mpanied him with affability, and,
being satisfied with his credentials, he prepared a large expedition
to go to the Moluccas to set matters in order. The fleet was composed
of several frigates, 1 ship, 6 galleys, and 100 small vessels, all
well armed. The fighting men numbered 100 Spaniards, 400 Pampanga and
Tagalog arquebusiers, 1,000 Visaya archers and lancers, besides 100
Chinese to row the galleys. This expedition, which was calculated to
be amply sufficient to subdue all the Moluccas, sailed from Cavite
on October 6, 1593. The sailing ships having got far ahead of the
galleys, they hove-to off Punta de Azufre (N. of Maricaban Is.) to
wait for them. The galleys arrived; and the next day they were able
to start again in company. Meanwhile, a conspiracy was formed by the
Chinese galleymen to murder all the Spaniards. Assuming these Chinese
to be volunteers, their action would appear to be extremely vile. If,
however, as is most probable, they were pressed into this military
service to foreigners, it seems quite natural, that being forced to
bloodshed without alternative, they should first fight for their own
liberty, seeing that they had come to the Islands to trade.

All but the Chinese were asleep, and they fell upon the Spaniards in
a body. Eighteen of the troops and four slaves escaped by jumping
into the sea. The Governor was sleeping in his cabin, but awoke on
hearing the noise. He supposed the ship had grounded, and was coming
up the companion _en deshabille_, when a Chinaman clove his head with
a cutlass. The Governor reached his state-room, and taking his Missal
and the Image of the Virgin in his hand, he died in six hours. The
Chinese did not venture below, where the priests and armed soldiers
were hidden. They cleared the decks of all their opponents, made fast
the hatches and gangways, and waited three days, when, after putting
ashore those who were still alive, they escaped to Cochin China, where
the King and Mandarins seized the vessel and all she carried. On board
were found 12,000 pesos in coin, some silver, and jewels belonging
to the Governor and his suite. Thus the expedition was brought to an
untimely end. The King of Siao, and the missionaries accompanying him,
had started in advance for Otong (Panay Is.) to wait for the Governor,
and there they received the news of the disaster.

Amongst the most notable of the successful expeditions of the
Spaniards, was that of Pedro Bravo de Acuna, in 1606, w