From the discovery of these islands until now there has been no instruction or fixed order given by his Majesty in regard to the pay and rations which have been and ought to be given to many of the persons who have served and who shall serve in his service in various posts of the sea and in other employments, both in this city of Manila and along the coast and in the port of Cavite, in the shipyards for the construction of ships which are built for the royal service in the provinces of these islands, in the presidios of the islands, and in the voyages to and from Nueva Espana, Terrenate, the island of Hermosa, Macan, India, and other places; but the governors my predecessors, and the councils of the treasury, made some regulations, by virtue of decrees from his Majesty (as the matter was referred to them, so that they could decide on what was best). Some of the wages paid were thus very greatly increased, thereby causing, from that time until the present, a heavy burden and debt on the royal estate. So heavy has been this burden that the royal estate has come to so low an ebb by reason of some salaries that are especially excessive, that it is obliged to demand loans quite ordinarily from the inhabitants of this said city; and, because of the heavy loans that have been made for many years, it has been impossible to free itself from its many debts. Now therefore, on account of all these considerations, and because the matter has been examined and considered attentively, as well as the little profit of the royal patrimony in these islands (or rather its many expenses) because of the constant reenforcements of men, money, ammunition, food, and other things that must be sent to the presidios of the islands (which, being many and so distant and separated from one another), meet a much greater cost and expense than his Majesty is told--in especial the great cost of the preparation and equipment of the two ships sent annually to Nueva Espana for the usual reenforcement of men and the other things that maintain this land; and almost the chief reason for which those ships sail and are sent seems not to be for reenforcements, but only to carry and to bring back the goods of the inhabitants and merchants of Manila, in which they traffic to the extent that is well known, and to so much greater a sum than his Majesty has permitted, at so great an expense to the royal estate, and little or no profit from the duties and freights that they owe), it is advisable to revise and adjust some of the posts and wages and rations, to abolish some and add others, and to create some new ones which are obligatory and necessary for the service of his Majesty. Therefore, and because it is advisable, according to the present condition of matters, and in order to relieve the said royal treasury and to help it as far as may be possible (as his Majesty commands by various decrees), and in order to attend better to what is obligatory and necessary, and to see that the royal