, is adultery, which is the only one
punished with death.

Eastward of the lake there are immense plains; large and deep rivers
traverse them, and spread to a great distance a natural fertility. This
country might be the residence of a numerous population, which might
live happy in the cultivation of it. Only a few villages, however,
are to be seen scattered here and there; miserable dwellings,
inhabited by men devoid of honesty, without justice, who, in a
constant state of warfare, entertain mutual fear of each other, and
who, instead of laws, of the protection of which they are ignorant,
place their security in their arms; these they never quit, they hold
them in readiness in approaching each other, and the intercourse
they have together less resembles a social act than a state of
perpetual warfare. Even the rights of blood afford no security:
parents, brothers, wife and husband, live in constant distrust of
each other, and, consequently, in a state of reciprocal hatred. The
origin of manners, so far removed from the mild character of their
neighbours, may be found in the mode adopted for their subjection,
and the recollection of those punishments they have been exposed to
by the priests, in compelling them to adore the cross.

There are many volcanos in the island of Luçon, which, it is most
probable, is the cause of the frequent earthquakes to which it is
subject; not a year passes without two, three, or four. The Spaniards
of Manila construct their houses accordingly; the whole is of wood,
and raised on wooden pillars; but to guard against such visitations
they are provided with a small apartment made of bamboo, placed in
the court or garden. There the whole family sleeps, when the state
of the atmosphere seems to indicate an earthquake.

It has been well observed by M. Gentil, that the earthquakes appear
to occur more frequently at the end of the year, and most commonly
in the night-time. I witnessed two in the month of December, 1770:
the first was violent, and threw down many houses; it was announced at
nine o'clock at night by a strong southerly wind, which considerably
agitated the sea; the atmosphere became charged with a reddish vapour,
and in two hours time I felt three successive shocks, which produced
in me a kind of sea sickness. The vessels in the road were sensible
of the motion, and thought they had struck. The Spaniards employed
themselves in chaunting the rosary.

From the volcanos proceed springs of warm water, which are in
great abundance in the island of Luçon; to some are attributed even
marvellous properties, particularly to those of Bailly, situated
on the borders of the lake of Bay. The King has had an hospital and
public baths constructed here.

The trade of Manila might be very considerable, and this city become
one of the richest and most commercial in all Asia. The Spaniards
themselves might proceed to China, Cochin-china, India, Bengal,
Surat, and even to the Isle of France, from whence might be drawn the
commodities they stand in need of either for their own consumption,
or for carrying on the commerce to Mexico; they might take with them,
in exchange, the produce of the islands: but the Spaniard, naturally
slothful, is more disposed to enjoy his indolence, which he denominates
tranquillity, than export the productions of his country; a species
of traffic necessarily accompanied with some degree of fatigue.

The government has prohibited the admission of any foreign vessels
into their harbours. All the French navigators, who have been desirous
of establishing an intercourse, and who have touched at Manila for
commercial purposes, have been always received very ungraciously; and
privateers, from an ill-judged combination against them, have uniformly
sustained great losses there on their prizes. The difficulties which
have been thrown in the way of the unloading and loading of vessels,
have thoroughly disgusted the merchants of the Isle of France; a
commerce, nevertheless, which might be rendered equally advantageous
to both nations.

The only vessels admitted at Manila are those of the Chinese and
Indians, on the pretence that these people may thug be made converts;
these are the vessels which import into Manila the articles of absolute
necessity and of luxury, and take in exchange the piastres brought
by the galleon from Acapulco.

The commodities which might be drawn from Manila are cordage, pitch and
tar, linen cloth, rushes, rotin, indigo, rocon, achiote, and rice. The
cotton is of the finest quality, and might be made an important article
of exportation to China, where many cargoes of that commodity are
sent from Surat, on which the gain is sometimes an hundred per cent.

The sugar cane thrives well here, and yields a sugar superior to
that produced at Batavia. There is likewise found here the bark
of a tree, which answers as a substitute for cinnamon, but to the
taste of cinnamon it adds a little tartness: its bark is thick and
porous, and the tree deemed a bastard cinnamon. The Spaniards barter
it with the Chinese, but they set very little value on it, as the
same species is found in Hainam, in Tonquin, and in Cochin China,
from whence they import it. Another production is the wild nutmeg,
but having no flavour, it is on that account not merchantable. It is
small, and the tree which bears it has leaves a foot long; the same
species is found at Madagascar.

Tobacco succeeds well here; the chiroutes of Manila are in high
repute all over India for their agreeable flavour; even the ladies
smoke them all day long.

