HOM.03

First Real Contact, 1596-1637, is the third volume of the History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents (HOM), compiled and edited by Rodrique Levesque.

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File:HOM.03.pdf The History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents was complied, edited and published by Rod Levesque from 1992 to 2002. Copyrights were obtained by the Habele Outer Island Education Fund, a US nonprofit, in 2022, which digitized the content to facilitate noncommercial access to, and use of, the twenty-volume series. The PDF file for HOM.03 is roughly 65MB.

Levesque's Summary

Volume 3 contains 89 chapters totalling 144 documents covering all the voyages and expeditions made in the Pacific during this period by the Spanish (Mendana, Quiros, Vivero, Rios Coronel, Vizcaino, Cardona, etc.), by the Dutch (Mahu, Van Noort, Speilbergen, Schapenham), by Italians (the Carlettis), by an Austrian (Femberger), and previously-unknown voyages by the Japanese (Hosuke, Hasekura and Shogen). There are many “new” documents, conveniently placed in their proper chronological order.

While passing by the Marianas, some missionaries wished to stay with the natives. Two of them succeeded. Fray de los Angeles in 1596 and Fray Juan Pobre in 1602. The latter spent almost 9 months in Rota Island and wrote a narrative of his adventures, including the story of the shipwreck of the galleon Santa Mar¬garita. Two Spaniards met with adventures of their own in Japan: former-Governor Rodrigo Vivero and Sebastian Vizcaino.

—A foreword introducing the concept of the Chamorro cultural scratch and summarizing the important events of the period.

—All the versions of the narratives about the second expedition by Mendafia (the first by Quirds) and their discovery of Pohnpei Island on 23 December 1595. Stranger as it may seem, this high island was not to be re-discovered by Europeans until the 1828.

—Period maps of China and Japan to illustrate their trade with the Philippines and New Spain, the missionary activities in Japan and galleon shipwrecks and other visits there, the piratical activities of the Dutch and English against the Spanish and Portuguese in those waters.

—The first Dutchmen in Micronesia, the Mahu expedition, had some members kidnapped and did some kidnapping of their own. It also brought the English pilot William Adams to Japan.

—The second Dutchmen in Micronesia belonged to the fleet of Oliver North. The texts of the original Dutch and Latin editions of this voyage are presented.

—The most important chapter, as far as Micronesian native customs are concerned, is the extensive report by Father Fray Juan Pobre who spent almost 9 months at Rota Island in 1602. He was not the first friar to have jumped ship there, however; the first missionary to have done so was Fray de los Angeles in 1596.

—The second expedition by Quirds crossed Micronesia in 1606 and discovered Butaritari Island in the Gilberts. Documents by Zaragoza and Fray Munilla, and the log¬book by chief pilot Leza, are quoted from.

—The full narrative of ex-Governor Vivero’s unplanned visit to Japan in 1609-10 is given. It occurred as a result of the shipwreck of the galleon San Francisco. Details about this and other 1609 disasters are given.

—The full story of the first European-type ships built in Japan are presented, along with the interesting events of the second Japanese embassy to Rome between 1613 and 1619. The causes of the seclusion of Japan that followed are analyzed in various docu¬ments of the period.

—Sebastian Vizcaino, famous in the history of California, tried to find a way-station for the galleons in mid-Pacific and ended up in Japan twice. His full report is translated here, perhaps for the first time.

—The Nassau Fleet, then under Admiral Schapenham, was the largest fleet to visit Micronesia until the 20th century. The dozen or so ships included the Pearl, a Spanish frigate captured near Acapulco.

—There are many other stories by the first Italian and Austrian visitors, about naval battles between the Spanish and the combined Dutch-English fleets, etc.

