the freight charges which may be collected conformably to the order which will be given, as has hitherto been done; and in all things the necessary order and system must be maintained by the said accountant and inspector, and by my royal officials of the said Philipinas Islands.

I charge and command my viceroys of Nueva España, both present and future, to take especial care in the accomplishment and execution of all the foregoing; and to station in the port of Acapulco, besides the royal officials who are now there, a person of great integrity, trustworthiness, and competence, with a commission as alcalde-mayor, so that this decree may be suitably enforced in all respects; and no more money may be carried [in the ships] than the amount permitted, whether with or without license. In the said port the registers of all that is brought from the said Philipinas Islands shall be opened by the person to whom that duty is entrusted by my viceroy and by the officials of my royal exchequer at the said port of Acapulco. They shall also together inspect and check off the bales and chests, with the scrutiny and care necessary to ascertain what has come without registry and contrary to permission. The said registers are to be sent to Mexico, as usual, with the results of the investigations made in the said port of Acapulco, by a person of integrity or by one of my said officials. In Mexico everything shall be again checked off, and appraised; and the duties that belong to me shall be collected and proper measures shall be taken to ascertain and learn what has come registered, and whatever shall be found to have come without registry, and whatever is carried contrary to the said prohibition, shall be confiscated but no permission or opportunity shall be given for committing, in this procedure, or under pretext or occasion thus afforded, any injury or act of injustice against the owners of the said property. And I command that the same care be taken at the port of Acapulco in examining the royal silver and other articles which may be embarked and carried to the said Philipinas Islands. The royal officials of the said port shall take account of them, and shall inform my governor thereof and the royal officials of the said islands, sending them the registers, and giving them all necessary information. As the majority of the persons who go every year from Nueva España to the said islands do not remain there, but return immediately, investing what money they possess, I command my viceroy of Nueva España to give permission to no one to go to the Philipinas Islands, unless

such person shall give securities that he will become a citizen and resident there for more than eight years, or unless he shall go as a soldier, sent to the governor; and against those who violate this decree, and their bondsmen, he shall execute the necessary penalties without fail.

And as it is my will that all the aforesaid should be complied with, observed and executed inviolably, as also the decrees which were ordered to be despatched by the king my lord, which are herein before mentioned, concerning the said trade, in so far as they are not contrary to what is decreed and ordered, I command my viceroy of the said Nueva España and my governor and captain-general of the said Philipinas Islands, and my audiencias there, and my other judges and magistrates, and all private persons whomsoever each in so far as concerns him · - to observe and comply with, and cause to be observed and complied with this decree, with exactness, and to execute the said penalties without any exemption or remission. And in all cases of remissness or carelessness which these my ministers shall display in the fulfilment and execution of the said orders, I command that the penalties be executed against them, and the example which the affair demands shall be made; for this reason I command that, when the residencias of their offices shall be taken, they shall be made responsible for such matters. And that these commands may come to the notice of all, and none may pretend ignorance of them, I command that this my decree be publicly proclaimed. Issued at Valladolid, on the last of December of the year one thousand six hundred and four. I THE KING

Countersigned by PEDRO DE LEDESMA; signed by the Council.

49. DECREES ESTABLISHING WAY STATIONS FOR PHILIPPINE VESSELS1

A. DECREE ESTABLISHING A WAY STATION FOR THE PHILIPPINE VESSELS ON THE CALIFORNIA COAST

[San Lorenzo el Real, August 19, 1606. Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands, XIV, 182-188.]

The difficulties and risks of the long voyage of the galleons between the Philippines and New Spain made necessary a halt

1 Reprinted by permission of the publishers, The Arthur H. Clark Company of Cleveland, from The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898. Cleveland, 1903 to 1909.

ing place for them on the California coast. The exploits of Francis Drake and of the English freebooter Thomas Cavendish, who captured and burned the Santa Ana, the Manila galleon, in 1588, called for protective measures. Viceroy Monterey had sent an expedition, in command of Sebastian Vizcaino, to explore the coast of California in 1597. Vizcaino returned to Acapulco in March, 1603, after having mapped the coast of California beyond Cape Mendocino. He had also discovered the bays of Todos Santos, San Diego, and Monterey. He was therefore well fitted to undertake the new expedition provided for in the following decree.

