Part Third. Wherein is Given Information of Other Matters Concerning the Filipinas, the Islands of Maluco, and Others of the Archipelago; of Their Riches, and of the Forts and Factories Which the Dutch Hold; and of the Wealth Which is At Present Secured from Them.

Chapter I. Of the prelates and their districts in the islands, and of certain curious things. The island called Luçon, which is the most important, has two bishops and an archbishop. The [279]archbishopric has jurisdiction in the vicinity of the city of Manila, the capital of that country. Toward the east it reaches as far as the village called Calilaya, forty leguas from the city on the same island. It has four offices of alcalde-mayor, which is the same thing as a corregimiento—namely those of La Laguna de Vai, La Laguna de Bonvon, another in Valayan, and that of Calilaya. In this there are many Indian villages administered by religious of the Augustinian order, and still more by the discalced of St. Francis. Toward the west of the jurisdiction is that of the province of Pampanga, which is fertile and well-peopled, and that of Bulacan, and the Cambales. These are not Christians and cannot be reduced to conversion, but are negroes who go about like wild beasts through the inaccessible parts of the mountains. They are given to cutting the heads from other Indians, and no woman will marry a Cambal unless he has cut off a head; accordingly, in order to be married, he will cut one off, even though it be that of his own father when he finds the latter in the fields. If these had been given into slavery they would have been already reduced; but, although I have advised it many times in the Council, no measures for this have ever been taken. As the matter stands, they will never be pacified except by this means. The reason for this is that, if they were given into slavery, the Indians of Pampanga, with their great desire to hold slaves for the managing of their crops, would have reduced them. They do a great deal of damage, so much that no Indian dares go out alone to work in his field, because they kill him merely for the sake of cutting off his head. They live upon roots and fruit from the woods, and [280]have no houses, nor possessions, and go about naked. Toward the east this jurisdiction takes in all the island, and toward the west lies the sea. Several islands are joined to this jurisdiction, as are those of Lioban and Mindoro. In these are a number of trees resembling cinnamon [canela], which I have shown to our physicians, who say that it is the Cinamomo.19 Then there is the island of Marenduque, where there are mines of copper; and other islands, of little importance and sparsely peopled.

Northward from this jurisdiction begins the bishopric of Nueva Segovia, starting from the province of Pangasinan, where end the Combales and the province of Ilocos—wherein are situated the mountains of the Idolotes [sic], and where are so rich mines, as I have explained. They are all Christians. The Dominican religious minister to the province of Pangasinan, and the Augustinians to that of Ilocos. Farthest to the north lies the province of Nueva Segovia, which is administered by Dominican friars. These three provinces are very fertile and well peopled, and to the north of this district there are several islands called Vabuianos, where the Indians raise swine of remarkable size. Throughout the whole island [of Luzón] there are many wild swine. They are not fierce, like those in España, and accordingly are easily killed. There is a great number of large, fierce wild buffaloes. They are killed [281]with muskets, and on one occasion they were unable to bring down a buffalo with twelve musketshots. If the man who is shooting misses, and does not get quickly under cover, he will be killed. The Indians catch them as we do partridges here, and it is a remarkable thing, wherefore I shall now explain it. They make a very strong stockaded enclosure [corral], and on either side of the gate they move out, carrying with them palm leaves of a certain kind, touching one another. They keep spreading out the line until it is about a quarter of a legua long, more or less. When they find a herd, for the animals go many together, they frighten and follow them, and, driving them along, continue with shouts; and as they are running and striking with the said leaves, the buffaloes will not pass through the line of men if they are excited. Thus little by little they enter into the narrowest part until they are compelled to enter into the gate of the enclosure, which is then barred. There the Indians, by their devices, catch the animals one by one, tie them, and put them each one in a small enclosure of strong stakes so narrow that they cannot turn around, so that they have no chance to struggle. There they keep them without food for a fortnight, until they are so feeble and thin that they cannot stand. Then an Indian comes with a wisp of hay, and although angry, they needs must eat; and within twenty days they are so tame with the person who gives them food, that they let themselves be scratched. Iron rings are put in their noses, and they are led anywhere with a rope, like a beast of burden. I have seen one of these buffaloes with a negro who had fed him, seated on his head, and he played with the negro like a dog, but was a [282]lion for those whom he did not know. This jurisdiction is fifty leguas long on the sea side. The interior of the island remains unpacified, as it consists of the said mountains. The bishopric of Las Camarinas [sic] is the most easterly on this island, and extends more than sixty leguas, including several adjacent islands, such as Burias, Ticao, Capul, and Catanduanes. There are many nutmeg trees in this bishopric, the fruit of which no one gathers. There is in this province a spring from which flows hot water, and if anything is placed in it it turns to stone.20

The bishopric of Cibu has the largest jurisdiction, as it includes all the islands to the east, such as Leite, Babao, Maripi, Tinagon, Panaon, the island of Negros, and that of Oton. Westward are Cebuyan and Romblon; and to the south the island of Mindanao, which is almost as large as that of Luzon. There is in it a great deal of cinnamon, rich gold mines, and considerable civet; and so large a number of civet-cats that they do no more than catch them with snares, take the civet out and set them free again, and thus profit by them without furnishing them with food. There are many other islands, and from there to the Malucos it must be about eighty leguas. In all these islands there is collected a great deal of wax and honey, which is produced in the woods, and which, accordingly, the Indians do not cultivate. The bees are small and dark-colored, and do not live in the hollows of trees and rocks, but build their nests among the branches—using on them a dark, coarse wax, which is so strong that, even [283]though it rains hard, not a drop of water enters. So much is gathered there that not only are we all supplied cheaply, but there are sent to Nueva España, Japon, and China more than two thousand quintals each year. There are many deer, not so slender as are ours; and there are no other animals. There are many wood-fowl, smaller than ordinary ones, but more palata le; and which have breasts like partridges. There are in the forests certain shoots called bejucos, which they use as we do osiers here; but they are much better, some of them being as thick as one’s thumb, and even larger, and six or eight brazas long. When they are thirsty, the Indians cut off a braza, and a quartillo of fluid runs out of it, which is good and healthful. There are certain canes [i.e., bamboos], some of which are as thick as one’s thigh, and others smaller, and five or six brazas long; of these the poor Indians construct their houses, without other material—walls, floors, roofs, posts, and stairs.

There are certain palms which bear a fruit called cocoanuts (which are ordinarily brought to España from Guinea); these are such an aid to human life that from them, or rather from the cocoanuts, they obtain the commonest oil of that country, which is as excellent for wounds, even though they be deep ones, as that of aparicio. From this tree they obtain wine which is the common beverage of that country; strong vinegar, which is good for the table; and milk like that of almonds, to serve with rice, and which curdles like real milk. When it is soft the fruit is like green hazel-nuts in taste, and better; and there is a serum for many ills and infirmities, which is called whey, as it looks much like that of milk. It is there [284]called tuba. They make honey from this tree; also oakum with which to calk ships, which lasts in the water, when that from here would rot. Likewise they make rigging, which they call cayro; and they make an excellent match for arquebuses, which, without any other attention, is never extinguished. The shoots resemble wild artichokes while they are tender. There is a plant with leaves after the shape and fashion of the ivy, which is a certain species of pepper which they call buyo, the use of which is common throughout the whole archipelago; and it is so excellent a specific against ulcerated teeth that I do not remember ever having heard it said that any native suffered from them, nor do they need to have them pulled. It is a good stimulant for the stomach, and leaves a pleasant odor in the mouth.

