own rest or comfort--which, in order
to follow your service, I have never regarded as important, or given
it any care. Inasmuch as times change affairs, and considering the many
casualties caused by the enemy from Olanda, things have come to a very
different pass from that in which I then left them. For that reason,
that entire kingdom and its estates resolved that I should return again
to confer with your Majesty and your royal councils concerning what was
most advisable for your royal service and the welfare and relief of
that land. And although I found that I needed some rest in a corner,
and it was a severe trial for me to consent again to undergo more
arduous labors, and difficulties so much greater as are the gravity of
affairs in those islands and the multitude of the enemies with whom the
seas are infested, yet that desire and inclination [for your Majesty's
service] had so much power over me that I postponed all my rest.

I offer your Majesty this relation, which, when I came to this court
about three years ago, [33] I gave to his Majesty who is in heaven,
so that he might be informed, as was desirable, of that kingdom so
remote from his royal eyes. I felt now that I was obliged to present
it to your Majesty, and on this occasion I have taken the opportunity
to extend it to greater length, and to give your Majesty a fuller
account--being encouraged to do so by seeing the glorious beginnings
that your Majesty has given to your monarchy, on which, in the name
of that kingdom, I give your Majesty a thousand congratulations,
and may you enjoy it very many years, with the greatest happiness
and increasing prosperity. I have written this relation with entire
exactness and truth regarding all the facts that I have collected
during so many years--and thus as well as was possible to me--without
considering any human respects, which are what usually obscure such
mirrors, in order that they might not give the light that is desirable
in such an account. I relate, then, what has occurred in Filipinas,
from the time of their first discoverers; their tendency toward,
advancement; and the mildest and most advisable measures for the
attainment of admirable ends. I trust, through God our Lord, that,
if this child and offspring of my intellect has the good fortune
to pass before the royal eyes of your Majesty, it will be of great
importance to your royal service.

[The present book is divided into three parts. Part first, consi