y were not accustomed
to this security before the Spaniards came hither, because it is a
thing publicly known and notorious that even in their own houses they
were captured and robbed. They were not free to go fishing on the sea
without being captured. Now not only are they safe in their houses,
but they go safely to different places, without any harm being done
them. If there are piracies, they are very far from this town and
in places where the Spaniards do not go. It is a very ancient custom
that the natives had among themselves, of capturing, robbing, killing,
and imprisoning one another. Now there are few injuries committed, in
comparison with what used to be committed before the Spaniards came
here. Every day there will be fewer, because we are ever striving
to take and punish such pirates, as today there were some taken in
this town. In regard to the tribute that has been raised, and the
amount of tribute in gold that is collected from Los Ylocos and Los
Camarines, without giving them any greater benefit than going there
and collecting the tribute, it is a matter clearly to be understood,
that, for the support of those who live in this land, it is quite
necessary that the natives assist with tribute as they do in the
other part of the Indies. They are not considered friends, nor do they
have any security, without first having paid the tribute--which is,
in proportion to their condition and wealth, very little; and which
they are willing to give gladly and without compulsion. In each
island, district, and village, the natives give what they please,
for in some places they give provisions, and in others wax, cloth,
and other things which they obtain from their harvests. To them
it is little, and almost nothing, because they have those things
abundantly. If gold has been collected from the Ylocos and the
Camarines, it is because the land is very rich in mines, and because
they have great quantities of gold. Cloth and provisions are worth
more to them than in other districts, and so the natives would rather
give the tribute in gold, of which they have an abundance, than in
cloth and provisions, which they lack. If up to this time the said
districts and villages have not been settled, it is on account of
having so few men in the land and because it is not possible to
do anything else. Moreover, Captain Juan de Salcedo has already
settled in Los Ylocos, has built a village there, and has a cleric
to instruct them in th