Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 11).djvu/134

What you say about retiring two companies is commendable; nevertheless, if you think best in the future to increase one of them, do so, and make the necessary provisions. Keep me informed of the measures that you shall take.

I am writing to the viceroy of Nueva España, that I have assisted you with what is necessary, and shall ask him to see that the people whom he sends to those islands be useful and carry weapons. He shall take care to punish the captains for their excesses. You shall do the same in what concerns you.

In regard to the needs of the soldiers, which you attribute to their not having, and the impossibility of providing them with, encomiendas for a long time; and as it concerns the temporary employments which you give them instead of the servants, and even these employments are not sufficient for all—you shall observe the instructions, laws, and ordinances which you possess. You shall see that the distribution of what is available be made among worthy men who have served in that land.

As to the remedy which you propose in the marriage of elderly women, and encomenderas of the land, you shall introduce no innovation. But you shall enable marriages freely to take their proper course. At Denia, August 16, 1599.

By order of the king our sovereign:

The King: To my governor and captain-general of the Philippinas Islands, and the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia thereof. I have understood that the Chinese Indians who trade in that