About twelve days ago we received letters from Maluco, in which the captain commanding at that place says that the king of Ternate is now powerful, and has seized the most important stronghold.  A reenforcement of eighty or a hundred men, with supplies, had been sent to him before the arrival of the Audiencia; and he says that he can hold out until the end of October or November.  Speaking of the war which is to be carried on, the president was and is about to send four hundred men and a thousand friendly Indians.  He is perplexed about the election of the captain-general, for each of the captains who seek that post desires to be sole commander, while the rest show displeasure that one of their equals should be appointed.  Moreover, no one of them is pleased that Captain Bartolome Vaez Landero may be the commander.  He is a Portuguese, who came here from Macan through the agency of Governor Diego Ronquillo, and remained here to protect this land with two ships, well equipped with artillery, in the service of your Majesty.  On seeing this controversy, I proposed to the president on St. John’s day that I and my sons, with our weapons, would go with the soldiers to serve in this expedition.  The captains who are candidates are satisfied to have me for their general, and the Portuguese captain and his men are even more pleased.  The president says that we shall deliberate upon what should be done, and still he has not come to any decision with me.  He will wrong me if he withholds from me the leadership in this affair.  In all that pertains to justice, I shall always be ready, with the help of God, who will favor me, to recover your Majesty’s territories and to punish your enemies.

It is also important for the service of God that, by order of your Majesty, some decision be made as to the punishment that we shall inflict upon the Chinese or Sangleyes for the infamous crime which, as people here tell me, they practice on board their ships. [9] I am studying the question in order to inform this Audiencia; but, since the punishment may hinder commerce, it will be necessary to observe moderation, until your Majesty shall inform us what should be done in this matter.  I have reproached and admonished the friars, telling them that they ought to exhort these wretched people.  Some of them tell me that they are unwilling to baptize the Chinese, because they feel sure that they will apostatize as soon as they return to their own country.  I tell them that they should do what it is in them to do; and that, if God does not choose to call these people, at least it should not be left undone by the friars.  I shall always insist upon this.