Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 11).djvu/111

ments, aid is sent every year from Yndia by a galleon; and a quantity of cloth is brought from the royal customs treasury at Goa. With this the said citizens are all given their "quarters," as they call them.^[1] This cloth is disposed of among the natives, who trade provisions for it.

It is a law of Yndia and of Maluco that no person can lade or take away cloves from those islands in any manner, unless it be for your Majesty, under penalty of loss of the ship and rigging; from which the profit resulting to the royal exchequer amounts to a third of what is laded, so great is the freight charge. Certain Portuguese came to these islands in their own ships. They take away a quantity of cloves and sell it to merchants, who in turn sell it to Chinese and other persons, who secretly ship it to Nueva España—whence it is taken to the provinces of Peru, the new realm of Granada, Tierra Firme, Guatimala, and other regions. From this there result three losses to the royal exchequer. In the first place, since the cloves are carried from the Malucas by the hand of a third party, your Majesty loses the third due on embarcation. In the second place, it is laded here for Nueva España secretly, and without paying the duties or freight charges. In the third place, when it has arrived at Nueva España, Peru, and other regions, that which is brought from the realms of Castilla loses its value.

All this expense which your Majesty suffers in providing for that fortress, and these losses, could be remedied as follows. Your Majesty has in the island of Panay, one of these Filipinas, which bor-