bishop of Nueva Segovia [6] and twenty-eight Augustinian friars; one
hundred and forty soldiers and twenty convicts; one hundred quintals
of powder, one hundred muskets, and one hundred arquebuses. Since
the country was at peace, that proved a tolerable reënforcement. No
money came for the royal treasury, which does not contain one single
peso. From the money that is expected from Nueva España must be paid
the twenty-six thousand seven hundred pesos lent by the citizens
and the probate court account; besides other twenty-three thousand
pesos due to the captains and the Japanese and Chinese merchants,
for cloth and war supplies which they have delivered to the royal
magazines. There is no royal revenue from which to satisfy those
debts. The only revenue that can be collected now will be the proceeds
of the Sangley licenses, and that will scarcely suffice for the
very ordinary expenses. There will be no money with which to pay
the salaries of the Audiencia, royal officials, and other persons;
the stipends of the bishops and prebends of the church, and those
given to the religious; the wages of the infantry of this camp and
that of Terrenate; and the aid that must be sent to those forts for
their ordinary sustenance. And then this is increased by the delay of
the fleet which your Majesty has ordered to come by way of the cape
of Buena Esperança because of the great expenses that will be thus
incurred, and by the repair of the galleons in Cavite. The latter must
not be abandoned, and are without masts, for only their futtock-timbers
can be of use. It is all very difficult when so many things come at
the same time, and there is no money with which to repair them. May
God in His mercy provide a remedy for so many necessities. I shall do
the utmost that in me lies. Although there is considerable to provide,
I shall attend to the most needful, so that things may be maintained
until the viceroy of Nueva España, upon learning of the wretched
condition of these islands and those of Terrenate, may provide the