r some
great quarrel has not occurred. To obviate the difficulty in regard
to the troops, I have ordered that the companies of the guard shall
not enter in angular order, but in troops, as has been done now for
more than five months; for it appears that he was carefully awaiting
an opportunity to rout them, horse and foot, with all his blacks. I
refer to the two informations, sent herewith, which concern this,
and the rest. Although I did not choose to make investigations, for
the sake of greater secrecy, and to avoid the annoyances that the
witnesses of lower rank might suffer if the said Don Antonio knew
that they swore against him therein, measures will be taken to find
out what there is in the affair.

The said Don Antonio has persistently striven to bring about his
marriage with Dona Margarita de Figueroa, daughter of Captain Esteban
Rodriguez de Figueroa, and has employed many instruments to accomplish
this. Several suits have been brought before the royal Audiencia on
the part of the said Dona Margarita and her sister, both of whom
were minors, against the royal treasury, some of these involving
large sums of money, as did that which concerned the conquest of
Mindanao. These girls had many suitors, and there were differences
of opinion as to where they could reside with the most security
and privacy, so that there should be no negotiations concerning
their marriages; for they were very rich, and had near relatives to
claim guardianship over them--as their grandmother, the wife of the
accountant of the royal exchequer; and Captain Francisco de Mercado,
whom the father of the minors left as their guardian, and in whose
hands was the said property. The said Don Antonio, with this object,
began to favor the causes of the above-named persons, and communicated
his intention to Andres Duarte de Figueroa, their uncle, the brother of
their father--whom he considered a safe person, as he was his intimate
friend, and a claimant for the guardianship of the girls. He proceeded
so artfully that the guardianship of the minors was denied to all the
others by the Audiencia, who commanded that they be given over to the
said Andres Duarte, who was an unmarried man. Owing to the pretensions
which the said Don Antonio entertained in regard to this marriage,
he decided the said cases in favor of the said minors, which greatly
pleased their uncle, and caused much complaint on the part of those
who were present. He used to go at night