Note 89 — Chapter IV · JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE AUDIENCIA; THE RESIDENCIA1

In pursuance of this authority, Magistrate Torralba was commissioned in 1710 to take the residencia of the officers of the galleon “Nuestra Señora del Rosario y San Vicente Ferrer”, which was wrecked in the Straits of San Bernardino on the voyage from Acapulco in 1709.89 As great diligence had been shown by them in landing the treasure and sending it overland, the matter was dropped. A similar investigation was conducted in 1743 in the case of the galleon “Cobadonga”, which was captured by the British. The charge was made that neither the “Cobadonga” nor her convoy, “El Pilar”, had offered any resistance, and that the latter had deserted the galleon and had taken refuge in flight.90 The officers were arrested and thrown into prison on charges brought by the fiscal, but they were cleared in the investigation which proved that the ships were not in a condition to fight.