The cocoa of Manila is considered as superior to that of America;
it is the only tree whose cultivation is attended to in all the
Philippines, because so much use is made of chocolate. It is the
general beverage, and is presented as refreshment on visits: cocoa,
as well as tobacco, are not indigenous in the Philippines; they were
imported from New Spain.

Wax might likewise be procured from Manila, the mountains swarming
with bees which produce it.

There is a great deal of gold found in all the rivers, a sufficient
proof that there are mines of that metal; the Indians will earn
fifteen pence a day by washing the sands for it.

Iron is found in its native state, but mixed with some other metal,
which renders it softer than ours. They work it exactly as it is
found. There is likewise abundance of loadstone, and considerable
quarries of marble from whence that is procured, with which the
churches are decorated.

The Spaniards have but a few insignificant establishments on
Mindoro. All travellers have asserted that the inhabitants of this
island have tails, but this idea rests on no other ground than that
of the Coccix being a little elongated.

The principal establishments of the Spaniards, in the island of Panay,
are Ilo-Ilo and Antigue; there is no good anchorage on the island of
Panay but in this latter place.

Antigue is in 6° 42' N. latitude; the anchorage is six fathom, at a
good distance from the land. Vessels cannot take the benefit of this
anchorage in November, December, and January, but with great risk,
as, during that period, the south-west and west winds blow right
on the coast, and render the sea tempestuous. Water for shipping is
procured at a small rivulet, situated to the north; there is a much
more considerable river, which serves as a ditch to the fort, and
along which boats may proceed a great way; but its water is brackish
even at neap tides. The inhabitants of this island, more industrious
than those of Luçon, manufacture handkerchiefs and cloths from cotton,
and the fibres of a plant which the country supplies; the coarsest
description is used for clothing, and with the finer they trade with
the neighbouring islands.

In other respects Antigue resembles the rest of the
Philippines. Indulgent Nature is prodigal of her gifts, of which the
inhabitants make no attempt to avail themselves, for the government
uses no means of protection against the ravages and cupidity of the
Moors, who incessantly harass and carry off even the fishing-boats
from the bay: this is only protected by a wooden fort, garrisoned by
about twenty Christian natives.

This island produces a great deal of grain, but little fruit;
cocoa and plantains, of a bad quality, are alone sought after by the
inhabitants. There is a great number of stags, wild boars, and wild
hogs; buffaloes, horned cattle, and horses, are so common, that no
attention is paid either to their safety or to their propagation;
the horses wander about at their pleasure; they are public property,
having no particular owner: when a horse is wanted, the first that
appears is seized, and he is turned loose again when he has performed
the requisite service.

The air of the whole island is unwholesome, from the want of
cultivation, and the frequency of marshes. It is supposed to contain
many very rich gold mines.

The Spaniards have many factories on the coasts of Mindanao, which
support a precarious existence only by a constant state of warfare
with the innumerable Kings reigning in the island, not one of which
will acknowledge the Spanish dominion.

Sambouanga forms the chief establishment of the Spaniards on this
island; it is situated on the southern coast of it. According to
our observation, it lies in 120° 13' long. and 6° 54' lat. differing
considerably from the observation of Mr. Gentil, who places it in 7°
20' lat. apparently after some bad Spanish charts.

The Spaniards have constructed a considerable fort, with stone and
brick, and capable of the defence of the bay. The inhabitants are
placed within a palisade, abutting on one side to the fort, and on
the other to a small wooden battery of 14 guns, which commands the
environs of the town.

Sambouanga costs the King of Spain a great deal, and makes no
return. This post was established for the purpose of checking
the incursions of the Moors of Jolo on the neighbouring islands;
notwithstanding which these latter are not a whit less frequent
in their visits to the bay of Antigue and that of Manila, carrying
off not only the fishing-boats which fall in their way, but vessels
richly laden. They are even daring enough to attack the inhabitants of
Sambouanga; they land out of the range of the guns, and harass them
close to the palisade; these unhappy beings are thus prevented from
quitting their houses; they cultivate the land under the protection
of cannon, of which they are compelled to avail themselves of several
pieces in such fields as they are desirous of tilling.

The soil is fertile, and requires little culture; it produces rice
abundantly. The cattle are very numerous, and of little value. The
King having turned some loose upon an immense plain which adjoins
the settlement, they have multiplied to such a degree, that when
I was there they were estimated at six thousand. A wooden fort,
of eight guns, has been constructed in the middle of the plain to
check the Moors. Upon another plain, separated from this by a chain
of mountains, the Spaniards have turned horses and cattle, which have
likewise increased prodigiously; both plains are bordered by a thin
wood, full of stags and wild hogs. The rivers, as is the case in the
island of Luçon, produce a great deal of gold.

