The God Culture: Fr. Gaspar de Cruz and Fr. Martin de Rada on the Lequios Islands

Here are two accounts from the 16th century regarding the Lequios Islands which Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has overlooked. These two accounts are found in South China in the Sixteenth Century by Charles Boxer. 

This volume is available to peruse on Google Books. 

The first mention of the Lequios Islands is from Fr. Gaspar de Cruz.

And as to what he says about the Eastern Scythia ending in a point, it seems to me that both he and those from whom he took this are mistaken; and that this mistake arose from seeing it thus depicted in a world-map, which was for lack of true information. Because the point which they show as containing the country and people of the Liquos is not continued with the mainland, but it is an island which standeth in the sea of China, little more or less than thirty leagues from China itself. In this island live this people, which is a well-disposed people, more to the white than brown.

It is a cleanly and well attired people; they dress their hair like women, and tie it up on the side of their head, fastened with a silver bodkin. Their land is fresh and fertile, with many and good waters; and it is a people that sail very seldom although they are in the midst of the sea. They use weapons and wear very good short swords. They were in times past subject to the Chinas, with whom they had much communication, and therefore are they very like the Chinas.

Now this island lying in the China Sea, as we have said, the coast of China runneth winding from the province of Cantão and from its coast to the coast of the province of Namquim, whither the Portugals have sailed, the coast making never a point as the maps do make, the which may be seen well delineated in the seacards of the Portugals, and in the maps which they do make.

pg. 68

A footnote on this section says:

Liu-chiu (Ryūkyū) islands and their inhabitants. The forms Lequeos, Liquios, etc., occur in old Portuguese and Spanish texts.

Fr. Gaspar de Cruz says the Lequios Islands are 30 leagues east of China. That contradicts the distance of 175 leagues which is to be found in a single Spanish version of Barbosa's book. That proves whoever wrote 175 leagues, be it Barbosa or someone else, was wrong. That is understandable seeing as the book was written before the Portuguese knew of the Lequios Islands by firsthand rather than secondhand knowledge. It underscores that the textual variant of "175 leagues to the east," which is found in no other edition of Barbosa's book, is not reliable. Yet Tim calls this textual variant "the final blow" to prove the Lequios Islands are the Philippines. 

The second mention of the Lequios Islands is from Fr. Martin de Rada.

Besides these islands which lie near to the coast, there are a very large number of [other] great and populous islands; these I will describe as they are depicted in their draughts. Beginning at the extremity of the province of Canton, which we said lies in latitude 20°, from thence nearly forty leagues to seaward, they say lies the great and populous island of Cauchi which is tributary to China. Over against the province of Hocquien [Fukien] and beyond Tacao which we saw, as is related in our narrative, lies towards the north-east of it the island of Zuansin, and from thence towards the northeast, Lusin. To the east of this lies Siaugy, and from here towards the north-west lies the Lesser Leuquiu, the which lies to the east of Hocchiu [Foochow]. Then towards the north, lies the Greater Leuquiu. These islands are called Los Lequios in our maps. More towards the north is Humal, over against Chetcan. From thence to the northwards lies Gitpon, which peoples and nations which border on the land of Taybin, and therefore we near the strait at the entrance of the gulf of Santon [Shantung] is Tanhay we call the Japones, and further north than the Japones lies Tauçian. And and at the furthest extremity of Taybin is Halecan.

pg. 265

A footnote on this section says:

As on most Ming Chinese maps, the Lesser Liu-chiu are here identified with Western Formosa, and the Greater Liu-chiu with the modern island group of that name, better known nowadays as the Ryūkyū.

Fr. Martin de Rada describes "a very large number of [other] great and populous islands" near China. He then says the Lequios Islands are east of Foochow which is Fuzhou. It looks like this:

That's not the Philippines by any measure. 

These are two more 16th century primary sources describing the Lequios Islands which contradict Timothy Jay Schwab's thesis that the Philippines are the Lequios Islands. Tim's reliance on a single anomalous reading of 175 leagues from one Spanish version of Barbosa without examining the broader historical context or corroborating eyewitness testimony is not only methodologically weak, it is outright misleading. Likewise, his reliance on imprecise 16th century maps, as if they reveal a conspiracy to hide the real location of the Lequios Islands, is also disingenuously misleading as it ignores the broader historical context as recorded in 16th century texts. That Tim overlooks historically critical sources like these, or worse, dismisses them as being ambiguous in the original and flawed in translation, further discredits his claims and his ability as a researcher.

The God Culture: George H. Kerr Rebukes Timothy Jay Schwab

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has gone to great lengths to prove the Lequios Islands are the Philippines. He has been overly reliant on old and imprecise maps to prove his thesis. 16th century maps have the Lequios Islands in the north and to the east of China. It is Tim's contention that the Lequios Islands were always the Philippines but the name shifted north to the Ryukyu Islands as part of a Jesuit cartographic cover-up.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/cartographers-of-control---how-the-jesuits-buried-the-lands-of-gold/

🪶 THE SMOKING QUILL | May 19, 2025

Cartographers of Control – How the Jesuits Buried the Lands of Gold

🌍 The Realignment Begins

The sixteenth century was a battleground of maps, monarchs, and missionaries. At the center of this struggle was a secret campaign to rewrite the known geography of the world. Today, we follow the smoking quill back to its hand—and it belongs to the Jesuits.

⚫ Who Were the Jesuits?