There is a bird which they call tabon, a little larger than a partridge; and it buries its eggs, which are as large as goose eggs, to the number of eighty or a hundred, half an estado deep in the sand of the bays of the sea. They are all yolk, without any white, which is an indication of their great heat. Accordingly, the mother does not sit upon them, and they hatch, and the birds scratch their way out from the sand. When the bird has come out it is as large as a quail, and goes about picking up its food as other birds do after they are grown. I have seen this with my own eyes, and there must be other eyewitnesses of it in this court. So marvelous is the character of these birds. I pass over many other peculiarities for fear of tiring your Majesty.

There are many good and savory wild fruits there. The ordinary food in those islands is rice, as it is over all Asia and the neighboring islands; and I dare [285]assert that more people are supported in the world by rice than by wheat. There is a great deal of sugar, which is usually worth four reals the arroba, or less; and the Chinese bring so much rock sugar, which they call cande, that it is ordinarily worth eight reals an arroba, or less.

In that part of the island of Mindanao which faces the south, as I have said above, the Indians are rebellious; and it is they who have done, and still do, great damage to the others. They have taken up the doctrine of Mahoma and are friendly with the Dutch. As they have not been given into slavery, they are not pacified; and this is one of the most important matters there, and deserves the application of a remedy.

Chapter II. Of the ministers and religious instruction in the islands, and those who have been converted to our holy Catholic faith, and those who pay tribute. The island of Luzon, in the archbishopric and the two bishoprics, has fifty-nine encomiendas, and in that of Nueva Segovia, which is the most northerly, there are twenty-six; in that of Camarines, which is the most easterly of the islands, there are thirty—in all, one hundred and fifteen. In the bishopric of Cibù there are seventy-one, which make, in all, one hundred and eighty-six encomiendas of Indians. They comprise 130U938 tributarios in all; each tributario includes husband and wife, and thus at least four persons are reckoned, including children and slaves (as they have no others to serve them except slaves); there are, then, 523U752 Christians in these encomiendas. There are assigned to the royal [286]crown 33U516 tributarios, and the rest are assigned and granted to deserving soldiers. This is exclusive of the people who pay no tributes, that is, the chiefs. There are, in all these one hundred and eighty-six encomiendas, the same number of monasteries and churches. Some of them have two monasteries each as they are too large to be administered by two religious; ordinarily, to each one are assigned five hundred tributarios. There are other encomiendas which have one monastery between two of them. Averaging these, I suppose there are about three hundred and seventy-two priests, besides the laymen. In the city there are about eighty or ninety, in four monasteries—one of St. Dominic, another of St. Francis, another of St. Augustine, another of the Recollect Augustinians—and the cathedral. These places of worship have as handsome buildings as are those of the same class in España; and the whole city is built of cut-stone houses—almost all square, with entrance halls and modern patios [i.e., open courts]—and the streets are straight and well laid out; there are none in España so extensive, or with such buildings and fine appearance. The city has as many as five hundred houses; but, as these ate all, or nearly all, houses which would cost 20U or more ducados in this court, they occupy as much space as would a city of two thousand inhabitants here. For the wall, as measured by me, is 2U250 geometrical pasos in circumference, at five tercias for each paso, which makes three quarters of a legua.21 In all these islands [287]there are none unconverted except the Zambales, as I have said above, and those in the mountains where the mines are, and a few villages behind these same mountains, which are called the province of Ituri—so called because it was discovered by Don Luys Perez de las Marinas, in the time of his father, who sent him there. For lack of religious, the gospel has not been preached to them. They are a peaceable people, and make no opposition. In Nueva Segovia, which is under the charge of the Order of St. Dominic, there are some to be converted, who have not yet been settled peacefully, as they are warlike and restless Indians. On the contrary, they have rebelled several times; but it has always been on account of injuries which the Spaniards have inflicted upon them.

Chapter III. Of the islands of Maluco, and others adjacent to them; and of the spice and other articles that are contained in them. The Malucas Islands, commonly so called, where, of the spices, cloves are obtained, and so named from this drug,22 are five. They begin at that of Bachan, which is on the equinoctial line, and extend north and south. The farthest north is that of Terrenate, which is six or seven leguas in circumference. It consists entirely of a very high elevation, on the summit [288]of which is a volcano, which sends forth fire. In the medial region of this mountain they raise the clove-trees, which are like laurel trees, the leaves being a little narrower and longer. This island has five fortresses; the principal one is called Talangame, and another San Pedro. The Dutch have three: that of Malayo, which is the principal one; another called Tacome, and another Tolecò, which is of little importance.

The island of Tidore is distant about two leguas from this, and, although smaller, has about the same aspect. Your Majesty has a fort there, and the king of Tidore has another. The Dutch have two others, which they call Great and Little Mariaco. In the island of Motiel, farther south, the Dutch have a fort.

In that of Maquien there is a fort. Directly beyond this is another and smaller island, called Cayoa; and that of Bachan, with several others of little importance, lies near. To the east of all these islands is one called Vatachina, or Gilolo, lying two or three leguas from these—a very large island, where your Majesty has two forts. This island extends so far that it makes a strait with the island of Nueva Guinea on the eastern end, according to the relation of Fray Diego de Prado, of the Order of St. Basil, who, while he was a layman, coasted along this island on the southern side, of which nothing was then known. This is the largest island in the world, and was discovered from the northern side. It extends from the equinoctial line. No one has thus far examined what is in the interior, although it is known that it is well peopled, some of the natives being black, and some of the ordinary color of Indians. [289]There are indications of much wealth. More to the east, there are the islands of Salamon near by. The blacks are sold among the Indians, as in Guinea, and they have fairs at set times. The Indians buy these people to cultivate their lands. Beyond these Malucas Islands there are some to the southward, of little importance, as far as that of Ambueno, which is seventy leguas distant from them. The Dutch have a fort there, which they took from the Portuguese, and a port where abundance of cloves are gathered—which, transplanted from the Malucas, have grown in this island alone and in no other. Eighteen leguas farther east lies the island of Banda, where nutmeg is gathered; and the Dutch have another fortress there.

Westward from the Malucas Islands, about twenty leguas distant, is an island called Macasar. It is more than two hundred and fifty leguas around, and is very fertile and rich, being inhabited by the best people in those islands; their king is friendly, very peaceful, and glad to trade with the Spaniards. He used to receive the Dutch, and let them provide themselves from his country with provisions for all their forts. He does not now admit them, and has sent to ask for religious to preach the gospel; and two of the Society and two Dominicans have been sent to him. The friendship of this king is very important for the preservation of Maluco.

