HOM.13

Failure At Ulithi Atoll, 1727-1746 is the thirteenth volume of the History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents (HOM), compiled and edited by Rodrique Levesque.

Download

The History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents, Volume 13, Failure at Ulithi Atoll

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.13 is roughly 65MB.

Levesque's Summary

Volume 13 is mostly about the attempt to conquer the Central Carolines, specially Ulithi Atoll. It contains 68 chapters totaling 150 documents and 32 illustrations. Excerpts from three very-rare books: 1) Father Cantova’s biography by Fr. Spilimberg; 2) Governor Valdes’ Instructions for the management of galleons; and 3) Admiral Cabrera-Bueno’s Nautical Handbook with sailing directions for the Pacific.

Chief among English documents are the accounts of Commodore Anson’s stay at Tinian and his capture of the galleon Covadonga in 1743. The Spanish documents about this capture are also published for the first time, including the description of the battle by General Montero. The saga of two Dutch ships that crossed the Pacific in 1746 is also told in full. The census of the Mariana Islands for 1727 is included.

Tinian is one island that became a legend in the 18th century, thanks to the glorious descriptions made of it by English visitors in 1742—those aboard HMS Centurion. Favorable descriptions were made of the Central Carolines by Father Cantova, the Jesuit missionary who tried hard to establish a mission there; in the end he was killed by the natives, and his bones are still buried on Mogmog Island, the capital of Ulithi Atoll. Volume 13 reproduces not only manuscripts about this story, but also texts from many rare books, e.g. Father Cantova’s Biography by his friend, Fr. Spilimberg, originally published in Mexico City, and reproduced here in full.

Governor Valdes Tamon’s Instructions for the management of galleons, published in Manila in 1732, is also copied in full, in Appendix 1. There are extracts from Admiral Cabrera-Bueno’s Nautical handbook, with sailing directions, the one that was published in Manila in 1734. Lovers of galleon lore, and naval history, will find additional material to satisfy their curiosity, such as two descriptions of one naval battle that took place off Cape Espiritu Santo in 1743, between HMS Centurion and the galleon Covadonga. The narrative of the defeated Spanish General, Geronimo Montero, is quite straight-forward and not too different from the English version of the same incident; both versions appear in the present volume.

One may wonder why the Spanish kept a colony in the Marianas when the local population reached such a low point, under 2,000 inhabitants. In this volume, and the next, I have decided to publish a full census of the population of the Marianas, for the sake of genealogy, always a popular subject. The census of 1727 reveals, among other things, the existence of many indigenous family names that have since disappeared. Why were the Spanish remaining in the Marianas? It was for the safety of the galleons, the survival of the galleon trade; hence, their presence in the Marianas was to ensure their permanence in the Philippines. One Governor tried hard to get permission for the immigration of 100 or more Filipino families to Guam, to increase the local population, but there was no money to pay for their transport...

Going back to the Manila galleons themselves, a better route eastward to Acapulco was recognized and promoted by Admiral Enrique Herman. It consisted in sailing from Manila Bay northward, then around the northern coast of Luzon Island. However, resistance to change was so great that this route was not to be used until decades later (in spite of support by the Spanish court), and then only for a short time.

During this period, the port of Apra in Guam came into more regular use by ships other than galleons, specially by the Mariana patache. For greater security, a new fort, Fort San Luis, was built along the Orote Peninsula in 1737 by Governor Cdrdenas Pacheco; it overlooked the Gabgab Beach area. As with all the other forts of Guam, this one never fired a shot in anger either.

Security was always a concern of the Spanish in the Pacific, because of the many wars in Europe which caused piratical acts in the faraway Pacific. In the mid-1740s, the Dutch Governor of Batavia, a gentleman by the name of Van Imhoff, threatened Manila, enough to cause the cancellation of the yearly galleon voyage. His plan was to send his own trading ships to America. Two Dutch ships did make it across the Pacific in 1746, and tried to sell their cargo of textiles to the Viceroy of New Spain. Their offer was rebuffed (it was illegal, and forbidden by at least three treaties) and some of their men made prisoners. Such prisoners were carried all the way to Spain, where they languished in prisons for years afterwards, only to be sentenced to serve aboard Spanish ships.