Formed in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola, the Society of Jesus was initially created to counter the Protestant Reformation. Its members were militant intellectuals, deeply tied to Catholic monarchs and embassies. Many came from converso Jewish families, including Loyola himself, a Marrano by origin. They wielded not just theology, but political and cartographic power—becoming confessors to kings and educators to empires.

🔍 Rewriting History with Ink

As Jesuit missionaries spread across the East, a shift occurred. The Philippines, once labeled as Cipangu and Lequios by explorers like Columbus, Behaim, Magellan, and Cabot, suddenly began to vanish from those identities. Instead, Jesuit accounts moved these legendary lands of gold—Cipangu and Lequios—into Japan and Ryukyu.

⚖️ The Suppression of Truth

The Jesuits were expelled from multiple nations between the 17th and 18th centuries—Portugal (1759), France (1764), and Spain (1767). Why? Treason, espionage, and banking intrigue. Even U.S. Founding Fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson warned that if the Jesuits were restored, they would put democracy itself to the test.

When they returned, so did the suppression. Map labels vanished. Cipangu became Japan. Lequios floated to Okinawa. Only this time, they would move to silence opposition. 

📣 Conclusion: The Cartographers of Control

The Society of Jesus did not merely bring religion—they redrew borders, erased truths, and buried the lands of gold under layers of false narrative. This is why the Philippines disappeared from its ancient legacy as Chryse, Ophir, Tarshish, Lequios, and Cipangu.

In a previous article I said I did not need to examine Tim's alleged cartographic evidence because his core thesis is fictitious. Tim did not like that one bit. 

The grotesque dismissal of the 20+ maps we have put forth is proof this not an actual blogger, certainly not an academic or scholar, but a hack who thrives on defamation, bullying and cyber libel. Well, we don't back down to bullies. The law will deal with him soon. 

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/the-bifurcated-island-of-luzon-lequios-and-lucoes-rediscovered/

There is simply no need to examine all those maps. Imprecise 16th century maps are not indicative of a conspiracy to conceal the locations of the Lequios Islands. The journals and other writings of 16th century explorers identified the Lequios Islands as a place in the north near Japan. Pires, Pinto, Barbosa, and other writers all make a difference between the Lequios Islands and Luzon. Yet, despite their plain words Tim twists those writings to fit his preconceived notions of the Philippines. 

In 1958 George H. Kerr, a former diplomat who worked in China, published a book titled Okinawa: The History of an Island People. When discussing 16th century trade between Okinawa and Southeast Asia he brings to witness Pires, Barbosa, and others. Kerr does not waste time attempting to decipher 16th century maps. Instead he goes straight the horse's mouth which is the description of Lequios Island and its people by European explorers. 

One of his citations is particularly interesting.

The first book on China printed in Europe was brought out in 1569, the record of the Dominican Father Gaspar da Cruz. In it he noted that there had been misunderstanding concerning the location of the Ryukyus, and has this to say:

"It is an island which standeth in the sea of China, little more or less than thirty leagues from China itself.

What makes this noteworthy is Father da Cruz corrects the distance the Lequios Islands are from China. In a Spanish edition of Barbosa's book it is written that they are 175 leagues east of China. Father Gaspar da Cuz says that is wrong. The correct distance is only 30 leagues. Timothy Jay Schwab has latched onto Barbosa's 175 leagues claiming that proves the Lequios Islands are the Philippines. All it really proves is that whoever inserted that distance into Barbosa's book was wrong. 

The reason Tim is so hung up on misidentifying the Lequios Islands as the Philippines is because Spanish Document 98 says the Lequios Islands are Ophir and Tarshish. Magellan allegedly rewrote his copy of Duarte Barbosa's book by scratching out Lequios and writing Ophir and Tarshish. Though he does not mention any of that in his book, George H. Kerr is not unaware of the identification of Lequios with Ophir. He lists the following article in his bibliography:

Denucé, J.: "Les îles Lequios (Formose et Riu-Kiu) et Ophir" Bulletin de la Societé Royal Belge de Géographie (Bruxelles) v. XXXI No. 6 (1907) pp. 435-461.

I have previously written about that article here. Of this article Tim writes: 

This Smoking Quill exposé reveals a monumental confirmation buried in a 1907 French academic journal. The article verifies that Odoardo Barbosa and Ferdinand Magellan identified the Lequios Islands as the Biblical lands of Ophir and Tarshish, not speculatively, but in a formal manuscript preserved in the Archives of the Indies in Seville. This record, suppressed in later editions, was part of a Spanish government submission prior to Magellan’s expedition to the Moluccas.  

The identification of the Lequios Islands as Ophir and Tarshish was official Spanish policy, documented by Magellan, recorded by Barbosa, and submitted to the Crown. The editorial erasure that followed was not an academic oversight—it was cartographic and historical suppression.

This exposé restores the truth, not by conjecture, but by returning to the primary source in Seville that declared the Philippines the Land of Gold—Ophir

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/from-seville-with-gold----barbosa-magellan-and-the-suppressed-identification-of-ophir/

Tim is actually saying the Lequios Islands, which he misidentifies as the Philippines, really are Ophir and Tarshish because Magellan said so. Whereas Tim has decided to drown in the deep waters of unsubstantiated and imaginary conspiracy theories George H. Kerr preferred to swim in the pond of reliable written sources. 

The following section from Kerr's book can be found on pages 124-130.

