An important part of Timothy Jay Schwab's thesis that the Philippines is Ophir is the identification of the Lequios and Lucoes. Tim says they both refer to Illocanos. They are described as big, bearded white men which means they are Hebrews, members of the lost tribes. Let's take a look at what Tim has to say and then let's take a look through the first description of the Philippines by the Portuguese explorer Tome Pires.
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| Solomon's Treasure, pg. 162 |
We reviewed early in this chapter, Barbosa identified an affluent people called the Lequios and Magellan scratched out this name and identified them as Ophir and Tarshish equating these peoples. Antonio Pigafetta identifies their origin as Luzon Island Philippines not Taiwan, Japan nor Malaysia. In fact, Japan is recorded as having “no junks” and are not Lequios according to Tome Pires and the Lequios are identified by their junk ships by Pigafetta, Pinto, Barbosa and others. However, Antonio Pigafetta tells us where the Lequios originated.
[From Visayas] “Towards the North-west is the island of Lozon, which is at two days’ distance; a large island, to which come to trade every year six or eight junks of the people called Lequii.” “...One of these junks carries as much cargo as our ships.” – Antonio Pigafetta, 1521
This clearly reads that the Lequios, who originate in Luzon, journey to Cebu regularly to trade in their six or more, large junk ships just as Pinto describes.
Solomon's Treasure, pgs. 162-163
This is totally wrong. Yes, Pigafetta is writing while in Cebu. But read carefully. He says Luzon is a large island TO WHICH the people called Lequii came to trade. He is not saying the Lequii came to Cebu from Luzon. He is saying that Northwest of Cebu is an island called Luzon to which the Lequii came to trade. Therefore the Lequii and Lucoes are not the same people.
Tim's next witness is Fernando Pinto, a Portuguese explorer who wrote down his travels in 1569.
“Written sometime between the years 1569 and 1578, the Travels was not published until 1614, some thirty-odd years after the author’s death. Although the book is known to have circulated in manuscript form long before the date of publication, the original manuscript copies are lost. The earliest reference to Pinto’s book appears in a letter written from Coimbra on 22 February 1569 by the Jesuit Father Cipriano Soares to Father Diogo Mirón, also a Jesuit, in Rome.”
Fernão Mendes Pinto. “The Travels of Mendes Pinto.” Translated by Rebecca Catz, p. 61 epub
Tim claims Pinto identified the Lequios as the Philippines.
Contemporary to Magellan, Ferdinand Pinto classified the Lequios and Chinese as the wealthiest in the Orient trading in gold and silver especially. He defines the Lequios Islands as an archipelago, not Taiwan, as well as a separate country. He also differentiates the Lequios as not Japan, China, Indonesia nor Malaysia but in between those. Pinto also travelled to the Lequios Islands from Malaysia headed North which he placed in the modern Philippines specifically on 9N20.
Solomon's Treasure, pg. 163
The first citation from Pinto in the Solomon's Gold Sourcebook is as follows:
For this is certain, that either the power of the King of Achem is utterly to be ruined, or by it we shall be miserably expelled out of the countries we have conquered all along the southern coast, as Malaca, Bauda, Maluco, Sunda, Borneo, and Timor, and northwards China, Japan, and the Lequios as also many other parts and ports, where the Portugals are very much interessed by reason of the traffique which they daily use there, and where they reap more profit then in any other place that is yet discovered, beyond the Cape of Good Hope, the extent thereof being so great, that it contains along the coast above three thousand leagues, as may easily be seen by the cards and globes of the world, if so be their graduation be true.
A close reading of the text shows that Tim is wrong. When did the Portugese ever have a claim in the Philippines? Never. The Portuguese never conquered the Philippines. The Spanish did, arriving in 1565 in Cebu. This cannot be a reference to the Philippines. The other citations from this book are of no consequence because they describe ships and give no geographic data. However Tim's claim that Pinto visited the Philippines and placed it at a a specific latitude and longitude warrants further analysis. His source for this is J.G. Cheock's book Phoenicians in the Lands of Gold.
Explorer and writer Ferdinand Mendes Pinto who travelled in service to the Portugese crown and in association with the Jesuit Missionaries, recounted in his journal, how he had been shipwrecked on the island of Lequois while passing through the Malay Archipelago. He described the Lequios as a land belonging to a large group of islands that had abundant resources of gold and silver. In his journal he had the audacity to give details on Lequois, putting it in the latitude of 9N20 on a meridian similar to that of Japan. Given these directions, Lequois would be at the very heart of the Philippines. The story of his shipwreck on Lequios was deemed so outrageous that it was omitted from his book when it was first published.
Phoenicians in the Lands of Gold, pg. 11
Of course this alleged omission gives Timothy Jay Schwab the chance to crow about conspiracy theories to snuff out any knowledge of the Philippines being the land of gold.
