1. With the publication in Manila of the coming of Admiral Don Gabriel
de Cruzalaegui in the ship "Santa Rosa," to govern these islands,
was revealed the obligation which he brought from Mejico to restore
the archbishop.
2. Before the said governor arrived, the bishop of Troya published
a document with the title, "Advice to those who come newly to these
islands, that they may not err in judgment regarding the banishment
of the archbishop." In this writing there were propositions opposed
to the Audiencia, the cabildo, and the royal decisions.
3. Reply was made to this by an anonymous writer, against whom Fray
Raimundo Verart came out with drawn sword, issuing a manifesto that
was full of assertions hostile to the royal jurisdiction and to
the cabildo.
4. The governor entered Manila on August 24, 1684. There was an
earthquake on that day, an unusual occurrence for that time; and
soon after he had passed through the Puerta Real the balcony fell,
and with it more than one hundred persons--of whom many were injured,
some died, and others were crippled.
5. The governor soon manifested the partiality that he felt for the
Dominicans, intriguing with Fray Francisco de Vargas and Fray Juan
de Ybanez, who had been sent out of the city by the royal Audiencia,
but had returned to it before the entry of the said governor; he
did the same with Verart and Marron, who had been banished, but left
their hiding-places and appeared [in the city] when he entered it.
6. Under cover of the favor which the governor showed to the
Dominicans, they made impudent speeches in the pulpits against the
royal Audiencia and the cabildo; and they refused to join them in
public functions, regarding them as excommunicated. For the same
reason, they would not go to the procession for the publication of
the bull, even when they were commanded to do so by the commissary
of the Crusade.
7. The cabildo rendered account to the governor, in a very learned
document, of their government during the absence of the archbishop;
the Audiencia also made him a very suitable report of what they had
done. But the governor paid no attention to either of the two reports,
in order to carry his own point, the restitution of the archbishop.
8. The governor endeavored to influence the auditors at his will,
doing them some favors and making some approaches to them, which
they, faithful to their king, resisted. Not being able to subdue
them by this method, he arranged that a demand be contrived by means
of Don Tomas de Endaya and Don Francisco de Atienza (both of them
regidors and belonging to his faction), that the city should sign a
letter of advice to the governor, in which they should represent to
him the difficulties arising from the banishment of the archbishop,
and the uneasiness of the people occasioned by their uncertainty as
to what would be done in regard to the government of the cabildo,
etc.; and request his Lordship to adopt such measures as should be
most opportune to put an end to their anxiety. Those of the governor's
following signed this paper very readily; those who follow the truth,
reluctantly; and there was one who refused to sign.
9. The governor consulted the religious orders upon this point, and
upon the excommunications which the Dominicans were [word blotted
in MS.]. The Society of Jesus excused themselves from responding
to such a consultation, because they observed the malicious design
with which it was asked. The Franciscans at first excused themselves,
but afterward answered in favor of the cabildo. The Augustinians were
ready to suit the pleasure of the governor, on account of being very
intimate with the Dominicans; and the same was done by the Recollects,
who follow the Augustinians in everything.
10. With the said opinions, obtained by pressure, the governor ordered
that the bishop of Troya should begin to rule the archbishopric, under
the protection of the governor. This he did, one Sunday, which they
fixed, October 22; and he was styled governor of the archbishopric, and
personally went about posting in the churches certain edicts in which
he summoned the entire cabildo to appear before the ecclesiastical
court within the next three days, under penalty of being regarded as
publicly excommunicated, to give satisfaction for having arrogated
to themselves the government; and on the same day he took away Juan
Gonzalez, who was a prisoner in his own house, and carried him to
[the convent of] San Agustin; and to the persons whom he found there
he intimated that they would have this man as provisor.
11. This so violent mode of proceeding caused much disquiet in the
community; and if the cabildo, desiring to maintain the peace which
the bishop of Troya and his friars were disturbing, had not yielded,
some tumult among the people would have resulted, so great was their
excitement.
12. The ecclesiastical cabildo repaired to the governor in regard to
this case, and were coldly received by him. A session of the royal
Audiencia was held; the fiscal set forth the right of the cabildo,
and justified their government; but notwithstanding this the governor
declared himself for the bishop of Troya, and displayed the [written]
opinions mentioned above, with which he confirmed the former pretension
of restoring the archbishop.
