ers with immense labor, hardship,
and cost to the Indians. The masts of one galleon cost the Indians, as
is affirmed by the religious of St. Francis, and as I heard declared
by the alcalde-mayor of the province where they were cut--namely, La
Laguna de Bay--the labor of six thousand Indians for three months to
drag them over very rough mountains. They were paid by the villages
at the rate of forty reals per month apiece, but were given nothing
to eat, and therefore, the wretched Indian had to look for food. I
shall not relate the cruel and inhuman treatment of the agents, and
the many Indians who died in the forest. Had those galleons been of
moderate size, and twice as many, they would not have cost one-half as
much. Neither shall I tell your Majesty of the Indians who were hanged,
those who deserted their wives and children and fled exhausted to the
mountains, and those sold as slaves to pay the taxes imposed on them;
the scandal to the gospel, and the so irreparable wrongs caused by that
shipbuilding; and with how great inhumanity they passed sentence on and
executed on the poor Indian not only what was necessary, but also what
the lawless greed of agents took from him. In short, the hardships,
injuries, and harm inflicted upon the Indians were vast, and there
was no remedy for it. And hence those ships had so disastrous an end;
for all were wrecked in a storm, and all those in them were drowned
forty leguas from the city--divine permission, which is so offended
at injuries done to the poor, exacting those lives in order to make
reparation for such wrongs. Now more than one million [pesos] is due
to the Indians and there is no hope of recompense. From that may be
inferred how great should be the trustworthiness and Christian spirit
of those persons who are to govern the Filipinas, since they have no
one to restrain them for the injuries that they commit. Besides the
said wrongs, those that I shall now relate were no less.

When he discussed building those ships, three years before that fleet
should be taken out, he ordered all the soldiers of the islands to
be collected, and the forts and important posts to be abandoned,
especially a fort in the city of Cibu. He took all the artillery
and carried it to Manila, which was the cause of the Mindanaos
destroying those islands when they learned that, without any one
opposing them. He also ordered that no one leave the city without his
permission, under serve penalties. On