By the death of Don Pedro de Acuna, governor of these islands, who died on Saturday, June 24, this Audiencia succeeds to their government.  In it has been considered a new order which your Majesty commands to be followed in sending out the merchant ships that are to go from these islands to Nueva Espana.  Since those which are to go this year are already laded, and must set sail within three or four days, it has not been possible to put your Majesty’s commands into execution for the present year.  Although this city has prayed for this new order and for the decrees which have been granted in pursuance of it, yet on account of the many fires which have occurred in this city in recent years, the wars, the forced return of some ships, and the loss of others, by which a great amount of property has been lost, the inhabitants of these islands are burdened with heavy afflictions and necessities, which render them unable to pay the new duties imposed by the royal command.  Although these necessities are well known, the new order of your Majesty will be followed next year, in spite of the fact that some details involve much difficulty, and that some sections might well be moderated and limited in the form in which each one is stated.  This matter is of importance to your Majesty’s royal service, and to the welfare of the inhabitants of these islands.

In the first section your Majesty commands that only the inhabitants of these islands and no others may ship the merchandise which is to be transported to Nueva Espana, and that the amount invested therein shall not exceed two hundred and fifty thousand pesos of eight reals, as was previously determined by other orders and decrees; while the returns from this shall not exceed, in principal and profit, five hundred thousand pesos.  As for this section, it deserves serious consideration that after the expenses of sending out a cargo—­including the fees to be paid here and in Nueva Espana, which amount to thirty per cent in all, with the addition which the new decree imposes—­it is impossible to recover from five hundred thousand pesos the principal and the [present] profits on the investment of the said two hundred and fifty thousand pesos which are granted by this permission.  To reach this amount, it is considered necessary that at least three hundred and fifty thousand pesos be spent on the cargo.  In addition to the charges referred to, many expenses fall upon the inhabitants of this city for the maintenance and provision of their houses, and thus are consumed and expended a part of the profits made on the investments which they make here.  If your Majesty were pleased to permit that the amount of these investments might be at least three hundred thousand pesos, wherewith all expenses might be paid, then the permission to bring back five hundred thousand might well stand.  Until it is known what decision will be reached on this point, your Majesty’s commands shall be fulfilled.  Care will be taken that the investment