A Spanish-Mexican Galleon
The Gov.-General, the clergy, the civil functionaries, troops, prisoners, and occasionally private persons, took passage in these ships to and from the Philippines. It was practically the Spanish Mail.
A Canoe
The Colony had no coin of its own.[1] It was simply a dependency of Mexico; and all that it brought in tribute and taxes to its Royal Treasury belonged to the Crown, and was at the Kingʼs disposal. For many years these payments were made wholly—and afterwards partially—in kind, and were kept in the Royal Stores. As the junks from China arrived each spring, this colonial produce belonging to the Crown was bartered for Chinese wares and manufactures. These goods, packed in precisely 1,500 bales, each of exactly the same size, constituted the official cargo, and were remitted to Mexico by the annual galleon. The surplus space in the ship was at the disposal of a few chosen merchants who formed the “Consulado,”—a trading ring which required each member to have resided in the Colony a stipulated number of years, and to be possessed of at least eight thousand pesos.
A Casco (Sailing-barge)
For the support of the Philippine administration Mexico remitted back to Manila, on the return of the galleon, a certain percentage of the realized value of the above-mentioned official cargo, but seeing that in any case—whether the Philippine Treasury were flourishing or not—a certain sum was absolutely necessary for the maintenance of the Colony, this remittance, known as the “Real Situado,” or royal subsidy, was, from time to time, fixed.[2]
A Prahu (Sailing-canoe)