he city and coasts
of Manila. It was asserted that the Japanese had forty thousand men in
various ships of the Dutch and Portuguese which they had embargoed,
and in a great number of their own vessels. I thought it uncertain
news, because of my knowledge of the nature of the Japanese; yet I
resolved to make use of it to further the fortification of this city
and its environs. I suggested to the Chinese that they perform some
service for his Majesty for the relief of that necessity, from their
communal fund. They gave four thousand pesos, with which, and by means
of other efforts, I built two cavaliers and a bit of covered way with
its ledge of stone, they being built of incorruptible wood, while other
enclosures and preparations were erected in Cavite. With them and with
the fortifications which, as I wrote, were constructed last year on
another similar occasion, this city remains well fortified. And I
trust, with God's help, that when I leave here there will be much
better fortifications, so that the city of Manila and the port of
Cavite may be safer with few soldiers than they were before with
many. On account of the same news, the fortification of the island of
Hermosa was also urged forward. The commandant, Don Juan de Alcaraso,
who has it in charge, writes me that he was in such condition that
he did not fear the Japanese, even though they should come with as
great a force as was reported. The Dutch will be able to cause greater
anxiety if they should return this year to the port of Tanchuy, as
they did last. I am preparing aid, not so much as our people there
ask and need, but in accord with the little aid which has come to me
from Nueva Espana.

It has been learned from a ship of Chinese which arrived here
afterward, and which sailed by stealth from the kingdom of Japon,
that the imprisoned Portuguese, the Dutch, and their stranded ships
were still detained there, and that there was no movement of the
fleet. [_In the margin_: "Give him thanks for what he has done, and
[tell him] that provision has been made in regard to the junk."]

_Aid for Terrenate_

I sent the usual aid for the forts of Terrenate in the middle of
November this year, as that season is the true monsoon. It was sent
in two ships which had just arrived from Nueva Espana, together with
a patache. All three vessels were equipped, and carried a sufficient
force, so that they would not have to enter Terrenate by stealth,
or fleeing from the e