The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; 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, commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; [Vol. 1, no. 2]

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 2

lord, of his people and royal fleet for the discovery of
the islands of the West: in response to the summons
of the very illustrious GonSalo Pereira, captain-inchief of the Portuguese fleet, served on me the twentyseventh day of this present month of October, I declare that it is true, as contained in his summons, that
" actions speak louder than words," as also do offers
without actions - which in his case we have seen to
be very different. For it is manifest and known to all
that his actions have been, and are, very different
from good words; since on the twentieth day of this
month, without any cause or legitimate reason, or
without the removal of the assurances given by one to
the other, or without making or giving any warning
or information, his grace ordered his galleys and
small vessels to make an attack on certain fortifications and defenses of ours. And they attacked and
fired many cannon and arquebuse-shots at the people
on the shore and bank near the fort aforesaid, without any artillery being fired at them in return from
this camp, which could do them harm, until the outcome of the affair was seen. On the contrary, astonished at the treatment afforded us when we had not
given any occasion whatsoever for the same, I wrote
to his grace that very day. He, without any reply to
what I had written, sent, the next morning, two galleots and a pinnace to take up a position in the other
entrance of this harbor (where they now are), in order
to prevent us from receiving any supplies or provisions. He has blockaded us upon all sides; and,
what is most intolerable of all, the galleys and pinnaces aforesaid have sacked, fired, and burned all the
neighboring villages, and killed the natives and inhabitants, without exempting even women and chil