The galleon Santo Christo de Burgos, in her voyage to Acapulco, was stranded on the island of Ticao; upon which occasion, on the frivolous pretext of being prevented, by the offensive smell of the cargo, from opening the hatches, with a view to save the property, the ship was set fire to with the intention, there was reason to think, on the part of her commander and merchants, of attempting to embezzle, for their own use, some of the merchandize during the conflagration; but finding this impracticable, the ship and her valuable cargo were totally abandoned to the flames. This stratagem has been frequently resorted to by the merchants of the Philippines, and it will often be successful, so long as it remains undecided how the loss ought to be borne in cases of that nature. The pious establishments are the assurers, according to the terms of the instruments or deeds, made between them and the respective adventurers, who borrow money of them for the purpose of embarking in this trade; but these instruments, expressing the lender's risk to be total loss only, the borrowers, to prevent any thing from being saved, so as to leave room for litigation, as to whether the loss was total or partial, set fire to the vessel, to place it beyond all dispute. In such cases the loss of the ship, I conceive, should be borne generally; whatever is saved should be divided among the parties, according to the property they had on board, and which might easily be ascertained, by examining the manifest with the original deeds [2]. CHAPTER IX. ANNO DOM. 1729. The Administration of Don Fernando Valdes y Tamon. Don Fernando Valdes y Tamon took possession of his government on the 14th of August, 1729. He found Manila totally destitute of military stores; the losses sustained by ships, the reinforcing the different garrisons, and the armaments against the Moors, having occasioned a great diminution in the stores of cannon and small arms, both of which it became necessary to purchase from foreigners, as the foundery at Manila was not capable of supplying the deficiency. He made arrangements accordingly for procuring the necessary supply from the Peninsula of Asia, and from Batavia, taking care that the arms should be always kept in good order, a task, however necessary, yet extremely difficult in so humid an atmosphere. Indeed he in all respects proved himself an expert military man, by the several fortifications he constructed, the walls with which he surrounded the city, the out-works he formed for its better security, and the new establishment he erected for the manufacture of gunpowder.