since because of the requirement that the capacity of the vessels shall
be so small, they cannot carry so great a number of people. The voyage
is so long that five to seven months are spent in it, and the seasons
are very severe. Many people die at sea; and it is necessary to carry
so many sailors and ship-boys that a great amount of provisions must
be taken for them and the other men. For this reason the late governor
of these islands kept down the number of permissions to go hence to
Nueva España to a very small number. He granted them so seldom that he
did not allow the tenth part of those who asked for them to go. Yet
in spite of all this, the commanders of the vessels were obliged,
on account of the great amount of space occupied by the necessary
ship stores, to send on shore, before leaving these islands, some
of the few passengers who had received official permission. In the
despatch of the ships this very year, our experience is of the same
sort. There had returned from the expedition to Maluco many captains,
ensigns, and soldiers detained on shipboard, whom it is necessary
to send back again to España. It was found very difficult to put
more than thirty soldiers on a ship of the capacity of four hundred
toneladas, although its cargo amounted to no more than three hundred
and fifty. As for this number of fifty soldiers voyaging [in one ship],
the regulation cannot be carried into effect. If it were to be done,
it could only be at the risk that most of the men on board the ship
should perish, while all would travel in great discomfort. Further,
at the time when the ships are sent out, it would be hard to find in
the city two hundred soldiers having the qualifications necessary for
them to be useful in any battle. It would be a serious evil for this
garrison to be left with so small a number of people. It is considered
as beyond doubt that those who go away from here will not return again
to this city; this will also cause others to abandon the idea of coming
here. Hence it seems that on this point it is not desirable to make