Next, farther to the west, lies the island of Borney. It is 400 leguas in circumference. On the side which faces the south the Dutch maintain trade, and through it they obtain the finest diamonds.

In Greater Java, which is the island that forms a narrow strait with that of Samatra, they have a [290]factory (without a fort), to which they bring the cloves and nutmeg and pepper which they buy there, which amounts to a large quantity. They trade there, and a few years ago the Javans drove them out. Since the English have become their allies, they are able to keep the natives in subjection, and are building a fortress.

They have other factories in the kingdom of Patan, at one of which they buy a great deal of pepper. Patan lies more to the north of the strait of Sincapura (which others call the strait of Malaca); and further north lies the kingdom of Sian, which is very rich in many kinds of merchandise, and in rubies. They have another factory there. In the kingdom of Cambosea [sic; sc. Camboja] they have another, and still another in Cochinchina. They are not allowed to enter China, but rather, on account of the robberies which they have perpetrated, they are held to be enemies of the country. In the islands of Japon they have another factory, from which they procure supplies and military stores, and which is of much importance to them. Of the other islands of this archipelago no mention is made, to avoid being prolix, although there are a great number of them.

Chapter IV. Wherein are considered the riches of the spice trade of these Malucas Islands and the others. These Malucas Islands give from year to year four thousand four hundred bares of cloves in clusters, which are called “selected,” according to the relation which is made and the information given by Don Juan de Silva, knight of the habit of Santiago, [291]when he governed the Filipinas Islands. Others say that there are eight thousand, and still others, six. The first statement is the most accurate, and agrees with another note made by Captain Gregorio de Vidaña, a citizen of Manila; he was a person very learned in manuscripts, who spent many years there, and sought to inquire into the matter out of curiosity.

Four thousand four hundred bares of cloves, each bare containing 640 libras, amount to 2,816,000 libras—which at one ducado, the price at which they are sold [in Europe] will bring the same number of ducados. All this can be bought for a hundred thousand ducados.23 It is not bought with money, but with cloth purchased in India and in China; and what in those countries costs ten is sold in the Malucas at fifty. This profit is at present possessed by the Dutch, who buy on the coast of Caramendel, and from the Chinese in Cochinchina and Java, whence they take the merchandise which they trade for cloves in Maluco. The nutmeg, according to Don Juan de Silva, is worth 500U ducados, when transported to these parts.

The cloves gathered in the island of Ambueno amount to a great deal, although I have no exact account of the quantity.

The pepper which is taken from Greater Java is much, although I do not know the exact quantity. They likewise have a factory and a treaty friendship with the king of Achen, in the island of Samatra, [292]where there is much merchandise. He is an enemy of ours, as well as he who attacked Malaca in the year 16, and burned a galleon of the four which were awaiting Don Juan de Silva. Soon afterward seven Dutch galleons arrived to aid him, and burned the other three. Malaca is a very important place, and it is very necessary that your Majesty should preserve it, as it is the passage to all the kingdoms and districts of that archipelago of San Laçaro, where there is so much wealth.

Chapter V. Of the expense incurred by your Majesty to maintain the fortified posts of Tidore and Terrenate in the Malucas Islands. I said in the second part of this relation that the reënforcements of money and men which are brought from Nueva España to the Filipinas were not to preserve those islands, but were occasioned by the war with the Dutch. I shall now set down here a memorandum of the expenses of those forts, without the many other requisites.

Relation of the salaries and expenses which your Majesty has to pay in the Malucas Islands

Pesos A warden and commander of the troops, with two thousand ducados of salary each year, which at eleven reals to the ducado, makes 2757 pesos, 2 tomins, and 9 granos 2U757[293] Seven captains of Spanish infantry, with 990 pesos of salary a year, amounting to. 6U930 Seven alferezes of these companies, with 412 pesos, 4 tomins of salary each per year. 2U887 Seven sergeants, with 206 pesos, 2 tomins, apiece each year, amounting to. 1U443 Fourteen drummers, at 171 pesos each per year, amounting to. 2U394 Seven fifers, at 165 pesos a year, amounting to. 1U155 Seven shield-bearers, at 103 pesos each, amounting to. 0U721 Seven standard-bearers, at 115 pesos per year each, amounting to. 0U815 Two adjutant sargentos-mayor, with 412 pesos, 4 tomins, each per year, amounting to. 0U825 A campaign captain, at 330 pesos of salary per year. 0U330 A captain of artillery, with a salary of 480 pesos per year. 0U480 A constable for land and sea, with 300 pesos per year. 0U300 Twenty artillerymen for land and sea, at 200 pesos each per year, amounting to. 4U000 There are continually 600 soldiers, and at times more, seldom less. These usually earn 115 pesos per year, amounting to 69U000 pesos. 69U000 Of this number 140 are musketeers, who get 36 pesos each per year beside their ordinary salary, amounting to 5040 pesos. 5U040 Thirty ducados of eleven reals each as [294]extra pay to each company each month, amounting to 2520 ducados, which makes 3465 pesos. 3U465 Twenty-eight squadron leaders, with three pesos of extra pay each month, amounting in a year to 1008 pesos. 1U008 One accountant of the royal exchequer, with a salary of 800 pesos per year, and 50 fanégas of cleaned rice. 0U800 One superintendent of supplies and munitions, with 500 pesos of salary and rations. 0U500 One secretary of mines and registries, who serves on a salary of a major official of the office of accounts, with 400 pesos; and one minor official with 150, which amount to. 0U550 Two secretaries, one of war and one of magazines, with 200 pesos apiece per year of salary, and rations for the magazines secretary. 0U400 One engineer and one surgeon, with 600 pesos each year, amounting to 1200 pesos. 1U200 Two Pampango captains, with 120 pesos; two ensigns, with 96 pesos; two sergeants, at 72 pesos; four drummers, two fifers, two shield-bearers, two standard-bearers, at 48 pesos each; and 200 soldiers, at 48 pesos of salary per year, amounting to 10717 pesos. 10U717 A Spanish smith, with a salary of 300 pesos per year, and one Indian with 48 pesos; another, with 42 pesos; ten others, with 30 pesos; one keeper of arquebuses with 42 pesos and all his rations, which will [295]be mentioned in their place, amounting in money to 732 pesos 0U732 Two Spanish carpenters and 20 Indians—the Spaniards with 300 pesos each per year, and the 20 Indians at 48 pesos and their rations—the money amounting to 1560 pesos 1U560 One Spanish stonecutter, with 300 pesos; and twelve Indians at 24 pesos, amounting yearly to 588 pesos 0U588 Two calkers and one cooper, Spaniards, at 300 pesos each per year, amounting to 900 pesos 0U900 A hundred Indian pioneers, at 48 pesos each per year and rations, amounting to 4800 pesos 4U800 An alguazil of the royal exchequer, at 150 pesos per year 0U150 Ten religious, of the Society of Jesus and the Order of St. Francis, and the vicar, at 100 pesos; and thirty fanégas of rice each, the money amounting to 1000 pesos 1U000 Commander, captains, pilot, masters, and other officials of the two galleys, besides rations, have each year in salaries 5643 pesos, 4 tomins 5U643 Four substitutes,24 who are about the person of the governor of those islands, at 30 ducados of eleven reals per month each, amounting each year to 1U980 Each year presents are taken to the king, his son, and the chiefs, worth 2000 pesos 2U000[296] The hospitals expend each year in medicines, food, cloth, and service more than 10000 pesos 10U000 There must be used powder, balls, iron, steel, pikes and boats for minor service, costing for their manufacture or construction more than 10000 pesos 10U000 The expenses of the vessels which bring reënforcements; the galleys which are kept there; the salaries of the captains, pilots, masters, officers, and sailors; the careening; and other smaller expenses for their construction and voyages, amount each year to more than 40000 pesos 40U000 A purveyor, who is present in the province of Pintados, earns each year 700 pesos of salary; and there are others—commissioners, a storekeeper, and a secretary—in all amounting to 1300 pesos per year 1U300 The rice, wine, meat, fish, vegetables, and other minor articles used by the persons who are supplied with rations—as are the sailors, artillerymen, carpenters, smiths, pioneers, commanders, and rowers of the galleys; the religious, and others—will amount in Terrenate to more than twenty thousand pesos per year 20U000 218U372

