blow; or if they did not know my position, and I could cause them anxiety or divert them from their object—­there is no doubt that their fleet itself would be disarmed and destroyed.  But since I lack such resources, and the time is passing in which I expected the aid which your Majesty has offered to these islands—­having sent the pilots to Malaca to guide and bring them here from there—­I shall be obliged to make the best of the little which I have, and to take the best precautions that I can.  I am raising and fortifying a few stretches of wall which are necessary, expelling the Japanese, and lessening the number of the Sangleys—­who, although there appear to be a great many of them, will certainly, by the proper management of the licenses, and care in obliging the Sangleys to secure them, be much fewer than I found here, and than have been here for many years, on account of those who have died and left the country and the few who have come in my time.  In every way I shall do my best to drive out as many as I well can so that the country may be less burdened with suspicious people; and shall likewise take other necessary precautions which may be in my power.  In these efforts I feel sadly the lack of money; but in times of such need I have been obliged to try to obtain it in the most guarded and cautious ways.  I am not a little glad to have with me at such a time Master-of-camp Don Hieronimo de Silva, both on account of his good counsel and aid, and likewise because if I should fail in this country there would be someone to defend it; and your Majesty may be certain that he will do this with the favor of God, and that with this everything will turn out well.  I beseech your Majesty that, confident of this, you will continue sending the said reenforcement, and will hasten its coming by way of Nueva Espana to Panama—­sending infantry and money, the things which cannot be supplied here. [In the margin:  “This is well; and let thanks be given him for the excellent courage which he shows.  As for the information that he gives, he has learned the reason for the fleet not leaving, and the accident which happened to it; accordingly, let him exercise all care to take what precautionary measures are there necessary, as he is expected to do.  As for the Japanese and other nations that are there, let him decree what shall seem most expedient to him for the service of God and his Majesty, and the good of the commonwealth, as well as its guard and preservation.”]

As we have to carry on the war in this way, so that the expense and labor may bring the best results, I beg your Majesty that while it shall last you may be pleased to discontinue the Audiencia here, as it is this that most hinders and opposes the administration and the government, as will appear by several depositions which accompany this.  This is the enemy which most afflicts this commonwealth, and most causes dissensions, parties, factions, and hatreds between the citizens—­each