The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume
XVIII, 1617-1620, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume XVIII, 1617-1620 Explorations By Early Navigators, Descriptions Of The Islands And Their Peoples, Their History And Records Of The Catholic Missions, As Related In Contemporaneous Books And Manuscripts, Showing The Political, Economic, Commercial And Religious Conditions Of Those Islands From Their Earliest Relations With European Nations To The Close Of The Nineteenth Century
Author: Various
Editor: E. H. Blair and James Alexander Robertson; Historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne
Release Date: April 6, 2005 [EBook #15564]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898
Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century,
Volume XVIII, 1617-1620

Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson with historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XVIII
Preface 9 Documents of 1617-1618
Letter to Felipe III. Andr��s de Alcaraz; Manila, August 10, 1617. 31 Trade between Nueva Espa?a and the Far East. [Unsigned and undated; _ca._ 1617]. 57 Events in the Filipinas Islands, 1617-18 [Unsigned; Manila], June, 1618. 65 Description of the Philippinas Islands. [Unsigned]; Manila, 1618. 93 Dutch factories and posts in the Orient. [Pedro de Heredia]; [1618?]. 107 Memorial regarding Manila hospital. [Unsigned]; Manila, 1618. 112 Letter to Felipe III. Alonso Fajardo de Tenza; Cavite, August 10, 1618. 116 Letters to Fajardo. Felipe III; Madrid, December 19, 1618. 150 Filipinas menaced by Dutch. Joan de Ribera, S.J.; Manila, December 20, 1618. 161
Documents of 1619-1620
Philippine ships and shipbuilding. Sebastian de Pineda; [Mexico? 1619]. 169 Royal decree regarding religious expelled from their orders. Felipe III; Madrid, February 19, 1619. 189 Proposal to destroy Macao. Diego Aduarte, O.P.; [Madrid? 1619]. 194 Relation of events in the Filipinas Islands, 1618-19. [Unsigned]; Manila, July 12, 1619. 204 Letter to Felipe III. Pedro de Arce; Manila, July 30, 1619. 235 Letter to Felipe III. Alonso Fajardo de Tenza; Manila, August 10, 1619. 247 Grant to seminary of Santa Potenciana. Juan O?ez, and others; Manila, 1617-19. 282 Reforms needed in Filipinas (to be concluded). Hernando de los Rios Coronel; [Madrid?], 1619-20. 289
Bibliographical Data. 345

ILLUSTRATIONS
Plan of the city of Goa and its environs; photographic facsimile of engraving in Bellin's Petit atlas maritime ([Paris], 1764), no. 29, from copy in library of Wisconsin Historical Society. 199 View of the city of Manila; photographic facsimile of engraving in Spilbergen and Le Maire's _Speculum orientalis occidentalisque Indi? navigationum_ (French edition, 1621), no. 18, facing p. 86, from copy in Library of Congress. 225 Autograph signature of Fernando de Los Rios; photographic facsimile from original MS. in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla. 343

PREFACE
The scope of the present volume extends from 1617 to 1620. The islands are still ravaged at intervals by the Moro pirates from the southern part of the archipelago. Even worse are the losses to the commerce of the islands inflicted by the Dutch; their ships infest the seas about Luz��n, and those of the Moluccas, in which region they are steadily and even rapidly gaining foothold, and securing the best commerce of those lands. Corruption in the management of the Spanish interests in the Spice Islands renders them an expensive and embarrassing possession; and the new governor, Fajardo, finds the same influence at work in the Spanish colony itself, especially among the auditors and other high officials. The colonial treasury is, as usual, short of funds, and can do little to defend the islands from the Dutch; the Madrid government is unwilling to spend much more on the Philippines, although beset with importunities to save that colony, and Spanish commerce generally, from the insolent Dutch. The usual building of ships in the islands has so harrassed and exhausted the unfortunate natives that it is necessary to have ships built for the Philippines in India and other countries where timber and labor are more abundant. The trade of the colony with China is the object of much discussion, and proposals are again made to restrict it, as well as that with Nueva Espa?a, in order to protect the commercial interests of the mother-country. In the final document is a detailed statement, in vigorous language, of the abuses current in the administration of the islands--arbitrary and