d; and if, as is desirable,
your Majesty send it, that will tell you better. Don Alvaro de Lugo
y Messa is an upright judge, and zealous in the service of your
Majesty. Geronimo de Legaspi does what his two sons wish, whom, on
account of their reckless lives, the governors cannot employ, and
thus are unable to satisfy their father, who is not contented except
with favors. Don Juan de Valderrama does as his wife says; and Don
Matias Flores, although a young man, is less harmful; when he is so,
it is owing to his passions or affections. He makes all the profit
he can from the office, and on the whole is not acceptable to the
community, which is always disturbed by him. I consider his office
incompatible with that of protector; but, although your Majesty had
issued a decree directing that this should not be, they annulled it. I
do not wish to annoy your Majesty any further, for there are persons
who will write this from a sense of duty; and I refer, for information
regarding my earnest desires for the service of your Majesty, to what
all classes of people will write. Since coming to serve you in these
islands I have undergone so many expenses that I am poor and in debt as
president. I beg your Majesty to remember me by giving me the favor of
the presidency of Panama, or the future succession to it [_MS. holed_]
realm or governorship of Guatemala, whichever may first be vacant; for
I have not property enough remaining to go and claim it in your court.

I likewise requested your Majesty last year not to allow my wife, since
she is such, and cannot remain here as a private citizen, to lose the
encomiendas which she inherited from her father and grandfather, who
served so long in these islands; and that you would command a decree
to be despatched so that she might enjoy them wherever you might choose
that she and her daughter should live, as the latter is the last heir;
and this I beg, for the reasons which I have mentioned to your Majesty.

At the proper time, I despatched to Sian a private ship, in order
to avoid the cost of carrying the troops, goods, and supplies which
remain there by the death of Don Fernando de Silva. [21] Everything
went well. I also sent a father of the Society, a man of great
experience, to get under way the collection from all that comes
from Yndia and other parts. Don Juan Nino will inform your Majesty
of it. May our Lord protect your royal person according to the needs
of Christendom. Manila, July