would have far advanced the affairs of these parts if he had lived, and would have done good service for your Majesty, judging by the valor and zeal which he showed; and his absence, and the need for him, have brought this city to a sense of what they owe him, and now they deplore his loss.
I have given this brief account to your Majesty, begging humbly that you will pardon my boldness (which zeal for your royal service and the good of these regions has caused) in advising your Majesty, that you may see how glorious opportunities our Lord God has kept for you to extend and widen out the holy Catholic faith. But it is necessary that your Majesty should entrust this to a person of high rank and great worth, and that he should not come for a limited time, with the intention of gathering riches and the fruit of the land, and then returning; for those who have this intention will not be watchful for its welfare, nor zealous for the honor of God and for the service of your Majesty. I have informed the governor of these islands, Don Francisco Tello, of this, so that he may write to your Majesty and make use of the opportunities which are offered him. I know not what he will do. May our Lord God, for whom we labor, protect your Majesty many years, according to the needs of Christendom, and augment your estate with greater lands and majesty, for His glory and the good of . . . may it prosper. Manila, June 27, 1597.
[Endorsed: "Examined on the thirteenth of September of 1599. As to what he says of the astrolabe, have a copy made and delivered to Cespedes, that he may examine it and give his opinion in regard to it. As for the rest, join everything in regard to this