Beside what has been mentioned, attention must be given to what has been spent on the fleets which have been collected since the year one thousand six hundred and six, when Don Pedro de Acuña recovered [297]it—both in ships and on casting [of artillery], soldiers’ hire, and that which has been lost at different times, which has amounted to a large sum each year; and little or no income has been secured from the Malucas, for in nine years they have not brought in 20U pesos. This has been due to negligence; for if there had been a faithful administrator posted there, and his accounts had been audited, and affairs had been orderly and regular (as they are with the enemy), your Majesty might have secured [sufficient] profit to maintain those forces without expending anything from your royal exchequer, as you now do. The same argument applies from now on. On this account it is very important to your royal service either that correction be applied to this, or that some means be considered, which it does not appear to me expedient to place in this relation, to spare your Majesty so great an expense. When those islands are secure from the Dutch enemy, your Majesty will suffer no expense, and will be able to further the working of the above-mentioned mines which lie near Manila. From them, with the favor of God, so great wealth may be looked for as will suffice to clear your Majesty from debt, and this can be accomplished in no other way; for with the ordinary practice, which has prevailed thus far, there is no more hope than for a sick man declared past recovery, to whom the physicians give no remedies, and whom they declare to be at the end of his life.

1 Cf. the three documents (1619–20) by Coronel, on “Reforms needed in the Filipinas,” begun in Vol. XVIII, and concluded in this volume. Felipe III died on March 31, 1621, and was succeeded by his son, Felipe IV, to whom this “Memorial” is now addressed.

2 That is, “those who had come by a round-about way.”

3 Various MSS. by Alonso Sanchez are to be found in the archives of different countries, and will be mentioned in the bibliographical volume of this series.

4 See, however, Morga’s account of this in Vol. XV, pp. 79–92. See Morga also for a full account of the Camboja expeditions.

5 Thus in the original. A marginal pen correction in faded ink, in the copy from which we translate, reads 608. The Cedulario Indico, consisting of forty-one manuscript volumes of decrees, for the various parts of the Indias, which is preserved in the Archivo Historico Nacional in Madrid, contains a number of decrees of 1608 in regard to the ships from the Philippines.

6 The decree was of course granted by Felipe II, “your” being used merely as a set phrase to indicate the royal source of the decree.

7 See Vol. XVI, p. 60, note 31.

8 April 25, 1610, the fight with Wittert, q.v. Vol. XVII.

9 See an account of his voyage in Vol. XVII.

10 Thus in the original, but evidently an error for “Chinese.”

11 Cuatralbo: the commander of four galleys.

12 Translated: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein” (Ps. xxiv, v. 1).

13 In the margin is written, in an ancient hand: “For the singular veneration which the archduke of Borgoña showed to the most holy sacrament of the eucharist.”

14 Thus in the text (comprar); but the context would suggest that this was a slip for “sell.”

15 In this connection may be cited the following statement from Sawyer’s Inhabitants of the Philippines, p. 129: “The great wealth of the Archipelago is undoubtedly to be found in the development of its agriculture. Although the Central and Ilocan Mountains in Luzon and parts of Mindanao are rich in gold, it is the fertile land, the heavy rainfall and the solar heat, that must be utilized to permanently enrich the country. The land is there and the labour is there, and all that is wanting is capital, and a settled government … The sun, the rain, the soil, and the hardy Philippine farmer will do the rest—a population equal to that of Java could live in affluence in the Philippines.”

See also Sawyer’s remarks (pp. 145–152) on gold and gold-mining in the islands.

16 See the document, “Expeditions to Tuy,” at end of Vol. XIV.

17 The Augustinian Fray Miguel Garcia Serrano.

18 An ancient Spanish coin, which in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella was worth 14 reals 14 maravedis of silver; but its value varied in subsequent reigns. See the work of Fray Liciniano Saez, Monedas que corrian en Castilla durante el reynado del Sr. D. Enrique IV (published by the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, 1805), pp. 408–426.

19 In Spain the name cinamomo is popularly given to the Melia acedarak; but now in Manila that name is applied to a species of Lausonia, L. inermis. This latter grows in Arabia and Egypt, and is cultivated in Europe; it is there called alchena or alhena, and its root is employed as a cosmetic by the Turks, and a paste of its leaves, known as henna, is used by them to dye the teeth or hair. See Blanco’s Flora (ed. 1845), pp. 206, 241.

20 Probably referring to the springs at Jigabo, province of Albay, the waters of which carry in solution a gelatinous silica, which is quickly incrusted on any object placed therein. See Report of U.S. Philippine Commission, 1900, iii, p. 222.

21 The “geometrical pace” is, in English measure, roughly estimated at five feet; in Spanish measure, according to Los Rios’s reckoning—the tercia (or “third”), being one-third of a vara, is equivalent to 11.128 English inches—the geometrical pace would be 55.64 English inches. The length of the wall, accordingly, would be a little less than two English miles.

22 Of this name Crawfurd says (Dict. Indian Islands, p. 283): “The collective name, which the Portuguese write Maluca, and is correctly Maluka, is equally unknown, although said to be that of a place and people of the island of Gilolo. No such name is, at present, known to exist in that island … All that De Barros tells us of the name is, that it is a collective one for all the islands.” He cites (pp. 101, 102) various names for the clove that are current in the Indian islands, and some found in early writers but among them is none resembling Maluca.

