The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes | Page 3

of Tordesillas, negotiated between Spain and Portugal on June 7, 1494, and approved by Julius?II, in 1506, this line was drawn three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape de Verde Islands.
[Faulty Spanish and Portuguese geography.] At that time Spanish and Portuguese geographers reckoned seventeen and one-half leagues to a degree on the equator. In the latitude of the Cape de Verde Islands, three hundred and seventy leagues made 21° 55'. If to this we add the longitudinal difference between the westernmost point of the group and Cadiz, a difference of 18° 48', we get 40° 43' west, and 139° 17' east from Cadiz (in round numbers 47° west and 133° east), as the limits of the Spanish hemisphere. At that time, however, the existing means for such calculations were entirely insufficient.
[Extravagant Spanish claims thru ignorance.] The latitude was measured with imperfect astrolabes, or wooden quadrants, and calculated from very deficient tables; the variation of the compass, moreover, was almost unknown, as well as the use of the log. [8] Both method and instruments were wanting for useful longitudinal calculations. It was under these circumstances that the Spaniards attempted, at Badajoz, to prove to the protesting Portuguese that the eastern boundary line intersected the mouths of the Ganges, and proceeded to lay claim to the possession of the Spice Islands.
[Spain's error in calculation.] The eastern boundary should, in reality, have been drawn 46 1/2° further to the east, that is to say, as much further as it is from Berlin to the coast of Labrador, or to the lesser Altai; for, in the latitude of Calcutta 46 1/2° are equivalent to two thousand five hundred and seventy-five nautical miles. Albo's log-book gives the difference in longitude between the most eastern islands of the Archipelago and Cape Fermoso (Magellan's Straits), as 106° 30', while in reality it amounts to 159° 85'.
[Moluccan rights sold to Portugal.] The disputes between the Spaniards and the Portuguese, occasioned by the uncertainty of the eastern boundary--Portugal had already founded a settlement in the Spice Islands--were set at rest by an agreement made in 1529, in which Charles V. abandoned his pretended rights to the Moluccas in favor of Portugal, for the sum of 350,000 ducats. The Philippines, at that time, were of no value.
* * * * *
[Foreign mail facilities.] The distance from Manila to Hongkong is six hundred fifty nautical miles, and the course is almost exactly south-east. The mail steamer running between the two ports makes the trip in from three to four days. This allows of a fortnightly postal communication between the colony and the rest of the world. [9]
[Slight share in world commerce.] This small steamer is the only thing to remind an observer at Hongkong, a port thronged with the ships of all nations, that an island so specially favored in conditions and fertility lies in such close proximity.
[Little commerce with Spain.] Although the Philippines belong to Spain, there is but little commerce between the two countries. Once the tie which bound them was so close that Manila was wont to celebrate the arrival of the Spanish mail with Te Deums and bell-ringing, in honor of the successful achievement of so stupendous a journey. Until Portugal fell to Spain, the road round Africa to the Philippines was not open to Spanish vessels. The condition of the overland route is sufficiently shown by the fact that two Augustinian monks who, in 1603, were entrusted with an important message for the king, and who chose the direct line through Goa, Turkey, and Italy, needed three years for reaching Madrid. [10]
[Former Spanish ships mainly carried foreign goods.] The trade by Spanish ships, which the merchants were compelled to patronize in order to avoid paying an additional customs tax, in spite of the protective duties for Spanish products, was almost exclusively in foreign goods to the colony and returning the products of the latter for foreign ports. The traffic with Spain was limited to the conveyance of officials, priests, and their usual necessaries, such as provisions, wine and other liquors; and, except a few French novels, some atrociously dull books, histories of saints, and similar works.
[Manila's fine bay.] The Bay of Manila is large enough to contain the united fleets of Europe; it has the reputation of being one of the finest in the world. The aspect of the coast, however, to a stranger arriving, as did the author, at the close of the dry season, falls short of the lively descriptions of some travellers. The circular bay, one hundred twenty nautical miles in circumference, the waters of which wash the shores of five different provinces, is fringed in the neighborhood of Manila by a level coast, behind which rises an equally flat table land. The scanty vegetation in the foreground, consisting chiefly of