The loan of 60,000 [pesos] made to the royal treasury by the inhabitants of Macan, which I ordered to be paid, was opposed by the fiscal, because the Portuguese have kept a quantity of the goods of our citizens.  Consequently that sum remains on deposit, in a separate account, so that, when the account is adjusted, their money may be returned to them.

The reenforcements for the island of Hermosa, which left here during the last part of August of last year, sought shelter because of bad weather, and went to anchor at Macan, for there was no other place wherein to take shelter.  Although the ship bore the [new] governor of the island of Hermosa, namely, the sargento-mayor Alonso Garcia Romero, with his wife and family, and the provincial of the Order of St. Dominic, Fray Domingo Goncalez, together with other religious, the Portuguese attempted their accustomed discourtesy, endeavoring to give it color by the pretext that the ship had put in there in order to invest a quantity of money that they were carrying.  And although [the said Romero] maintained his men at a great expense, only awaiting suitable weather to carry aid to the island of Hermosa, the Portuguese maliciously detained your Majesty’s ship, and did not allow it to depart until the first of April, when the said governor determined to leave the port at all hazards.  He put his determination into effect with the secret permission of the captain-general [of Macan], who, as was right, assisted him; but the Portuguese render so little obedience toward him that they fired twenty-three pieces charged with balls, and it was only by good fortune that the vessel was not sunk.  That is the usual practice of the Portuguese toward all the vessels that arrive there from these islands.  That is the reason why the governors of Philipinas refuse to send any ships there for supplies, except in a case of extreme necessity.  Will your Majesty be pleased to order the inhabitants of Macan to give a different welcome to the vassals of your Majesty who belong to the crown of Castilla.

I have until the present refrained from writing about the island of Hermosa; but now, after a year of residence here, I am obliged to do so. [Word illegible in MS.] that it was settled, and some forts have been built.  They are occupied by three companies of infantry, and together with the Pampango soldiers and the other men of service they number more than four hundred, counting the rations which are given them.  During the year two pataches ply back and forth in August and April with the reenforcements, and carry what is necessary for the said presidio.  The climate is mild, as the island lies in twenty-five degrees of latitude.  The soil is fertile, but the natives so intractable that they do not allow us to avail ourselves of the fruits of it; and as yet the religious have not reduced a single reasonable person to holy baptism.  They are so treacherous a race that, when we believe that they are most peaceful, they suddenly revolt, and kill whomever they meet unprepared.