our hardships and well knew the state of things here, making himself so useful in Your Majesty's service that we had availed ourselves of his devotion and advice), to go and see the said Tapia, and to examine the warrants of Your Majesty; and, since he knew better than anyone else what was profitable to your royal service in these parts, to come to some agreement with the said Tapia as to what was most advantageous, for I conceived that he would not exceed them in any way. I besought him thus in the presence of Your Majesty's treasurer, who also charged him in the same sense. He departed for the city of Vera Cruz where the said Tapia was staying; and to insure that, in the city or wherever the Inspector might come, he would be well served and accommodated, I sent two or three notable persons with the said Father. After they left, I awaited his answer.
Meanwhile I was preparing for my departure, giving orders about some things necessary to Your Majesty's service, and for the pacification and quieting of these parts. Some ten or twelve days afterwards the justice and Municipal Council of Vera Cruz wrote to me that the said Tapia had presented the provisions he brought from Your Majesty and your governors in your royal name, and that they had been received with all due reverence, but as for executing them, they had answered that as most of the Municipal Council were here with me, aiding in the siege of the city, they would report to them, and all would do and comply with what was most profitable to Your Majesty's service and the good of the country. The said Tapia was somewhat displeased by this reply, and had even attempted something scandalous. As this grieved me somewhat, I replied, praying and charging
disuse elsewhere, was continued in Spain owing to the long centuries of warfare against the Moors and the later conflicts with the Barbary pirates. It became therefore a peculiarly Spanish institution, and was extended to all countries under Spanish rule.