13. During the four days while the sessions of the Audiencia lasted,
there were long debates in the palace, and much confusion among the
people. The governor talked loudly, and expressed opinions that the
cabildo must not govern. The fiscal stripped off his robe, indignant
that the royal patronage was not respected. During those days, no
receptor or court secretary was allowed to enter the session, so that
no testimony of the proceedings should be taken. The Dominican friars
[went] in crowds to the palace. Marcos Quintero, who is entirely for
them, had offered to the governor, it is said, to pay whatever fine
he might impose for this.
14. [The bishop of] Troya governed the archbishopric in the interval
before the archbishop was restored to his see. Endaya went on this
errand with a royal decree, obtained by the utmost violence, and
given very reluctantly by the auditors, who were afraid, because the
governor intimidated them by the language he used. He received the
archbishop with [salvos of] artillery and muster of the troops.
15. The archbishop, instigated by his friars, began to take his
revenge on November 22 of the same year. He sent notifications to the
ecclesiastical cabildo, the religious orders, etc., of an act ordering
that they should not admit into their churches the master-of-camp
Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado, or the auditors, or many other persons
and military officers who had a share in his banishment, or in the
deportation of the Dominican provincial and other friars.
16. The cabildo wrote to the archbishop to inquire whether entrance
to the church should be denied to the auditors if they came in a body
as the Audiencia, as they go on communion days [dias de tabla]; and
he replied that this should be done, in whatever manner they might
go to church. In consequence of this, the Audiencia did not attend
at two communion feasts; these were the commemoration of the blessed
sacrament in the cathedral, and the day of St. Andrew the Apostle.
17. The governor showed a desire to settle with the bishop his
relations with the Audiencia; and he arranged that on the sixth of
December all the auditors should be present together in the palace,
and that the archbishop should come to meet them, as if by chance,
and talk with them, and thus have a sort of absolution conferred--a
mummery [mogiganga] by which they could attend that day the feast of
St. Javier, which was celebrated at the church of the Society of Jesus.
18. All those proscribed in the archbishop's act went to ask for
absolution; and he commanded them to take oath that they would not
obey the ministers of the king in matters pertaining to ecclesiastical
persons. For others, the formula of the oath was, that they must swear
to observe the sacred canons. This proceeding caused great disquiet
in the minds of the citizens.
19. Some disturbances led to others. On the ninth of December
notification was served on the dean and four dignitaries of the
cabildo, with a canon, that they must be regarded as under censure
as irregular, for having assumed the government of the church, and
for having arrested Juan Gonzalez and Don Pablo de Aduna.
20. The cabildo found itself entirely defenseless against the
manifest anger of the archbishop, without power to appeal either to
[the ecclesiastical court of] Camarines--since its bishop, the head
of that court, was of the Dominican faction--or to [the court of]
Cagayan, since Troya was there; or to the Audiencia, since recourse to
that body was prohibited, and the governor did not wish to interfere
with the archbishop.
21. On the same day, the ninth of December, an edict of the
archbishop was posted in which were annulled the sacraments of
penance administered by the said prebends, and the licenses which
they had given for hearing confessions, preaching, etc.; item,
the marriages solemnized without the permission of his provisor,
Juan Gonzalez--and they rained down censures, excommunications,
and threats by the thousand, according to the fury of Father Verart,
who directed all these. By another edict, dated January 8, all the
legal causes and suits which had been tried before the cabildo and
its provisor were declared null and void.
22. The said measures produced innumerable perplexities. Soon
afterward, the archbishop attempted to deprive the said prebends
of their appointments; and to this end he held a conference with
the governor, proposing most unworthy persons in the place of those
prebends. This proposal was considered in the session of the Audiencia,
and censured as irregular and out of order; and it went no further.
23. The archbishop issued an act against the trumpet of Don Juan
de Vargas, commanding that he conduct himself as an excommunicated
person. Soon afterward (on February 10, 1685), he posted Don Juan
on all the church doors as publicly excommunicated. The latter had
recourse to the royal aid, and wrote an excellent document in his
defense; but the governor did nothing for him, and only commanded
him to obey the archbishop and be reconciled with him.
