[4] This law and all those treating of the prohibition of commerce between Perú and Méjico, Tierra-Firme, etc., were completely superseded by a royal decree dated El Pardo, January 20, 1774. That decree was ordered to be kept and observed by the superior government of Lima, August 1, of the same year; and separate copies were ordered to be drawn, so that all might know that his Majesty had repealed and revoked the general prohibition of reciprocal commerce by the South Sea between the four kingdoms of Perú, Nueva España, Nueva Reíno de Granada, and Guatemala.” We transfer this note from law ix, of this título of the Recopilación, an editorial note to law lxviii referring to law ix.
[5] Such a citation as this shows the hand of the editors or compilers of the Recopilación. Law lxvii bears as its earlier date March 3, 1617, and refers to the sending of contraband Chinese goods to the House of Trade of the Indias in Sevilla.
[6] The governors of the Filipinas grant permission to those who go to those islands under condemnation of crime to return. Inasmuch as on that account many convicts hide away from the judges who exiled them, we order the governors, under no circumstances, to permit them to return to Nueva España or to go to Perú during the period of their exile. And should they be condemned to the galleys or to other services, they shall fulfil the condemnation,—[Felipe III—Aranjuez, April 29, 1605. Felipe IV—Madrid, January 27, 1631. In Recopilación de leyes, lib. vii, tit. viii, ley xxi.]
[7] The Recopilación is not clear as to the date of this law and the one immediately following. Law lix bears both dates (as also does law lx), and is designated as clause 11. Laws lxix and lxx bear no date (probably through error of the compiler or printer), but are designated as clauses 16 and 17, and clause 18, of a decree by Felipe III. Hence the above dates with queries have been assigned to these laws.
[8] Luis Geronimo de Cabrera, fourth Conde de Chinchon, became viceroy of Peru in 1628, holding that office until 1639. During his term there was made known the efficacy of a medicine—previously in use among the Indians—the so-called “Jesuit’s bark,” or “Peruvian bark,” obtained from a tree found only in Peru and adjoining countries, named Chinchona by Linnæus, in honor of the viceroy’s wife (who, having been cured by this medicine, introduced its use into Spain). From this bark is obtained the drug known at quinine.
[9] Whenever any ships sail from the port of Acapulco and other ports of Nueva España to make the voyage to Perú on the opportunities permitted, it is our will and we order our officials of those ports to visit and inspect those ships with complete faithfulness and the advisable rigor. They shall endeavor to ascertain whether such ships are carrying any Chinese silks or merchandise, or any from the Filipinas Islands. They shall seize such, and declare those found as smuggled goods. They shall divide them, and apply them as is contained in the laws of this titulo. [Felipe IV—Madrid, April 9, 1641. In Recopilación de leyes, lib. viii, tit. xvii, ley xv.]
[10] See note to law lxviii, p. 33.
[11] See Vol. XIV, note 12, p. 99.