A particular species of cocoa is found at Sambouanga; the tree
which produces it differs in no respect from that with which we are
acquainted; its fruit has the same form, but is a little less in size;
the husk is not of a fibrous consistence like that of common cocoa,
the flesh of it is analogous to the artichoke; it has its flavour,
and, perhaps, we assigned a greater degree of delicacy to it, because
we had not the means of comparing them: if this fruit is allowed to
grow old on the tree, it changes its nature, and becomes stringy;
in this state its taste is tart, and the cocoa is no longer fit for
eating. I carried six to the Isle of France, but they did not succeed.

There is a volcano on the south side of Mindanao which burns
incessantly, and serves as a landmark to vessels frequenting this
navigation.

The island of Jolo, or Sooloo, seems to be the point of demarkation
between the Philippines and the Moluccas. The Dutch pretend that it is
a dependency on the Moluccas; and the Spaniards are so much persuaded
it is one of the Philippines, that they have repeatedly attempted an
establishment there; and not having succeeded by mild measures, they
have endeavoured to render themselves masters of it by force. Every
attempt has failed: the Jolois have never been induced to acknowledge
but their own sovereign.

The English have had a factory on a small island to the east of Jolo,
but they have been obliged to abandon it.

The French have attempted to form an establishment there. The King of
the island, as a proof of his friendly intentions towards the nation,
had even desired the French flag. I believe, however, there was
good reason for not persevering in the attempt, as, sooner or later,
the adventurers would have been the victims of the inhabitants, who
are naturally warlike and fierce, though under the government of a
good prince.

It was under the administration of M. Poivre, at the Isle of France,
that a kind of alliance was formed between the French government and
the Sultan of Jolo. M. Poivre had had some intercourse with this
Prince, the most powerful of all the sovereigns in the Philippine
Archipelago; and he had availed himself of it, to direct to that
island the first expedition in search of the spice plants, under the
command of M. de Tremigon. The Frenchmen attached to this expedition
were hospitably received at Jolo. Alymudin, the Sultan, not only
offered them his aid in the conquest, but a considerable territory
in his dominions.

Jolo is only a small island of 30 to 40 leagues in circumference:
it notwithstanding merits the attention of the European powers, on
account of its being so well adapted for the cultivation of spices,
and generally for commerce.

It produces a great many elephants; amber is found there, and
there is a pearl fishery. Its harbour is a retreat for the Moors,
who piratically infest these seas, distress the navigation of the
Spaniards, and carry off in their incursions the colonists, of whom
they make slaves; the coast is furnished with fish sufficient for the
daily food of the inhabitants; here likewise are gathered the birds'
nests so highly esteemed by the Chinese.

Statement of the Productions of the Philippines, transmitted to the
French Minister in 1776.

Gold is found every where, but more abundantly at Gapan, in the
province of Pampanga. The provinces of Pangasinan and Cagayan produce

Lead.
Copper.
Iron.
Sulphur.
Excellent Sugar.
Indigo.
The Achiote, a tree, the seed of which is used for dying.
Cotton, of the best quality.
Oil of Cocoa, in abundance.
Wood Oil, equally abundant.
Oil of Louban, a species of fruit.
Oil of Aonpoly, an agricultural production.
Ginger.
Camphor.
Areka Nut, in abundance.
Cocoa, in abundance; from this is made a beverage, the consumption
of which is very great.
La Nipe, in abundance, of which likewise a beverage is made.
The Barro Oyesca, a species of the amadon, or tinder made of the
large fungus which grows on trees.
Pitch and Tar, in abundance.
Cocoa Nuts, ditto.
Pepper.
Betel.
The Cinnamon of Sambouanga, very good.
Cowries.
Tortoiseshell.
Mother of Pearl and Pearls, often of a very fine quality.
Deer Skins, Ox and Buffalo Hides.
La Balate, both white and black, first, second, and third sorts,
which forms a considerable branch of trade to China.
Dried Prawns, likewise a considerable article of trade.
Birds' Nests.
Wax, in abundance.
Honey, in abundance.
Musk, or Algalia.
Deer and Ox Sinews, for the commerce with China.
Fine Goimon, dried in the sun for ditto.

Woods and Timber.
    The Cocoa Tree, which produces the St. Ignatius' bean, or bean
    of Cathalonga.
    Red Campechy Wood, first and second sorts.
    Eagle Wood.
    Ebony.
    The Narra, or red veined ebony.
    The Tindato, entirely red.
    Sandal Wood, not much scented.
    Fir Trees, in the mountains of Pangasinan.
    The Molaven, not subject to decay.
    The Quijo,
    The Banava, for building.
    The Calantas, or Cedar.
    The Laguan, or red and white apple-tree.
    The Palo Maria, for small spars.
    The Mangue Chapuy, for lower masts.
    There is besides these an infinite variety of different kinds of
    woods, which we pass over in silence.