24. Seeing himself deprived of recourse, the poor gentleman did all
that he could to procure a reconciliation with the archbishop and
the Dominican friars. He was commanded to beg the pardon of all the
aggrieved parties, even from the most inferior lay brethren; and he did
this, at the cost of many rebuffs. After this, the archbishop obliged
him to swear, declare, and attest that when he sent the archbishop in a
vessel to his exile he had sent him away without supplies of everything
necessary, although this was manifestly false, for provision was made
as if for a royal person. Even when he had done what was demanded
from him, the archbishop would not even take his name from the list
of excommunicates, such was his hatred for Don Juan. Ab ira et odio
et mala voluntate monachi dominici libera nos, Domine. [134]
25. The archbishop claimed that the senior auditor, Doctor Don Diego
Calderon, should [not] be absolved from the censures which, the
archbishop informed him, he had incurred because of the demand which
he made, when he was fiscal, against Bishop Palu, [135] who landed in
these islands, with whom the Dominicans had secret dealings. Calderon
replied to the archbishop, setting forth the reasons which induced him
to act as he did with Palu; and for the time the archbishop desisted
from his intentions.
26. The prebends endured this persecution with incredible
patience. Again the governor wrote a letter, [endeavoring] to mediate
in the question of granting a dispensation [to the cabildo] for their
irregular government, and engaged the bishop of Sinopolis as his
agent. Ybanez went to the dean to tell him that all would be settled
according to his satisfaction, but this was nothing but a falsehood
and invention; for the dispensation [136] was conferred with the
utmost ignominy for the cabildo and prebends, for the greater glory
and triumph of the Dominicans, the managers of this scene-shifting.
27. They obliged the prebends to make certain declarations, which
were fraudulent and misleading, so that it was difficult not to
blunder in the replies, which were directed by Father Verart, the
mainspring of all these plots. They made the prebends take an oath;
the latter consented to this, and submitted to everything, in order
to extricate themselves from so much annoyance and to be free from
enemies so powerful and so persistent.
28. The archbishop commanded the prebends to make a statement
of detestation [of their errors], in which were contained things
prejudicial and inimical to the royal jurisdiction and prerogatives;
and others, complimenting the archbishop and his friars and various
private persons. On the same day a conference had been held in which
it was asked whether the said prebends were worthy of being dispensed;
it was decided that they were, because those who were following the
current with the archbishop were very influential, but those who were
more judicious and learned thought that there was no reason why the
said dispensation was necessary. [137]
29. On the following day the archbishop again declared the members of
the cabildo to be excommunicated, alleging that although the bishop
of Troya had absolved them, he had done so only ad reincidentiam,
for such time as the bishop should choose. In the said act he also
commanded that in the afternoon of the same day they should go to
the cathedral to receive absolution and dispensation; and on the next
day they must all go to the church of Santo Domingo, to make amends
to the friars for imagined injuries.
30. The function of the absolution and dispensation was celebrated with
the greatest publicity, and in a very marked, offensive, and injurious
manner. An enormous number of the lower class of people were called in,
from the neighboring villages--and especially from Binondoc, which is
a village in charge of the Dominicans; for that purpose, the sermons
which would occur that afternoon in some churches were suppressed,
so that all the people could go to see a performance that would so
exalt the Dominican fathers.
31. The prebends went to the church, ignorant of the measures taken
for exposing them to ignominy. They found two tribunals erected,
one at the church door, and the other inside, at the great altar; and
there was an enormous concourse of people. Of the religious orders,
the Dominicans were there in great numbers; from the colleges, only
the members of Santo Thomas [Tomistas]. The archbishop occupied his
judgment-seat at the door of the church, and at either side were
his beloved Juan Gonzalez and Aduna. He called the prebends and
made them kneel before him in order to be absolved, as if they were
heretics. He handled a ferule while the Miserere lasted, although
he did not, on account of the entreaties of those who were present,
strike the capitulars with it. Then he went inside the church,
and after performing other ceremonies, took his seat on the second
platform, where he made an address, in which he gave many and sharp
stabs to those who favored the cause of the cabildo; and after that
the performance came to an end, with much gossiping among the people,
who regarded these actions as revengeful.
32. The archbishop prepared a feast in order to regale the prebends,
quite contrary to his usual manner and harsh temper; the prebends
attended it unwillingly, seeing that they had been treated like boys,
and that this banquet was only a device to shut their mouths. He made
them elect another secretary for that same cabildo's corporation,
and afterward inflicted punishment on him who was secretary while they
governed; this was a poor cleric, whom he declared excommunicated and
suspended, [138] and seized his little property, for having acted
officially in the proceedings brought against Don Juan Gonzalez by
the dean as provisor.
