Until the new ships shall be built, the viceroy has supplied the line
with ships in place of those which were lost. He commanded one to
be bought from the mariscal Gabriel de Ribera. That and the "Santa
Potenciana" were conveyed [to the islands] by Don Pedro de Acuña;
also two ships from Piru were in his convoy, moderately laden with
freight. Grace was granted, in the name of his Majesty, for some
permissions for carrying money and a quantity of freight. This was
given as to private persons, but not that the ships should be navigated
on their account or under their administration, or that they should
exercise any more authority than that of a passenger. This did not
deprive the city of Manila of any of the six hundred toneladas which
could be shipped, but merely utilized the surplus space of the ship,
thereby doing no damage to the citizens of Manila.


Twelfth Point

_That the ships of the Filipinas line may be assigned by contract._

The viceroy made the experiment in the year 99, of giving two ships
in trust to Don Fernando de Castro and Alonso de Torres, with the
privilege of appointing officers, a salary of one thousand pesos, and
permission to place in the cargo twenty or twenty-five toneladas of
their own goods; they were obliged to give bonds, and to keep correct
accounts of the profits and expenses. If the profits should exceed
the expenses, the excess should belong to his Majesty; if the costs
should amount to more than the profits, the trustee must supply the
deficit from his own purse.