[40] As explained in the letter of Gomez Perez Dasmarinas, of June 11, 1592. (q.v. p. 256, ante), two copies of the translation of this letter into Spanish were sent to Spain.  The above, which is the second in the document we follow, bears title “The same letter translated by the ambassador, through an interpreter.”  The other copy was the one made by order of the governor in Manila.  As the governor states in his letter, they are alike in essentials.  The first letter is dated “The year nineteen of Tienche, in the ninth month, and on the nineteenth day of the month.  The Quanpec of the kingdom of Japon.”  See another version (in Spanish) of the second letter, with still other variations, in Santa Ines’s Cronica, ii, pp. 545-547; the editor of that work states that the date of the letter—­which, however, is there given as “the 13th year of Tenjo, 11th month”—­corresponds to the year 1591.

[41] This letter, as found in the archives, is written on a separate sheet and is inserted in the fold of the following letter.

[42] “A corruption of Kuwambaku, the Japanese designation of a regent appointed by the Mikado.  The holder of this office at the time here referred to was Hideyoshi, one of the most notable rulers of Japan.  Born in 1536, he entered the army when a youth, and rapidly rose to its head.  He was appointed regent in 1586, but in 1591 abdicated in favor of his adopted son, Hidetsugu—­retaining, however, actual authority until his death in 1598.  This embassy to the Spaniards in the Philippines was but one evidence of Hideyoshi’s insatiate arrogance and ambition; for he planned to subjugate China and all the other countries within his reach.  For the history of his reign, see J.J.  Rein’s Japan (London, 1884), pp. 277-294; David Murray’s Story of Japan (N.Y., 1894), pp. 184, 190-226; and W.E.  Griffis’s Mikado’s Empire (5th ed., N.Y., 1887), pp. 236-243.

[43] The Japanese calendar was based upon the lunar year; and the years were divided into cycles of sixty years each.  Besides this division, there is another and more arbitrary one, into periods between important historical events, which divisions are named from a list of Chinese words specially set aside for this purpose.  The name used in this document, Tienchen, is that of one of these historical periods; it is written “Tensho” by Griffis, and its dates given as 1573-92.  See Rein’s Japan, pp. 434-437; and Griffis’s Mikado’s Empire, pp. 623-626.

The place from which the letter was written was probably the town of Shiuri, the chief port of the Riu Kiu (or Loo Choo) Islands, known to the Spaniards as Lequios.  See Basil Hall’s “Bibliography of Luchu,” in Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan, xxiv, pp. 1-11.

[44] A different version of this letter is given by Santa Ines, ii, pp. 547-549.

[45] La Concepcion states (Historia, ii, pp. 217, 218) that Faranda had come to Manila in 1591, and, having carefully observed the condition and defenses of that city, returned to Japan and informed Faxevedono (Hideyoshi) that he could easily conquer the Spanish colony in the Philippines.