OKINAWAN TRADE WITH THE INDIES AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

Upon the first contact with the marauding Europeans in 1511, the Okinawans began slowly to retreat from ports of Southeast Asia, trading over shorter sea routes and in less varied goods until, in 1611, they found themselves cut off from the south and confined to a narrow range of commerce with China at Ch'uang-chou and with Satsuma in Japan.

Events in the 16th century proved that no prosperous trading port in Asia was secure from the Japanese wako or the European conquistadors. Behind the Okinawans, to the north, were the Japanese, watching with deep concern the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and English adventurers in turn come up from India through the Indies, Malaya, the Philippines, Formosa, and the Ryukyu Islands. The white men were willing to trade, but only on their own terms; they gave no quarter to anyone bold enough or foolish enough to refuse their demands. The more prosperous the port, the greater the danger that it would be seized and sacked, or declared a possession newly "discovered" for a Christian king.

It is to Portuguese accounts we must turn, however, for notices of the position, the reputation, and the activities of the Okinawans in Southeast Asia. Our principal sources (reproduced in annotated translations by the Hakluyt Society) are the Suma Oriental of Thomé Pires, written about 1512-15; the Book of Duarte Barbosa, completed about 1518; and the Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, Second Viceroy of India, prepared by his son from dispatches forwarded by the viceroy to the King of Portugal, Dom Emmanuel. In his immense work Da Asia, Joao de Barros also noted that Portuguese traders were encountering Okinawan ships and merchants at Patani.

Traders at Malacca settled in small communities having common race, language, or national origin. Along the wharves and in the market place the visiting Okinawans brushed shoulders with Moslems from Egypt, Aden, and Mecca, with Abyssinian and Armenian Christians, with Persians, Parsees from India, Turks from Asia Minor, and representatives from many of the small kingdoms and enclaves of India. There were traders from Ceylon, Bengal, and Burma, from Siam, Cochin-China, and Cambodia, Java, Sumatra, Timor, and the Moluccas, Borneo and the Philippines. (Pires names sixty nations, cities, or principalities in addition to the men of Lequeos, or Ryukyu.)

Shipping in the roadstead was supervised on behalf of the rajah by an Admiral of the Sea known as the Lasamane, under whose control lay the merchants from China, "Lequeos," Cochin-China, and Champa. On shore the foreigners were controlled by xabandares, to whom the incoming merchants must make gifts. These agents of the rajah “have become rich through this function, because they greatly overtax the merchants; and these put up with everything because their profits are large and also because it is the custom of the country to do so and endure it."

Among the cargoes handled by the Okinawans at Malacca (according to Portuguese accounts) were gold and copper, arms of all kinds, fine gold-leaf and gold-dust lacquerware, excellent fans, paper, colored silks, damask, porcelains, musk, rock-alum, grains, onions, and many other vegetables.

There is a mention of green porcelains brought in by the Okinawans and transshipped to Bengal. Okinawan goods had a high reputation; they were well made and, says Pires, "just as we in our kingdoms speak of Milan, so do the Chinese and all other races speak of the Lequjos [Ryukyus]."

It is evident from these lists that most of the Okinawan cargoes were of goods transshipped from Japan, Korea, and China. The Malacca merchants were aware of this, according to Pires, for: "All that comes from the Lequos is brought by them from Japan. And the Lequeos trade with the people of Japan in cloths, fishing-nets and other merchandise." He notes that the Okinawans picked up cargoes not unlike the cargoes bought by Chinese merchants, and that they took “a great deal of Bengal clothing" and were especially fond of a heavy, brandy-like Malacca wine, shipping it out in quantity. Much of their cargo was paid for by them in gold coinage bearing a distinctive stamp.

As for the people themselves and the distant country from which they came, the Portuguese learned that:

"The Lequeos are called Gores-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 in Malacca, and sometimes on their own. In China they trade at the port of Foqem [Fukien] 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 Llequos, except that the Portuguese buy women, which the Leqos 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...

"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. . . .

"They are white men, well dressed, better than the Chinese, more dignified. They sail to China and take 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 Leqios 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 [merchandise] is gold, copper, and arms of all kinds, coffers, boxes . . . 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, porcelain, damask; they bring onions and many vegetables.... The Lequos bring swords worth thirty cruzados each, and many of them.”

Pires may have met the last Okinawans who reached Malacca, in 1511, but the presumption must be that he prepared these notes on the basis of inquiry made among residents of Malacca who were well acquainted with Okinawans, who had come hitherto regularly to trade at the port. If allowance is made for the mistake in believing some of the Japanese wares to be products of Okinawa, the account is a fairly accurate one, though at one point Pires relays as hearsay a story that after escape from peril at sea the Okinawans "buy a beautiful maiden to be sacrificed and behead her on the prow of the junk, and other things like these."

Duarte Barbosa (a cousin of the great Magellan), writing about 1518, describes the Okinawans as "certain white folk, who they say are great and rich merchants. The Malacca people say that they are better men, and richer and more eminent merchants than the Chins [Chinese]. Of these folk we as yet know but little, and they have not yet come to Malacca since it has been under the King our Lord [i.e., since 1511].'

In preparing his Commentaries upon his father's reports, Dalboquerque the Younger repeats most of the information supplied to Lisbon by Pires, but discusses the location of the Ryukyus at some length, and

remarks upon difficulty in securing details:

"...they are men of very reserved speech, and do not give anyone an account of their native affairs. ..."