HOM.13.1731A.1 Letter from Fr. Victor Walter to Fr. Bernard Schmiz, dated Falalep [Ulithi] 10 May 1731
HOM.13.1731A.2 Letter from Fr. Cantova to Fr. de la Hera, dated Falalep, Dolores Islands [Ulithi], dated 12 May, but postcript dated 27 May 1731
HOM.13.1731A.3 Letter from Fr. Cantova to the missionaries in the Marianas, dated Falalep 27 May 1731
HOM.13.1731A.4 Letter from Fr. Cantova to the Governor of the Philippines, dated Falalep 25 May 1731

1731B Official reports from Manila about the voyage to Ulithi

1731C The mission band of 1730 left some members in the Marianas

1732A Report on the Caroline Islands by Fr. Joseph Kropff

1732B Revised orders for the management of the Manila-Acapulco galleons

1732C The Inquisition to their Commissioner in the Marianas, dated 1732

1732D The shipwreck of the Patache San Fernando at Guam in 1732

1732E Official government report on Fr. Cantova’s expedition to Carolines

1733A The Inquisition to their Commissioner in the Marianas, dated 1733

1733B Letter from Fr. Bonani to Fr. Bombardi, dated Guam 20 May 1733

1733C The missionaries who left Spain in 1733 and 1735

1733D Two letters by Fr. Malinsky, missionary in Negros I., Philippines

1734A Request of Fr. Otazo for funds for the Carolines

1734B Events at Ulithi, as reported in the Philippines

1734C Biography of Fr. Canto va, by Fr. Spilimbergo

1734D The Inquisition to their Commissioner in the Marianas, 1734 & 1735

1734E The King writes about the loss of the galleon Sacra Familia, etc.

1734F The story of the patache Nuestra Señora de las Caldas

1734G Map of Guam, etc. by Fr. Murillo Velarde

1743H A treatise on navigation techniques, by a Manila galleon pilot, José Gonzalez Cabrera-Bueno

17341 Letter from Fr. Bonani to the Provincial of the Franciscans in Manila, dated Agadña 5 May 1734

1735A Letter from Fr. Nicholas du Béron to Mr. Jacques-Ferdinand Cortyl, regarding their brothers lost at Sonsorol

1735B Appointment of Francisco de Cárdenas Pacheco as proprietary Governor of the Marianas

1735C The population of the Marianas down to 2,000 in 1735

1735D An attempted attack by California Indians on the galleon San Cristobal in January 1735

1736A Letter from Fr. Victor Walter to Fr. José Calvo, dated Agaña 20 December 1736

1736B Letter from Fr. Heipel to Fr. Mockinck, dated 30 December 1736

1737A The Inquisition to their Commissioner, dated 1737 and 1738

1737B Population statistics for the Marianas for 1737, for 1755, etc.

1738A Sailing directions for Guam, by Fray de San Antonio

1738B Royal decree of 13 April 1738

1738C Fort San Luís de Apra, and decreasing population of the Marianas

1739A The Inquisition to Fr. Bonani, dated Mexico 11 March 1739

1739B Note on the salary of the Governor of the Marianas

1739C The project to send 100 families to the Marianas is not approved

1740A The Inquisition versus Manuel Cavallero, 1740-1756

1740B Royal decree of 6 November 1740

1740C Letter from Fr. Bonani to Fr. Bombardi, dated Agat 14 Dec. 1740

1741A The King wishes to restore the Marianas

1741B The galleon route is to avoid the Islands of Rica de Oro and Rica de Plata in mid-Pacific

1741C The Inquisition to their Commissioner, dated 6 March 1741

1741D Request for a new mission band of Jesuits

1742A log of the Covadonga, before her capture by HMS Centurion

1742B The voyage of HMS Centurion, Commodore Anson

—The views of Commodore Anson

—The battle between the Centurion and the Covadonga in 1743

1742C The voyage of HMS Centurion—Narrative of Pascoe Thomas

1742D The voyage of HMS Centurion—Narrative of Lieutenant Saumarez

1742E The voyage of HMS Centurion—Other accounts, by various

1742F Letter from Fr. Francisco Xavier Reittenberger to Rome, dated Rota 20 January 1742

1743A More information on the galleon Covadonga, her capture, etc.

—Battle between Centurion and Covadonga, by General Montero

1743B Three letters in German from Fr. Antonio Rauscher, S.J., missionary in the Philippines

1744A Letter from Fr. Bonani to someone in Vienna, dated Agat 1 Jan. 1744

1745A Disorders in the Mariana Islands—Reforms proposed by the Jesuits

1745B The missionary ship San Francisco sent to Manila as an advice boat

1746A Two Dutch ships that went from Batavia to New Spain

1746B Two Dutch ships (cont’d)

1746C The patache Santo Domingo avoided Guam in March but returned in September 1746 1746D Fr. Blesa, Mariana missionary, left Spain only in 1746

Appendix 1: Instructions for the management of galleons, by Governor Valdés Tamón, 1732

Publication Details

Lévesque Rodrigue. History of Micronesia : A Collection of Source Documents. Vol. 13 - Failure at Ulithi Atol 1727-1746. Gatineau Qué: Lévesque Publications; 1998.

ISBN-10: 092020113X

ISBN-13: 978-0920201138

LCC: DU500 .H58 2000

HOM.13

Contents

Download

Levesque's Summary

Table of Contents

Publication Details