[12] _Mesada_: a month's pay or salary. The _derecho de mesada_ was a tax of that amount levied (like the half-annat on civil offices) on ecclesiastical benefices and preferments which had been granted by the popes to the crown of Spain as part of its royal patronage of religion. Laws regarding this tax may be found in _Recopilacion de leyes de Indias_, lib. i, tit. xvii; the first of these is dated 1629. See also _Teatro de la legislacion universal de Espana y Indias_ (Madrid, 1791-97). The mesada was to be collected on the basis of the receipts from each preferment during the five years preceding the new incumbent's entry upon his office.--_James A. LeRoy_. [13] _Estrados_: literally, "platforms;" the platform on which stood the royal throne, or the seat of the judge, afterward came to mean the court itself. Perhaps the Manila treasury received from Mexico a sum for the proper maintenance of the dignity of the tribunals, for the hangings, furnishing, platforms, etc. This might also refer to the platforms and carpets and hangings provided in the cathedral for certain royal officials.--_James A. LeRoy._ [14] In the margin at this point occurs: "4 [pieces of gold]; 3 rings." [15] In the margin at this point occurs: "4 [pieces of gold]; 3 rings." [16] In the margin at this point occurs: "4 [pieces of gold]; 3 rings." [17] In the margin at this point occurs: "88 taes, 1 real of gold." [18] This raid spread fear and alarm throughout the Visayas; and the religious, especially the Jesuits, urged the governor (then Cerezo de Salamanca) to provide some defense against the pirates. Accordingly he ordered (although in the face of much opposition) the establishment of a fort and garrison at Zamboanga, Mindanao; and to aid in the expenses of this enterprise, a contribution of a ganta of rice from each tribute in the Visayas. (Combes says that this measure originated with the Jesuit Bueras.) This contribution was afterward extended to all the provinces, and was known as "the Zamboanga donation." The fort at Zamboanga (begun June 23, 1635) was planned by the Jesuit Melchor de Vera, and built under his direction. See accounts given by Combes (_Hist. Mindanao_, col. 213-224), Murillo Velarde (_Hist. Philipinas_, fols. 76b-78a), and Montero y Vidal (_Hist. Filipinas_, pp. 190-192). [19] "The seed is the blood of Christians." [20] A corruption of _kasis_ (VOL. XVI, p. 134), or _kazi_, an appellation of Mahometan preachers. [21] Part of the thirty-fifth verse. The quotation should end with _eam_. The English is: "And whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel, shall save it."