d certainly do
if the trade from here were to come to an end. Hence they brought
it about that these letters were not delivered; and thus the truth
of this matter could not be known in China, nor the fact that the
Sangleys were greatly to blame for the losses which they incurred. If
these things had been known the Chinese, well disposed as they are to
the execution of justice according to law, and desirous that crimes
should be punished, would certainly have regarded the fault of those
people as greater than the punishment which was inflicted on them.

The penalty imposed on the Sangleys who piloted the two Dutch ships
that were on the coast of Chincheo was very just. These Dutch are not
friends of the Castilians, but bitter enemies; for, although they are
vassals of the king of the Hespanas, my sovereign, they and their
country have revolted, and they have become pirates like Liamon in
China. They have no employment, except to plunder as much as they
can. Hence they did not come to Luzon; and, if they should come,
I would try to capture and punish them.

As for the statement that the letter is sent to let me know the
greatness of the king of China and of his realms, and that they are so
great that he governs all upon which the moon and the sun shed their
light; and the other statement that he desires me to be acquainted with
the great wisdom with which that kingdom is governed, vast as it is,
and that no one should dare offend it, and referring to the war in
Corea--to this I answer that the Spaniards have measured by palmos,
and that very exactly, all the countries belonging to all the kings and
lordships in the world. Since the Chinese have no commerce with foreign
nations, it seems to them that there is no other country but their own,
and that there is no higher greatness than theirs; but if he knew the
power of some of the kings with whom my sovereign, the king of the
Hespanas, carries on continual war, the whole of China would seem to
him very small. The king of China would do well to notice that from
here to the court of Hespana the distance is five thousand leguas; and
that on the voyage thither are two kingdoms, Nueva Hespana and Peru,
whose teiritory is so great that it is almost equal to that of China,
without mentioning very large islands in those seas. At the same
time I know that the kingdom of China is governed with much wisdom,
and all the people here know, and I know, of the war in Corea.

The Sangley