the purpose for which they were taken, they should
be returned to their owners as land and property which
pertain and belong to them, and no work or edifice
should be erected thereon until they be paid and satisfied.
As for the income which is appropriated for the work,
its maintenance, and the prosecution of the building
for the said seminary, it was contrary to the rules
of justice and to the laws of the kingdom, and greatly
to the prejudice of this whole commonwealth and the
Indian villages in its neighborhood; for the voyage
and navigation from this city to the port of Cavite—as
it is not a river passage, but a bay and an arm of
the sea, which may be crossed with all sorts of vessels,
both large and small—cannot be reduced to
the status of a private route and profit, on account
of the loss which this would cause to so great a number
of persons as possess the said vessels, and use them
to carry and convey merchandise and other sorts of
articles from this city to the said port. And
especially it will cause this loss to the native Indians
of this city and of the villages of Laguio, Mahar,
Meytubi, Dongalo and others of this coast, who will
be deprived and prevented from using the vessels which
they ordinarily possess to carry and convey to the
said port persons, merchandise, and other things; and
if this profit be hindered they will have nothing wherewith
to sustain themselves, and will not be able to pay
his Majesty the royal tributes, nor aid in other impositions
and personal services. The same losses will be
increased by granting a monopoly of the said buyo,
bonga, and tobacco—not only for the neighboring
villages but even for provinces where it is collected
and brought to this city; for their natives have no
other source of income which would be to them so important
and profitable as the gathering, carrying, and sale
of buyo, bonga, and tobacco, and if this were stopped
they would be reduced to the greatest poverty and
want. That would make it impossible for them to
succeed in paying the royal tributes, impositions,
repartimientos, and other consequences of the service
of his Majesty; and to the citizens and the people
of various nationalities who dwell here, for whom the
said commodities serve as food and sustenance, there
would be caused expense and inconvenience, as has
already been seen by experience, for even without
the said monopoly being erected, but merely projected
and intended, the said buyo, bonga, and tobacco have
risen and increased in price, so much that the cost
at present is twice what it was before, and at the
time when it was decided to erect the said monopoly—which
not only is of the fruits of the land, and articles
which the said peoples use for their sustenance, but
likewise is prohibited by equity and the laws.
Consequently, looking for the greatest service to
God and his Majesty, the growth and preservation of
these islands, and the welfare and comfort of the
citizens and natives thereof, they [i.e., the