and sets free all Indian slaves in the islands. On May 12 of that
year are signed articles of contract for the conquest of Mindanao,
a task which is undertaken by Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa (the same
officer formerly sent thither by Sande). He is to establish at least
one settlement there; and encomiendas are to be allotted, the most
important being reserved for the crown, and one-third of the remainder
for the conqueror. Certain documents dated between April 9 and May 20,
1591, relate to a municipal ordinance (March 30) forbidding the Indians
to wear silks or other stuffs from China. Dasmariñas institutes an
inquiry (April 9) into the results of this on the natives, and the
possibility that the decree should be suspended in some cases. Ten
witnesses, converted Indian chiefs, testify that the importation of
Chinese goods has ruined the native industries, and demoralized the
people; and that the ordinance should be enforced.

A document unsigned, but prepared by order of the governor (dated
May 31, 1591), gives "a detailed account of the encomiendas in the
Philippinas Islands," royal and private, pacified and hostile, with
and without instruction; the names of the encomenderos, and the number
of the tributarios, religious ministers, and magistrates in each. At
the beginning is given a description of the city of Manila, with
the churches, public buildings, governmental and municipal offices,
Parián, etc. There are some three thousand Chinese in the islands,
two-thirds of whom live in the Parián, where they have two hundred
shops. There are so many friars in Manila that some of them might
well be sent to districts where ministers are lacking. At the end of
the document is a brief summary of the above statistics. The writer
concludes that the number of religious teachers ought to be at least
doubled, and "even more, for when they arrive here, one-fourth of
these will have died"--pathetic commentary on the hardships of a