What occurs at Valladolid in despatching this business. The first of the difficulties is in the first steps taken to bring the journey before the Council at the court. These steps are many; and anyone who goes thither without money—and those who come from the Philippinas to treat for this matter generally have no money—will find it necessary to take a great many more steps, since the officials regard that time as lost which they spend upon despatching the business of a man who offers them no advantages. Accordingly, it is not possible to obtain documents from them except by dint of importunate prayers, and these necessarily require much going about; this in the streets of Valladolid in winter is a very arduous task, especially for religious, who cannot leave their convent whenever they please. Still, to avoid this going from place to place is impossible if the business is to be carried on. After obtaining an order from the Council of the Indias, which one cannot generally get at the first request, it is necessary to obtain a second order from the Council of the Exchequer with regard to the allowance for the journey, and both of these must be recorded by the accountants of both councils. Although this may be necessary to give further security to the decrees of his Majesty and to relieve them from any suspicion of forgery, still, as those which are given to religious persons, and for so pious a purpose as this, are free from such suspicion, they may well be privileged in some respects and need not be obliged to pass through so many registries. On account of the great number of matters which are attended to in Valladolid, documents cannot pass through all the registries without taking much time. Accordingly, much trouble is necessarily caused in the hospices [i.e., guest-houses] of the convents where they lodge, and the commissioner who takes charge of this business is also obliged to suffer even more inconvenience—finding that for business so much to the advantage of our lord the king, and requiring so great labor and responsibility on his own part, and in which there is not a trace of profit to himself, it should be necessary to make such exertions at the very beginning. I confess, for my part, that I would have given up at this first station on the route if I had not supposed that all the hindrances to this voyage that I could encounter in the direction of his Majesty would have ended at this point; but later it will be seen how completely deceived I was in this notion. However, it is as well that all those who concern themselves with this business should be so deceived at the beginning, for if they were not they would give up this work, pious as it is.

The smallness of the allowance for conducting the religious to Sevilla. Further, the amount which your Majesty commands to be granted in Valladolid for conveying the religious from their convents to Sevilla, is insufficient by far for the expense thus incurred. I conducted the religious who accompanied me to Sevilla in the greatest poverty, for many of them went on foot, and he who was best equipped rode an ass. Yet I arrived in Sevilla burdened by a debt of more than two hundred ducados, merely from the expenditure which I was obliged to make on their account.

In Sevilla. In Sevilla, which is the second stopping-place, another troop of difficulties are encountered. In general, it is customary at the House of Trade to make some additions to the decrees of his Majesty; in order that these be accepted a great number of requirements must be fulfilled, the lack of any one of which is sufficient to invalidate the documents. Usually some one of these is lacking, from which it is easy to understand the embarrassment in which he must be who has charge of this matter, when he finds himself and his companions already in Sevilla without sufficient means for their support. This happened to me, and I am certain that I was not the first, and that he who follows me will not be the last, thus situated. I found myself in such embarrassment as the result of this that I was almost on the point of abandoning the enterprise at that time.

The small allowance for provisions on the voyage. Moreover, the amount granted in Sevilla for the entire support of the religious is far from sufficient for this purpose. If the amount commanded to be granted to them is divided into vestments, bedding, carriage of books, and freight-charges from Sevilla to Sanlucar, the amount allowed for the ship supplies for each person comes to only twenty-two ducados, which is all that they actually had. It is easy to see that it is impossible to obtain with this, or even approach, all that is necessary. It is certainly true that for bread and wine alone, I spent almost all of what the king granted me for supplies on the voyage; and that I had to encroach upon what was granted me for vestments and what clothes the friars themselves used for apparel. In addition, I was unable to pay all that we owed in Sevilla to the convent for the days during which we had remained there; accordingly, when I left it I was out of favor with the prior and the other brethren of the convent and yet I reduced to a very limited amount the supplies for the voyage. This is the statement of facts in verbo sacerdotis; for it may be evident in what straits we were, to anyone who has received as allowance for this purpose no more than that which the king gives, as ordinarily those who come from the Philippinas have only that amount.