33. Troya returned from Cagayan, where he had gone, on the
pretext of administering confirmations, during the time of these
transactions. There he deprived of their curacies, and loaded with
censures, Licentiate Diego de las Navas and Bachelor Diego de Espinosa
Maranon; and having sent them to Manila, he placed friars in their
stead. Afterward he imposed excommunications on the alcaldes-mayor and
collectors of tribute who might buy and sell goods with the Indians
of those provinces.
34. Don Juan de Vargas, after his name had been on the list of
excommunicates two months, and he had been interdicted for four months
from entrance into the churches, solicited absolution, by a petition
to the archbishop; the latter sent it to Troya, so that he might
poison it. Troya pushed Don Juan farther toward ruin, and--paying
no attention to the reasons which the said master-of-camp Vargas
brought forward as having influenced him to banish the archbishop,
in behalf of the prerogatives of the king our sovereign--he made
answer furiously, that Don Juan must be absolved with publicity; and,
although the governor advised him, the bishop paid no heed to this.
35. At Lent in 1685, the archbishop suspended three fathers of the
Society, to whom the cabildo while it governed had given permission
to preach and hear confessions; he did this not only because of the
aversion which he had taken for the cabildo, but on account of the
enmity which he had always felt toward the Society. The governor
compelled two foreign ships to pay very exorbitant imposts, at which
they were greatly dissatisfied.
36. Don Juan de Vargas was not ready for absolution. The archbishop
called together the theologians, to tell him whether the absolution
should be given privately; this was decided in the affirmative by the
majority of votes, but the Dominicans opposed it. The archbishop,
in order to defeat the resolution, decreed that Vargas must first
perform the following penance: During an entire month, he must be
present in the cathedral, from morning until high mass, clothed in
sackcloth and in the garb of a penitent, with a halter round his neck;
and for another month he must, in the same manner, attend the church
of Santo Domingo; another, the hospital of San Gabriel; and another,
the church of Binondoc. Then, the said penance being accomplished, he
would be absolved by Domingo Diaz, a mestizo of infamous character. The
said Don Juan de Vargas appealed, but the appeal was not allowed him,
and he remains in the same condition up to the present time.
Paragraphs of a letter written from Manila, June 15, 1685, by Auditor
Don Pedro Sebastian de Bolivar y Mena to his agent at Madrid, Don
Diego Ortiz de Valdes.
In this ship came as governor of these islands Don Gabriel de
Curuzalegui y Arriola, a knight of excellent abilities, very
disinterested, and intent on the service of his Majesty--whose royal
revenues from the department of customs, which were so impaired,
have been enormously increased, of which he will, I doubt not,
send statements to the Council. The trouble is, that this place is
so corrupt that, even though a very good man comes here, with the
best intentions, people make him fail in his duty. Even if I had not
had a letter from you for the purpose, he would show indignation
against me. For, having spoken to the governor at various times,
and asked if you had hinted anything about me, either personally
or through Don Tomas, he has replied that such was not the case;
but this did not happen to Don Diego de Viga, for he carried the
recommendations of Don Tomas, and therefore has a place in [the
governor's] affection--although he shows all kindness to me also, and
I endeavor to serve him as far as I can reasonably. As soon as this
knight arrived, he made strenuous efforts to secure the restoration
of the archbishop to his see--for which he made a proposition, or
offered his opinion, to the royal court, finding occasion for this in
one which the secular cabildo had offered on the same subject. And,
although, in the private conferences which he held with each one of us
upon this matter, it was represented to him that such a solution [of
the difficulty] was impossible--since account of it had been rendered
to his Majesty, and the acts therein referred to him; and also since
the circumstances and facts which had given cause for the archbishop's
banishment still existed; and that no restitution had been or would
be made to the royal jurisdiction for the injury that he had done
it, nor had he offered any betterment in the future--he nevertheless
insisted that it must be done. And as here there is no [opportunity
for any] will, save that of a governor, since he is absolute, we all
had to acquiesce, under compulsion and pressure, in the restitution of
the archbishop--and not only that, but also in accepting the bishop
of Troya as governor ad interim until his illustrious Lordship came
back. As soon as the latter arrived, he began to unsheathe the sword,
against all the human race; for he declared that all three of us
auditors had incurred the excommunications imposed by the bull of
Cena [Domini; i.e., the Lord's Supper] and by the canon, commanding
that we should not be admitted into the churches. This we reported
to the governor, and reminded him of the inconveniences which, as we
had represented to him, would follow from such restitution; and he,
while acknowledging this, talked of availing himself of extrajudicial
measures to hinder those that were judicial; consequently we were
interdicted from the church for several days. At the end of that
time, he sent to summon me, on an occasion when I was alone in the
