American boys and girls know even less than Francisco about these new possessions of ours across the Pacific. Hence, we shall find it interesting and worth while to follow the outline of Philippine history and government which Francisco studied in the provincial school.
It is now about four hundred years since the Spaniards first discovered the Philippines. An expedition under the command of Magellan set out from Spain in the year 1519, sailed across the Atlantic and down the eastern coast of South America, through the strait at the southern end of the continent, and northwest across the great Pacific, until it finally arrived at the island of Cebu. Here, on the seventh of April, 1521, a landing was made, and the country was claimed for the king of Spain.
The savage customs of the natives whom Magellan found there are shown in the method they followed when drawing up a treaty of friendship between themselves and the Spaniards. Cuts were made in the breasts of Magellan and the native chief, and each one drank some of the other's blood as a pledge that the agreement should be kept forever. There were priests in the company, and they persuaded many of the Filipinos to accept baptism. The chief was given the new name of "King Charles I of Cebu," and he agreed to rule under the guidance of the king of Spain.
This Cebu tribe was at war with the Filipinos living on the neighboring island of Mactan. Magellan undertook to aid his newly made allies against their enemies, and was killed in battle on the twenty-seventh of April, 1521. Thus the Spanish expedition lost its brave and able leader. Of the five vessels that set out from Spain in 1519, only one, the Victoria, returned three years later, battered and worn by its long voyage around the world, and carrying only a small fraction of the company of men who had sailed with the little fleet.
After Magellan's expedition, several other voyages were made to the new islands, but there were no attempts at a permanent settlement until 1564. In that year, King Philip II of Spain sent out a company under the leadership of Legaspi (Le-gas'-pi), a brave and experienced soldier who had seen years of service in Mexico, and was well known to the king. It was he who suggested the name "Las Islas Felipinas" (Läs Ïs'-läs Fe-li-pï'-näs) for the islands, in honor of King Philip, or Felipe (Fe-lï'-pe), as the name is in its Spanish form. Magellan had previously named them the San Lazaro (San Lä'-za-ro) Islands, but this name was abandoned.