Lompotes, a kind of gauze manufactured at Zebu, and which is in
general use in the Philippines and in New Spain.
Sail Cloth of cotton, manufactured in Ylocos.
Testingues, a kind of checked dimity, much worn.
The Abaca, a species of hemp, of which cordage is made.
The Black Gamuty, used for the same purpose.
The Banoté, or Coyar, applicable in the same way, and of which is
likewise made oakum for caulking.
The Tobacco is excellent.
The Corn in the provinces of Ylocos and Bay excellent.
Rice excellent, and in great abundance.

There is likewise a trade carried on with the Chinese in the flesh
of deer, oxen, buffaloes, and horses, dried in the sun (called jerk
in South America), as likewise in the tallow of all these animals.

OF THE MOLUCCAS.

The Moluccas form a considerable archipelago, which extends in
longitude from Java to New Guinea. On the coasts of Papua, and
adjoining islands, are formed colonies of the inhabitants of New
Guinea, and which are dependencies on the Moluccas. The Dutch have
factories in all the islands of this archipelago, but at Amboyna
and Banda they have forts, and considerable establishments [1]. In
order to preserve the spice trade exclusively, they even went so far
as to set fire to the adjacent islands which produced these shrubs;
but such precautions are useless, for the whole of the Moluccas,
with the coasts of Papua, and even all New Guinea, produce, and will
continue to produce, them, while they exist. When the French were
in the habit of procuring these productions, they did not go either
to Banda or Amboyna in search of them, but to Guébi and Moar. Their
vessels resorted to the port of Guébi, unquestionably the finest
harbour in the Moluccas, and to which the Dutch were strangers, as the
French found it uninhabited. They there established themselves during
the time that the King of Maba and Patanie, and the Sultan of Tidor,
went in search of the precious trees which furnished the spices: they
took them to the Isle of France, where they succeeded remarkably well
(as we have seen in the Chapter on the Isle of France), as well as
at Cayenne, to which they were transported soon afterwards.

The inhabitants of the Moluccas are in general of a swarthy complexion,
approaching to black, with a yellow stain: they partake much of the
Malay character, and seem to derive their origin from that nation;
they have their language, their manners, and, like them, with little
personal strength, are nevertheless cruel and ferocious: perhaps the
harshness of their manners may be traced to the wandering and solitary
life they lead in the woods, to avoid becoming the slaves of the Dutch.

The islands they inhabit are fertile, but they do not practise any
cultivation, and live on sago, which grows wild in great quantities
in this archipelago.

The religion of the inhabitants of the Moluccas is a corruption
of Mahometanism.

The only persons who go clothed are the women and the priests; the
men only cover the head with a hat, painted in different colours,
made of the leaves of the latanier; the rest of the body is naked,
with the exception of a bit of narrow cloth, for the sake of decency.

The dress of the women consists of a long robe, without any folds,
fastened in front: they wear hats of an enormous size, not less than
seven or eight feet in circumference; these hats are flat on the
upper surface, and loaded with ornaments of shell work and mother
of pearl. On the under side, a circle of three inches in depth forms
the crown, and retains it on the head. The women never go out; they
are always confined to the house.

The priests, like the women, are clothed in a long robe, but they
are recognized by their caps, which are pointed.

Both sexes wear on their arms rings of shell work, of a kind of
porcelain, which they cut in this shape by rubbing on a stone.

Their arms are the bow and arrow, quiver and shield; the bow is
constructed of a very light, fibrous, and elastic wood, ornamented with
rings made of the rotin, which likewise, when prepared for the purpose,
answers for the string. The arrows are made of a light elastic reed,
and the point of wood jagged and very hard; sometimes this point
is formed of the longest dorsal fin bone of a large fish, and which
is prickly or barbed. The quiver is made of the bark of a tree, the
shield of a black wood, very hard: they are covered with sketches in
relief, executed with small shell work of a very beautiful white. These
shields are long, and narrower in the middle than at both ends.

Their boats are of an ingenious and singular construction; they are
not less than seventy to eighty feet in length; the two ends are
extremely elevated, and rise even to twenty feet above the water;
the rudder is nothing but a long oar, supported on a scaffold; the
hull of the boat consists of planks, which are neither jointed or
nailed, but simply put together, and retained by rope, made of the