Yet besides this, on account of the straitened circumstances of your Majesty, and the need of attending to other pressing matters, it is indeed true, in view of the great importance to your Majesty of not allowing the enemy to get possession of that archipelago (for he would infallibly become master of the whole of India, and become more powerful than can be understood here), that there appears to be another measure less costly in the meantime; although it will not result in dislodging them, at least it will give them such diversion and do so much damage that the profit which they will secure will be dearly bought.  This is, that your Majesty should command the governor of the Filipinas to build eight galleys, and keep them in Terrenate; I will explain what their cost would be, shortly.  These would be of great importance, as can be readily seen here, if one considers these reasons and the letter which Don Geronimo de Silva writes to his cousin, and another from Master-of-camp Lucas de Vergara to the dean of Manila, and to myself—­the originals of which I possess, and which, as they explain the situation of those islands, I place at the end of this relation.

In the first place, the enemy has no ports in those islands in which to take refuge; and ordinarily his fleet goes about, one way and another, among the coasts there.

Second, every day in the year (or almost every day) there are six or eight hours of dead calm, at which time galleys never meet a galleon under these circumstances without taking it or sending it to the bottom; for it has been seen by experience with a galleon and a galliot which the Spaniards possess there, what excellent results they have produced.

Third, on account of this expedient of the galleys the enemy will not dare to divide their forces among the factories to carry on their negotiations; and, as they will have to go together, the cost will be so great that they cannot support it.

Fourth, the supplies will be taken away from their fortresses; for they have nothing wherewith to support themselves except it be brought from other islands.  This would be very easily accomplished, and the enemy would have no means to remedy it.  The natives who are devoted to them would be so terrorized that they would be obliged to come over to our side.  If they accomplish that in this way and through the effective plans of whomsoever shall govern there, and the negotiations which he would conduct with them, it is quite certain that the enemy would be ruined, and could not maintain himself a year in his forts; for it is the natives who aid and sustain him, and furnish the cloves for his profit.

Fifth, it would be easy to make an invasion with the galleys on all the factories where they have not fortresses—­and especially in Bantan, which is in Greater Xava, whither they carry all the spices which are shipped to Holland—­and then to gain them all and burn them.  They have no port there for large vessels, but only a bay where vessels which anchor there are kept at a distance from the land in the mud, aground, so that they cannot make use of them when they wish.  Accordingly the galleys could easily burn those which lie there.  If Don Juan de Silva had adopted this measure, the enemy would already be subdued; and your Majesty would not have spent so great sums of money, and so exhausted the Filipinas Islands.