The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803/Volume 3/Relation of the discoveries
RELATION OF THE DISCOVERIES OF
THE MALUCOS AND PHILIPPINAS,
AND VARIOUS NEGOTIATIONS CONCERNING THEM
From what may be gathered in the said account and various agreements concerning the navigation, discovery, and commerce of the Western Islands, especially those of Maluco, Philippinas, and Çubu, we must assume that the discovery of the Yndias was begun by order of the Catholic Sovereigns, in the year ninety-two, and on the second of May of the following year, ninety-three.
The supreme pontiff, Alexander the Sixth, granted to the Catholic Sovereigns of Castilla and Leon, and to their successors, the navigation of the Yndias, with all the privileges, favors, indulgences, and prerogatives which had been granted to the kings of Portugal in respect to the Yndias of Guinea, part of Affrica, and other Yndias which they might conquer. This is contained more fully in the bull of concession, an authentic copy of which is to be found in the Archives of Simancas. On the third of the said month and year, the same supreme pontiff made a concession to the Catholic Sovereigns of Castilla and Leon, and their successors, of all the Yndias in general, the islands and mainlands which had been discovered or should be discovered in the limitless future, drawing a line from pole to pole, one hundred leagues west of the Açores and Cabo Verde islands. All land already discovered and to be discovered, found west and south of this line (being not actually occupied by any Christian prince before Christmas and the beginning of the year one thousand four hundred and ninety-three)[1] was to be the navigation and discovery of the kings of Castilla, and was to come under their kingdom, seigniory, and jurisdiction. He who passed this line without permission would incur blame and punishment, as is more fully shown in the original bull, which is sealed with lead and deposited in the Archives of Simancas, and dated at Rome on the fourth of May of the said year.
On the twenty-sixth of September of the said year one thousand four hundred and ninety-three, the same supreme pontiff conceded to the Catholic Sovereigns, and their successors, besides the general concession of the Yndias, whatever conquest they might make in their name in the eastern, western, and southern islands, "provided they be not occupied by any other," etc., as is more fully shown in the original bull given in Rome on the sixth of October of the same year, and deposited in the Archives at Simancas.
These concessions made to the Catholic Sovereigns of Castilla and Leon and their successors, as well as that made to the Kings of Portogal, respecting the navigation of the East Indies, caused and still cause dispute and controversy between the kings of Castilla and those of Portugal, concerning the boundaries which should separate their navigation and discovery—the limit and bound which is to be drawn from pole to pole on this side of our hemisphere, and concerning the other bound and meridian line which is to be drawn in the hemisphere corresponding to the upper one.
Differences have existed and still exist between the kings concerning the line of demarcation which was to be drawn between their respective navigations and discoveries in this our hemisphere. The kings of Castilla claim that it was to be drawn according to the papal concession, one hundred leagues west of the islands of Açores and Cabo Verde; the kings of Portogal claim that it was to be drawn farther west, so that their side of the demarcation might include most of the coast of Brasil, and of that Tierra Firme[2] adjoining it. They agreed to settle this controversy, and the kings of Castilla consented to have the line of demarcation drawn two hundred and seventy leagues farther west than the line decreed in the bull of concession, as is set forth in a deed of agreement.
(In the original instrument, drawn on paper, the said year, in the presence of Fernand Alvarez of Toledo, secretary of the Catholic Sovereigns, and in the presence of Estevan Vaes, secretary of the king of Portogal, is found a confirmation by the Catholic Sovereigns. The said instrument, drawn on parchment, in Arevalo, on the second of July, 1495, is fully signed by the Sovereigns. The signature of the prince is found below. The instrument is counter-signed by the said secretary. The seal was removed, but the cord to which it was attached remains. The confirmation of the said instrument of Tordesillas by King Don Joan of Portogal is attested by a contract written on five pages of parchment, signed by the king, and countersigned by Martyn de Veyra. The confirmation was given in Ebora on February 27, 1525.)
[It] practically reads that on the seventh of June, one thousand four hundred and ninety-four, the attorneys of the Catholic Sovereigns and of the king of Portogal empowered by their masters met in Tordesillas, and drew up the said instrument. The agreement reached was that a line or meridian was to be drawn from the Arctic to the Antarctic pole, three hundred and seventy leagues west of the islands of Cabo Verde. Everything west of the said line or meridian was to belong to the kings of Castilla, and that east was to be the navigation, discovery, and conquest of the kings of Portogal. The sea of the king of Portogal was open for navigation to the kings of Castilla, with the understanding that the latter should follow their course without any deviation. Whatever should be found up to the twentieth of the said month of June in the first two hundred and fifty leagues of the three hundred and seventy, was to belong to the kings of Portogal; and that which should be found in the remaining hundred and twenty leagues was to belong to the king of Castilla.
