Legaspi's company made a landing on the island of Cebu just as Magellan had done, but about seven years later it was found that the port of Manila offered a better location for the seat of government; so Legaspi transferred his capital to that place and began the building of a strong city. Later, great walls of stone were erected, and a fort was placed at the point where the Pasig (Pa'-sig) River flows into Manila Bay. Meantime, various expeditions were sent into the interior of Luzon and other islands to subdue the natives, make treaties with the chiefs, and claim all the lands for the king of Spain.
The fortifications which were erected in Manila and at other important points in the islands were necessary for defense against invaders, and they witnessed many stirring sieges from the time they were built until Spain ceded the islands to the United States in 1898. For two hundred and fifty years, the cities and towns of the Philippines suffered from the incursions of pirates,--Chinese, Japanese, and Moros, the last-named being Mohammedan Filipinos from the southern islands. Numberless towns were attacked and plundered by these dreaded pirates who, with their swift sailing praos (prä'-os), or boats, would swoop down upon a town, kill the men, burn the houses, and carry away the women and children either to be sold into slavery or held for ransom. The Spanish government used all the powers at its command to suppress this piracy, but with only partial success.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the people of the Philippines were greatly troubled by invasions of Dutch and English fleets, echoes of larger wars in Europe between these countries and Spain. Commerce was preyed upon, ships were sunk, and rich stores of precious silks, spices, and gold were seized and carried off as booty. Such losses were very hard upon the merchants whose property was stolen, and the taxes, made necessary by the long struggle with these enemies, laid a still greater burden upon the people. For about two years, from 1762 till 1764, the English held Manila, but when peace was finally declared, the British flag was hauled down and the islands returned to Spain.
Wars with pirates, and with the Dutch and English, were not the only causes of distress in the Philippines, however. Numberless times in the history of the islands crops have been damaged and houses destroyed by terrific storms and earthquakes, cattle have been carried off in great numbers by disease, while cholera and smallpox have claimed thousands of human lives, and leprosy has spread itself alarmingly.