The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes by Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow;Chas. Wilkes;Fedor Jagor;Tomás de Comyn
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page 25 of 732 (03%)
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christened by the galleons, to which they had served as landmarks.
[35] [Speedy return voyage.] The return voyage to the Philippines was an easy one, and only occupied from forty to sixty days. [36] The galleon left Acapulco in February or March, sailed southwards till it fell in with the trade wind (generally in from 10° to 11° of north latitude), which carried it easily to the Ladrone Islands, and thence reached Manila by way of Samar. [37] [Galleon's size and armament.] A galleon was usually of from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred tons burden, and carried fifty or sixty guns. The latter, however, were pretty generally banished to the hold during the eastward voyage. When the ship's bows were turned towards home, and there was no longer any press of space, the guns were remounted. [Capture of "Santa Anna".] San Augustin says of the Santa Anna, which Thomas Candish captured and burnt in 1586 off the Californian coast: "Our people sailed so carelessly that they used their guns for ballast; .... the pirate's venture was such a fortunate one that he returned to London with sails of Chinese damask and silken rigging." The cargo was sold in Acapulco at a profit of 100 per cent., and was paid for in silver, cochineal, quicksilver, etc. [Value of return freight] The total value of the return freight amounted perhaps to between two and three million dollars, [38] of which a quarter of a million, at least, fell to the king. [Gambling rather than commerce] The return of a galleon to Manila, laden with silver dollars and new arrivals, was a great holiday |
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