Note 50 — Chapter X
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The first misfortune which was felt was the return to port of the galleon “Santa Rosa,” in command of General Tomás de Endaya; it is these losses which are most deeply felt, since all are interested in the prosperous voyages of the galleons; and it is one of the greatest troubles of these islands, if not the worst, that all are dependent on two bits of wood,50 and those entrusted to the fickleness of the sea—the one that goes [to Acapulco], and the other that is expected. The sad news of its return came late in December, about Christmas, and caused general sorrow. The year 1682 began with the melancholy feeling which was inspired by seeing that we were deprived for that year of having a galleon from Nueva España, which is the artery that communicates the blood and the life for the preservation of these isolated islands—that is, the silver which, like a lodestone, attracts the most remote nations to the commerce and trade; and by the lack of the silver [which comes] with the galleon commercial transactions are greatly retarded.