EECOLLECTIONS OP MANILLA AND THE PHILIPPINES, DURINQ 1848, 1849,
AND 1850. BY BOBEBT MAO KICKING, ESQ. LOKDON BICHAED BENTLEY, NEW
BURUffOTON STREET, in rtrmari trr 1851. 1NTKODUCTION. THE
Philippines, in many respects situated most advantageously for
trade, having long been governed by a people whose notions of
govern ment and political economy have never produced the happiest
results in any of their once nu merous and important colonies,
appear at last to be slowly reaping the benefit of the new
commercial maxims now in course of operation in Spain, and show
symptoms of progressing with increased speed in the march of
civilization, encouraged by commerce. As such a state is always
interesting, more especially to my country men, whose commercial
and manufacturing wel fare is closely bound up with the rate at
which IV INTRODUCTION. civilization advances in every part of the
world, I have attempted to give some idea of the actual state and
prospects of this valuable colony, as they appeared to me during a
residence there in the three years 1848-9-50, with the double
object of directing more attention to these islands than has
hitherto been paid to them by our merchants and manufacturers, and
of deriving some employ ment in doing so, during a tedious voyage
from Singapore to Hongkong, when, being in a great measure debarred
from personal activity, an interesting occupation was felt to be
more than usually necessary to engage the mind. There are many
imperfections in the execution of my task but for these the
critical reader is requested to make some allowance, and entreated
not to forget the inconveniences all landsmen are subjected to at
sea. September, 185L RECOLLECTIONS MANILLA AM THEPHILIPPINES.
CHAPTER I. ABOUT the time the Spanish arms under Hernan Cortez,
Pizarro, and AJmagro, were meeting with their most splendid
successes in America, the thought occurred to Hernando Magallanes,
a Portuguese gentleman in the service of King Charles the Fifth of
Spain, that if by sailing south he could pass the new Western
World, it would be possible to reach the famous Spice Islands of
the East, which he supposed to contain untold-of wealth in their
bosoms. This vast, and, in the state of their knowledge at the 2
RECOLLECTIONS OF time, apparently hardy and even rash idea, met
with approval by the King, who honoured Ma gaUanes with the
distinguished military order of Santiago, and appointed him to the
command of a squadron which he immediately set about fitting out to
accomplish the project, with the view of conquering and annexing
these islands to his crown. At length, when all the preparations
were completed, on the 10th of August, 1519, six ships, no one of
which exceeded 130 tons, and some of them being less than half that
size, sailed from the port of San Lucau de Baxrameda on this bold
and perilous enterprise. In the prosecution of their voyage, many
ob stacles were encountered but everything disap peared before the
ardour of their chief, who, dis covering, passed through the
Straits of Magellan, which alone, immortalize his name, and
spreading his sails to the gale, stood boldly with his squadron,
now reduced to three crazy vessels, into the un known and vast
ocean which lay open before him, with all the hardihood
characteristic of his time, traversing in its utmost breadth the
Pacific, with out, however, chancing to meet with any of the
numerous islands now scatteredthroughout its MANILLA AND THE
PHILIPPINES. extent. At last, the Marian or Ladrone Islands were
descried on the 16th of August, 1521, and a few days afterwards a
cape on the east coast of Mindanao was seen. Coasting along the
shores of Caraga, the ships anchored off Limasna, where Magallanes
was well received by the natives of the place from thence steering
towards Cebu, he managed to establish a good understanding with the
country people, although upwards of two thousand of them had
assembled, armed with spears and javelins, to oppose his landing...
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