Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 02).djvu/81



[The following synopsis is made from documents published in ''Col. doc. inéd. Ultramar, tomos ii and iii, entitled De las Islas Filipinas.'' Concerning these documents the following interesting statements are taken from the editorial matter in tomo ii. "The expedition of Legazpi, which is generally believed to have been intended from the very first for the conquest and colonization of the Philippines, set out with the intention of colonizing New Guinea; and in any event only certain vessels were to continue their course to the archipelago, and that with the sole idea of ransoming the captives or prisoners of former expeditions" (p. vii). "The course laid out in the instructions of the viceroy [of New Spain, Luis de Velasco] … founded upon the opinion of Urdaneta, was to New Guinea. The instructions of the Audiencia prescribed definitely the voyage to the Philippines" (p. xxiv). Copious extracts are given