The requirement that the Council shall approve the religious who are to go is severe and useless. After all this, the requirement of making the voyage under the very severe rule that the Council shall approve the friars who are to go to the Indias brings the whole undertaking within obvious risk of failure. If the list of names of the religious who are going must be certain and accurate, it cannot be sent to the Council before they are all assembled in Sevilla; for up to that point it is very uncertain who are to go. Even then it still remains uncertain, for many come back from Sevilla. The ordinary state of affairs is that all are gathered there a few days only before the departure of the fleet, for, if they go much sooner, there is no means for their support; for his Majesty gives commands to provide a real and a half daily for every religious, while the contribution demanded from the convent is three reals a day for each one. Now, if the list of names of the religious cannot be sent to Valladolid earlier, even if it should be approved there at the very moment—and usually business there is despatched quite otherwise—it is necessary that the approval shall come back from Valladolid immediately, or else the fleet will have departed, or be on the point of going. In the meantime the religious are in suspense, without knowing whether they are to make the voyage or no; for in the House of Trade at Sevilla they either refuse to give them the grant necessary for their support until the approval of the Council arrives, or, if they grant it in advance, they require a bond which the poor commissary does not know where to find—and which even if he could find it would be unwise for him to give, since he has no means by which to satisfy it in case the Council decree some other thing than what he expects. If, on the other hand, the House of Trade allows the grant after the appropriation arrives, the time is so short that it is impossible to provide the supplies for the voyage, except very poorly and in great haste, and at a very high price, since one must purchase without time for examination. Besides this, the religious are greatly hurt to find themselves subjected to an examination at the hands of the Council with regard to their life, their habits, and their family, just as if to permit them to go to the Indias were as much as to appoint them to bishoprics; this has greatly cooled their ardor. If the commissary who conducts them is not a man of great prudence, so that he can gild and smooth over this annoyance, it is certain that not one of them will go farther. Much more is it true that, if the rule should become known in the provinces of Castilla and Aragon, whence the religious for these missions usually go, no one would enter them; for if a man is required to leave his own country and his relatives and friends, and exile himself to the end of the world, at the risk of being excluded from the missions by the Council of the Indias, that would be the same as to put on him an eternal sanbenito[4] in his order. Indeed, who would voluntarily subject himself to an interrogation of this sort? May it please God that, even if the bridge be made of silver, they shall be willing to go, all the more for so long and hard a voyage as that to the Philippinas, which in itself involves so many difficulties that only the arm of God can overcome them. It would be well to entrust to the commissary who conveys them this examination into their life and habits, for, if he is a conscientious man, he knows well that he lays a burden upon his conscience if he conducts ministers who will not unburden the conscience of the king; and, if he is not conscientious, these ordinances are ineffective, for, as they are so rigorous, he will evade them with very little trouble and at no expense to himself, for the whole matter must rest upon the honesty with which he is willing to act.

Registry fees in Sanlucar. In Sanlucar is the third stopping-place. Here, however well a man may have managed his business in getting out of Sevilla, there are never lacking hindrances; for whenever religious are registered there for passage they always meet with some obstacle, if it be nothing more than being asked for fees. These fees are demanded by the clerk of the registry and by the inspector of the ships, who is usually an official of the House of Trade at Sevilla. This demand for a fee for every religious who goes through is a very base thing. As for me, I was asked for three reals apiece by the clerk. As I thought that the act was an injustice, I went to the accountant and reported the case to him; it seemed even worse to him, and he told me that he would correct it. He did so by telling me on the following day that I should give the clerk what he asked for, and a real and a half more for every one; and that, if I did not do so he would not permit me to go aboard. This is the truth, in verbo sacerdotis. It seems to me that since the king does not require us to pay fees for our books and clothes, still less ought we to be asked to pay fees for our persons. I sent a complaint to the duke of Medina, who was greatly offended, and condemned the act, so finally they gave me my despatch for almost nothing.

Fees on the Northern Sea. At sea there is another registry at the time of the inspection of the ships, which generally takes place in mid-ocean at some time when the wind is fair, at the pleasure of the commander of the fleet. In truth, it seems as if it were invented solely for the gain which the officials obtain from it. They exact twelve reals from every passenger; and since the poor are usually by that time drained so dry that most of them go on board without a single real—having spent everything on expenses in port, the king’s fees, and the ingenious exactions of the custom-house officers and excise-men—they suffer more from this than from everything else that they have previously spent. In my case they did me the honor to excuse me from the fees for the religious, but refused to do so for the servants whom we brought with us. Finally, however, we brought them to the point of agreeing to this because it was plain that we all had come by the order of his Majesty. This affair was the cause of no small embarrassment and resentment for all.

From San Joan de Lua to Mexico. In the port of San Joan de Lua[5] in Nueva España is the fourth station on the route. It is not the most comfortable one, although it ought to be so, since all arrive there much exhausted and worn out by the voyage. There one begins anew to deal with royal officials, to whom money must be given. Thus after we have passed the ocean the torments begin, which have no mercy upon those whom the ocean has many times spared. At that port it is very necessary to have something left over from one’s sea-stores, for the expenses are very great in this country. The vicar must not be niggardly in distributing them, if he has to transact any business; or he must arm himself with patience, which is very necessary. His Majesty commands that the religious be provided there with what they need from his royal treasury for the journey which they must make to México. They allow them only ten days for the journey, and provide food only for that period. The road is eighty leguas in length and is very rough, so that it takes a well-mounted horseman with a light load all of ten days to make it. How much more must it take for people going in company, and with a string of pack animals (as the religious ordinarily travel), who do not expect to go more than five or six leguas a day. Moreover, they are traveling in countries of varying climates; one of these being hot and the next cold, they often fall ill on the road, and some cannot travel farther. It is no small achievement for those in health to reach México in twenty days. That which is allowed them for ten days’ journey is not enough, as is very certain, in this country; how, then, will it suffice for twenty?

