Chapter 8
These Felipinas
Samar
Legazpi’s fleet reached the Philippines on 13 February 1565, off the coast of Samar. On 15 February his ensign took formal possession of the island the people called Cibabao in the name of King Felipe II, the first of many such acts in the islands.
13 February 1565
“We reached these Felipinas,” Legazpi wrote, “on the thirteenth of February.” Twelve weeks out from Mexico, the fleet anchors off the east coast of Samar.
The people come out in canoes, but bring little food. The chief pilot noted that “these Indians wear gold earrings, and the chiefs wear two clasps about the feet.... All the body, legs, and arms are painted; and he who is bravest is painted most.” They were tattooed, as Pigafetta had seen in 1521, and for the same reason: a warrior’s tattoos recorded his deeds.
15 February 1565
On the 15th a man called Calayan comes to the flagship and says he is a chief. Legazpi makes friends with him, and sends his ensign, Andrés de Ybarra, ashore with him to take possession of the island in the king’s name.
At a little inlet by a river the notary writes down the ceremony. Ybarra “passed from one end of that land to the other, cut branches of trees, plucked grass, threw stones,” and declared the land the king’s, “quietly and peaceably, with common consent of those who were present, without the opposition of any one.” The island, the people tell them by signs, is called Cibabao.
February 1565
Legazpi asks everyone the same questions. Where is food to be had? And where is Bernardo de la Torre, one of Villalobos’s captains? The people point north. They are friendly, but they bring almost nothing to eat.
He sends Juan de la Isla in a small boat to look for a good harbour. Isla’s men make blood-friendship with one village, but a soldier who goes ashore without leave is killed. Wherever they go, the people are courteous, careful, and quick to vanish.
Nobody tells the Spaniards why. They will find out at Bohol.