Item, both parties agreed to send within ten months an equal number of ships, pilots, astrologers, and sailors to mark out the said line of demarcation.
It is not specified that within the said ten months they did send the said pilots, astrologers, and sailors to draw the said line of demarcation; on the contrary, it is clear that the said line was not drawn; for according to the copy of the decree and declaration of the Catholic Sovereigns given in Madrid on May the seventh, 1495, and signed by the secretary Samano, it is urged that the said line be drawn—from which it is evident that the line had not been drawn within the ten months. That this line had not been drawn appears also from the conferences and records concerning the possession and ownership of the Malucos, between the commissioners of both parties in the year twenty-four at the bridge of Acaya, Yelves, and Badajoz, where the determination of this line and demarcation was discussed; and the determination thereof, discussed under three heads.
First, whether a spherical or plain surface should be considered in drawing the line of demarcation.
Second, how should the islands of Cabo Verde be properly situated and located.
Third, from which of the said islands should they begin to measure the three hundred and seventy leagues for the demarcation.
The Castilians agreed with the Portuguese to employ the spherical surface and still not to exclude the plane surface and other measurements. The second point appears not to have been discussed. As to the third, the Castilians disagreed with the Portuguese, saying that the three hundred and seventy leagues were to begin from the island of Santo Anton, the most western of the islands of Cabo Verde. The Portuguese claim that they ought to begin the islands of La Sal and Buena Vista, the most eastern of the group. It seems (the original having destroyed) that each party was striving to have the islands of Maluco fall on his side of the demarcation—thus contending for the contrary of what they claimed in the year 1494, when each party, ignorant of the differences which would arise about the Malucos, was striving to have the coast of Brasil fall on its side of the demarcation.
Item: From the Castilian and Portoguese sea-charts it appears that the said line of demarcation was neither drawn nor determined; because, in the model sea-charts deposited in the India house of trade in Sevilla, this line or meridian is found drawn from pole to pole so as to cut our hemisphere three hundred and seventy leagues from the island of Sancto Anton, the last of the Cabo Verde islands. It also cuts the coast of Brasil about two degrees from the equinoctial line through the land of Humos, the tropic of Capricorn, the Cape of Dospermitas, and the river of Sant Salvador. According to these charts, the line of demarcation of the king of Portogal includes three hundred and ninety leagues through which the line of demarcation passes inland, and for a distance of six hundred leagues down along the coast. Within the line of demarcation of the kings of Castilla fall all of Tierra Nova [Newfoundland], of the Bacallaos, and of Labrador. In the Portoguese sea-charts, this line of demarcation is so drawn as to cut Brasil farther north than the great river of Orellana or Amazonas, two degrees from the equinoctial line, and thirty-eight degrees south, through the low submerged districts, so that it cuts the land seven hundred leagues inland and almost one thousand three hundred leagues along the coast, including within the demarcation of Portogal all of Tierra Nova, Bacallaos, and Labrador.
[Here follows some matter which we omit, as superfluous—an account of Portuguese settlements in Brazil, decisions of the Junta of Badajoz, and the Treaty of Zaragoza.]
After the execution of the said deed, one of the first and chief instructions in the settlements and discoveries made, as well as on the merchant vessels and fleets despatched, is that no one shall go beyond the line of demarcation of the king of Portogal, and the boundaries specified in the said contract. A similar injunction forbidding men to go beyond the boundaries of demarcation of the king of Portogal was made after the execution of the demarcation deed, in the year fourteen hundred and ninety-four.
1535. In the year thirty-five, Simon de Alcaçava was despatched with two hundred and forty men. He passed the strait of Magallanes and one of the ships returned to Santiago de Cuba.
1536. In the year thirty-six, Cortes sent Grijalva and Alvarado with two ships below the equinoctial line. They reached the Malucos.
1542. In the year forty-two, Don Antonio de Mendoza sent from Nueva España Ruy Lopez de Villalobos with four ships, four hundred soldiers, and four hundred Indians. He discovered Mindanaos, Çubu, and Nata.
1543. In the year forty-three, Villalobos despatched Bernardo de la Torre to give an account of the expedition and its route; he discovered and named the Philippinas islands.
1545. In the year forty-five, the said Villalobos went to the island of Nuzo, to the city of Sanuso, to Gilolo, and to Tidori. From Tidori he sent Yñigo Ortiz de Roda as captain, and Caspar Rico as pilot. On the way they discovered the coast of Nueva Guinea, which had been discovered by Saavedra in the year twenty-seven.
1545. On November the ninth, 1545, his Majesty the Emperor wrote from Bruxas [Brussels] to Don Antonio de Mendoça, viceroy of Nueva España, saying that the ambassador of the king of Portogal had in behalf of the latter complained that the fleet of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos went to the islands of Maluco; and that, being requested by the governor of that place to leave, had gone to another island, where it remained.
