The Book __The Chinese in the Philippines_ , edited by Alphonso Felix, Jr., begins with stories about an early Junk trade between China and Manila. The following story caught my attention, on page 44:
Purely by way of anecdote it is well to recall a cargo of wooden
noses that Diego de Bobadilla tells us once came to Manila. It appears
that a Spaniard lost his nose through an illness and in order to im-
prove his appearance he requested a Chinese craftsman to carve him
a wooden nose. The Chinese accomplished the task so well that the
grateful Spaniard paid him 20 pieces of silver. This led the Chinese
to believe that there was a great demand for wooden noses in Western
markets. Hence, on the coming year, a large quantity of these wooden
noses were shipped to Manila. Obviously, the cargo failed to sell.
This book interests me because trade existed between the Sultanate of Butuan (now Butuan City) and Champa, as well as China. One group of historians suggests that Magellan's first landing site (as well as first mass) was at Butuan, on the Agusan River delta. Several open boats were uncovered by archaeologist at this delta, dated in 4th and 11th Centuries, along with other artifacts. These boats, known as Balanghai Boats, were open plank boats, known to have sailed to Champa. Spanish traded for, among other commodities, beeswax and cinnamon. An endemic species of cinnamon is Cinnamomum mindanens. By the way, here is a photograph of, possibly, a Mindanao Cinnamon flower from this site: https://www.stuartxchange.org/Kami.html