Audiencia, and told me that he had the matter settled; that the act [of
excommunication] should be recalled--with only [the stipulation] that
the archbishop should go to the palace at a time when we all were there
together with his Lordship; and that, the archbishop entering with
him, we should kiss his hand, and everything would remain settled. I
informed my associates of this, and all agreed to it, provided that
the word "absolution" should not be used, because if it were, all
of us would leave the room; moreover, we supposed that Don Juan de
Vargas would be included in this act, for, as he had concurred with
us, as our president, it would be very proper that he should do the
same as we. I gave this reply to the governor, and he told me that
as for what concerned Don Juan de Vargas, he had already arranged
it, and that for this he was responsible. In accordance with this
[agreement], we assembled at the palace. The archbishop came, and we
went forward to receive him, making the obeisance due to the prelate;
with that, the prohibition was recalled, and we remained free to enter
the churches. But it was continued with Don Juan; and to this day his
name remains on the list of excommunicated persons. It is intended,
as I understand, that his absolution shall be made in public, with
all the ancient ceremonial forms.
He published an act declaring that all persons who had directed
the cabildo during his absence were under censure as irregular; and
annulling the marriages celebrated, the licenses given to confessors,
and the confessions that had been made to them, and whatever else had
been done during the time of his banishment. The prebends were regarded
as irregular for more than three months; at the end of that time he
erected a stage at the main doors of the holy cathedral church, and
thereon publicly absolved them--having previously published an edict
that at the said function should assemble all the Indians, Sangleys,
mestizos, and negroes of the neighboring villages, which occasioned
astonishing disturbances.
All affairs thus remain as they were, and these vassals are without any
recourse, since they dare not interpose that plea before the Audiencia,
as it is so powerless to exercise its functions; consequently, to
state the case in few words, the archbishop does whatever suits his
whim, without there being any one to restrain him.
These proceedings keep me in the utmost anxiety, as I fear that so
unreasonable an act as this restitution will be very ill received in
the Council, which will lose respect for the authorities here, as the
matter was pending in that body. Accordingly, and on account of what
may be carried to Espana, I give you this information, so that you
may, if opportunity offers, make it known, as I dare not write to the
Council about it, for my letters may not be sent forward--as happened
to Don Juan de Vargas, while of the letters that were written against
him copies were sent to the Council. If this should occur [now], it
would result in ruining us all. Notwithstanding these difficulties,
I am on very good terms with the archbishop, so much so that in any
event, whatever I may do, they will stand up in my favor; and they
have even gone so far as to tell me that they are writing this year
to his Majesty, assuring him of my excellent mode of procedure, and
how incorrect was the information to the contrary. Your Grace will
inquire at the secretary's office, and let me know whether this is
really so; for one cannot trust in friars, and, in order that they
may not imagine that I distrust them, I have not asked them for the
letter, in order to send [a copy of it to you].
The viceroy of Nueva Espana having appointed, in accordance with the
permission given him by the Council, Don Juan de Zalaeta, the castellan
of Acapulco, as judge of residencia for Don Juan de Vargas, he came
here and presented all his credentials in the royal court--where,
without any contention, it was ordered that they be put into force
and carried out. Among the despatches came a royal decree forbidding
this royal Audiencia from taking cognizance of anything belonging to
the said residencia; but, this being granted, twelve days after its
publication the said judge was challenged by the city on account of the
entire case. As he had not been declared to be judge for that, but only
an associate, the city hastened to the Audiencia in order that this
court might declare the said judge to be thus challenged. Among other
reasons that the city alleged for this proceeding was the statement
that in the port of Acapulco, the viceroy having commissioned the said
judge to seize the bales and merchandise which were going in the ships
on account of the said Don Juan de Vargas and his servants and friends,
the judge had not carried out the said seizure, on account of fifty
thousand pesos which they had given him. Although it is certain that
the reasons adduced were very forcible, the Audiencia, recognizing
the force of the inhibitory decree, declared that they could not
intermeddle by giving a decision on the said challenge; and that
the governor should appoint associates [adjuntos] for him, in order
that they might continue the said residencia with the said judge;
and that the original documents connected with the said challenge
should be sent to the Council. Although the residencia was prosecuted,
the charges [against Vargas] have not yet been published. It seems to
me that it is being settled very conformably to justice, although the
proceedings cannot fail to show many defects on account of the judge's
inexperience; for he is not a learned man, and here the lawyers are
very few, and the conduct of [such] a case is exceedingly difficult.