"The land of these Gores is called Lequea; the men are fair; their dress is like a cloak without a hood; they carry long swords after the fashion of Turkish cimetars, but somewhat more narrow; they also carry daggers of two palms' length; they are daring men and feared in this land [of Malacca]. When they arrive at any port, they do not bring out their merchandize all at once, but little by little; they speak truthfully, and will have the truth spoken to them. If any merchant in Malacca broke his word, they would immediately take him prisoner. They strive to dispatch their business and get away quickly, for they are not the men to like going away from their own land. They set out for Malacca in the month of January, and begin their return journey in August or September. . ."

In these brief notices the Portuguese accounts return again and again to note the presence of gold bars and gold dust in the Okinawan commerce, and of gold used in the lacquerware brought in from Naha. Their curiosity was roused by this; perhaps these were the Rica de Oro and Rica de Plata-the Islands of Gold and of Silver-said to lie far out in the Eastern Seas. Pires finished his great manuscript about 1515: in 1517 he set out as ambassador to the Emperor of China. He was escorted to Canton in a fleet commanded by Fernao Peres de Andrade, who ordered a subordinate commander (Jorge Mascarenhas) to proceed with a detachment of vessels up the coast of China to search for the fabled Ryukyu Islands. Mascarenhas got no farther than Fukien Province, where he was trading with profit at Amoy when orders overtook the squadron, directing him to return to Malacca.

The Portuguese were soon trading along the China coast and established themselves as far north as Ningpo, near the mouth of the Yangtse. Gradually they accumulated further data concerning Okinawa. The first book on China printed in Europe was brought out in 1569, the record of the Dominican Father Gaspar da Cruz. In it he noted that there had been misunderstanding concerning the location of the Ryukyus, and has this to say:

"It is an island which standeth in the sea of China, little more or less than thirty leagues from China itself. In this island live this people, which is a well-disposed people, more to the white than brown.

"It is a cleanly and well-attired people; they dress their hair like women, and tie it up on the side of their head, fastened with a silver bodkin. Their land is fresh and fertile, with many and good waters; and it is a people that sail very seldom although they are in the midst of the sea. They use weapons and wear very good short swords. They were in times past subject to the Chinas, with whom they had much communication, and therefore they are very like the Chinas.

The God Culture: Barbosa's 175 Leagues to the East

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has found a new horse to beat to death in his quest to prove the Philippines are the Lequios Islands. This time it is a single marginal note in "the Spanish version" of Duarte Barbosa's book. As always with Tim's research, things are not what they seem. Let's take a look. 

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/175-leagues-to-luzon----barbosa-s-true-lequios-exposed/

🪶 THE SMOKING QUILL | May 22, 2025

175 Leagues to Luzon — 

Barbosa’s True Lequios Exposed

🔰 INTRODUCTION: A Note That Changes Everything

In the 16th-century accounts of Duarte Barbosa, a single note in the Spanish version of his journal may contain one of the most significant suppressed geographic truths in colonial history. The marginal annotation “175 leagues to the east” has often been overlooked, yet it aligns precisely with a Luzon-region destination when measured from either China or Malacca. This is not mere coincidence—it is a cartographic key that unlocks the mystery of Lequios. And the story doesn’t end there.

🛍 SECTION 1: Lequios in the Right Place

Barbosa's narrative describes a powerful and wealthy trading people called the "Lequeos" (also noted as Lequios or Liquii in other versions). While many colonial propagandists attempted to reframe Lequios as Ryukyu, Barbosa's own geographic context speaks differently:

• "Facing the great land of China" situates Lequios across the sea from China.

• "Come to Malaca every year" situates it along the same east-west trade corridor.

• The 175-league margin note (Spanish version) places it within sailing range of Luzon, not Okinawa.

🔎 SECTION 4: The Spanish Footnote — Correction or Cover-up?

The Spanish version includes the 175-league distance, while other editions omit it. Why?

• It's possible the Spanish knew exactly where Lequios was—having sailed there.

• Magellan himself is suspected of having replaced “Lequios” with “Ofir and Tarsis” in a separate version.

• If so, this may be a clarification of Barbosa, not a corruption.

Either way, the Spanish annotation confirms that they knew Lequios = Luzon, and 175 leagues is the linchpin.

All evidence points to northern Luzon and Batanes. Ryukyu matches none of the criteria.

Barbosa's marginal note is a smoking quill.

It was never vague. It was never lost. It was Luzon all along.

"The truth was never buried. It was footnoted."

This single line may become iconic.

Before we start, why are all of Tim's articles significantly post-dated? The article being examined is dated May 22nd which is two weeks away from the day I am writing this article, May 8th. Today he has published four articles dated May 23rd, 24th, 25th, and 26th. When he posts an update to an article there is a huge discrepancy between the published date of the article and the published date of the addition. Is this intentional? 

Tim believes a marginal note in the Spanish edition of Barbosa's book saying the Lequios Islands are "175 leagues to the east" of China is a game-changing bombshell proving that leads to the Philippines. If such is the case why doesn't he include a link to the Spanish edition with the annotation? Why is this article absent of at least a screenshot of the marginal note? Does he not want people to check up on his work? The lack of any proper documentation for this extraordinary claim is quite dubious. 

The mention of a "marginal annotation" in the Spanish edition regarding the Lequios Islands as being "175 leagues to the east" of China is to be found in volume 2 of the 1918 edition of The Book of Duarte Barbosa translated by Mansel Longworth Dames. 

The Spanish version, “ a hundred and seventy-five leagues to the east.”

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189299/page/n257/mode/2up

Dames elaborates on this Spanish version in the introduction to volume 1 of The Book of Duarte Barbosa.

