in 1567 by two hundred soldiers, and from time to time by similar small contingents of troops and monks, by a combination of tact, resourcefulness, and courage he won over the natives, repelled the Portuguese and laid such foundations that the changes of the next thirty years constitute one of the most surprising revolutions in the annals of colonization. A most brilliant exploit was that of Legaspi's grandson, Juan de Salcedo, a youth of twenty-two who with forty-five men explored northern Luzon, covering the present provinces of Zambales, Pangasinán, La Union, Ilocos, and the coast of Cagayán, and secured submission of the people to Spanish rule.[1] Well might his associates hold him "unlucky because fortune had placed him where oblivion must needs bury the most valiant deeds that a knight ever wrought."[2] Nor less deserving of distinction than Legaspi and his heroic grandson was Friar Andrés de Urdaneta the veteran navigator whose natural abilities and extensive knowledge of the eastern seas stood his commander in good stead at every point and most effectively contributed to the success of the expedition. Nor should the work of the Friars be ignored. Inspired by apostolic zeal, reinforced by the glowing enthusiasm of the Catholic Reaction, gifted and tire-
- ↑ Montero y Vidal, i., pp. 41–42.
- ↑ Juan de Grijalva. From W. E. Retana's extracts from his Cronica de la Orden de N. P. S. Augustin en las provincias de la Nueva España, etc. (1533–1592) in Retana's edition of Zúñiga's Estadismo de las Islas Filipinas, ii. p. 219 ff. Juan de Salcedo after being promoted to the high rank of Maestre de Campo (an independent command) died suddenly in 1576 at the age of twenty-seven. Far from amassing wealth in his career he died poor. In his will he provided that after the payment of his debts the residue of his property should be given to certain Indians of his encomienda. Ibid., p. 615.
