Part of a letter to the viceroy. Guido de Lavezaris; [1575?] Letter to Felipe II. Juan Pacheco Maldonado; [1575?] Encomiendas forbidden to royal officials. Francisco de Sande, and others; May 26, 1576 Letter to Felipe II. Francisco de Sande; June 2, 1576
_Sources_: These documents are obtained from MSS. in the Archivo general de Indias at Sevilla.
_Translations_: The first document is translated by Alfonso de Salvio; the second and third, by Arthur B. Myrick; the fourth, by José M. Asensio.
Part of a Letter to the Viceroy by Guido de Lavecaris
I am very glad that your Excellency adjusted matters by ordering the return of the negroes and Indians who had been carried from this land; for all of us were very anxious as to the number that we were to send hereafter in the ships which should leave these regions. May our Lord prosper your Excellency's life so that it may be of service to our Lord and to his Majesty, as it has been thus far.
In this voyage our men seized two Chinese junks laden with merchandise, plundered all the goods, and brought here one of the laden junks and four Chinese. Afterward these Chinese, together with the others, who had remained in those islands where they had been seized, were sent back, so that they might return to their own country. I was exceedingly sorry that such an injury should be inflicted upon men who had neither offended us nor given us occasion to justify this action; and what grieves me most in this affair is the news which the Chinese will carry to their own country about us, and about the good deeds which were done to them, and which they saw done to others, for our credit in China.
As a result, most excellent Sir, the commerce between us and these Moros of Lucon has come to a standstill, on account of the ill-treatment that they have received at our hands. They carried back to their land all that they could, and in so doing they caused us no little injury; for we had a share in the commerce maintained with them, since the Moros brought and sold to us provisions. This suited us well, for already there was no other place where we could settle in this neighborhood except Lucon; but now I do not know what plan and arrangement can be made. May our Lord adjust matters as it pleases Him best, for certainly there is need of it.