and municipal offices,
Parian, etc. There are some three thousand Chinese in the islands,
two-thirds of whom live in the Parian, where they have two hundred
shops. There are so many friars in Manila that some of them might
well be sent to districts where ministers are lacking. At the end of
the document is a brief summary of the above statistics. The writer
concludes that the number of religious teachers ought to be at least
doubled, and "even more, for when they arrive here, one-fourth of
these will have died"--pathetic commentary on the hardships of a
voyage across the Pacific.

At the end of his first year as governor, Dasmarinas writes (June 20,
1591) a report for that period. Delay in receiving the royal despatches
before leaving Spain has prevented him from obtaining the money which
he was to expend in building the Manila cathedral, and the amount
raised for this purpose at Manila had been much lessened by poor
management; but he has stopped the waste (mainly in large salaries),
and is pushing the work as fast as he can. He has aided the hospitals,
but they need much more help, for they are crowded with patients on
account of the unhealthful climate. He complains that the bishop
hinders his attempts to obtain a statement of accounts from the
Franciscan friars in charge of the hospital for Indians; the king
thereupon orders that this matter be officially investigated, and
that the governor take possession of both hospitals in the name of
his Majesty. Dasmarinas recommends that more ministers of religion
be furnished for the Indians, and sends an exact statement of the
encomiendas and their religious needs (the document preceding this). He
places before the king the problem of collecting the tributes, which he
has recently been discussing with the clergy and friars; summarizes the
position of the latter thereon, and his own arguments with the bishop;
and complains that the latter is arrogant and self-willed. Another
letter of the same date reports his measures for fortifying the city;
he imposes a tax of two per cent on all shipments of goods from the
islands. The bishop opposes this measure, as do the members of the
late Audiencia, apparently because it touches their personal interests
too closely.

In the summer of the same year, the citizens of Manila ask that they
may be allowed to trade with the inhabitants of Macao, the Portuguese
settlement in China. Dasmarinas orders an inquiry to be made into this
matter