year, sought shelter because of bad
weather, and went to anchor at Macan, for there was no other place
wherein to take shelter. Although the ship bore the [new] governor
of the island of Hermosa, namely, the sargento-mayor Alonso Garcia
Romero, with his wife and family, and the provincial of the Order of
St. Dominic, Fray Domingo Goncalez, together with other religious,
the Portuguese attempted their accustomed discourtesy, endeavoring
to give it color by the pretext that the ship had put in there in
order to invest a quantity of money that they were carrying. And
although [the said Romero] maintained his men at a great expense,
only awaiting suitable weather to carry aid to the island of Hermosa,
the Portuguese maliciously detained your Majesty's ship, and did not
allow it to depart until the first of April, when the said governor
determined to leave the port at all hazards. He put his determination
into effect with the secret permission of the captain-general [of
Macan], who, as was right, assisted him; but the Portuguese render
so little obedience toward him that they fired twenty-three pieces
charged with balls, and it was only by good fortune that the vessel
was not sunk. That is the usual practice of the Portuguese toward all
the vessels that arrive there from these islands. That is the reason
why the governors of Philipinas refuse to send any ships there for
supplies, except in a case of extreme necessity. Will your Majesty be
pleased to order the inhabitants of Macan to give a different welcome
to the vassals of your Majesty who belong to the crown of Castilla.

I have until the present refrained from writing about the island
of Hermosa; but now, after a year of residence here, I am obliged
to do so. [_Word illegible in MS._] that it was settled, and some
forts have been built. They are occupied by three companies of
infantry, and together with the Pampango soldiers and the other men
of service they number more than four hundred, counting the rations
which are given them. During the year two pataches ply back and
forth in August and April with the reenforcements, and carry what is
necessary for the said presidio. The climate is mild, as the island
lies in twenty-five degrees of latitude. The soil is fertile, but the
natives so intractable that they do not allow us to avail ourselves of
the fruits of it; and as yet the religious have not reduced a single
reasonable person to holy baptism. They are so treacherous