Valladolid, September 24, 1559. The king writes to Luis de Velasco,
viceroy of New Spain and president of the royal _Audiencia_,
that he provide "what seems best for the service of God, our Lord,
and ourselves, and with the least possible cost to our estate; and
therefore I order you, by virtue of your commission to make the said
discoveries by sea, that you shall despatch two ships ... for the
discovery of the western islands toward the Malucos. You must order
them to do this according to the instructions sent you, and you
shall stipulate that they try to bring some spice in order to make
the essay of that traffic; and that, after fulfilling your orders,
they shall return to that Nueva España, which they must do, so that
it may be known whether the return voyage is assured." These ships
must not enter any islands belonging to the king of Portugal, but they
shall go "to other nearby islands, such as the Phelipinas and others,
which lie outside the above agreement and within our demarcation,
and are said likewise to contain spice," The necessary artillery,
articles of barter, etc., will be sent from the India House of Trade
in Seville. "I shall enclose in this letter the letter that you think I
should write to Fray Andres de Urdaneta of the order of Saint Augustine
in that city [Mexico], in order that he embark on those vessels because
of his experience in matters connected with those islands of the spice
regions, as he has been there." The viceroy must issue instructions
to the vessels that they "must not delay in trading and bartering,
but return immediately to Nueva España, for the principal reason
of this expedition is to ascertain the return voyage." The letter
enclosed to Urdaneta states that the king "has been informed that when
you were a secular, you were in Loaysa's fleet, and journeyed to the
Strait of Magallanes and the spice regions, where you remained eight
years in our service." In the projected expedition of the viceroy,
Urdaneta's experience will be very valuable "because of your knowledge