_That ships be bought on his Majesty's account; and those which have
already been bought._
Until the new ships shall be built, the viceroy has supplied the line
with ships in place of those which were lost. He commanded one to
be bought from the mariscal Gabriel de Ribera. That and the "Santa
Potenciana" were conveyed [to the islands] by Don Pedro de Acuña;
also two ships from Piru were in his convoy, moderately laden with
freight. Grace was granted, in the name of his Majesty, for some
permissions for carrying money and a quantity of freight. This was
given as to private persons, but not that the ships should be navigated
on their account or under their administration, or that they should
exercise any more authority than that of a passenger. This did not
deprive the city of Manila of any of the six hundred toneladas which
could be shipped, but merely utilized the surplus space of the ship,
thereby doing no damage to the citizens of Manila.