slaves may be taken thence to Nueva Espana, except
a small and specified number allowed as servants of
royal officials. The number of officers and men
allowed to each ship is limited and specified.
The soldiers sent must be effective and suitably equipped.
The ships must not be stripped of their defenses by
Filipinas officials. Pilots must undergo examination
for this voyage. Information regarding the money
and goods carried on these vessels must be exchanged
by the officials at Manila and Acapulco. Ships
must not be overladen. No person may go from
Nueva Espana to the islands unless he give bonds for
becoming a permanent resident of them, or is sent thither
as a soldier. Officials of the trading vessels
may not engage in trade in any form. The fares
paid by passengers thereon shall be regulated, and
so adjusted that they shall pay their share toward
the expenses of carrying on this commerce. Due
inspection of merchandise shall be made at Acapulco
and in Mexico. No Chinese goods may be traded
or conveyed, in any way, between Nueva Espana and Peru.
The dues collected at Acapulco on Filipinas merchandise
shall be spent for the needs of the islands.
The amount of money which may be carried back from
Mexico is strictly limited to five hundred thousand
pesos; and in this amount must be included, to avoid
frauds, all amounts of legacies, and gifts for benevolent
works, sent to Filipinas. No wrought silver may
be carried thither, except under close restrictions.
The governor of Filipinas and the viceroy of Nueva
Espana shall exchange reports of the business carried
on by these ships. A trustworthy person must
be appointed at Manila to regulate the migration of
Chinese and other foreigners to the islands.
Directions are given for the placing of cargoes, marine
stores,
etc., on the ships; and their rigging
must be obtained at Manila instead of Acapulco.
The ships and their crews must be suitably armed for
defense; and the men may not carry any baggage save
what they actually need for the voyage. No slave
women shall be allowed on the ships, nor any married
woman who is not obliged to make the voyage.
The citizens of the islands may trade with Japan;
but the Japanese shall not be allowed to go to the
Filipinas.
In Annuae litterae for 1610 is a report of
the Jesuit missions in the Philippines. Beginning
with some tabulated statistics, there are presented
separate accounts of the college at Manila and the
various mission stations. Two lay brethren in
that college have died, whose lives and virtues are
briefly reviewed. Religious zeal is growing among
the people of Manila. The Jesuit church has been
greatly adorned and improved, and their Indian disciples
have erected in a new church several handsome statues.
One of the Jesuit fathers devoted himself to the care
of the heretics captured in the battle with the Dutch,
and secured recantations from twenty of these.
The new governor, Juan de Silva, has given to the