23 See the detailed description of the clove tree, its product, the mode of gathering cloves, their properties, and the extent of the trade in this spice in Recueil des voiages Comp. des Indes Orientales, i, pp. 503–507. The price at which the Dutch bought cloves from the natives (in 1599) is there stated at fifty-four reals of eight. The extent of the crop is thus stated: “According to [278n]what the inhabitants of Ternate say, the Molucca Islands produce annually the following quantity of cloves: the islands of Ternate and Tidore, each 1,000 bares; Bassian Island, 2,000 bares; and Motier Island, 600 or 700 bares.” Crawfurd says (Dict. Indian Islands, p. 503): “In England, before the discovery of the passage by the Cape of Good Hope, a pound of cloves cost 30s., or 168l. per cwt.”

24 Spanish, entretenidos; persons who were performing certain duties, in hope of obtaining permanent positions, or waiting for vacancies to occur in certain posts.

[299]

Bibliographical Data The documents of the present volume are from various sources (all manuscript except No. 9). The following are from the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla:

1. Reforms needed—See Bibliographical Data, Vol. XVIII, No. 12.

2. Decrees ordering reforms of religious.—“Audiencia de Filipinas; registros de oficios y partes; reales ordenes dirigidas á las autoridades y particulares del distrito de la Audiencia; años 1605 á 1645; est. 105, caj. 2, leg. 12.”

3. Compulsory service.—“Simancas—Eclesiastico; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes de religiosos misioneros de Filipinas vistos en el Consejo; años 1617 á 1642; est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 38.”

4. Letter from Audiencia.—“Simancas—Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas cartas y expedientes del presidente y oydores de dicha Audiencia vistos en al Consejo; años 1607 á 1626; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 20.”

5. Letter from Fajardo.—“Simancas—Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes del gobernador de Filipinas vistos en el Consejo; años 1600 á 1628; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 7.”

The following are obtained from MSS. in the Real [300]Academia de la Historia, Madrid; all are in the collection “Papeles de los Jesuitas:”

6. Letter to Escovar.—“Tomo 129, num. 153.”

7. Relation of 1619–20.—“Tomo 112, num. 55.”

The following is from the Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid:

8. Letter to Fajardo.—“Cedulario Indico, tomo 38, folio 101, núm. 80.”

9. Memorial, y relacion para sv magestad (Madrid, 1621), by Hernando de los Rios Coronel.—This is translated and synopsized from the copy in the Library of Congress.[303]

Appendix: Buying and Selling Prices of Oriental Products [The first list of prices that follows is from a compilation by the procurator of the Philippines, Martin Castaños, and is taken from a relation of Governor Juan de Silva entitled:]

Relation of the importance of the Filipinas and Terrenate

The Malucas Islands yield from year to year four thousand four hundred bars of cloves. Each bar is six hundred and forty libras. If his Majesty would make himself master of this, as well as of the nutmeg and mace, and establish his factories—in Yndia, in Ormuz,1 for the nations who come from all Asia to trade for it; and in Lisboa, for Europa and the Yndias—it would be worth [from one year to another?] three million seven hundred pesos at the least, as I reckon it; because in India each libra of [304]cloves is worth at Ormuz one peso, and in Lisboa a greater sum, while in the West Yndias it is worth more than two pesos.2 Averaging them all together, it will be equivalent to ten reals per libra, which will amount to three million five hundred and twenty thousand pesos…. It will cost his Majesty to buy the cloves, in cloth, silks, and other things which the natives value, eighty thousand pesos; while the navigation and the pay of the factors will amount to one hundred and twenty thousand, all amounting to two hundred and thirty thousand pesos. Consequently, there will be a clear profit on the cloves of three million two hundred and ninety thousand pesos.

The nutmegs and mace when delivered in Europa cost the Dutch five hundred and twenty thousand pesos annually. The purchase, navigation, and [pay of] factors amount to one hundred and ten thousand pesos. Consequently, the net gain on the nutmeg and mace is four hundred and ten thousand pesos. That added to the profit of the cloves amounts to three million seven hundred thousand pesos.

His Majesty can make a profit of two millions annually on the silks of China in this way—that a ship of two hundred toneladas’ burden go each year [305]with the ships from Filipinas to Nueva España, with these silks, which cost the following prices.

One thousand picos of spun and raw silk of Changuei,3 each pico containing one hundred and thirty libras, and costing two hundred pesos, amount to two hundred thousand pesos.

Ten thousand pieces of Canton satin, at a cost of five pesos, amount to fifty thousand pesos.

Ten thousand pieces of damask, at four pesos, amount to forty thousand pesos.

Twenty thousand pieces of gorgoran, at a cost of one and one-half pesos, amount to thirty thousand pesos.

Thirty thousand varas of velvet in colors, at one-half peso, amount to fifteen thousand pesos.

These silks cost three hundred and thirty-five thousand pesos. They will, with the condescension of his Majesty, be taken to Perú (as is done, that other silks of China may not be taken from Nueva España), and are sold at Lima at the following prices.

Each libra of silk of the quality named in the first item, at fifteen pesos, the one thousand picos amounting to one million nine hundred and fifty thousand pesos.

Each piece of Canton satin at fifty pesos, the ten thousand pieces amounting to five hundred thousand pesos.

Each piece of damask at forty pesos, the ten thousand pieces amounting to four hundred thousand pesos.

Each piece of gorgoran at ten pesos, the twenty thousand pieces amounting to two hundred thousand pesos.[306]

Each vara of velvet at four pesos, the thirty thousand varas amounting to one hundred and twenty thousand pesos.

Taking from this amount the three hundred and thirty-five thousand pesos that those goods cost in China, and eight hundred and thirty-five thousand pesos for the cost of factors and of navigation, and whatever else their handling may cost, there is a net gain of two million pesos.

In that way his Majesty can obtain every year from Filipinas five million seven hundred thousand pesos net, after deducting the entire cost.

[The following list is from an undated memorial of probably the early seventeenth century which treats of the merchandise that the Portuguese were wont to take from China to Japan. The memorial first defines the value of certain coins and weights and measures.]

First, the tae is equivalent to a ducado of ten reals of gold or silver; a maz is equal to one of our reals. One maz is equivalent to ten conderins; each conderin being valued at six maravedis, is divided into ten caxes, each cax [i.e., cash] being a round brass coin half the size of a half cuarto4 pierced with four holes, and with certain characters around the edge. One hundred of them make one maz; and it is the only coin that is stamped with a die, for all the others circulate by weight.

Ranquel are ten pieces of plate or crockery-ware.

Pico is equivalent to one quintal, but has one arroba more than ours. Cate is a weight of twenty onzas.[307]

The ship of the Portuguese carries from five to six hundred picos of white untwisted silk. It costs at Canton eighty taes per pico delivered in Macan, and is sold in Xapon for one hundred and forty or one hundred and fifty taes.

