Resume of Contemporaneous Documents, 1559-68.

[The following synopsis is made from documents published in Col. doc. ined.  Ultramar, tomos ii and iii, entitled De las Islas Filipinas.  Concerning these documents the following interesting statements are taken from the editorial matter in tomo ii.  “The expedition of Legazpi, which is generally believed to have been intended from the very first for the conquest and colonization of the Philippines, set out with the intention of colonizing New Guinea; and in any event only certain vessels were to continue their course to the archipelago, and that with the sole idea of ransoming the captives or prisoners of former expeditions” (p. vii).  “The course laid out in the instructions of the viceroy [of New Spain, Luis de Velasco] [36] ... founded upon the opinion of Urdaneta, was to New Guinea.  The instructions of the Audiencia prescribed definitely the voyage to the Philippines” (p. xxiv).  Copious extracts are given from the more important of these documents, while a few are used merely as note-material for others.  With this expedition begins the real history of the Philippine Islands, From Legazpi’s landing in 1564, the Spanish occupation of the archipelago was continuous, and in a sense complete until 1898, with the exception of a brief period after the capture of Manila, by the English in 1762.]

Valladolid, September 24, 1559.  The king writes to Luis de Velasco, viceroy of New Spain and president of the royal Audiencia, that he provide “what seems best for the service of God, our Lord, and ourselves, and with the least possible cost to our estate; and therefore I order you, by virtue of your commission to make the said discoveries by sea, that you shall despatch two ships ... for the discovery of the western islands toward the Malucos.  You must order them to do this according to the instructions sent you, and you shall stipulate that they try to bring some spice in order to make the essay of that traffic; and that, after fulfilling your orders, they shall return to that Nueva Espana, which they must do, so that it may be known whether the return voyage is assured.”  These ships must not enter any islands belonging to the king of Portugal, but they shall go “to other nearby islands, such as the Phelipinas and others, which lie outside the above agreement and within our demarcation, and are said likewise to contain spice,” The necessary artillery, articles of barter, etc., will be sent from the India House of Trade in Seville.  “I shall enclose in this letter the letter that you think I should write to Fray Andres de Urdaneta of the order of Saint Augustine in that city [Mexico], in order that he embark on those vessels because of his experience in matters connected with those islands of the spice regions, as he has been there.”  The viceroy must issue instructions to the vessels that they “must not delay in trading and bartering, but return immediately