The King:  Juan de Zuniga, knight of the order of Santiago, [173] my servant.  I have not hitherto written you of transactions in the negotiations respecting Maluco, to which the most serene and illustrious King of Portugal, my very dear and beloved cousin, sent his ambassadors, as I believed that, our right being so apparent, the treaty would be kept with us, or at least some good method of settlement would be adopted.  This the ambassadors have not cared to do, although on our part we have done everything absolutely possible—­much more than is usual between princes or relatives.  I speak of this because my steadfast wish to preserve forever the kinship and love existing in the past and present between the most serene King and myself has been made manifest by my deeds.  I am exceedingly sorry to find that this has been not only of no advantage, but rather, because of the meager results obtained, a disadvantage.  And on this account the said ambassadors are returning without having come to any conclusion.  By them I write to the said most serene King as you will observe in the copy of the letter enclosed herein. [174] Now because you should be informed of the transactions at this discussion,—­both that you might, in our behalf, give a full account thereof to the said most serene King, and that you might discuss the same there [in Lisbon] wherever convenient,—­I have determined to put you in possession of the facts in this letter, which are as follows.  As soon as the said ambassadors had arrived, and after the letters from the most serene King had been presented to me, and their embassy stated by virtue of our faith in these letters, they requested me to appoint persons with whom they might discuss the questions upon which they were to mediate for their sovereign.  I did this immediately, appointing for this purpose certain members of my Council whom I, considered the best informed for that particular negotiation, and men of straightforward principles.  These men, in company with the aforesaid ambassadors, examined the treaty presented by the latter, which seemed to have been drawn up and authorized by the Catholic King and Queen, my grandparents, and by King Don Manuel, his [King Joao III] father, of blessed memory.  They listened to all the ambassadors had to say, and all together conferred regarding and discussed the questions many times.  Afterwards, inasmuch as the said ambassadors besought me to give them a hearing, I did so, the above-named and others of my Council, whom I had summoned for that purpose, being present.

The result of their proposition was to present the said treaty to me and petition that I order the observance thereof, and in consequence thereof, have Maluco surrendered immediately to the said most serene King of Portugal.  This they said we were bound to do, by virtue of the said treaty, which contained, they declared, a section whose tenor is as follows. [175]