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and fifty thousand pesos which are granted by this permission. To
reach this amount, it is considered necessary that at least three
hundred and fifty thousand pesos be spent on the cargo. In addition
to the charges referred to, many expenses fall upon the inhabitants
of this city for the maintenance and provision of their houses,
and thus are consumed and expended a part of the profits made on
the investments which they make here. If your Majesty were pleased
to permit that the amount of these investments might be at least
three hundred thousand pesos, wherewith all expenses might be paid,
then the permission to bring back five hundred thousand might well
stand. Until it is known what decision will be reached on this point,
your Majesty's commands shall be fulfilled. Care will be taken that the
investment shall not reach three hundred thousand, or pass far beyond
two hundred and fifty thousand. It should also be considered that
when his Majesty, the sovereign of the realm, who is now in heaven,
granted this permission, it was at a time when these islands were
beginning to be settled. Then there were no inhabitants who could
invest so great a sum, while now there are many. They do not send as
much as they might lade in the vessel; and if this condition of affairs
continues to increase, there is no other means of support than this
trade, nor does the country produce those means. If it shall diminish,
the people who come to live in these islands will likewise become
fewer in number. If it should increase somewhat beyond the new grant,
so many more people will come to the colony here. This population,
however great it is, is all very necessary, in view of the way in
which this country consumes the whole of it, no matter how many come.

The second section provides that four freight ships should be built,
each one of two hundred toneladas; and that two of them shall make
the voyage every year, very early, while the other two lie in port,
ready for the following year. In this matter your Majesty's will
shall be fulfilled, and the first ships that shall be built will be
of this tonnage.

The third section provides that there shall be only one commander
for the said two ships, with a lieutenant who shall be second in
command. The intention of this section is to avoid the great expense
which has previously been incurred in this voyage. The section also
provides that each vessel may carry a military captain in addition
to t