Shout out to local author in the Philippines. though we do not agree with Ms. Checok on a host of things such as China being Tarshish especially which has no Biblical root whatsoever, we appreciate her efforts. This book is worth reading for everyone. Notice, she goes on to frame this chapter was removed from Pinto's first printings. Why? Well, you can decide why anyone would wish to censor history in such a manner. We keep finding that as a theme as one would typically find with control paradigms. The same goes for many authors especially British on this topic who have muddied the waters for centuries with nonsense and they read the history and then ignore what it says just as many use the Bible unfortunately. However, when you remove the layer of smoke, the conclusion is not debatable but extremely obvious.
Solomon's Treasure Sourcebook, pg. 160
Well, it turns out this section about Pinto's shipwreck on Lequois was not omitted from the first printing of this book. The original 1663 English translation can be viewed here. For brevity's sake I am going to summarize what happens in Pinto's account of being shipwrecked among the Lequois.
First of all the story follows the healing of the King of Bungo's son. The King of Bungo was a Japanese Feudal Lord who had converted to Catholicism. Pinto then sails to a port in China.
I besought the King of Bungo to give me leave to go back, which he readily granted me, and with much acknowledgement of the curing of his Son he willed a Funce to be made ready for me, furnished with all things necessary, wherein commanded a man of quality, that was attended by twenty of the Kings ser∣vants, with whom I departed one Saturday morning from the City of Fucheo, and the Friday following about Sun-set I arrived at Tanixumaa, where I found my two Comrades, who received me with much joy. Here we continued fifteen days longer, till such time as the Junck was quite ready, and then we set Sail for Liampoo, which is a Sea-port of the Kingdom of China, whereof I have spoken at large heretofore, and where at that time the Portugals tra∣ded. Having continued our voyage with a prosperous wind, it pleased God that we arrived safe at our desired Port, where it is not to be believed how much we were welcome by the Inhabitants of the place.
Liampoo is also known as Ningbo and is translated as Ning-po by Rebecca Catz. Pinto leaves Ningbo, China, and is promptly overcome by a storm and shipwrecked. He was absolutely not going north through the Malay Archipelago as Cheock and Timothy Jay Schwab claim. He was headed east out of the Chinese port with the intent of going south.
Thus by the means of this unreasonable desire of gain nine Juncks, which were then in the Port, were in fifteen days ready to set Sail, though to say the truth they were all in such disorder, and so unprovided, that some amongst them had no other Pilots then the Masters themselves, who had but little understanding in Navigation. In this bad order they departed all in company together one Sunday morning, not withstanding that they had the wind, the season, the sea, and all things else contrary, not suffer∣ing themselves to be guided by reason, or the consideration of the dangers which they are subject unto that commit themselves to this Element; For they were so obstinate and so blinded as they would not represent any inconvenience to themselves, and I my self was so infortunate, that I went along with them in one of their Vessels. In this manner they sailed all that same day as it were groping between the Islands and the firm Land, but about midnight there arose in the dark so mighty a Storm, accompanied with such horrible rain, that suffering themselves to be carried at the mercy of the wind, they ran upon the Sands of Gotom, whereof the nine Juncks two only, as it were by miracle, were saved, so that the other seven were lost out of which not so much as one man escaped. This loss was thought to amount unto above three hundred thousand Crowns in commodities, besides the greater, which was of six hundred persons that left their lives there, whereof there were an hundred and forty Portugals, all rich men, and of quality. As for the other two Juncks in one of the which by good hap I was, joyning in comfort together, they followed the course they had begun, until such time as they arrived at the Island of the Lequios;
Pinto, pg. 179-180
He describes the land and says the people rode on horseback. Where is there any account of Filipinos being horsemen?
Now as soon as it was day we perceived by the sight of the Island of fire, and of the Mountain of Taydacano, that the Land where we were was the great Lequio....
...until at last we were espyed by a boy that was keeping of cattel, who as soon as he had dis∣covered us, ran to the next Village, which was some quarter of a league off, for to give notice of it to the inhabitants there; who presently thereupon with the sound of Drums and Cornets assembled all their Neighbours round about them, so that within three or four hours they were a Company of about two hundred men, whereof there were fourteen on horsback.pg. 180
In her translation of this text Rebecca Catz has this note for Island of fire:
“Fire Island: Cortesão says that Fire Island appears for the first time on Lopo Homem’s map of 1554 and that it corresponds to Nakano-shima or Suwanose-shima, two islands with active volcanoes. The former is described in Webster’s Geographical Dictionary (1966) as a volcanic island 3,215 feet high, Tokara Island, in north Ryukyu Islands, Japan. Suwanose-Shima is not listed. See Cortesão, Suma Oriental, 128–29 n. 2.”
