About twelve days ago we received letters from Maluco, in which the
captain commanding at that place says that the king of Ternate is now
powerful, and has seized the most important stronghold. A reënforcement
of eighty or a hundred men, with supplies, had been sent to him before
the arrival of the Audiencia; and he says that he can hold out until
the end of October or November. Speaking of the war which is to be
carried on, the president was and is about to send four hundred men
and a thousand friendly Indians. He is perplexed about the election
of the captain-general, for each of the captains who seek that post
desires to be sole commander, while the rest show displeasure that
one of their equals should be appointed. Moreover, no one of them is
pleased that Captain Bartolome Vaez Landero may be the commander. He is
a Portuguese, who came here from Macan through the agency of Governor
Diego Ronquillo, and remained here to protect this land with two ships,
well equipped with artillery, in the service of your Majesty. On seeing
this controversy, I proposed to the president on St. John's day that
I and my sons, with our weapons, would go with the soldiers to serve
in this expedition. The captains who are candidates are satisfied to
have me for their general, and the Portuguese captain and his men are
even more pleased. The president says that we shall deliberate upon
what should be done, and still he has not come to any decision with
me. He will wrong me if he withholds from me the leadership in this
affair. In all that pertains to justice, I shall always be ready,
with the help of God, who will favor me, to recover your Majesty's
territories and to punish your enemies.

It is also important for the service of God that, by order of your
Majesty, some decision be made as to the punishment that we shall
inflict upon the Chinese or Sangleyes for the infamous crime which,
as people here tell me, they practice on board their ships. [9]