Table of Contents

• 1596A Letter from Governor Dasmarifias to the King, dated Manila 30 June 1596
• 1596B Letter from Dr. Morga to the King, dated Manila 6 July 1596
• 1596C Mendaiia & Quiros Narrative by Quiros, edited by Figueroa
• 1596D Mendafia & Quiros Narrative by Quiros, edited by Zaragoza
• 1596E Mendana & Quiros Did Quiros really discover Pohnpei in 1595?
• 1596F Instructions given to Governor Tello
• 1596G Jesuits aboard the flagship San Pedro in 1596
• 1596H The story of the Carlettis, Italian traders aboard the San Pablo in 1596
• 1596I Fr. Antonio de los Angeles, first missionary of the Ladrones
• 1596J The galleon San Felipe lost in Japan in 1596 and the holy martyrs of 1597
• 1598A 1598 report on conditions by Dr. Antonio de Morga
• 1598B Other 1598 documents from Manila
• 1599 Comments about the galleon trade by the Royal Fiscal
• 1600A The first Dutchmen in Micronesia: the remnants of the Mahu expedition end up in Japan
• 1600B The second Dutchmen in Micronesia: the Olivier van Noort expedition
• 1600C The text of the original Dutch edition of van Noort’s Journal
• 1600D The text of the Latin edition of van Noort’s Voyage
• 1600E Van Noort at Manila and other events of 1600
• 1601A The shipwrecks of 1601
• 1601B The official account of the shipwreck of the Santa Margarita at Rota in March 1601
• 1601C Rota, March 1601 A just revenge?
• 1602A The story of Fray Juan Pobre’s stay at Rota in the Ladrones Islands in 1602
• 1602B Instructions from King Philip Iii to Governor Acufla
• 1602C Other documents of 1602
• 1603 Events of 1603
• 1604 The ships of 1604 & those sent in 1605 for the re-conquest of the Moluccas in 1606
• 1605 The routes of the Manila-Acapulco galleons, circa 1605
• 1606A Second Quirds expedition Narrative by Quirds, as edited by Zaragoza
• 1606B Second Quirds expedition logbook of Pilot Major Leza
• 1606C Quiros expedition Narrative by Fray Martin de Munilla
• 1606D A Recollect Father died in sight of the Ladrones in 1606
• 1606E Eyewitness report on the Dominican mission that came aboard a patache in 1606
• 1606F Reaction to a royal decree about shipping
• 1609A Royal decrees regarding a way-station for the Manila galleons
• 1609B Ship movements of 1608-1610 and involvement with Dutch enemies and the Japanese
• 1609C The narrative of Governor Vivero’s shipwreck in Japan on 30 September 1609
• 1609D The two ships of Will Adams and the Spanish, 1609-1611
• 1609E Historical facts about Don Rodrigo de Vivero and General Sebastian Vizcaino
• 1609F Japan’s early attempts to establish commercial relations with Mexico, by Naojiro Murakami
• 1610A Father Medina’s visit to the Ladrones in 1610
• 1610B The 1610 Battle of Playa Honda
• 1610C Letter from Governor Silva to the King, dated Cavite September 1610
• 1611A logbooks kept by Hernando de los Rios Coronel of the voyage of 1611 via Sarigan Island
• 1611B Sebastian Vizcaino’ voyages, 1611-1614
• 1613 The story of the Date Maru and the Japanese embassy to Rome, 1613-1619 (9 documents)
• 1615A Nicolas de Cardona and his sketch of the Date Maru at Acapulco
• 1615B The letters and the diary of Richard Cocks in Japan, 1615-22
• 1616A The voyage of Joris Speilbergen, as published by Captain Burney and De Brosses
• 1616B The early editions of the original journal of Speilbergen’s voyage
• 1616C What the Spanish said about Speilbergen, and the second Battle of Playa Honda
• 1617 Jesuit annual report for 1617-1618
• 1618A Letter from Governor Fajardo to the King, dated Cavite 10 August 1618
• 1618B Aftermath of the Japanese embassy and Japan’s self-imposed seclusion
• 1619A Philippine shipbuilding in 1619
• 1619B A paper on needed reform, by Hernando de los Rios Coronel
• 1619C Jesuit annual report for 1618-1619
• 1619D Letter from Governor Fajardo to the King, dated Manila 10 August 1619
• 1620A Letter from the King to Governor Fajardo, dated Madrid 13 December 1620
• 1620B Jesuit annual report for 1619-1620
• 1620C Letter from Governor Fajardo to the King, dated Manila 15 August 1620
• 1620D Eyewitness account of the 1620 voyage by Fr. Alonso Roman
• 1621A Jesuit annual report for 1620-1621
• 1621B Letter from Governor Fajardo to the King, dated Manila 31 July 1621
• 1621C Letter from Geronimo de Silva to the King, dated Manila 1 August 1621
• 1621D Letter from Governor Fajardo to the King, dated Manila 10 December 1621
• 1621E Letter from Licentiate Mesa to the King, dated Manila, end of 1621
• 1622 A chartered Peruvian ship sent from Acapulco in 1622
• 1623 The first Austrian visitor Femberger’s account of the Ladrones
• 1625A The Nassau Fleet, according to various English collections of voyages
• 1625B The Journal of the Nassau Fleet, by Schapenham and others
• 1625C The Nassau Fleet Logbook kept by Adolph Decker
• 1625D Letter from Governor Silva to the King, dated Manila 4 August 1625
• 1626 Letter from Governor Silva to the King, Manila 30 July 1626
• 1628A Jesuit annual report for 1627-1628
• 1628B Report of appointments made by Governor Tavora, dated Cavite 2 August 1628
• 1629A Letter from Governor Tavora to the King, dated Cavite 1 August 1629
• 1629B 1629 events from Fr. Medina’s History
• 1630 Royal decree on shipbuilding
• 1632A Two documents about the Jesuit missionary band of 1632
• 1632B Letters from Governor Tavora to the King, dated Manila 8 July 1632
• 1633 Letter from Governor Salamanca to the King, dated Manila 14 August 1633
• 1634 Letters from Governor Salamanca to the King, dated Manila 10 August 1634
• 1635 Arrival of Governor Corcuera in 1635
• 1636A More briefs to the King, by Grau y Monfalcon, ca. 1636
• 1636B Jesuit annual report for 1635-1636
• 1636C Letters from Governor Corcuera to the King, dated June & July 1636
• 1637A Jesuit annual report for 1636-1637
• 1637B Bafiuelos y Carrillo’s relation of 1638

Publication Details

Lévesque Rodrigue. History of Micronesia : A Collection of Source Documents. Vol. 3 First Real Contact: 1596-1637. Gatineau Québec: Lévesque Publications; 1993.

ISBN-10: 0920201032

ISBN-13: 978-0920201039

LCC: DU500 .H58 2000