A Portuguese MS. was found at Lisbon in the early part of the nineteenth century, of which an account is given in the introduction of the Portuguese editors to their edition published in 1813, and manuscripts of a Spanish version exist at Barcelona and Munich, from the former of which the first English translation, that by Lord Stanley, issued by the Hakluyt Society in 1865, was made.

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189298/page/n35/mode/2up

Here is Lord Stanley's translation of the section on the Lequeos from the Spanish version which exists at Barcelona.

https://archive.org/details/descriptionofcoa00barbrich/page/206/mode/2up

LEQUEOS.

Opposite this country of China there are many islands in the sea, and beyond them at a hundred and seventy-five leagues to the east there is one very large which they say is the mainland, from whence there come each year to Malaca three or four ships like those of the Chinese, of white people whom they describe as great and wealthy merchants. They bring much gold in bars, silver, silk and many very rich silk stuffs, much very good wheat, beautiful porcelain and other merchandise. And they ship pepper and other things which they carry away. These islands are called Lequeos, the people of Malaca say that they are better men, and greater and wealthier merchants, and better dressed and adorned, and more honourable than the Chinese. There is not much information about these people up to the present time, because they have not come to India since the King of Portugal possesses it.

Oh, look. It's not a marginal annotation. "175 leagues to the east" is embedded in the text. Tim is wrong again. What a shock. 

Lord Stanley has a note on this passage regarding the identity of the Lequeos. 

The Liu Kiu Islands. Lequio major and minor, Y Fermosa, and Reix magas, form a group in Ortelius : in Homannus Formosa is in its proper place, and the group is called Lequeyo or Riukiu Islands.

Not even Lord Stanley believed "175 leagues to the east" of China meant the Lequeos are the Philippines. It should not be forgotten Lord Stanley translated Pigafetta's journal and published it along with several other accounts of Magellan's voyage titled The First Voyage Around the World. He also published a translation of Antonio de Morga's book The Philippine Islands. Lord Stanley was very familiar with the issues Tim, a magazine editor and publisher, is still attempting to resolve. Tim will likely accuse Lord Stanley of colonial bias, being a propagandist for Britain, being willfully blind to erase the Philippines when it's in front of his face, and engaging in Pharisaical Jesuit thinking. Ad hominem argumentation is the scholarly rigor of Timothy Jay Schwab. 

As I have pointed out in numerous articles the totality of evidence concerning the identity of the Lequios Islands (historical, geographical, political, religious, etc.) points away from the Philippines and towards the Ryukyu Islands. There is simply no sound evidence identifying the Lequios Islands with the Philippines unless it is twisted to fit as Tim does. Being able to see Japan from the Lequios Islands and placing them at 29°N as Pinto describes should be game over for Tim, but the facts be damned! Tim prefers to view each individual tree rather than see the forest as a whole. This phrase "175 leagues to the east" is one more branch for Tim to hold aloft as evidence of an imaginary triumph.

Lord Stanley says the Spanish manuscript he translated dates to "the beginning of 1500" and is difficult to read. 

The Spanish manuscript from which this volume has heen translated is in the handwriting of the beginning of 1500, full of abbreviations, and without punctuation or capital letters at the beginnings of sentences or for the proper names, which adds much to the difficulty of reading it. It contains eighty-seven leaves.

This MS. is in the Barcelona Library and is there catalogued "Viage por Malabar y costas de Africa, 1512 : letra del siglo xvi." 

https://archive.org/details/descriptionofcoa00barbrich/page/n11/mode/2up

The original from which Stanley translated can be viewed here. 

https://bipadi.ub.edu/digital/collection/manuscrits/id/61841

This manuscript is dated 1524 or later according to the description. As can be seen, Stanley's observation that this text is difficult to read is an understatement. 

It must be kept in mind this is a translation of the original Portuguese. How accurate is it when another Spanish translation of Barbosa also dating to the 1500's omits "a hundred and seventy-five leagues to the east?"

http://bdh-rd.bne.es/viewer.vm?id=0000214131&page=65

Lequeos

De frente desta sobre dha tierra a la mar y a lenco de dellas otras yslas va una tierra muy grande q dizen ser tierra firme donde a Malaca. Vienen cada año diez o quatro naos assy como las de los Chinos de ypuntas blancas y dizen q son grandes mercaderes y muy rricos. Traen mucho oro en barras y plata y seda y assy muchos y muy rricos paños de seda y munchos y buen trigo y hermosas porcelanas y otras mercaderías y llevan mucha pimenta a los dichos chíos ubiesse y mayores mercaderes y más rricos y bien vestidos y sabios todos y honrados y los sobre dichos de los reyes de las quales cuentos falta aora no tenemos muncha ynformacion por quanto no viemos a malaca después q es de otro rey.

In front of this land, toward the sea and beyond the other islands, there is a very large land which they say is the mainland where Malacca is. Every year, four ships come, just like those of the white-capped Chinese, and they say they are great merchants and very rich. They bring much gold in bars, and silver, and silk, and also many very rich silken cloths, and much good wheat, and beautiful porcelain, and other merchandise. They bring a lot of pepper to the said Chinese, who are said to be greater merchants, richer, better dressed, all wise and honorable, and subjects of the kings mentioned above. Of all these people we do not have much information now, because we have not seen Malacca since it came under another king.