Laden with retros (the fine red silk), of four or five hundred picos of all colors, at a cost of one hundred and forty taes, it is sold in Xapon at three hundred and seventy and sometimes four hundred taes.

The common assorted retros costs from fifty-five to sixty taes in Canton, according to its quality, and is sold in Xapon for one hundred taes.

The silk of the darca, of all colors, is worth forty taes in Canton, and is sold by the libra in Xapon at nine maçes per cate.

The said ship will also carry from one thousand seven hundred to two thousand pieces of a certain silk worked with birds, and other pictures done in silk and unwoven silver.5 Each piece is worth up to eleven maçes, and the fine ones up to fourteen. They have seven, eight, and nine gaxos, and they are sold in Xapon for about two and one-half or three taes apiece.

It will take three or four thousand taes of gold. The tae of common gold is worth about four or five maçes per tae, and it is sold in Xapon for seven taes and eight maçes.

Fine gold is worth in Canton six taes six maçes, and seven taes per tae of common gold. It is sold in Xapon for eight taes and three maçes.

Moreover, two picos of musk will be taken. It [308]costs eight reals per cate in Canton, and is sold in Xapon at fifteen and sixteen, according to its quality.

It will carry about five hundred picos of white lead. It costs at Canton two taes and seven maces per pico; and, delivered at Macan, three. It is sold in Xapon for six and one-half and seven taes. The Japanese use a considerable quantity of it…. It is brought refined from there and is carried by way of Yndia to Portugal, where each ba[r?] is worth six [maçes?] seven conderins.

The ship will carry, moreover, two hundred or three hundred picos of cotton thread. It costs seven taes per pico delivered in Macan, and is sold in Xapon for sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen.

It will carry three thousand çangalas [i.e., pieces of buckram], which are pieces of cotton, most of them white, while the rest are black and in colors. They cost various prices, the large pieces costing twenty-eight taes per hundred. It is sold in Xapon at fifty and fifty-four taes per hundred. These çangalas are made of cotton. Those from Lanquin [i.e., Nankin], which are half cotton and half raw silk, are worth one tae three maçes per piece of ten varas. Other smaller ones cost twelve taes per hundred in Canton, and are sold in Xapon for twenty-three and twenty-four. The red ones cost eight and one-half taes, and are sold for sixteen and seventeen taes.

The ship will carry one hundred and fifty or two hundred picos of quicksilver. It costs forty taes at Canton, and fifty-three delivered at Macan. It is sold in Xapon for ninety and ninety-two, and at times for less than ninety.

It will also carry two thousand picos of lead, at a cost of three taes per pico delivered in Macan. It is [309]sold in Xapon for six taes four maçes, and the money doubled.

It will also carry five or six hundred picos of tin. I do not remember its buying or its selling price.

It will carry besides five or six hundred picos of China-wood,6 at a cost per pico of one tae or twelve maçes. It is sold for four or five taes in Xapon, and the money doubled.

It will carry about two thousand ranquels of crockery-ware at the very least. These goods are bought in Canton at many prices, and the money doubled two or three times in Xapon.

It will carry one hundred picos of rhubarb, which costs two and one-half taes, and is sold for five, thus doubling the money.

It will also carry one hundred and fifty picos of licorice. It costs delivered in Macan three taes per pico, and is sold in Xapon for nine or ten taes per pico, thus tripling the money.

It will also carry about sixty or seventy picos of white sugar. It costs fifteen maçes per pico, and is sold in Xapon for three and four and one-half taes. However, little of it is used, and the Japanese prefer the black. The latter kind costs from four to six maçes in Macan, and is sold for four, five, or six taes per pico in Xapon. It forms an excellent merchandise, and the ship will carry one hundred and fifty or two hundred picos of it.

The captain of the ship will ask, for carrying the silk, ten per cent; and in order that the freight on [310]the remainder of the merchandise may not be raised, five hundred dead taes are given him, besides sixty picos sold at its value there per pico. That which is sold, and all the bulk of the silk that is unsold, and the five hundred taes are given him beforehand; while on the other merchandise mentioned above he is given ten per cent.

The said ship takes, on its return to Yndia, the aforesaid merchandise of loose white silk—one thousand picos at the abovesaid prices. They are sold in Yndia at about two hundred cruzados7 per pico.

It will carry about ten or twelve thousand pieces of silk damasks and taffetas of all shades, bought at different prices. The common price of the fine pieces of damask is five taes, and the very fine, six and seven; and the pieces are four varas long. There are also some at four taes. These damasks are also sold at various prices. The greater part of them are sold among the natives. The same is to be said of the pieces of taffeta as to their purchase and sale.

It will carry three or four picos of gold, bought in the manner aforesaid. A profit of eighty or ninety per cent is also made on this among the natives.

It will carry five or six hundred picos of wrought and unwrought brass. The money invested in this is doubled. It is used among the natives.

It will carry six or seven picos of musk, which is used by the people of the country. The money will be gained once and a half over.

It will carry one hundred picos of quicksilver, which will gain seventy or eighty per cent.

It will carry five hundred picos of vermilion, which will gain as much as the quicksilver.[311]

It will carry two or three [hundred?] picos of sugar, and the money will be gained once and a half over.

It will carry one or two thousand picos of China-wood, the money invested for which will be increased two or three times.

It will carry two thousand picos of brass bracelets, which cost five taes six maçes, and seven taes per pico delivered in Machan. The money is doubled. They are used in Bengala.

It will carry about two hundred picos of camphor, which goes to Portugal.

It carries a considerable quantity of earthenware of all sorts. The money is gained once and a half over.

It carries a great number of gilded beds, tables, and writing desks.

Much fine colored unwoven silk. It costs eighteen and nineteen maçes and two taes per cate. Some of the gilded beds are generally sold for three or four hundred cruzados. It carries many coverlets worked on frames; canopies, bed-curtains, and hangings; short cloaks of the same handiwork, made by the same Chinese; besides other trifles, and many gold chains exquisitely wrought.

The Portuguese pay duties at Malaca of seven and one-half per cent on the merchandise which they carry from China, without selling or unloading anything in that city.

They pay two or three thousand cruzados at Zeylao [i.e., Ceylon] for the support of the garrison [312]stationed there. For that purpose two or three fustas go to the ship and take it, in spite of itself, to the port, whence it does not sail until it pays that sum. The reason given by the captain of that fort is, that the viceroy of Goa discounts that money from the duties. The same is done with the ships which come from Bengala, as well as from all other parts from which it is necessary to pass that island (which is the island for cinnamon) in order to get to Goa. They pay eight and one-half per cent at Goa, both for entrance and for clearance; and the same is true at Malaca, going and coming to [India?] But they do not pay in [Macan?] because they return thither.

