ds. They ask certain favors from the king,
and are sending an envoy to Madrid to discuss their affairs with him.

The annual reports of Governor Tavora (dated August 1, 1629) include
many important matters. As usual, he is embarrassed by lack of funds;
little has been received from Nueva Espana, and the revenues of
the islands are greatly diminished by the decline in trade. He
is endeavoring to secure what cloves he can from the Moluccas,
and advises that this product be bartered in India, on the royal
account, for supplies needed for the royal magazines in Manila,
which can be done on highly profitable terms. Tavora minimizes the
possible danger to these cargoes from the Dutch enemy at Singapore,
and asks that he be allowed to send cloves thus to India, at such
times as he can collect a sufficient quantity for this purpose;
and that in this matter the treasury officials be not allowed to
interfere. He also proposes that the rations of rice allotted by
the government to its workmen be provided by letting Chinese farmers
cultivate certain unused crown lands; he has even begun to plan for
this undertaking. Tavora recounts certain difficulties that he has
experienced in dealing with the treasury officials at Manila, and asks
for the royal decision. In this connection, he remarks: "The offices
in the Yndias are not worth anything unless one steals." To this letter
are appended the decisions made by the royal fiscal in Spain. He refers
to the royal councils the proposal to trade cloves in India; approves
the farming of crown lands, but is uncertain whether the Mexican
treasury can provide the additional contribution thus made necessary;
advises thorough inspection of the accounts of the probate treasury,
and strict prohibition of the use of those funds by the governors;
objects to accepting pay-warrants in place of cash; and states that
the removal of minor officials in the treasury, and the fees paid to
them, are matters which should be investigated. A later opinion by
the fiscal is to the effect that those minor officials be removed and
appointed, as hitherto, by the treasury officials, not by the governor.

Another letter from Tavora, of the same date, deals with various
matters of administration, relations with other nations, etc. He
again deplores the late arrival of the ships from Nueva Espana,
and urges that they he sent thence earlier in the season. He has
not waited for them in sending the vessels to Acapulco; and