the said Portuguese in these islands, and which cost about five hundred pesos—­two thousand fanegas of cleaned rice, and six hundred jars [tinajas] of wine could be loaded in them.  The rice would be collected for your Majesty from your royal tributes, at two reals and six maravedis.  Each tinaja of wine, with cask and all, is valued at four reals, on board.  Likewise two hundred pesos of fine Sangley earthenware is sufficient, which is to be used as follows.  These two patages must, while going to Maluco, of necessity take water at the port of La Caldera, and the earthenware is to be left in the Spanish camp which is there, so that with it they may buy from the natives five hundred quintals of cinnamon, taking care to dry it.  In the meantime the two patages resume their voyage, having left this earthenware, and continue with the rice and wine to the fortress of the said Malucas.  They will deliver to the warden there half of it, to pay those expenses or quarters to the citizens.  With the other half they will buy four hundred baxes of cloves, making two thousand four hundred quintals, at six quintals to the bax; [6] this would be brought on your Majesty’s account to these islands.  Then they are obliged to go back to the said port of La Caldera, where they will take on the cinnamon bought with the earthenware; and all will be brought to the port of Cavite, to be embarked on the ships which your Majesty sends on the voyage from here to Nueva Espana.  When they have arrived there, the royal officials at the port of Acapulco will send a third of the said cloves and cinnamon to Mexico, and two-thirds to Piru and its provinces.  If sold at retail, it would be worth three hundred pesos a quintal; going to private persons, in quantity, it is usually worth two hundred pesos; consequently, in this way there would be a great profit gained.  I am ready to say that it would be worth to your Majesty almost as much as all the income from the customs of all Portuguese Yndia.  For this purpose your Majesty will have to keep a factor in the said island of Panay, to collect tributes, despatch the ships to La Caldera and Maluco, and receive them there; and to correspond with the royal officials in this city so that they may embark all this spice for Nueva Espana, and with the factor who must be at Acapulco, so that he may make the distribution.

This transaction is so profitable that several of the governors who have been in these islands have taken the trouble to send an armed galley merely to make this purchase of cinnamon at the port of La Caldera, until in the time of Doctor Santiago de Vera this trade was abandoned.  Being aware of the profit in it, Guido de Lavezaris (who governed these islands on the death of the adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi) prohibited trading and trafficking in spices in these islands for any person except the officials of your Majesty, who were to receive, buy, and lade the spices for Mexico, all on the account of your royal exchequer;