I am studying the question in order to inform this Audiencia; but,
since the punishment may hinder commerce, it will be necessary to
observe moderation, until your Majesty shall inform us what should
be done in this matter. I have reproached and admonished the friars,
telling them that they ought to exhort these wretched people. Some of
them tell me that they are unwilling to baptize the Chinese, because
they feel sure that they will apostatize as soon as they return to
their own country. I tell them that they should do what it is in
them to do; and that, if God does not choose to call these people,
at least it should not be left undone by the friars. I shall always
insist upon this.

When I spoke of Ternate, I forgot to mention a very important matter,
which perhaps is already forgotten. There was a king in Ternate
called Cachil Boleyfe, aged and very prudent, regarded by the Moros
as a prophet. He was taken to Malaca because of a certain crime;
and, having been acquitted, he received baptism and died there as a
Catholic. He said that, having no legitimate successor, he constituted
King Don Juan the Third of Portugal his heir to the kingdom and islands
subject to Ternate. This will was brought to Ternate, and all the
chiefs of the kingdom swore allegiance to the new king, with great
feasting and solemnity. Possession of the kingdom was taken, with
all the ceremonies required by law. This is what the historians say,
especially Juan de Barros--in the third _Decada_, book five, chapter
six. At the end of the seventh chapter, he says that the fortress now
held by the tyrant was built by Captain Antonio de Brito, who began
the work with his own hands on St. John's day, in 1522. He did this
with the consent of all the Moros, and therefore called the fort San
Juan. It is well that your Majesty should know the very foundation of
your rights, and should at least understand that my endeavor is to give