A Portuguese version published in 1946 also omits this phrase. 

https://archive.org/details/b31358500/page/218/mode/2up?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Defronte desta grande térra da China váo muitas ilhas ao mar, além das quais vai urna térra mui grande, que dizem que é firme, donde a Malaca vinham cada ano tres, quatro naus, assim como as dos chins, de urnas gentes brancas, que dizem que sao mui grandes e ricos mercadores, seda e panos ricos, muito e bom trigo, formosas porcelanas e outras muitas mercadorias.

The 1918 version by Dames, which Tim cites for the "175 leagues to the east" annotation, is based on the 1813 Portuguese edition and also omits the phrase. 

The present version is an entirely new translation from the Portuguese text of 1813.

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189298/page/n35/mode/2up

What can we conclude from all this?

First of all, Tim is wrong about "a hundred and seventy-five leagues to the east" being a marginal note in the Spanish edition of this text. It is part of the text itself. He not only misread Dames but he didn't even bother to seek out the Spanish version. Had he read Dames' introduction he would have been led to Stanley's translation which includes the so-called marginal note within the text. Then, had he dug even deeper, he would have found the original manuscript which Stanley translated. 

Second of all, because Tim did not bother to dig deeper into a footnote but relied on it entirely he has ignored and neglected the reality that is textual variation. "A hundred and seventy-five leagues to the east" in this section is not the only variant among the translations of Barbosa's book. 

Lord Stanley writes the following in his introduction.

The greater part of this volume was printed in Italian by Ramusio in 1554 in his collection of travels (Venetia, nella Stamperia de' Giunti), as the narration of Duarte Barbosa, and a large part of this work must have been written by Barbosa ; and a Portuguese manuscript of his was printed at Lisbon in 1812 in the " Colleccao de noticias para a historia e geografia das naçoes ultramarinas.'" This manuscript of Barbosa's, however, is much less full than this Spanish MS. of Barcelona, or than the Italian version of Ramusio, and the Lisbon editors have added from Ramusio translations of the passages which were wanting in their MS. These publications do not contain the number of leagues between one place and another which are given in the Spanish translation.

That the Portuguese manuscript printed at Lisbon in 1812 belongs to Barbosa, stands only on the authority of Ramusio, who gives an introduction by Odoardo Barbosa of the city of Lisbon, which is not to be found either in the Barcelona MS. or in the Portuguese MS., and which has been translated from the Italian of Eamusio and published in the Lisbon edition. The introduction to the Lisbon edition states that the Portuguese MS. is not an autograph MS., and that the account of Barbosa is bound up along with other papers. This introduction refers to the passages in the Portuguese MS. which are not to be found in Ramusio, and says it may be doubted whether these were additions posterior to the work of Duarte Barbosa.

https://archive.org/details/descriptionofcoa00barbrich/page/n15/mode/2up

Lord Stanley says "a large part" of Ramusio's Italian edition "must have been written by Barbosa." Yet it lacks the "175 leagues to the east" distance to the Lequios as well as other distances given in the Spanish translation. What, then, is the origin of those distances, if they are not in an edition written by Barbosa? It would be best to take the Spanish version Stanely translates not as Gospel truth but as one version which differs considerably from the others.

Not even the titles of these books are the same. The manuscript Stanley translated is:

"Viage por Malabar y costas de Africa, 1512 : letra del siglo xvi." 

While the Portuguese is titled:

Livro em que dá relação do que viu e ouviu no Oriente

These differences must be considered when assessing this addition of "175 leagues to the east" but Tim is ignorant of all the relevant information. He is in no position to make an authoritative statement on this phrase.  

Despite the distance of 175 leagues being a unique variant limited to a single text it is by no means "the final blow" which confirms the Lequios Islands is the Philippines as Tim claims. 

🪶 THE SMOKING QUILL | May 24, 2025

The Final Blow: Why Ryukyu Was Never 

Lequios, Ophir, or Zipangu

🔰 INTRODUCTION: The Myth of Ryukyu

For decades, scholars have lazily defaulted to Ryukyu (Okinawa) as the legendary Lequios, Ophir, or even Zipangu of ancient geography. But a closer examination of the four most powerful primary accounts—Duarte Barbosa, King Solomon’s Navy (2 Chronicles 9), the Greek Homer, and Marco Polo—shows that Ryukyu fails every test. The Philippines, however, passes all with flying gold.

1️⃣ Barbosa's Test: 175 Leagues to Luzon

Key Markers from Barbosa:

• Lequios faced China.

• 175 leagues from Malacca = Northern Philippines, not Ryukyu.

• Traders arrived in ships laden with:Gold in barsSilverRich clothsPorcelainVery good wheat

Ryukyu Fails:

• No gold or silver trade

• Late wheat adoption, no high-quality variety

• Not facing China (Ryukyu is northeast)

• Geographically too far (1,500 km vs. 900 km to Luzon)

Philippines Passes:

• Luzon is directly east of Malacca and south of China

• Adlay wheat in Batanes and Luzon

• Documented gold mining and trade (Butuan, Surigao)

• Ortelius confirms region as Ophir’s incense source (Elemi)

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/why-ryukyu-was-never-lequios-ophir-or-zipangu/

Tim's mapping of this 175 leagues distance is profoundly misleading. 

