the Dutch and English who threaten its coasts. To it he adds an
outline "treatise on the navigation of Filipinas," which sustains
his demand by forcible arguments. The rich Oriental trade amounts
to five millions of pesos a year, which mainly goes to sustain the
Dutch and their allies, the enemies of Spain, whose commerce they
will utterly destroy unless some check is placed on their audacity;
and the effectual method of doing this is to deprive them of that
trade. An armed expedition for the relief of the islands is being
prepared by the king; it should be despatched via the Cape of Good
Hope, and all possible efforts should be made to drive out the Dutch
and English from the Eastern seas. Los Rios proposes that for this
purpose loans be asked from wealthy persons in Nueva España and Peru;
and that the vessels needed be built in India. He makes recommendations
for the routes and equipment of the vessels, both going and returning;
and for the seasons best for sailing.

A letter from Francisco de Otaço, S.J. (January 14, 1620), mentions
various arrangements for the despatch of more missionaries to the
islands, and laments the recent loss of a fleet sent to the aid of the
Philippine colony. A royal decree of May 29 in the same year orders
the governor and Audiencia to correct the religious who have levied
on the Indians exactions of forced service.

The Jesuit chronicler of events in 1619 continues the record for the
year ending July, 1620. Some account of the war waged by the Chinese
and the Tartars is given. The persecution of the Christians in China
has slackened, and the authorities of that country are more favorable
to the Jesuit missionaries there. But in Japan the persecution
continues, and the college at Macao is crowded with Jesuits who are
disappointed in their efforts to enter Japan. Letters from Jesuits