Part 17 (1/2)

[42] See VOL. VIII of this series, pp. 260-267.

[43] San Agustin [as does Argensola] says there were two hundred and fifty Chinese.--Rizal.

[44] Marikaban.--Rizal.

[45] The original is ballesteras, defined in the old dictionaries as that part of the galley where the soldiers fought.

[46] A sort of knife or saber used in the Orient.

[47] This lack and defect are felt even now [1890] after three centuries.--Rizal.

[48] Cho-da-mukha, in Siamese the place of meeting of the chief mandarins, i.e., the capital.--Stanley.

[49] Phra-Unkar. Phra or Pra is the t.i.tle given to the kings of Siam and Camboja.--Rizal.

[50] Si-yuthia, or the seat of the kings.--Stanley.

[51] Id est, the supercargo, in Chinese.--Stanley.

[52] Father Alonso Ximenez or Jimenez took the Dominican habit in the Salamanca convent. His best years were pa.s.sed in the missions of Guatemala. He was one of the first Dominicans to respond to the call for missionaries for the Dominican province in the Philippines, leaving for that purpose the Salamanca convent, whither he had retired. His first mission was on the river of Bataan. A severe illness compelled him to go to the Manila convent, where he was later elected prior, and then provincial of the entire Dominican field of the islands, being the second to hold that office. He later engaged in the two disastrous expeditions as mentioned in our text, and died December 31, 1598. See Resena biografica.

[53] Lantchang or Lanxang is the name of an ancient city in the north of Cambodia. (Pallegoix's Dictionary).--Stanley.

[54] Rizal says: ”There exists at this point a certain confusion in the order, easy, however, to note and correct. We believe that the author must have said 'Vencidas algunas dificultades, para la falida, por auer ydo a efte tiempo, de Camboja a Lanchan, en los Laos vn madarin llamado Ocuna de Chu, con diez paroes, etc.;'” whereas the book reads the same as the above to ”Camboja,” and then proceeds ”a los Laos, vn madarin llamado Ocuna de Chu, Alanchan con diez paroes.” We have accordingly translated in accordance with this correction. Stanley translates the pa.s.sage as follows: ”Some difficulties as to setting out from Alanchan having been overcome, by the arrival at this time in Laos from Cambodia of a mandarin named Ocunia de Chu, with ten prahus, etc.” In the above we follow the orthography of the original.

[55] The river Me-Kong.--Rizal.

[56] Laksamana, a general or admiral in Malay.--Stanley.

[57] Chow Phya is a t.i.tle in Siam and Cambodia.--Rizal.

[58] That is, his son or other heir was to inherit the t.i.tle.

[59] Rizal conjectures that this word is a transformation of the Tagal word, lampitaw, a small boat still used in the Philippines.

[60] We follow Stanley's translation. He derives the word cacatal [zacatal] from zacate, or sacate, signifying ”reed,” ”hay,” or other similar growths, zacatal thus being a ”place of reeds” or a ”thicket.”

[61] From kalasag, a s.h.i.+eld.--Rizal.

[62] Argensola says that this native, named Ubal, had made a feast two days before, at which he had promised to kill the Spanish commander.--Rizal.

[63] Perhaps the arquebuses of the soldiers who had been killed in the combat with Figueroa, for although culverins and other styles of artillery were used in these islands, arquebuses were doubtless unknown.--Rizal.

[64] These considerations might apply to the present [1890] campaigns in Mindanao.--Rizal.

[65] Argensola says that Cachil is probably derived from the Arabic Katil, which signifies ”valiant soldier.” ”In the Malucas they honor their n.o.bles with this t.i.tle as with Mosiur in Francia, which means a trifle more than Don in Espana.” See also VOL. X, p. 61, note 6.

[66] The Solomon Islands (Islas de Salomon) were first discovered in 1568 by Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra while on an expedition to discover the supposed southern continent between Asia and America. Various reasons are alleged for the name of this group: one that Mendana called them thus because of their natural richness; another that King Solomon obtained wood and other materials there for his temple; and the third and most probable that they were called after one of the men of the fleet. As narrated in our text, the expedition of 1595 failed to rediscover the islands. They remained completely lost, and were even expunged from the maps until their rediscovery by Carteret in 1767. The discoverers and explorers Bougainville, Surville, Shortland, Manning, d'Entrecasteaux, Butler, and Williamson, made discoveries and explorations in the same century. In 1845, they were visited by d'Urville. H.B. Guppy made extensive geological studies there in 1882. The French Marist fathers went there first in 1845, but were forced, in 1848, to abandon that field until 1861. They were the least known of all the Pacific and South Sea islands. They extend a distance of over 600 miles, and lie approximately between 4 30'-12 south lat.i.tude and 154 40'-162 30' east longitude. They lie southeast of New Britain and northwest of New Hebrides. The larger islands are: Bougainville, Choiseul, Santa Isabel, Guadalconar, Malaita, and San Cristobal, and are generally mountainous, and volcanic in origin, containing indeed several active volcanoes. The smaller islands are generally volcanic and show traces of coral limestone. The climate is unhealthful, and one of the rainiest in the world. They are extremely fertile and contain excellent water. The inhabitants are of the Malay race and were formerly cannibals. They form parts of the British and German possessions. See Lord Amherst: Discovery of the Solomon Islands (London, Hakluyt Soc. ed., 1901); H. B. Guppy: The Solomon Islands (London, 1887); Justo Zaragoza: Historia del descubrimiento australes (Madrid, 1876).

[67] These places are all to be found on the old maps. Paita or Payta is shown just above or below five degrees south lat.i.tude. Callao was properly the port of Lima.