This sum includes whatever pertains to the expedition of the Western Islands—for the crews and outfits of the royal ships that were built to send aid to the said islands; the tackle, food, and necessary armament for the said ships; the wages of the soldiers and mariners sailing therein, besides the wages of the sailors who have been serving in that capacity in the said Western Islands since before the years above mentioned, and those of other men; the furnishing of provisions to those who for the said time have been engaged in the work of preparing and despatching the said vessels; and the gunpowder, artillery, military supplies, and other necessary articles sent in the vessels to his Majesty's camp, established in the said islands in his royal name. All this is as set forth in detail in the said books of his Majesty's accountancy, to which I refer.
In certification of the above, and in order that by the same it may be manifest, I give the present—by command of the most excellent Don Martin Enrriquez, viceroy, governor, and captain-general for his Majesty in this Nueva España—in duplicate, in Mexico, on the second day of March in the year one thousand five hundred and seventy- three.
Melchior de Legazpi
[Endorsed: "Expenses incurred by the royal estate for the expedition to the Western Islands in the years dlxjx. lxx. lxxij."]
