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The Real Lequios: Luzon and the Babuyan Isles in

17th-century Jesuit Cartography

Jesuit historian Francisco Colin identified Luzon as the land of Tarshish, Ophir, and Havilah — and the nearby isles stretching toward Formosa as the ancient Lequios. What once was known… has been forgotten. No more!!!



🪶 THE SMOKING QUILL | June 11, 2025

🧭 Father Francisco Colin Confirms Lequios as Philippine Isles — and Declares the Archipelago as Ophir and Tarshish

🔥 Introduction: The “Lequios” Lie Exposed

Much has been said about the mysterious "Lequios" in early Iberian accounts — long assumed by modern scholars to be the Ryukyu Islands. But what happens when we actually read the men who lived in the region, knew the geography, and left behind clear accounts?

Father Francisco Colin, Jesuit provincial and historian of the 17th century Philippines, leaves no ambiguity. In his monumental Labor Evangelica (1663), Colin places the Lequios in Northern Luzon, directly associating them with the Babuyan and Batanes Isles — not Japan.

And he doesn’t stop there. He names the entire Philippine archipelago as Ophir, Tarshish, and Havilah, drawn directly from Genesis 10.

🧭 1. Geographic Precision: Lequios = Luzon

Father Colin is unequivocal:

“Solo por mayor fe puede dezir, que enfrente de la Isla de Manila, por la parte del Norte, entre los dos Cabos, llamados Boxeador, y del Engaño... Continuanse con los Lequios, y Isla Hermosa.”
(Labor Evangelica, p. 50)

📌 Translation:
"One may say with certainty that in front of the Island of Manila, to the north, between the Capes called Boxeador and Engaño... [the islands] continue with the Lequios and Isla Hermosa."

That corridor is not Ryukyu. It is the Babuyan and Batanes Islands — the northernmost tip of the Philippines, beyond Luzon.

“Isla Hermosa, que es entre los Lequios y Manila…”
“Isla Hermosa, which is between the Lequios and Manila.”

This text triangulates their location: Lequios to the north, Manila to the south, and Hermosa in between — meaning Lequios lies within the Philippine archipelago.
Read the Page
Labor evangelica, ministerios apostólicos de los obreros de la Compañia de Iesus, fundacion y progressos de su provincia en las islas Filipinas / historiados por el padre Francisco Colin, provincial de la misma compañia ; parte primera sacada de los manuscriptos del padre Pedro Chirino ...

💎 2. The Trade Proof: Musk of the Lequios

Colin lists exotic goods of the Orient traded into the region:

“…el almizcle de los Lequios…”
“…the musk of the Lequios…”
(Labor Evangelica, p. 187)

This aligns with earlier references to “musc de Lequios” in French texts. Musk was a prized aromatic and medicinal product. This confirms that Lequios was known for valuable trade items, which again fits Luzon’s trading role with China and Japan, not Ryukyu.

[ Read The Musk of Los Lequios – Rethinking Geography, Trade, and Aromatic Memory in Early Modern Asia ]
Read the Page
Labor evangelica, ministerios apostólicos de los obreros de la Compañia de Iesus, fundacion y progressos de su provincia en las islas Filipinas / historiados por el padre Francisco Colin, provincial de la misma compañia ; parte primera sacada de los manuscriptos del padre Pedro Chirino

📖 3. The Biblical Bombshell: Philippines as Ophir and Tarshish

Perhaps most stunning, Colin writes:

“Y el principal Poblador de estos Archipielagos fuese Tharsis, hijo de Javan... como lo fueron Ophir, y Hevilath…”
(Labor Evangelica, p. 16)

📌 Translation:
"And the principal settlers of these archipelagos was Tarshish, son of Javan... just as were Ophir and Havilah..."

Citing Genesis 10, Colin aligns the early Philippine settlers with the biblical sons of Javan, declaring the islands the biblical lands of gold.

