To aid the seamen, who are a discontented class, there was no money.  For after having aided the paid infantry, not a single peso was left in the royal treasury.  Forty-six of the citizens lent twenty-two thousand seven hundred pesos and the treasury of the probate court [caxa de bienes de defuntos] [3] lent four thousand.  A moderate amount of aid was furnished to those men by that means.  After that, naught more was left to be done toward the suitable preparation of the royal fleet.  May God be praised, who favored this cause so greatly, so that your Majesty might be better served.  It can be thoroughly understood that to attempt any of these three things would give anxiety even to him who had considerable power of management; for the departure of the fleet to fight with the enemy depended on very careful management; while, on the contrary, it must remain in port if all the expenses incurred in its preparation had been carelessly planned.  But it happened as we could have desired.  When all necessary arrangements had been made, the bishop of Zibu, who has charge of this archbishopric, gave his blessing to the royal fleet.  The fleet took as patroness the immaculate conception of our Lady, who was conceived without the stain of original sin.  It left the port of Cavite in charge of Don Juan Rronquillo del Castillo, [4] on Saturday, on the eighth day of the month of April, one thousand six hundred and seventeen, to find the enemy, who was stationed at Playa Honda [5] with six vessels.  There, in the past year of six hundred and sixteen, he was defeated by Governor Don Juan de Silva.  Three ships of the enemy were thirty leguas in advance, on the look-out for Chinese vessels, while the last of his ten ships had been sent to Terrenate.  On Thursday, the thirteenth of the said month, our fleet sighted four vessels [of the enemy’s fleet].  They were lying by very carelessly, with two Chinese vessels that they had pillaged.  Those two vessels ware carrying about three hundred thousand pesos’ worth of merchandise.  One of them the enemy had begun to rob, although only slightly.  It was impossible to attack them, for wind was lacking.  Thereupon the enemy very leisurely weighed anchor, but did not leave the Chinese ships until the next day.  Then as the two fleets were about to engage, they left their prizes, in order not to be hindered by them.  They had already been joined by two other vessels.  Our royal flagship had got to windward.  Near it, at eight in the morning, was the galleon “San Juan Bautista” under command of Admiral Pedro de Heredia (but he was not admiral of the fleet).  The other galleons were to leeward.  As the enemy saw so good an opportunity, he maneuvered his six ships, placing them in good order.  His flagship passed within musket-shot of one side of the royal flagship and discharged its artillery.  Answering them with another, as good and better, many volleys were fired without missing one shot, because the pieces were fired at so short a distance.  Another ship