When the ship sails from Goa to China, it carries silver in money and in wrought pieces (as I saw), of these two or three thousand; ivory, velvet from España and other places, and fine scarlet cloth [grana]; one hundred and fifty or two hundred pipes of wine; about six other pipes of oil; also olives, and capers. One is surprised at the cheapness of these things in Machan since they are brought from España to Goa, and thence to China, a distance of more than one thousand leguas. What most surprised me was to see that a cuarto of wine is worth one real, which is about its worth in Lisboa. A jar of oil at eight or ten reals, or at the most twelve, is worth at Machan when it comes from España five, six, or eight pesos per botija, counting eight reals to the peso. A cuartillo of wine at four reals, is sold at little or nothing. The Portuguese say that they do not care to make their principal good in China, but to invest in China, as their interest lies in the investment.

Ivory is sold to the Chinese at fifty taes per pico for the white and even ivory. It is understood that this [313]must be in exchange for other merchandise, and not for money or silver; for silver that enters China does not go out again except in merchandise.

Velvet costs six or seven cruzados per codo in Goa. The codo is a palmo less than our vara. It is sold among the Portuguese at Machan for seven or eight taes, according to its quality.

Grana costs five or six cruzados per codo at Goa, and even seven and eight.

A pipe of wine is generally worth forty or fifty cruzados at Goa, and the fine and good wines ninety-five. However, the latter is not taken to China; and that of the first-named price is sold in Machan, where it is worth eighty or ninety cruzados per pipe.

One million of gold and upward enters China yearly through the Portuguese alone.

The Portuguese pay anchorage at Machan according to the beam and length of their ships, and whether they enter light or laden. The length is measured from the mizzenmast to the bow, and the beam from edge to edge. According as the ship is larger or smaller it pays. The [standard of] measure is one caña, and so much is paid for each measure. Consequently, a ship of three hundred toneladas will pay three or four thousand taes of silver. The Portuguese formerly paid the said anchorage in brasil-wood and in other merchandise which they carried; but for two or three years past they have had to pay it in silver. They do not like that as well as the other method. If, perchance, the ships have to lay up for the winter, even if they are the ships of the inhabitants of Machan themselves, they have to pay without any remission.[314]

Memorandum of the retail selling prices of wares in Canton

The tae of fine gold is equivalent to seven of silver. One cate of musk is sold for eight taes. Raw silk at eight taes per pico. The contrary kind, or twisted silk [sirguin], which is the best of the country, one hundred taes per pico. Good pieces of damask, seven taes; a piece contains fourteen varas. Other pieces of common silk, ten varas for one tae three maçes. Vermilion, forty taes per pico. Copper, seven and eight taes [per pico]. Quicksilver, forty taes per pico. Herd-bells, eight maçes per pico. White lead, two and one-half and three taes per pico. Cotton, eight taes per pico. Fine powdered vermilion, seventy maçes per cate. One ranquel of fine porcelain, one tae two maçes; fine dishes, fifteen maçes per ranquel. Large fine dishes, five maçes apiece. Medium quality earthenware is worth one and one-half maçes per ranquel, both chinaware [porcelana] and dishes. Fine pieces of taffeta of all colors, from Lanquin, each piece containing about twelve codos, are worth two and one-half and three taes. Large pieces of certain damasks, which contain sixteen varas, are worth twelve taes at the least and fifteen at the most. Common earthenware is worth less than one real per ranquel, either dishes or jars. Wheat is worth four maces per pico, and eight in flour. Rice is worth three and one-half and four maçes per pico. One cow is worth four taes in Macan. One pico of flour, delivered in Macan, one tae two maçes. Pork is worth two taes in Macan and one and one-half taes in Canton, per pico. Fowls, two taes per pico. One pico of salt fish, two taes and more—or less, according to the fish. Two cates of fresh fish, one conderin. [315]One pico of sugar, two taes, or, at the least, one and one-half taes. One pico of the finest iron, which resembles a manteca8 is worth two taes, and in nails two and one-half, and three taes. One pico of Chinese camphor is worth ten taes. One pico of cinnamon, three taes. Rhubarb, at two, two and one-half, and three taes; and there is an infinite amount of it in China. Pieces of thin, fine silk, which contain about twenty varas, arc worth three and one-half and four taes. Red silk headdresses for women, four and five maçes apiece. One pico of licorice, two and one-half taes. One pico of China-wood, at eight maçes, and one tae.

The merchandise brought by the Portuguese in their ships from the districts where they trade and traffic is as follows.

First, they carry from Malaca to Goa a great quantity of cloves, nutmeg, and mace; also tin—which is the finest that is obtained from those parts, and which they also carry to China, for the tin of that country is not so fine. They carry tortoise-shell and many pearls.

From Zeylao, a great quantity of cinnamon, the finest of diamonds, and other precious gems.

From Bengala, abundance of very fine cotton; quantities of sugar and rock sulphur; and a quantity of rice—for which, if it were not for Bengala, Yndia would suffer.

From Moçambique, ivory and brasil-wood.

From Ormuz, which is in Persia, they bring excellent horses, and very fine carpets; many larins,9 [316]each one a trifle smaller than one of our reals; many clusters of dates; camlets,10 and many agras; and benecianos,11 each of which is worth about one of our escudos of eleven reals.

From the kingdom of Pegu, they carry a quantity of fine lac in loaves, and other things.

From Siam, excellent silver, and arquebus-balls; much and very fine benzoin; almond cakes; a quantity [317]of oil of ginger, and of cocoa, and brasil-wood; lead; and a quantity of rice.

From Conchinchina, aguila-wood,12 and another wood called calambac,13 which is very valuable. It is black and contains oil, and is worth fifty cruzados among the Portuguese; while in its own kingdom, it passes weight for weight with silver. [The ship also carries] lead, pepper, and some yellow silk.

From the kingdom of Champa is brought the abovesaid wood, and it is even finer than that of Conchinchina. They carry another kind of black wood from which the Chinese make certain little sticks one cuarto [i.e., one-fourth vára?] long with which they eat. This kingdom has nothing else [to trade].

From Cambay, they bring the finest incense that [318]those districts furnish. It is worth three taes per pico. They bring it from Far, which is Arabia the Blest [la Felice], and also from the island of Samatra, which the Portuguese call by another name Dachen.

From Timor, white sandal wood, which grows in no other part, while they bring the red from Santo Tome.

From Borney they bring camphor, which is the best which is usually found. It passes in its own kingdom weight for weight with silver. They also bring a great quantity of wood of the same tree for tables and writing desks, and it is very beautiful and sweet-smelling.

From the islands of Ternate, Tidore, and three or four others, the spice of the clove.

From the island of Banda, and from other islands, nutmeg and mace. From the same island they bring certain very beautiful birds which have no feet or claws. They have a very long tail with very beautiful feathers, and resemble young herons.

From Xapon a great quantity of silver; [abundance?] of tunny-fish; certain catans (which resemble cutlasses, and are very large), and daggers wrought very richly in gold; and other things.

