ldiers
with the titles of infantry captains, in consideration of the fact that
they are those who have toiled in what is most necessary, and who have,
besides their pay, only their simple posts, as before. Some, under
warrant of this honor, have become married and settled as citizens;
that is a matter that ought to receive much attention. The sons of
influential men have been encouraged to enlist as soldiers, and have
begun to serve in the infantry, which was considerably in decline. I
have taken special precautions not to appoint my servants to these
posts, except in the case of my captain of the guard, as was done by
all the other governors. The judicial posts have been bestowed upon
the worthy and old settlers, but those who ask for them are very few,
for they do not care to go far from the city; and it is at times
necessary to beg them to accept those posts which are far away.

No ship has come from Yndia as yet, for they are late. That causes
us to doubt whether we may expect the return of three citizens [who
have gone] from this place, besides those who generally cross these
seas. I think that they are detained in Malaca, and that they have
not gone past that place, because they found the enemy on the sea. At
least, I am assured by letters from the king of Macasar that fourteen
urcas were on his coasts on the tenth of January of last year, where
they remained for forty days. They asked him for refreshment, but he
denied it to them. He said that the enemy had returned to the strait
with another ship (with which they had succored Malayo), and the
one that had fought. At that same time the king of Cochinchina wrote
me that twelve other urcas had left his shores, which on their way
from coasting along China, brought at least six which had been lost
in a storm; but that they were rich with the booty captured from the
Sangley prizes they had made. All those ships took their station in
the strait of Malaca, and consequently, I do not expect any from Yndia
this year. May our Lord preserve and prosper the royal person of your
Majesty, as we your vassals desire and need. Manila, August 10, 1634.

_Don Juan Cereso Salamanca_

[_In the margin_: "This letter is accompanied by the plans of the
old and the new city of Manila."]

_Ecclesiastical affairs_

Sire:

There is but little for me to mention in ecclesiastical matters;
for the orders are conducting themselves in an exemplary manner,
except that they often