d in the cathedral of this
city--both in the time when the royal Audiencia formerly resided in
these islands, and after his Majesty ordered it to be suppressed--in
order that, upon examination, the necessary provisions may be made. By
this act they so voted, ordered, and decreed.

Before me: _Pedro Hurtado Desquibel_

_An act concerning the royal magazines._

In the city of Manila, on the eighteenth of March, one thousand
five hundred and ninety-nine, the president and auditors of the
royal Audiencia and Chancilleria of the Philipinas Islands, having
examined the opinion of the official judges of the royal exchequer
of these islands, on the question of building magazines in which
to store the merchandise coming from China to this city, and having
investigated other matters connected with the aforesaid, and further
matter which is contained in the decree of the king our sovereign,
ordering that this said Audiencia attend to the matter: they declared
(in conformity with the opinion of Joan de Bustamante, accountant of
the royal exchequer) that at present, and until experience further
shows what it is most advisable to enact in this matter, the said
Chinese merchandise shall be registered and appraised on the same
vessels on which it was brought, as has been done hitherto. In order
that there may be good accounts and reports, and less opportunity for
fraud in the royal customs, they ordered that the official judges of
his Majesty in these islands, as soon as each ship enters this harbor
and anchors therein, shall go out to inspect it, registering and
appraising all the merchandise and other things in the cargo. They
shall exert diligence in the matter and make their inspection with
the punctuality advisable, so that the said merchandise, or any part
of it, may not be discharged or concealed. In order that this may
be enforced more effectually, the necessary guards shall be placed
on the said ships and in the bay, who are to be trustworthy persons,
to the satisfaction of the said president and auditors of this royal
Audiencia, by whom they shall be approved and appointed, The said
official judges shall have, as a reward for their occupation and
labors, one third part of the confiscations which are levied upon any
merchandise found and seized because it had been hidden on the said
ships, or withdrawn from them without registration or appraisal. They
shall also be charged that they shall not allow or consent th