From Sunda and many other places they bring various other articles. The Spaniards take from the Philipinas many pieces of cotton of very fine quality, and many pieces of various-colored damask; all kinds of taffeta, in greater or less quantity; much spun and loose silk of all colors; a great quantity of earthenware—which, together with the silk, is all brought to Manila by the Chinese themselves, who also bring a great amount of gold, wrought and unwrought, and [319]of different carats. The following are the names of the gold in the Philipinas and their carats: first, gold of ariseis, of twenty-three carats three granos, and worth per tae in the said islands, nine eight-real pesos; gold of guinogulan, of twenty carats, worth seven pesos; gold of orejeras, of eighteen or nineteen carats, and worth five and one-half pesos per tae; gold of linguin, of fourteen or fourteen and one-half carats, and worth four or four and one-half pesos; gold of bislin, of nine or nine and one-half carats, and worth three pesos; gold of malubay, of six or six and one-half carats, and worth one and one-half and two pesos.14

1 The ancient city of Ormuz was on the mainland, but was removed to the opposite island, Jerún, because of repeated Tartar attacks. Its fame almost rivaled that of Venice from the end of the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. It was owned by the Portuguese during 1507–1622, when it was taken by Shah Abbas, with the aid of the English East India Company. It was next to Goa the richest of Portuguese possessions. See Voyage of Pyrard de Laval (Hakluyt Society’s publications, London, 1888), ii, p. 238, notes 1 and 2.

2 The editors of Voyage of Pyrard de Laval (ii, p. 357, note) say of the clove: “It is curious that this spice seems not to have been known to the Romans, nor to any Europeans till the discovery of the Moluccas by the Portuguese.” Duarte Barbosa, in East Africa and Malabar (Stanley’s trans., Hakluyt Society edition, London, 1866), pp. 219–220, quotes cloves from Maluco as worth per bahar in Calicut 500 and 600 fanoes; and, when clean of husks and sticks, 700 fanoes, 19 fanoes being paid as export duty. At Maluco they were worth from one to two ducats per bahar, and in Malacca as much as fourteen. Captain John Saris (see Satow’s edition of Voyage of Capt. John Saris, Hakluyt Society publications, p. 33) bought cloves for “60 rials of 8 per Bahar of 200 Cattyes.”

3 See Satow’s Voyage of Capt. John Saris, ut supra, pp. 224, 225, 228, 229, for names and prices of various kinds of silks.

4 Cuarto: a copper coin worth four maravedis.

5 Saris (Voyage, pp. 216, 225) mentions the following Chinese goods: “Veluet Hangings imbroydered with gold, eighteene Rialls; vpon Sattins, fourteene Rials.” “Imbrodered Hangings, called Poey, the best ten Rials the piece.”

6 Spanish, palo de China; also known as “China root;” the root of Smilax china. It is not now used, but formerly had great repute for the cure of venereal diseases as well as for gout. Linschoten has a long account of its virtues and mode of use, in Voyage (Hakluyt Society’s edition), ii, pp. 107–112; see also i, p. 239. Cf. Pyrard de Laval’s Voyage, i, p. 182.

7 The cruzado was an old coin of Castilla and Portugal. The [295n]Castilian coin was of gold, silver, or copper, and of different values. The Portuguese coin, evidently the one of our text, was worth ten reals de vellon in Spain. See Dicc. nacional … de la lengua Española (Madrid, 1878).

8 So in the copy which we follow. Literally translated this is “butter,” which causes doubt as to the correctness of the copy.

9 The larin was a silver coin that takes its name from the city [300n]of Lar in Persia. It has been current in a number of eastern countries and districts, among them Persia, the Maldives, Goa, and the Malabar coast, Ceylon, and Kandy. It has gone out of circulation, although the name is preserved in certain copper coins at the Maldives. The ancient coin was of various shapes, that of the Maldives being about as long as the finger and double, having Arabic characters stamped on it; that of Ceylon resembled a fishhook: those of Kandy are described as a piece of silver wire rolled up like a wax taper. When a person wishes to make a purchase, he cuts off as much of this silver as is equal in value to the price of the article. Its probably first mention by an European writer occurs in the Lembranças das Cousas de India (Subsidios iii, 53), in 1525, where the following table is given: 2 fules = 1 dinar; 12 dinars = 1 tanga; 3 tangas 10 dinars = 1 new larin; 3 tangas 9 dinars = 1 old larin. At Cambaye (p. 38) 1 tanga larin = 60 reis, and 45 larins weighed 1 Portuguese marco, or 50 grammes. Antonio Nunes (1554) in his Livro dos Pesos, says: “At the port of Bengala, 80 couries = 1 pone; 48 pones = 1 larin. The Portuguese marco of the time of João III, being equivalent to 2,500 reis, would make the larin worth 51,012 reis.” Davy says that the larin of Kandy was worth about 7d. in English currency. For detailed information about the larin, see Voyage of Pyrard de Laval, ut supra, i, p. 232 and note 2; and ii, p. 68.

10 “Next, many watered camlets of Persia and Ormus, of all colours, made of the wool of large sheep that have not curled fleeces like ours. Of it they make also good store of cloaks and capes, called by the Indians Mansans, and by the Portuguese ‘Ormus cambalis;’ they are made of the same wool, in bands of different colours, each four inches wide. Everyone takes these to sea for a protection from the rain. The tissue is the same as of cloth.” It was called “camlet,” because made originally of camel’s hair. See ut supra, ii, p. 240.

11 The Venetian sequin, worth about 50 sols, which was silver money and circulated at Goa. See ut supra, ii, p. 69.

12 Crawfurd (Dict. Indian Islands) says that this is the eagle-wood of commerce. Its name in Malay and Javanese is kalambak or kalambah, but it is also known in these languages by that of gahru, or kayu-gahru, gahru-wood, a corruption of the Sanscrit Agharu. This sweet-scented wood has been used immemorially as an incense throughout eastern countries, and was early introduced into Europe by the Portuguese. The perfumed wood is evidently the result of a disease in the tree, produced by the thickening of the sap into a gum or resin. The tree is confused with the aloes, but properly speaking has no connection with that tree; and the word agila has been wrongly translated into “eagle” [see above “aguila”]. The tree probably belongs to the order of Leguminosæ. The best perfumed or diseased wood is found in the mountainous country to the east of the Gulf of Siam, including Camboja and Cochinchina. Castenheda says that at Campar, on the eastern side of Sumatra, are “forests which yield aloes-wood, called in India Calambuco (kalambak). The trees which produce it are large, and when they are old they are cut down and the aloes-wood taken from them, which is the heart of the tree, and the outer part is agila. Both these woods are of great price, but especially the Calambuco, which is rubbed in the hands, yielding an agreeable fragrance; the agila does so when burned.” See Crawfurd, ut supra, pp. 6, 7, and Yule’s Cathay, ii, p. 472, note 1.

13 Calambac: the kalambac, or normal form of the wood called agila, is evidently meant here; see preceding note.

14 See Vol. IV, pp. 99, 100.

All the old books of voyages of eastern countries contain much on the buying and selling prices of various commodities. See especially the notable Hakluyt Society publications.