ls; and it is
necessary to pay them from the aid that I bring.

I have found no lumber in the shipyards for the repair of the ships,
and for the other needs that are wont to arise. There is a lack of
rigging, of food, and of all the supplies necessary. I advise your
Majesty of it, in case my ability should not be sufficient to supply
so great needs as there have been; although my principal endeavor
shall be to strive, in these beginnings, that all shall be restored
to its former condition. [_In the margin_: "Examined January 25,
34. Write to the new governor that we have heard of the lack of
wood and of the other things that are [_word illegible in MS._;
necessary?] in the magazines, so that everything may be provided as
is expected from his care and zeal."]

I am obliged in conscience to inform your Majesty (in case my own
efforts should prove insufficient) of all that I shall esteem worthy
of correction in your royal service; and of what I saw in the port
of Acapulco, where I embarked, and in the ships up to the present. In
order to be able to do so, it is necessary for me to repeat in brief
the favors and privileges which your Majesty has conceded to these
inhabitants of Manila, in order to show them favor, with the desire
that they increase in numbers, and so that they alone may enjoy the
fruits of the trade and traffic of these provinces, entirely excluding
from it the inhabitants of Nueva Espana. Surely this is an important
matter, but the custom and malice of men has had so much influence
that experience shows us that neither that which your Majesty orders
is sufficient, nor do the citizens of Manila realize the value of the
favors which they receive. The worst of all is that, to judge from
the condition of affairs, there is no one from whom to obtain the
fitting remedy. The principal abuse is that, although your Majesty
ordered that no money pass from Nueva Espana here, and although you
granted permission to these inhabitants to receive only five hundred
thousand ducados, a way has been found whereby they secretly send
annually as much as they wish--and that without the said prohibition
being any hindrance to any person of Nueva Espana, or those of any
other region. The governors my predecessors have had knowledge of this
abuse, but they have not dared to remedy it because of the annoyances
that arise in so well-established a practice, and one in which nearly
all the vassals of your Majesty are included. For t