He speaks not hypothetically — but with scriptural and ethnographic confidence.
Read the Page
Labor evangelica, ministerios apostólicos de los obreros de la Compañia de Iesus, fundacion y progressos de su provincia en las islas Filipinas / historiados por el padre Francisco Colin, provincial de la misma compañia ; parte primera sacada de los manuscriptos del padre Pedro Chirino

🧠 Summary

This single work of Jesuit scholarship from the 1600s disrupts centuries of mistaken or manipulated identifications:

✅ Lequios are not Ryukyu.
✅ They are clearly Philippine isles, north of Manila.
✅ They were famed for musk, trade, and wealth.
✅ The Philippines is identified as Ophir and Tarshish.

No later scholar, no matter how credentialed, can override the authority of an eye-witness provincial who authored the official ecclesiastical history of the region — and quoted the scriptures to back it up.

📚 References

  1. Francisco Colin, S.J. Labor Evangelica: Ministerios Apostólicos de los Obreros de la Compañía de Jesús..., Parte Primera (Madrid: 1663). Source: Biblioteca Digital Hispánica


  3. Genesis 10 — genealogy of Noah’s descendants.


#SmokingQuill #PhilippinesHistory #LequiosIsLuzon #OphirIsReal #JesuitRecords #HistoricalTruth #BiblicalGeography #FatherColin #LaborEvangelica #LuzonNotRyukyu
ADDITION:

🗺️ A Jesuit Colonial Trail of Tears
The visual record of how truth was displaced, overwritten, and erased.

🎉 “The maps were never lost… only silenced. Now, the silenced speak.”

📌 1. 1714 Vander Aa – "Lossonia 5ve"
    Labels the east Luzon isles as Lossonia and places "I. Parta" west of Batanes.A direct resurrection of Pinto’s Five Isles narrative.
1714 Vander Aa Map

📌 2. 1640 Jan Jansson Map
    Omits Batanes but names Taiwan as "Lequios"Places "I. de Prata" west of a cluster of 5 yellow islets, very close to the Babuyanes.
1640 Jansson Map

📍 3. 1700 Valk Map
    Labels “5. Insulae” above Luzon and includes Prata Isle, preserving the Lequios identification.
1700 Valk Map - Isle de Prata (Silver)

📌 4. 1774 Dutch Map
    Offers fine delineation of the five Batanes isles with Prata just west. Labels Luzon as Luconia.
1774 Bowen Map

📌 5. 1706 Thornton Map

  • Uses “Five Islands” and places Prata directly west of Luzon.

  • The R. Hecos or R. Ilecos stands out as the Lequios River from other maps.


1706 Thortnton Map

📌 6. 1700 Vander Aa Map – Pigafetta-Inspired

Clearly ties 5 Isles of Pinto, Prata, and the Philippines into one cohesive region.
1700 Vander Aa Map

📌 7.

1650 Antoine de Fer Map

  • Names Luzon as "Leuconia," echoing Lequios, and situates it above Mindanao just below the Tropic of Cancer where Luzon is.

1650 Antoine de Fer Map

📌 8.

1690 Coronelli Map

  • Offers a stunning depiction of Luzon as a bifurcated landmass, with terms like "Lucon creduta favolosa" or "Lucon believed to be fabulous" implying mythical fame—possibly a nod to Zipangu/Ophir myths.

  • Notice as well the bifurcated island in 2 sections– North and South just as we referenced previously.

1690 Coronelli Map

📌 9.

1645 Spilbergen Map

  • Names the northern part of Luzon as “I. Locos”, a variant of “Lequios”. West of Batanes, an isle labeled “Wateb” appears—possibly a distorted Prata or ghost island.

  • Wateb as a label also appears as "or Isla de Prata on other maps.
1645 Janssonius/Spilbergen Map

📌 10.

1644-58 Janssonius Map (Colorized)

  • Replaces Ilocos with “ILLECOS”, a near-exact spelling of Lequios.

  • Preserves I. de Prata and 5 yellow isles.
1644 Janssonius Map
1502 Cantino Map

Cantino World Map

1502 

[See above]

Lequios of Zambales at 17N. Affirmed within.

