ppened
that a ship left these islands for Mexico, and reached the coast of
China in distress. At first the crew were somewhat ill-treated by the
soldiers who guard the coast, because the latter had taken them for
thieves or spies; but as soon as they were brought before the mandarin
governor and it was learned that they had set out from the Lugones,
as they call these islands, the governor treated them well, gave
orders to return what the soldiers had taken from them, and punished
those who had taken it. They sent the Spaniards in peace to Macan,
whence they came to this city. The captain of the ship is living here
at the present day, as well as two Augustinians who were on board;
and they have told me all that happened to them.

From this time I began to be undeceived, and to understand that
the kingdom of China was not so inaccessible as the Portuguese had
represented it. Then I wrote to your Majesty the aforesaid letter,
asserting that the ill-report concerning the mandarins of China was
rather an invention of the Portuguese than a true report. Later on, my
belief in this truth was confirmed by certain persons, both religious
and laymen, who have gone to China from these islands. When these
persons arrived there the Chinese arrested them, in order to find out
whence they came and what they were seeking; and when it was learned
who they were, they were allowed to return in peace and were even
given supplies for the journey. While writing this, I have met two
Franciscan friars who tell me that, as soon as they reached China,
they were arrested and taken, handcuffed, before the mandarin. When he
learned who they were he gave orders to set them free, and to provide
for their support until they could return here. What fully confirms
me as to the truth of all this is the report which I received of the
kind reception given in the province of Chincheo to a ship which
the viceroy then governing Nueba Espana sent to Macan, and whose
captain was Lope de Palacios, the brother of the auditor Palacios,
auditor of Mexico. This ship was driven to Chincheo under stress
of weather, and there everyone in her was well received, when the
inhabitants of Chincheo learned that they were coming to trade in
China. They persuaded them to go no farther, saying that they would
give them a cargo there for their ship; but God, who had chosen to
punish those who by that means sought to destroy this land against
the wish of your Majesty, blinded th