In México. In the City of México, which is the court of Nueva España, is the fifth stopping-place, where all of the difficulties which have been experienced at the court of our lord the king and in the city of Sevilla are renewed; because here one has to deal with royal officials in order to obtain money, and with the officials of his lordship the viceroy regarding the formalities necessary for the second embarcation. And both classes of officials make themselves so much the owners of the poor religious who has need of them that, when they again commence their demands here, he would, even if he had the patience of a Job, need all of it because of the many occasions which are here offered for his losing it. Although I arrived at México burdened with the expenses of the journey, and had no food and no place from which to get it, the royal officials are not obliged to pay a single maravedi until all the party have passed through their registers. This will be done when they please. They inquire from the religious where their homes are, and who are their parents—a very unpleasant thing. One requires great assistance from Heaven in order not to resent it bitterly. They put so little confidence in his word and oath that what they do not see with their own eyes it is not worth while to swear to them. It happened, on the day when they registered me, that I did not have with me three religious, who were lying sick in the city of Los Angeles, which is on the route hither. Although I told the royal officials of this and swore it in verbo sacerdotis, that did not avail to make them give me the subsistence which I was obliged to send to those sick men. After this, since the stay in Mexico is long, lasting for almost a half a year, they asked money whenever they paid the tri-yearly allowance, and for every warrant they charged ten pesos, which comes to eighty[6] pesos. The payment is made in silver, to exchange which for current money causes a great deal of loss. Thus all of these pilferings consume the little which is given to the religious. I pass over the fact that it is impossible to collect money due without taking many steps and hearing many rude answers and sometimes insulting language. At one time when I was making such claims, one of the Mexican accountants uttered to me, before respectable witnesses, an insult which cut me to the heart, because I felt it as a man; and if he had uttered those words to one of his slaves, it might have wounded him.

In Acapulco. At the port of Acapulco is the last stopping-place. I do not even know what happens there, for at the time of writing this report we have not arrived there; but I have sufficient evidence that it must be the most burdensome of all. It is about three months since I have had three religious there, being obliged to send them in advance that they might prepare there what is needed for the voyage. One of them with my power of attorney requested the royal officials there to grant them a house, as is usual and customary, that they might collect there the ship-stores which are on the way from Mexico, and might lodge the friars there when about to make the journey. They presented for this purpose your Majesty’s decree which I possess, and the officials replied that they would not grant them the house without a command from the viceroy. I sent this to them, and they made I know not what additions, and so have sent it back to me. During the two months and more that have been occupied with these demands and answers, the poor friars have slept on the ground, without having anyone to take them into his house—except that, being taken ill, they were received in the hospital. It is with all these hardships and difficulties that this voyage, so much to the service of God and of his Majesty, is taken, besides those experienced in the voyage itself, which are enough to make the beard of the bravest tremble. His Majesty requires, in spite of all this, that all of the religious who go from España to Philippinas must proceed thither, without permission being granted for any to remain in Nueva Spaña; but there is no means less suitable to gain that end than obliging them to pass through so many difficulties. They come out of them so much grieved and humiliated that their courage and good will in serving his Majesty has come to an end. To transport them by force most certainly is no profit to his royal service, much less to the service of God. It does no good to the cause of religion, as I said in the beginning. Besides this, if your Majesty is pleased that we religious shall pass through so many registries without having our word or oath believed in them, because of the fraud that might exist in the amounts allowed to us from his royal treasury—if we are not to be trusted in this matter, much less shall be so in regard to the relief of his conscience, for which he sends us to those regions. Hence it seems that sending us might be dispensed with; the more since his Majesty entrusts this matter to his royal officials to whose direction and command he subjects us religious. They, perhaps supposing that by showing themselves rigorous in a matter of such piety they are likely to be regarded as zealous for the protection of the royal treasury in all other matters, draw the string until it breaks. But it is evident that there are royal officials in the Indias who maintain princely houses, perhaps without having inherited means for this from their parents. With regard to them it is plainly known that they serve the king solely for their own advantage; yet his Majesty trusts more to them than to disinterested religious who ask for nothing but their food and lodging on the road. If this costs much, it is because the journey is so tedious. Although at this point it might be said that the accounts of the royal officials have to be audited in due time, and that therefore they are more to be trusted, I, who have seen much of the world and know what happens in it, know also what is the fact in this matter. It is, that he who goes out of office richest at the time of the residencia goes out the best justified; hence, for fear of that, he never fails to make his profit. I do not mean to say that there should be no order or system in regard to the grant allowed by his Majesty to the religious for these missions; but I mean that his Majesty should command his officials to believe them at least on their oath, and that when they are obliged to give their oath they should not be annoyed as they have been hitherto.