Fernão Mendes Pinto. “The Travels of Mendes Pinto," Translated by Rebecca Catz, pg. 2,323 epub
Pinto and his companions are tied up and taken to the town of Pungor. They are next taken to a town called Gundexilau and left to rot in a dungeon full of water and leeches. The next day they are brought back to Pungor and given a trial before a judge. They are accused of being pirates but they insist they are merchants. They are not believed and are left to rot in prison for two months. The king then sends a spy pretending to be a merchant to visit Pinto and his men to ask them how they ended up in Lequios. They repeat the same story and the spy reports back to the king. However a Chinese pirate arrives and testifies against Pinto and his men that they are indeed pirates who pose as merchants in order to conquer a country. The king believes the pirate and sentences Pinto and his men to death.
By providence the man set to deliver this decree and make sure it was carried out lodged with his sister who was a widow. Staying with her was the wife and children of one of the prisoners. When she heard the decree she fainted and then scratched her face so hard that it bled. News of this got around to the women who wrote a letter to the Queen demanding that as an act of charity the foreigners be released. Through a further series of events including a prophetic dream Pinto and his men are released. Following that story is a description of Lequios for the express purpose of inspiring the Portuguese to conquer the island.
In this manner we departed from Pungor the capital City of the Island of Lequios, of which I will here make a brief relation, to the end that if it shall one day please God to inspire the Portugal Nation, principally for the exaltation and increase of the Catholick faith, and next for the great benefit that may redound thereof, to undertake the Conquest of this Island, they may know where first to begin, as also the commodities of it, and the easiness of this Conquest. We must understand then that this Island of Lequios, scituated in nine and twenty degrees, is two hundred leagues in circuit, threescore in length, and thirty in bredth.
The latitude of Lequios is 29 degrees, not 9 degrees. That places it well north of the Philippines. J.G. Cheock and Timothy Jay Schwab get this completely wrong. 9N and 20E does not mark the Philippines. It marks a place off the West coast of Africa. The Philippines is at 124 longitude. This error appears to trace back to Abraham Tabilog's 2004 work Pilipinas Ay Nasa Biblia 2004. Searching on Google for "Furthermore, Pinto even goes as far as to give the exact latitude of the main Lequios island. He states that is was situated at 9N20" reveals it has spread without being checked for its accuracy. Tim also did not bother to verify this statement and now this lie is in a book touted as being a monumental and undisputable case that the Philippines is Ophir among other things.
Let's move on to Tome Pires. In his book Suma Oriental he mentions both the Lequios and the Lucoes. That alone should tell us that these groups are not the same.
The Lequeos are called Guores-they are known by either of these names. Lequios is the chief one. The king is a heathen and all the people too. He is a tributary vassal of the king of the Chinese. His island is large and has many people; they have small ships of their own type; they have three or four junks which are continuously buying in China, and they have no more. They trade in China and Malacca, and sometimes in company with the Chinese, sometimes on their own. In China they trade in the port of Foqem which is in the land of China near Canton—a day and a night's sail away. The Malays say to the people of Malacca that there is no difference between Portuguese and Llequjos, except that the Portuguese buy women, which the Lequos do not.
The Lequjos have only wheat in their country, and rice and wines after their fashion, meat, and fish in great abundance. They are great draftsmen and armourers. They make gilt coffers, very rich and well-made fans, swords, many arms of all kinds after their fashion. Just as we in our kingdoms speak of Milan, so do the Chinese and all the other races speak of the Lequjos. They are very truthful men. They do not buy slaves, nor would they sell one of their own men for the whole world, and they would die over this.
The Lequjos are idolators; if they are sailing and find themselves in danger, they say that if they escape they buy a beautiful maiden to be sacrificed and behead her on the prow of the junk, and other things like these. They are white men, well dressed, better than the Chinese, more dignified. They sail to China and take the merchandise that goes from Malacca to China, and go to Japan, which is an island seven or eight days' sail distant, and take the gold and copper in the said island in exchange for their merchandise. The Legion are men who sell their merchandise freely for credit, and if they are lied to when they collect payment, they collect it sword in hand.The chief is gold, copper, and arms of all kinds, coffers, boxes (caxonjas) with gold leaf veneer, fans, wheat, and their things are well made. They bring a great deal of gold. They are truthful men—more so than the Chinese—and feared. They bring a great store of paper and silk in colours; they bring musk, porce-lain, damask; they bring onions and many vegetables. They take the same merchandise as the Chinese take. They leave here in [blank], and one, two or three junks come to Malacca every year, and they take a great deal of Bengal clothing.Among the Lequjos Malacca wine is greatly esteemed. They load large quantities of one kind which is like brandy, with which the Malays make themselves [so drunk as to run] amuck. The Lequjos bring swords worth thirty cruzados each, and many of these.