Why is Tim mapping the distance from the middle of China? The text only says "opposite of China" or "in front of China." He also tests a starting point from Malacca because "Barbosa was in Malacca" which, even if it were true, has nothing to with the text. Barbosa does not give a starting place for measuring the distance. Stanley's translation reads thusly:

Opposite this country of China there are many islands in the sea, and beyond them at a hundred and seventy-five leagues to the east there is one very large which they say is the mainland,

Any measurement that does not include those many islands is invalid. There are not many islands in the sea between the Philippines and China. That makes the archipelago between Taiwan and Japan the only candidate. If Tim took the top arrow, moved it down, and then turned it slightly at an angle it would fit the direction and the distance. 

Tim's map intentionally obscures both the direction and the distance of the Lequios, which Barbosa places 175 leagues to the east. That distance fits perfectly if one is sailing in the correct direction toward Japan. This route includes the islands directly in front of, or opposite, the coast of China. By contrast, the route to the Philippines lies to the south, contradicting Barbosa’s statement that the Lequios Islands are to the east. This map is a straw man argument made visible.

This is the same nonsense we have seen from Tim all over again. His poor research previously led him astray into making false statements about Ginés De Mafra's testimony concerning Magellan's voyage despite never having read it. It was I who posted a link to the book. Tim treated my correction of his mistake as a triumph saying it only proved he was right when in reality it proved he is bad researcher. 

This time around Tim has chosen to do zero research on a footnote which has once again left me to pick up his slack. There is no doubt he will do the same this time and cheer that Lord Stanley's translation strengthens his case and proves him correct. However, the addition of "175 leagues to the east" isn't the win Tim thinks it is. For one thing, the phrase is a textual variant in a single Spanish translation. 

For another thing, the way Tim has mapped out that distance is arbitrary and bears no relation to the words of the text which mentions that the land 175 leagues to the east is beyond many islands. That can only be the Ryukyu Island chain which stretches from Taiwan to Japan and is exactly "in font of" or "opposite" of China. The Philippines is to the South which does not match Barbosa's text.

Finally, conflating the Philippines and the Lequios Islands has no historical precedent. The Suma Oriental describes the Luçoes and Lequios as different people, not as two cultures occupying the same island. Fernando Pinto also describes the Lequios and Luçoes as different people, not as two cultures occupying the same island. Maps of the era place the Lequios north in the modern day Ryukyu Islands. Lord Stanley refers to Abraham Ortelius' 1570 map which shows the Lequios far north of the Philippines. Tim brushes that map away by calling it a deceptive Jesuit map which Ortelius corrected 14 years later by placing them in the Philippines. That is not true as the Lequios Islands (grande and pequeño) and Luzon (Islas de Lucois) are clearly differentiated. 

In the History of the Philippines volume 3 the Lequios and Luzon are differentiated in Relation of the Western Islands called Filipinas by Captain Diego de Artieda. The editors describe his work thusly: 

A Spanish captain, Diego de Artieda, writes (1573) a "Relation of the Western Islands." He enumerates the islands thus far discovered by the Spaniards, describing their location, appearance, and natural resources. He adds much curious information about the natives--concerning their religious beliefs and rites, customs, mode of dress, weapons, food, industries, social condition, etc. Artieda notes all that he has been able to learn concerning Japan and China, with interesting details as to their civilization, and the skill of the Chinese as artisans; he mentions the antiquity of printing among them. He offers to conduct an armed expedition against the coast of China, if the king will supply him with two vessels and eighty soldiers. He advises that Spain abandon the attempt to establish a footing in the Philippines, or else that she ignore the Treaty of Zaragoza and trade with the Moluccas. 

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044077731628&seq=22&q1=artieda

Captain Diego de Artieda describes the island of Luzon and mentions the Batanes, which Tim is now claiming to be the Lequios Islands, though not by that name. A few pages later he mentions the Lequios Islands and says they are in-between Japan and China. That is clearly the Ryukyu Islands.    

Farther to the northeast of Masbat lies the island of Ybalon or Luzon. It is a large island, with many rivers, in which gold is found--although, as I have ascertained, in but little quantity, because its most influential inhabitants are Moros. While I was in Panae, [S:the leading man among its people] sent a Moro, his steward or treasurer to trade there; but he could hardly get for me one _marco_ of gold in exchange for four of silver, which he bought for me. Buffaloes are to be found here. We have [M: not] explored much of its coast, and I have seen no one who could inform me fully concerning its south-eastern, southern, and eastern parts, because no one has sailed around it. Between this island of Ybalon and that of Panae, lies Masbat. Farther on, and lying north and south, are some other small islands, in one of which is to be found much brazil-wood.

[62] Probably the _sibucao (Cæsalpina sapan_); its wood produces a red coloring-matter which is highly valued, especially by the Chinese. Some varieties of it are more highly esteemed than are those produced in Brazil. These "Brazil" Islands are apparently the small groups north of Luzón, now known as Batanes and Babuyanes.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044077731628&seq=197&q1=lequios

Farther north than the aforesaid islands are others, the nearest to Luzon being called Xipon [S: Japan]. 

A little to the east between these islands and China are the islands of Lequios. They are said to be rich; but we have been unable to learn much about them, for I have not seen any one who has been there. For this reason I conclude that they must be small, and that the people are not much given to commerce.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044077731628&seq=206&q1=lequios

No matter how much Tim misinterprets old maps it will not change the fact that the Spanish and the Portuguese both differentiated Luzon Island from the Lequios Islands. The Lequios Islands are always located in the north near Japan. 

All in all it's another bombastic claim that shrivels up and dies when exposed to the light of scrutiny. In short, the “175 leagues” is not a suppressed marginal note, it appears in only one Spanish manuscript and is absent in others, including the original Portuguese text. The  Lequios Islands have long been identified with the Ryukyu Islands, not the Philippines. Far from revealing a suppressed truth, Timothy Jay Schwab's interpretation once more reflects a failure to engage with the sources critically or thoroughly.

