Note 7 — The Dominican Mission of 1606

(Most Powerful Sire: I, Fray Gabriel de San Antonio7, vicar of the religious who by order of [110] your Highness are to go this year to the Philippinas, declare that father Fray Diego Aduarte, who conducted the religious who last went to the said islands, found, in spite of the liberal grant made by your Majesty to him, some difficulties which greatly hindered his voyage, as appears from his report herewith enclosed. Of all these difficulties the gravest are three. The first is, that the officials of the House of Trade at Sevilla are unwilling to pay to the commissioner or vicar who conducts the religious the money which your Highness commands to be given for their voyage, unless he first gives good and sufficient bonds that he will return the money in case the religious do not embark; the second is, that the convent of San Pablo at Sevilla and that of Santo Domingo at Sanlucar, where the religious are entertained, demand from them three reals a day, although your Highness grants only a real and a half; the third is, that the registry clerks are unwilling to record the grants to the religious unless they receive three reals for each person. As a result, since that which your Highness grants for the voyage is but little, they put so much difficulty in the way that the religious are unable to go on, and the commissary or vicar who conducts them is prevented, to that extent, from fulfilling his obligations and the service of your Highness.