As soon as the city brought forward in the court the challenge against
the judge, Don Juan de Vargas challenged all three of us auditors; and
in the course of the proceedings I introduced a document acknowledging
myself as challenged; [I did this] not only on account of what Don
Juan de Vargas had done for me, but because it was a brother-in-law
of mine who was under residencia, and his advocate also bore that
relation to me. They must have had good reasons for not regarding me as
challenged, and so I had to vote. I give you information of all this,
in order that if any reparation be proposed there, it may be in this;
for I judge that the points and articles of this residencia will
cause the utmost embarrassment in the Council, and that it will be
necessary to command that it be taken again. I give thanks to our Lord
that it has not reached me; for it would cause me the utmost injury
and perplexity--partly on account of his wrong acts, partly because
those who had written unpleasant letters to the Council now turn tail,
and explain nothing. This, it may be, is attributed to the judge, who
is not to blame--for here there are only false witnesses, now on one
side and now on the other; and you will confirm this information by
what goes there, which you will not fail to know. For it seems to me
that in all the lands discovered [by Spaniards] there is no country
like this, or where its inhabitants are so inconstant. Accordingly,
I assert that here neither friendship nor enmity is permanent;
for if now, for example, some persons are my enemies, and on that
account my actions are pointed out in the Council, when [the news
of] my vindication--through this or that accident--comes from there
we become reconciled, and eat, as they say, from one plate; and the
same on the other side. It is useless, therefore, to take notice of
anything in this little edition of hell [abreviado infierno].
I have no other request or greater desire than to leave this place; and
although (for since I arrived in these islands I have written to you
at every opportunity) I have sufficiently wearied you regarding this,
I cannot cease continuing [my efforts to go away]--without urging any
fixed and assigned place, or where or how it shall be accomplished. For
every day, Don Diego, I find myself more disconsolate, and I would by
this time be desperate if I could not trust in the good opinion that
I have of you; and therefore, hoping for your protection and stationed
at your feet, I entreat you with the utmost earnestness [for a change
in my position], without heeding whether or not it be a promotion. For
me the best promotion will be to go away, wherever it may be; and if
it cannot be accomplished in this way, [please] endeavor to secure
for me permission, for such time as may seem proper to the Council,
to pass over to Nueva Espana, in accordance with what I wrote last
year, as there was no room for either of these expedients to secure
my departure. I send a special power of attorney for you to make
in my name surrender and renunciation of this post, for the causes
and reasons which I will allege in the Council, either personally
or by my attorney; I do not do so now, on account of the damage and
risk which thus may be occasioned to me because I do not desire a
post in which there is so much corruption as there is in this. And
more, I would almost rather go to get a living by some petition or
commission than to be auditor of Filipinas; and this, Don Diego,
is the truth. Here there is no liberty for anything; there is no
authority, no respect, and, above all, not an atom of profit. Then,
what is such a post good for? It is only fit for ruining honor and
reputation, and for this it is notorious. In case I shall get away
from here by any of the aforesaid ways, you will ask that a judge of
residencia may be appointed for me, so that he may take it before I
shall go; for I do not wish to leave behind these sorrapas. You will
previously challenge Don Diego de Viga and Don Esteban de la Fuente
y Alanis; for these two gentlemen, each in his own way, are very
malicious, and have very little affection for colleagues. I know
them well, by experience of what they have done to other persons;
and I do not wish that they do the same to me. It is also necessary
to obtain for me a royal decree, so that I may not be hindered by
the governor or any one else, that all the persons in my household,
and those who came with me to these islands, may return in my company;
and that I may be assigned a small room for storage of my provisions
for the voyage. For here it is not the same as in the north, [139]
where there are general accommodations for the passengers; but each
one furnishes his own provisions; and, unless a place is assigned
in which these may go, the transportation charges cost more than one
thousand pesos; but, as those who ship bales pay for them at the rate
of twelve and fifteen pesos, they have many advantages [over the rest].