a woman, they were driven out of the country,
and went back. From this it may be inferred that in that region,
which they said lay in forty-five degrees of ... From here having
ships there, rather ... of this. Father Antonio Sedeno, rector of
the Society of Jesus of this city, who died about two years ago,
said that it was told him many times by Pero Melendez in Florida. [46]

These two explorations will be very easy to make, at little expense,
from these islands rather than from Espana. For their entrances from
that side are difficult to find, and from this side one cannot go
astray, nor is there any obstacle. The first year after Gomez Perez
de las Marinas arrived in this country as governor, he conferred
with me about sending me to explore the strait of Danian. By reason
of the expedition which he intended to make to Maluco, he deferred
the other; and when he was so unfortunately killed it put an end to
the project. He, I believe, would have far advanced the affairs of
these parts if he had lived, and would have done good service for
your Majesty, judging by the valor and zeal which he showed; and his
absence, and the need for him, have brought this city to a sense of
what they owe him, and now they deplore his loss.

I have given this brief account to your Majesty, begging humbly
that you will pardon my boldness (which zeal for your royal service
and the good of these regions has caused) in advising your Majesty,
that you may see how glorious opportunities our Lord God has kept
for you to extend and widen out the holy Catholic faith. But it is
necessary that your Majesty should entrust this to a person of high
rank and great worth, and that he should not come for a limited time,
with the intention of gathering riches and the fruit of the land, and
then returning; for those who have this intention will not be watchful
for its welfare, nor zealous for the honor of God and for the service
of your Majesty. I have informed the governor of these islands, Don
Francisco Tello, of this, so that he may write to your Majesty and
make use of the opportunities which are offered him. I know not what
he will do. May our Lord God, for whom we labor, protect your Majesty
many years, according to the needs of Christendom, and augment your
estate with greater lands and majesty, for His glory and the good of
... may it prosper. Manila, June 27, 1597.

[_Endorsed_: "Examined on the thirteenth of September of 1599. As
to what he says