f emergency, afford a
secure asylum where the women can take refuge and the treasures of
the sultan and public be deposited, whilst in the plains below the
contest may be maintained by more than 50,000 combatants, already
very dexterous in the use of the musket and of a bold and courageous
character. The navy of these Islanders is also very respectable,
for, besides a great number of smaller prows and war-boats, they
have some of a large size, capable of carrying heavy artillery on
their decks, mounted on corresponding carriages, and not suspended
in slings as is the custom of the people of Mindanao. In a word,
Jolo is an Island governed by a system of administration extremely
vigorous and decisive; dread and superstition sustain the throne of
the tyrant, and the fame of his greatness frequently brings to his
feet the ulemas, or missionaries of the Koran, even as far as from
the furthest margin of the Red Sea. The prince and people, unanimous
in the implacable odium with which they view all Christians, cannot
be divided or kept on terms of peace; and if it is really wished to
free these seas from the evils and great dangers with which they are
at all times threatened, it is necessary at once to strike at the
root, by landing and attacking the Jolonese in their strongholds,
and break the charm by which they are held together.

This, at least, is the constant and unshaken opinion of all
experienced persons and those versed in Philippine affairs; and if,
by the substantial reasons and existing circumstances, I convince
myself sufficiently to openly recommend war to be undertaken against
the Moros and pushed with the utmost vigor, and more particularly
commencing the work by a formal invasion of Jolo; still, as I feel
myself incompetent to trace a precise plan, or to discuss the minute
details more immediately connected with the object, I feel it necessary
to confine myself to the pointing out, in general terms, of the means
I judge most conducive to the happy issue of so arduous but important
an enterprise, leaving the rest to more able and experienced hands.

[Council of war recommended.] As a previous step, I conceive that
a council of war ought to be formed in Manila, composed of the
captain-general, the commanders of the navy, artillery, and engineer
department, as well as of the regular corps, who, in conformity to
all the antecedent information lodged in the secretary's office for
the captain-generalship, and the p