Excerpt from The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Vol. 16: Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts; 1609 The governor dies, apparently from poison, soon after his return to Manila. The trade of the islands is injured by the restrictions laid upon it by the home government; and the reduction Of Ternate has not sufficed to restrain the Moro pirates. The natives Of the Moluccas are uneasy and rebellious, especially as they have a prospect Of aid from the Dutch, who are endeavoring to regain their lost possessions there. Morga cites a letter from a Spanish Officer at La Palma, recounting the purpose and outcome of van N oordt's expedition to the Indian archipelago. The historical part of Morga's account ends here; and the final chapter is devoted to a description of the islands and their people, the customs and reli gious beliefs Of the natives, and the condition at that time of the Spanish colony and the city of Manila. He describes the principal islands of the Philippine group, beginning with Luzen; the various races of inhabitants - Moms, Negritos, and Visayans: their mode Of dress, their occupations and industries, their habits of life; their weapons, their ships and boats; the trees and fruits of the islands; the animals and birds, both wild and tame; the reptiles, fishes, and other creatures; and various plants. Among these is the buyo (or betel) the habit of chewing it has become universal among the Spaniards, of all classes, and poison is Often administered through its medium. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.