money. For after having aided the paid infantry, not a single peso was
left in the royal treasury. Forty-six of the citizens lent twenty-two
thousand seven hundred pesos and the treasury of the probate court
[_caxa de bienes de défuntos_] [3] lent four thousand. A moderate
amount of aid was furnished to those men by that means. After that,
naught more was left to be done toward the suitable preparation of the
royal fleet. May God be praised, who favored this cause so greatly,
so that your Majesty might be better served. It can be thoroughly
understood that to attempt any of these three things would give
anxiety even to him who had considerable power of management; for
the departure of the fleet to fight with the enemy depended on very
careful management; while, on the contrary, it must remain in port
if all the expenses incurred in its preparation had been carelessly
planned. But it happened as we could have desired. When all necessary
arrangements had been made, the bishop of Zibu, who has charge of this
archbishopric, gave his blessing to the royal fleet. The fleet took
as patroness the immaculate conception of our Lady, who was conceived
without the stain of original sin. It left the port of Cavite in charge
of Don Juan Rronquillo del Castillo, [4] on Saturday, on the eighth
day of the month of April, one thousand six hundred and seventeen,
to find the enemy, who was stationed at Playa Honda [5] with six
vessels. There, in the past year of six hundred and sixteen, he was
defeated by Governor Don Juan de Silva. Three ships of the enemy were
thirty leguas in advance, on the look-out for Chinese vessels, while
the last of his ten ships had been sent to Terrenate. On Thursday,
the thirteenth of the said month, our fleet sighted four vessels
[of the enemy's fleet]. They were lying by very carelessly, with
two Chinese vessels that they had pillaged. Those two vessels ware
carrying about three hundred thousand pesos' worth of merchandise. One
of them the enemy had begun to rob, although only slightly. It was