Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 01).djvu/136

and seventy leagues can be determined and calculated better, if the said astrologers, pilots, sailors, and others, come to a definite conclusion and agreement regarding the manner and order of procedure to be observed in the determination and marking of the said line, before the sailing of the said caravels, by so doing avoiding disputes and controversies that might arise regarding it among those going, if these had to be arranged after the departure; and inasmuch as it would be quite useless for the said caravels and persons to go before knowing that any island or mainland had been found in each one of the said parts of the said sea, and to which they must proceed immediately and orderly: Now therefore, in order that all this may be done to better advantage, and with the full and free consent of both sides, we agree and by this present letter consent that the said astrologers, pilots, sailors, and others determined upon with the said King, our brother—a like number on either side, and of sufficient number for this matter—must assemble and they shall assemble along any part of the frontier of these our Kingdoms and the Kingdom of Portugal. During the whole month of July first following the date of this letter these men shall consult upon, covenant concerning, and determine the manner of making the said divisional line of the said sea at the distance of the said three hundred and seventy leagues west of the said Cabo Verde islands, by means of a straight north and south line from the Arctic to the Antarctic Pole, as is set forth in the said treaty. And whatever they determine upon, unanimously, and whatever is concluded and marked out by them, shall be approved and confirmed through our letters-patent, by us and