His name is Benito de Mendiola. [37] But this man might prove deficient; and for the future, if it shall please your Majesty—­since this should be well done (for it surely is a very important matter), and the bishops are, by right, fathers of the unhappy—­it might be entrusted to him whom the bishop appoints, your Majesty naming the salary or requiring that it be raised here.  If it please your Majesty, I will see that the Indians pay it, which they will do very willingly.  And if your Majesty does not commit this to the bishop, he and the governor might be entrusted to name the appointee, it being provided that together and in no other way may they remove him—­because many times the protector has to ask things which the governor does not like.  The governor becomes angry at him, and if it is in his power, removes him—­as I have seen done more than once since I came.  The inhabitants of this city are among the most loyal subjects that your Majesty has in all his islands; and the soldiers, although suffering so many hardships, as above stated, and many more which cannot be told, are so obedient to orders in the service of your Majesty that it is certainly a cause for thanksgiving to God that, in so great an expanse of country, there should be a prince so obeyed and feared, loved and reverenced as is your Majesty in these regions.  And since this condition of affairs is conserved by subjects perceiving gratitude in their kings and princes, and knowing that their rulers reward them for loyalty, I humbly petition your Majesty to give attention to what I have said (which is unquestionably true); and that you show them favor, in order that they may know that your Majesty is pleased with their loyalty.

I understand that what they ask is, that your Majesty order that the limits of this city’s jurisdiction (which is five leagues) be maintained; and that you make them a gift of some lands, of which they have none, but without which no commonwealth can be sustained or conserved.  The cabildo of Mexico has, besides other sources of income, an encomienda—­that of Jalapa, a prosperous village near Mexico.  Here there is at present nothing with which to undertake any enterprise, unless your Majesty is pleased that some village be given them as an encomienda, in order that from the tributes may be obtained means to defray the necessary expenses, and conduct the public business in such manner as your Majesty shall order.  With that they will be well content.  The governor despatched a soldier to Maluco to ascertain what conclusion the Portuguese of those islands had reached.  He returned almost at the same time as the ship from Nueba Espana, with the news which the governor will write to your Majesty.  This news gave great satisfaction to all the people of these islands, because your Majesty’s interests are thereby promoted, since our Lord has placed in your Majesty’s hands the spice-trade of Maluco, which your ancestors so greatly desired.  I am sending the letter which the captain at Maluco