I, Melchior de Legazpi, chief accountant for his Majesty in this Nueva
España, hereby certify that from the original books and orders for
payment pertaining to his royal accountancy, now in my possession,
it appears that from the twelfth of February of the year five hundred
and sixty-nine--when the _alcalde_ Bernardino de Albornoz entered
upon his duties as royal treasurer in this Nueva España--until the
end of December in the year five hundred and seventy-two, there has
been audited and paid from his royal chest (the three keys of which
are in charge of the treasurer of the royal estate) the sum of three
hundred and twelve thousand one hundred and seventy-six _pesos_,
seven _tomines_, and eight grains of common gold, each _peso_ of the
value of eight _reals_. [50] This sum includes whatever pertains to
the expedition of the Western Islands--for the crews and outfits of
the royal ships that were built to send aid to the said islands; the
tackle, food, and necessary armament for the said ships; the wages
of the soldiers and mariners sailing therein, besides the wages of
the sailors who have been serving in that capacity in the said Western
Islands since before the years above mentioned, and those of other men;
the furnishing of provisions to those who for the said time have been
engaged in the work of preparing and despatching the said vessels;
and the gunpowder, artillery, military supplies, and other necessary
articles sent in the vessels to his Majesty's camp, established in
the said islands in his royal name. All this is as set forth in detail
in the said books of his Majesty's accountancy, to which I refer.
In certification of the above, and in order that by the same it may
be manifest, I give the present--by command of the most excellent
Don Martin Enrriquez, viceroy, governor, and captain-general for his
Majesty in this Nueva España--in duplicate, in Mexico, on the second
day of March in the year one thousand five hundred and seventy-three.
_Melchior de Legazpi_
[_Endorsed_: "Expenses incurred by the royal estate for the expedition
to the Western Islands in the years dlxjx. lxx. lxxij."]