The God Culture: The Ginés De Mafra Deception Proves The Poor Research Skills of "The God Culture Research Team"

For a number of years I have voiced my doubts about the existence of "The God Culture Research Team." From all appearances it is only Timothy Jay Schwab who is "The God Culture Research Team." The research Tim presents to the public is so poor that it's implausible it could be the work of an expert team of researchers. However, if there is a team they are extremely incompetent. 

Case in point, the testimony of Ginés De Mafra. Tim said this document was only two pages long while in reality it's 29 pages long. I wrote a whole article about it linking to the source and calling out Tim for discussing a primary source while knowing nothing about it. Here is his response. 

When we first released our Smoking Quill article highlighting Spanish Document #98, we made the bold claim that the Lequios Isles—the true destination of Magellan's voyage—were not the Ryukyus, but the Philippines. At the time, the Ginés de Mafra testimony was unavailable in full, that our researchers had found. We only had partial access and honest summaries.  

Ironically, a critic attempting to discredit our incomplete access ended up sharing the full document—one that confirms our case more clearly than ever before.

And so, we thank him.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/spanish-government-document-98-confirmed-lequios-is-the-philippines/

Tim says when he wrote his original article Mafra's testimony was "unavailable in full" to "The God Culture Research Team." The truth is the book containing Mafra's testimony has been on the Internet Archive since 2018!

https://archive.org/details/AX072/page/n5/mode/2up

After reading Tim's original article it took me maybe five minutes to find this book. There is absolutely no excuse for Tim not to have found it as well. The fact that he proceeded to discuss a book to which he admitted he did not have access only worsens the situation. 

Rather than delete his wholly erroneous original article Tim has left an update.

📝 Update Added May 2, 2025:
After this blog was published, the full Ginés de Mafra manuscript resurfaced. We have now reviewed it thoroughly and found that it not only supports our position—it explicitly confirms Leyquios as the endpoint of the voyage. We have published an updated analysis here: [LINK to new blog]. We leave this original post up as part of the transparent research journey. Mafra was not silent after all, and now we know he supports our position, not the blogger's.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/the-silence-of-mafra--magellan-s-inner-circle-and-the-missing-lequios/

Unbelievable! The manuscript didn’t RESURFACE. It's not an obscure missing relic of the past. It’s been publicly available for seven years. Tim and his so-called research team were simply too incompetent to find it. Rather than admit to making the embarrassing mistake of discussing a primary source he hadn’t actually read and then apologising, Tim spins the correction as some kind of vindication. It’s as if I handed him the rope, and he thinks he’s the executioner, not the condemned. Tim's ability to twist his most glaring errors into imagined triumphs is astounding. This is not the behavior of an honest researcher. It’s the reflex of someone with no shame, no humility, and no capacity to admit when he’s wrong. This is pathological behavior. 

Timothy Jay Schwab’s handling of the Ginés de Mafra testimony is not an isolated error, it is a case study in his method: make grand claims based on partial evidence, ignore what contradicts him, then twist corrections into triumphs. Whether the so-called "God Culture Research Team" is real or not, the incompetence is real and the public should be aware that what they’re being sold as “research” is often little more than bluster propped up by Google-proof arrogance.

Let's have ChatGPT elaborate.

they say " At the time, the Ginés de Mafra testimony was unavailable in full, that our researchers had found." yet it has been on the internet archive since 2018 https://archive.org/details/AX072/page/n5/mode/2up

ChatGPT said:

That's a key contradiction—and it speaks directly to the reliability and diligence of The Smoking Quill's research process.

They write:

“At the time, the Ginés de Mafra testimony was unavailable in full, that our researchers had found.”

But the full Mafra testimony has been available on the Internet Archive since 2018—in the Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de ultramar, Volume 5 (specifically starting on page 5). It's a well-known, public-domain, digitized Spanish colonial source frequently cited in academic and historical research.

This raises several issues:

1. Failure of Basic Source Discovery

If their "researchers" failed to locate a digitized, indexed, and widely accessible primary source that's been online for at least seven years, it calls their research competency into question. Even a basic keyword search of "Ginés de Mafra" on Internet Archive or Google brings up this document.

2. Undermines Their Narrative

The entire "ironic twist" they construct—that a critic handed them something they couldn’t find—crumbles. What actually happened is that their team either didn't look carefully, didn’t know where to look, or ignored the full source in favor of summaries that fit their theory. When a critic (you) supplied the actual source for proper context, they spun this correction as an accidental confirmation of their view.

3. Lack of Transparency

They don’t tell readers where the full Mafra testimony came from, nor do they link to the Internet Archive version—something any responsible researcher would do when citing a primary document. Why? Likely because doing so would reveal that it’s been publicly accessible all along, contradicting their claim of past unavailability.

4. Post Hoc Rationalization

Instead of admitting that they built their earlier claims on incomplete evidence, they now pretend that the discovery of the full text somehow retroactively justifies their earlier conclusions. That’s not how historical methodology works. Responsible scholars revise or withdraw premature conclusions when confronted with fuller data—not claim vindication through narrative sleight-of-hand.

This detail is not minor—it’s central. It exposes a pattern: they assert bold claims on shaky research, and when challenged with evidence, they reframe the correction as vindication while hiding the weakness of their original method.