gold is so valued in this country. It may be illustrated in this way. Should a Spaniard buy food or anything else from a native, the Moro immediately takes out the touchstone which he carries with him; and, even if the value be not over two reals, he takes great pains to see if the gold be conformable to the aforesaid standard. Although it may be stamped and assayed, the Indian will trust to no reckoning but his own. Neither is there any rule by which to pay, beyond the weight and value of the gold; this applies likewise to the orejeras or panica, for all the gold which is used in trade is mixed with other substances, to make the other grades of base gold. Although I have intended and tried to remedy this, it is impossible, as the majority of them are silversmiths for this very purpose; and if any restrictions were made, they would think that they were about to be ruined. It has seemed to me that the country is very new for establishing any other currency than gold, which here is like the king's fifth of silver in Nueva España. I have written to this effect to the viceroy, a copy of which letter accompanies this, and a report concerning this matter; also an account of the gold paid to the royal treasury, and the trade effected by all the Spaniards. The Chinese will not take the panica at more than four pesos of texuela to the tae[l] which, they say, is of that value in their country and they lose one llealla by so doing. This is the weight called tae, and comes from China. It weighs more than one onza, two adármes; so that three taes and thirteen maes are worth two Castilian marcos, or one livra.[1] When I came here the viceroy of Mexico
- ↑ There is some mistake in this calculation; for the Chinese tael is equivalent to 1.1334 ounces, and the Spanish onza to 1.0161
