d I
always granted your request. But, what angers me greatly is
that among the four vessels that your Lordship requested was
that one called "Antonio," which made the voyage without my
orders. This was a very lawless act, and in contempt of me. Can
it be, perhaps, that your Lordship would send to Japon without
my permission any vessel that you wished? Besides this, your
Lordship and others have often negotiated about the sects
of Japon, and requested many things in regard to them. This
likewise I cannot concede; for this region is called Xincoco
[Shinkoku], or "dedicated to the idols." These have been
honored with the highest adoration from the time of our
ancestors until now, and their acts I alone cannot undo or
destroy. Consequently, it is not at all advisable that your
religion be promulgated or preached in Japon; and if your
Lordship wish to preserve friendship with these kingdoms
of Japon and with me, do what I wish, and never do what is
displeasing to me. Lastly, many have told me that many wicked
and perverse Japanese, who go to that kingdom and live there
for many years, afterward return to Japon. This makes me
very angry. Consequently, your Lordship will, in the future,
allow no one of the Japanese to come here in the vessels that
come from your country. In other matters, your Lordship shall
act advisedly and prudently, and shall so conduct affairs,
that henceforth I may not be angered on account of them.

The governor, carrying out his dearest wish, was to make the
expedition to Terrenate in the Malucos, which should be done quickly,
before the enemy could gather more strength than he had then; for
he had been informed that the Dutch, who had seized the island
and fortress of Amboino, had done the same with that of Tidore,
whence they had driven the Portuguese who had settled therein, and
had entered Terrenate, where they had established a trading-post for
the clove-trade. Accordingly, as soon as the despatches in regard to
this undertaking arrived from Espana, in June of six hundred and five,
and the men and supplies from Nueva Espana, which were brought at the
same time by the master-of-camp, Joan de Esquivel, the governor spent
the balance of this year in preparing the ships, men, and provisions
that he deemed necessary for the undertaking. Leaving behind in
Manila sufficient force for its defense, he went to