The Lucoes are about ten days' sail beyond Borneo. They are nearly all heathen; they have no king, but they are ruled by groups of elders. They are a robust people, little thought of in Malacca. They have two or three junks, at the most. They take the merchandise to Borneo and from there they come to Malacca.
The Borneans go to the lands of the Lucoes to buy gold, and foodstuffs as well, and the gold which they bring to Malacca is from the Lucoes and from the surrounding islands which are countless; and they all have more or less trade with one another. And the gold of these islands where they trade is of a low quality —indeed very low quality.The Lucoes have in their country plenty of foodstuffs, and wax and honey; and they take the same merchandise from here as the Borneans take. They are almost one people; and in Malacca there is no division between them. They never used to be in Malacca as they are now; but the Tamaqua whom the Governor of India appointed here was already beginning to gather many of them together, and they were already building many houses and shops. They are a useful people; they are hard-working.Of this family there are now the sons of the Tumunguo and his wife in Malacca, as well as his mother-in-law, and Curia Raja and Tuam Brajy who married the Tumunguo's wife. In Minjam there must be five hundred Lucoes, some of them important men and good merchants, who want to come to Malacca, and the people of Mjjm will not grant them permission, because now they have gone over to the side of the former king of Malacca, not very openly. The people of Mjmjam are Malays.
Pires, pg. 133-134
The Lucoes do not have a king while the Lequios do. They also have gold of a very low quality. They also only have two or three junks. How much more clearer could it be that Pires differentiates these peoples? They are not the same. By a forced etymology Tim insists they are the same.
Some attempt an etymology of the Liu Kiu in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan yet Lequios are not Japanese, these are not Southeast of China and never found there but in the Philippines which boasts a much more direct etymology and several. It is no surprise that the Lequios, Lequii or Lucoes equate to Iloconos of Ilocos. However, this term leads us to more aspects we would like to explore a bit.
Collecion General de Documentos Relativos a las Islas Filipinas, Document #98 mentions the Lequios were “big, bearded, and white men.” They traded “gold and silver.”
This appears to throw a wrench into this entire narrative in history perhaps. How could Filipinos be big, bearded, white men? That is not a description of the Japanese either. This is an ancient residual reference to Solomon’s navy of which the Spanish have all but wiped so much history that would likely confirm this even further. However, we have enough to prove this thoroughly and that will suffice.
Solomon's Treasure, pg. 163
He offers no linguistic analysis to show that Lequios = Lucoes = Ilocconos. It springs from his head fully formed and he expects us to believe it with no proof. And what about the "big, bearded, white men?" Such a description is never given in the document to which Tim is referring. Here is a translation of that section which is at the end of the document.
In front of this said China and its lands are many islands to the sea and beyond these islands is a very large land that They say that it is terra firme, other islands where three or four junks of white people, who are very large and very rich, came to Malac every year. They bring a lot of gold in rods and silver and silk and a lot of very good wheat and very beautiful porcelain and other merchandise and they carry a lot of pepper and all the other things that the Chinese sayings carry to those who are called lequios, those from Malac say that they are better people than older merchants and richer and more dressed and honored than the Chinese whose people until now We have no news because they never came to Malac after the Portuguese went there.
"The country of Liuqiu is situated amidst islands in the sea, in a location that should be east of Jian'an County, to which one may arrive with five days' travel by water. The land has many caves. Its king's clan name is Huansi, and his given name is Keladou; it is not known how many generations have passed since he and his have come to possess the country. The people of that land call him Kelaoyang, and for his wife, [they] say Duobatu. His place of residence they call Boluotan Grotto, with threefold moats and fences; the perimeter has flowing water, trees and briars as barriers. As for the domicile of the king, it is sixteen rooms large, and engraved with carvings of birds and beasts. There are many Doulou trees, which resemble the orange but with foliage that is dense. The country has four or five chiefs, who unite several villages under their rule; the villages have [their own] little kings.""The people have deep eyes and long noses, seeming to be rather akin to the Hu, and also having petty cleverness. There is no observance of hierarchy of ruler and minister nor the rite of prostrating oneself with one's palms pressed together. Fathers and children sleep together in the same bed. The men pluck out their whiskers and beards, and any place on their bodies where they happen to have hair, they will also remove it. The adult women use ink to tattoo their hands in the design of insects and serpents. As for marriage, they use wine, delicacies, pearls and shells to arrange a betrothal; if a man and a woman have found pleasure in each other, then they get married."
Their usual ethnic name derives from the Chinese name for the islands, "Liuqiu" (also spelled as Loo Choo, Lew Chew, Luchu, and more),which in the Japanese language is pronounced "Ryuukyuu". In the Okinawan language, its pronounced "Ruuchuu". These terms are rarely used, and are politicized markers of a distinct culture.
In his journal he had the audacity to give details on Lequois, putting it in the latitude of 9N20 on a meridian similar to that of Japan.
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