(Ruy Lopez de Villalobos died, and his companions endured so many hardships, that finally they were obliged to return to Spaña by way of the province of Yndia. This is verified by a letter of Fray Gonzalo de Santistevan, an Augustinian, who was with the fleet.)
In order to please the king of Portogal, his Majesty ordered the captain and his people to leave that place immediately. The said viceroy and other magistrates in whose districts the captain and his men might land were requested to arrest them, and to confiscate their drugs and spices. His Majesty warned the viceroy that this decree was issued to please the king of Portogal, and requested him to send news of the outcome. Dissembling and secrecy was required, etc.
1559. On September 24, 1559, a decree of his Majesty was sent from Valladolid to Don Luys de Velasco, ordering him to send men to discover the Philippinas islands, and other places where spices could be found; but in doing this they were to avoid Maluco and other places forbidden by the compact.
1560. On May 28, 1560, Fray Andres de Urdaneta wrote from Mexico that he had received the above-mentioned decree of September 24, and offered himself to undertake the expedition. He sent a memorial in which he declared that the Philipina island does not come within the agreement, and that the expedition could be made under the pretext of going to rescue the men who were captured from the fleet of Fray Garcia de Loaysa in the year 1525, from the one which Cortes despatched in the year 1527, from that which Don Antonio sent in 1542, and from another ship despatched by Cortes, which was lost on its course from Nueva España. Don Luys began to get ready the fleet. At his death the Audiencia of Mexico made haste to complete the preparations; and on the first of September, one thousand five hundred and sixty-four, instructions were given to Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who had been appointed governor and general of the discovery of the Western Islands. The latter set sail with four ships on November 21, 1564. On April 27, 1551 [sic], he reached the island of Çubu, where he built a fort. He took possession in his Majesty's name of the Barbudos Islands, the Ladrones, Çibabao, the bay of Sant Pedro and Maletie in the island of Camiguinni, and Bohol. He despatched the flagship under command of his grandson Phelippe de Salzedo, and Fray Andres de Urdaneta. They set sail on June the first, sixty-five, and on September the eighteenth they came in sight of the first land of Nueva Spaña, the island of Sant Salvador, which is in twenty-nine and five-sixths degrees north latitude. On the first of October, they reached the port of La Navidad; but, without stopping there, they proceeded to Acapulco which is a better port, forty-five leagues nearer to Mexico.
As soon as the flagship arrived, an advice-ship was despatched from Nueva Spaña. It reached the royal settlement at Çubu on the fifteenth of October, 1566, without the store of arms, ammunition, and other provisions needed. The captain and ensign were missing, for they had been killed in a mutiny.
Phelipe de Salzedo as general, Captain Artieda with a company, and another company of Juan de Aguirre for Captain Andres de Ybarra, set sail in April, 1567, with two ships and three hundred men, both sailors and soldiers. They reached Çubu August 20, 1567.
The general Miguel Lopez despatched a ship commanded by Joan de la Ysla. It reached Nueva España November 16, 1567; and España June 5, 68.
The Council hastened to get ready a ship in Santander with the said aid, arms, and ammunition, and to entrust it to the said Joan de la Ysla. The preparations were carried out by Joan de Peñalosa, administrator of the marine tithes, to whom the affair was entrusted. The ship set sail with good weather August 27, 1569. The ship, its repairing, and the goods it carried cost four million eight hundred and seventeen thousand eight hundred and seventy-six and one-half maravedis, as is evident by the memorandum of Joan de Peñalosa for the said day.
The ship reached Nueva Spaña on the last of October, 1569. On March 9, 70, it left the port of Acapulco with two hundred men including sailors, soldiers, workmen, and married men. Joan de la Ysla says that the officials of Nueva Spaña wasted one hundred and twenty-six thousand pesos on his expedition, and as much while he remained there. He reached the islands at the end of May, and cast anchor in the island of Marapite. Thence he sent despatches to the governor and awaited his orders. On the arrival of the orders he set sail, June 20, and reached Panae, where the governor was, on the twenty-third of June.
On July 27, he left Panae for Nueva Spaña, with two of the three ships which the other had brought, and reached the port of Acapulco in Nueva España, November 21, 1570. January 25, 1571, he left Sant Juan de Lua, and reached Sant Lucas April 17, 1571. Through an advice-ship sent by the viceroy, Juan de la Ysla was requested to set sail with the two ships, not later than the month of February. The time to set out from Nueva Spaña is from the beginning of November to the latter part of January; the voyage will last two months. The time to set out for Nueva España is from the end of July to the beginning of August; the voyage will last three months.