Infinite praises must be given to our Lord, and I accordingly offer them to Him, for the great blessing that He has been pleased to grant me, inasmuch as, during the time that I by His mercy and will am king, He has chosen me as the instrument for the discovery of islands so remote and unknown; and because, after those peoples have lived for so many years in the blindness of their heathendom, the gospel has recently been published in them, the Catholic faith planted therein and received, and so many native Indians converted, who enjoy the teaching of the gospel. And thanks are due to God also for the natural expectation and hope that may and ought to exist that, by the same mercy of God, He must be pleased that the preaching of His gospel should be spread farther, and that all the other islands, of that vast archipelago, which extends through more than nine hundred leguas of latitude, and more than five hundred of longitude--exclusive of the great surrounding kingdoms of the mainland, round about those islands, namely China, Cochina, Cochinchina, Chanpa, Canboja, Sian, Patan, Joor, and others--by receiving Him and the faith, may come into the true knowledge of the faith. Therefore, notwithstanding that all my will and desire is that, by the aid of the good spiritual and temporal government in what is explored of the said islands, and the care that must be had in the reduction of the rest, the end be attained to which the grace that God has shown me and is now showing me, constrains me so straitly; still, until He, in His infinite providence, shall dispose it, the most advisable thing is to watch carefully over the sure preservation and increase of what has been reduced and pacified at so great expense. I charge you that you strive for this end, considering the condition in which you find affairs and the great importance and advisability of bringing them to perfection and placing foundations so firm and secure that not only will there be naught to fear from the many enemies surrounding that part explored, but that it shall be preserved and increased.