om this is made
the jewelry which they inherit from their ancestors, with which they
never part; and even should they wish to sell these ornaments, there is
no one who would give for them more than five pesos in silver. Neither
will they give more, even for good gold; and they do not take it in
exchange for supplies, or for the goods which they sell. Consequently
this is the reason that gold is so valued in this country. It may
be illustrated in this way. Should a Spaniard buy food or anything
else from a native, the Moro immediately takes out the touchstone
which he carries with him; and, even if the value be not over two
reals, he takes great pains to see if the gold be conformable to the
aforesaid standard. Although it may be stamped and assayed, the Indian
will trust to no reckoning but his own. Neither is there any rule by
which to pay, beyond the weight and value of the gold; this applies
likewise to the orejeras or panica, for all the gold which is used
in trade is mixed with other substances, to make the other grades of
base gold. Although I have intended and tried to remedy this, it is
impossible, as the majority of them are silversmiths for this very
purpose; and if any restrictions were made, they would think that they
were about to be ruined. It has seemed to me that the country is very
new for establishing any other currency than gold, which here is like
the king's fifth of silver in Nueva Espana. I have written to this
effect to the viceroy, a copy of which letter accompanies this, and
a report concerning this matter; also an account of the gold paid to
the royal treasury, and the trade effected by all the Spaniards. The
Chinese will not take the panica at more than four pesos of texuela
to the tae[l] which, they say, is of that value in their country and
they lose one llealla by so doing. This is the weight called _tae_,
and comes from China. It weighs more than one onza, two adarmes; so
that three taes and thirteen maes are worth two Castilian marcos, or
one livra. [13] When I came here the viceroy of Mexico sent an assayer,
saying that one had been requested from here. After his arrival no
one brought him anything to assay, as he was young and inexperienced
in treating gold. Losses suffered at the beginning by those who
tried to have gold assayed caused us to abandon the attempt. The
Moros understand the laws of gold better than we do. I have given
notice of [original illegible]. It may be of service to