1512 Francisco Rodrigues' Sketches

Jorge Reinel/Rodriguez Chart 

1512

[Click Image for Blog Link]

"The Main Island of Lequios" is charted and noted geographically near Luzon, not near Okinawa.
1527 Diogo Ribeiro Map

Diogo Ribeiro Map

1527

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Locates Lequios near Luzon, reinforcing the Philippines as the center of early Southeast Asian trade routes.
1535 Penrose Chart

Anonymous Penrose Chart

1535

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Lequios plotted between 17°–20° North Latitude, matching Northern Philippines, not Okinawa.

1539 Santa Cruz SPanish Government Map

Santa Cruz Map

1539 

[See above]

SPANISH GOVERNMENT MAP! Luquios as Luzon, Philippines With Visayas and Mindanao Charted With It.

 
1544 Sebastian Cabot Map

Sebastian Cabot Map

1544

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Cabot's 'Canal of Lequios' flows into the West Philippine Sea, cementing Lequios’ geographic tie to the Philippines. 10-15N.
1554 Lopo Homem Map

Lopo Homem Planisphere

1554

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Colonial Propaganda Begins! Homem still places Lequios closer to the Philippines; later maps begin shifting it northward under colonial reinterpretations.
1561 Giacomo Gastaldi Map

Giacomo Gastaldi

1561

Lequios Canal continues to be recognized near Palawan, and labels North Luzon as "Cangu", the likely Zipangu of Marco Polo.
1561 Munster Map

Italian Urbano Monti Map

1587 

Canal route for major trade between Palawan and Borneo still referenced where Lequios Canal is on previous maps.

 
1589 Ortelius Maris Pacifici

Spanish Maris Pacifici: Abraham Ortelius

1589

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Ortelius’ 1589 map silently reversed Portuguese propaganda by restoring the Philippines’ true heritage.
1607 Mercator Map

Mercator Map

1607

[Click Image for Blog Link]

The famous Mercator labels Batanes just South of Taiwan as Lequio Major where Pinto was shipwrecked.

1613 Dutch Globe

Dutch Globe

1613

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Flemish and Dutch engraver and cartographer preserves Batanes as Pintos' location for Lequios while bending to Colonial pressure for Ryukyu.
1615 Jodocus Rossi Map

Hondius, Jodocus, and Giuseppe Di Rossi.

1615

Batanes maintained as Lequio and Ryukyu as Lequi Grand.

1627 Bertius Map

P. Bertius Map

1627

Lequios Minor and Pequeno are both place in the Batanes Islands in the Philippines, while moving Lequeo Grande to Ryukyu in error.

1630 Albernaz Map

Albernaz Map

1630

4 Maps include Lequios in one Atlas. All equate Batanes Islands, Philippines as Lequeo–3 of them as Grande (main) and 1 confuses it with Ryukyu. One can see the mindset waffling into Colonial propaganda.

1640 Bleau Map

Bleau Map

1640

The 5 Isles of Pinto's legend appear just to the West of Batanes defining it as Lequios. This same dynamic occurs on the:

1676 Speed Map

1700 Visscher Map
1587 Urbano Monte Map

French Map

1752 

Just west of the Bashee Isles (Batanes), the map boldly labels:

“Les 5 Isles” — The Five Islands

Relating the legend from Pinto's shipreck with Batanes as Lequios.

 
1794 Spanish-British Map

Spanish-British Map

1794

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Lequios River, Batanes as Pinto's Shipwreck, Five Isles, and the Final Blow to Ryukyu Theory.
1799 Italian Map Lequios River, Pinto Account

Italian Map

1799

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Pinto's legend of The 5 Isles appears West of Batanes, as Lequios.
1589 Maris Pacifici: Abraham Ortelius

🪶 “History didn’t just speak — it sang… and the world finally listened.”
“The final page wasn’t colonial ink — it was joy, justice, and memory.”

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