The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55, 1690-1691 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, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century

This volume opens with a concise report from a Manila Jesuit describing the power struggle that unfolded in 1690‑91 after Archbishop Pardo's death. Bishop Barrientos attempts to seize Augustinian prebends, only to be thwarted by vigilant friars, while the new governor Zabálburu asserts his authority with an iron hand, taxing the local population for public works. The brief letter captures the friction between ecclesiastical and secular officials, setting the stage for a vivid portrait of colonial Manila.

The remainder of the book is an ethnological appendix that compiles the careful notes of early missionaries such as the Jesuits Colin and Combés. Their accounts detail everything from the Tagalog alphabet and the artistry of native tattoos to the organization of barangays, trade practices, and elaborate funerary rites. Readers hear vivid descriptions of food, music, and the social codes that governed marriage, inheritance, and even the occasional slave‑accompanying burial. Together these observations provide a rare window into the everyday life and belief systems of the Philippine peoples before modern transformation.