silks, and chests—­must lose very materially.  The royal income of your Majesty must be greatly diminished, because all the duties from Chinese merchandise are collected in India.  Then in conveying them to Portogal and from thence to Castilla you must also lose, for all these affairs are moved by but one wheel, namely, Macan.  Not the slightest doubt can be entertained of the destruction of Macan, if ships from the Philipinas go to that port or to any other of China, unless it be very far away from Macan.  Even in the latter case, Macan must receive serious damage.  It will also be necessary for the Portuguese to fit out ships and try to capture what vessel or vessels go there from the Philipinas.  That there will be war between us is not doubtful, but certain.

If the Portuguese must receive these serious damages, greater injuries must be suffered by the Philipinas and the unfortunate Castilians who have settled them, sustained them with their blood, maintained in them the faith of Jesus Christ, and fulfilled their duty to your Majesty by means of the continual labors of themselves and their descendants.  If this is continued, the governor, the auditors, and their followers will send their property to China, and have the ship brought back full of merchandise for themselves alone; and consequently will supply the cargoes for the ships which sail hence to Mexico.  Thus the poor vassals of your Majesty, who have nothing whereby to support themselves or their poor children except in this traffic with Mexico, must be left like poor Indians, only because the devilish avarice of those persons sent by your Majesty to govern and care for this land leads them to take for themselves all the profits thereof.  At present—­with much honor to your Majesty’s royal crown and to the Spanish nation—­the Chinese come with their goods to the Philipinas, and each Spaniard may buy and export goods; although even of this traffic, it is said commonly that there is nothing to be expected except thunderbolts from heaven to punish what is done, if report be true.  But at last shame must check these injustices sometime, and not permit them to be done so openly.  But if vessels are sent from here to China, the Chinese merchants will not come here, nor will goods from China be brought here; and should such goods come, the governor and auditors will export their own goods, depriving of space those to whom all the exportation is granted, according to the just and holy will of your Majesty.

Even were it only for the sake of not seeing the Spanish nation so defamed as it must be in China, and hated and scorned in these regions even by the school-children, the governor and auditors should not be willing to enter into a traffic so costly to the honor and reputation of our nation.  Here we have no large armies to sustain us, nothing but reputation alone, and if they treat us as avaricious persons, there will not be an Indian who will not be insolent to the Spaniards