The King: To Don Pedro de Acuña, knight of the Order of St. John, my governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, and president of my royal Audiencia therein: You have already heard that Don Luis de Velasco, former viceroy of Nueva España — in view of the long navigation from the port of Acapulco to those islands, and the great hardship and danger of navigation in that voyage because of having no station wherein to repair the ships, and to supply them with water, wood, masts, and other requisite and necessary things determined to explore and mark out the ports of the coasts from the said Nueva España to those islands. He ordered that this effort should be made by a vessel called "San Agustin;" but, as that vessel was lost, the said exploration was not then effected. You know that afterward the Conde de Monterrei, who succeeded him in that government, finding the same inconveniences in the said navigation, and thinking it advantageous to remedy them by making anew the exploration that Don Luis de Velasco had attempted, wrote me in regard to it. He said that, in his opinion, it could be made by small. vessels sailing from the port of Acapulco; and that the reconnoitering of the coasts and ports of the bay of the Californias might be included in it, as well as the fisheries. In reply I ordered, on the twentyseventh of September of five hundred and ninety-nine, that letters be

1 Consult Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands, XV, XVI, for transla. tion of Morga's Sucesos, giving an account of these affairs; also H. H. Bancroft, History of the North Mexican States, I, 147-163, for accounts of the expeditions of Vizcaino.

written to him in my name that I considered the demarcation and exploration of that coast and its ports very desirable, and that he should accordingly set about it immediately; but advising him not to undertake the exploration of the Californias except in passing. In pursuance thereof, I appointed Sebastian Vizcayno for that purpose as he was a man experienced in maritime matters, and careful and skilled in those of that route, and as he was one with whom I was thoroughly satisfied. Having given him for the voyage two vessels, a lancha and a barcoluengo, with the sailors and soldiers, ammunition and provisions, necessary for a year, and a cosmographer, skilful and versed in geometrical tables, in order that he might very minutely and accurately place and set down what should be discovered on a map and chart. After having received his orders and instructions, he set sail on the fifth of May, in the year 602, from the port of Acapulco to make the above mentioned exploration; as I was advised by the said Conde de Monterrei and Sebastian Vizcaino. These afterward wrote me by several letters (the most recent of which were dated on the last of April, 604) that Sebastian Vizcaino spent eleven months in that voyage; and that he began, from the same port, to delineate and sound the coast, ports, bays, and indentations up to the thirty-seventh degree, with all the precision and exactness needful and required; and that from the thirty-seventh degree to the forty-second he accomplished nothing beyond sighting the land. He had been unable to take so particular care there as he had done up to the thirty-seventh degree, because many of the crew fell sick, and the weather there was very contrary. He said that that whole coast, as far as the fortieth degree, extends northwest and southeast; that the other two degrees remaining in the forty-two degrees extend practically north and south; and that from the mouth of the Californias up to the thirty-seventh degree, he found three very excellent ports on the mainland - namely, San Diego in thirty-three degrees, and the second, of less excellence, near it. That of San Diego is very large and capable of holding many vessels; and it has water and wood. The third is better and more suitable for the Chinese vessels, and as a station for the ships of the line from those islands. It is called Monterrei, and lies in thirty-seven degrees. It has water and wood, better and in greater quantity than the other port. It is excellently sheltered from all winds, and abounds in pines along the coast, of whatever size one may wish, for use as

masts. That port is very suitable so that the vessels on returning from those Filipinas Islands may go there without there being any necessity of going to Japon by reason of storms, as vessels have done several times, losing thereby a very great amount of property. The vessels from China generally run along in sight of this place, for which purpose it is also very suitable. For, if that port be known, then vessels will not port until reaching it, when necessity would otherwise compel them to go to Japon and to those islands, since the work and trouble necessary to reach those places would take them to the said port. Besides, they report that the country is of a mild climate and very fertile (as is seen by its numerous trees), and very thickly inhabited with people of very mild and docile disposition, and whose reduction to the holy gospel and to my royal crown will be very easy. It maintains itself, and the food is of many different kinds of grain and of flesh of game, with which the country is exceedingly well supplied. The dress of the Indians of the coast is made of the skins of sea-wolves, which the Indians tan and dress very well. They have abundance of thread made from Castilian flax, hemp, and cotton. By these Indians and by many others whom the said Sebastian Vizcaino discovered along the coast in the more than eight hundred leguas of his voyage, he was everywhere informed that there were great settlements inland, and silver and gold. This is considered to be true, because veins of metals were discovered in some parts of the mountains of the mainland. If the seasons of the summer were known, one could enter the interior through this place and locate those metals, for it promises great wealth. Also the rest of the coast might be explored from that port, for it extends past the forty-second degree where the said Sebastian Vizcayno went, and which was named as his limit in his instructions. The coast extends even to Japon and the Chinese coast. He said that he could not enter the mouth of the [gulf of the] Californias, on his return and while passing, as I had sent him orders, because many of his crew had fallen ill and were dying rapidly, and because his provisions had suddenly become bad, which obliged him to hasten his return. After examination of this in my royal Council of the Indias, together with the surveys and relations that were sent with the description of each port, singly, of those discovered by the said Sebastian Vizcaino, and after having listened to the cosmographer Andres Garcia de Cespedes, they advised me; and after considering