and it is a thing to be wondered at that the exertions and
diligence of the Portuguese, who discovered, explored, and settled
Maluco, China, and Japon, the outermost and peripheral islands,
should not have discovered the middle part, or center, namely, the
Filipinas. It is true, they were informed concerning the island of
Burney, which is the most southern of the archipelago; they did
not, however, stop there, being bound for the islands of Maluco,
in eager quest of spices and drugs, which are to be found there in
such abundance. It was this very desire to secure drugs that caused
the Spaniards, or Castilians, to discover and settle the Filipinas,
as is well known. For when Hernando Magallanes was in quest of
the aforesaid drugs for the crown of Castilla, in the days of the
emperor Charles Fifth, he came upon the island of Sebu, where,
at the expense of his life, [33] he proved that the entire voyage
from Nueva Espana could be made, avoiding the tedious route through
the Strait and the necessity of sailing thither from Spain. [34]
Villalobos did the same soon after, but our Lord destroyed his fleet,
leaving the captain and his crew shipwrecked on the island of Maluco,
where necessity compelled them to fraternize and remain with the
Portuguese. [35] Father Cosme de Torres, our illustrious apostle
of Japon, took part in this expedition, and was found in Maluco by
the Blessed Father Francisco, who received him as his companion,
and as a member of our Society. [36] The Castilians persisted in
making a third attempt to send a fleet from Nueva Espana for the same
purpose. With the warning and experience of the two former expeditions,
they well knew the locality of Sebu, and cast their anchors there. God,
who destined them not for Maluco but for the Filipinas, caused them
to abandon the thought of Maluco and to settle the latter islands,
thus bringing them to the bosom of the Church and to the crown of
Castilla; they gave these the name of Filipinas, out of respect to,
and to perpetuate the memory of, King Filipo Second. [37] It was
during his reign that this third expedition took place, as well as the
discovery and conversion of the islands--which was accomplished by only
five hundred Spaniards with six Augustinian religious, holy men and
learned. Among them was the reverend Father Martin de Herrada, [38]
a great cosmographer and mathematician, but still more distinguished
as a holy and truly apostolic man. He was the first wh