command the said viceroys to do what I have proposed; and thus in the course of time the ships will come to be of the burden and lading that your Majesty requires. Meanwhile, until the matter is arranged, the galleons will go from here to Nueva Espana every two years, each with two registers--one for the previous sailing, and one for the present year--as they go now. In the year when they go, they will bring back the half of the silver for the proceeds [from the merchandise sent]; and in the following year, when they do not have to go, the rest of the money will be brought in the ship which will be sent from Piru. I hope that your Majesty will approve this, and give such commands as are most expedient for your royal service, in order that these vassals who are so poor may be encouraged, and the merchandise that they export may bring in good returns when nothing goes unregistered, and that the Indians may be saved from ruin. [_Marginal note_: "Let there be no innovation in this matter which he proposes, and follow the orders which have been issued in regard to the building of ships; and tell him that, as he has been commanded, he shall make no innovations without first consulting the government in regard to the matter, so that orders may be given him to be put into execution."] May our Lord guard the Catholic person of your Majesty, as Christendom has need. At Cavite, July 11, 636. Sire, your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera THE HOSPITALS AND HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS _Letter to the king from Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera_ Sire: 1. Your Majesty was pleased to entrust to my predecessor, Don Juan Nino de Tabora, as he was the person who had the matter in hand, the regulation of the comfort of the hospitals, the care of treating the sick, both soldiers and citizens, and the administration of the revenues of the said hospitals, so that the expenditures would be well employed and your Majesty's treasury have some relief. [_In the margin_: "That the purpose in having established the convalescent ward is approved."] 2. The first thing which I heard on my arrival in this government was this [matter of the hospitals], in which I have found that your Majesty spends more money than you ought to spend; and, in the endeavor to apply a suitable remedy, I ordered the royal officials to note on their pay-rolls that the soldiers must give two reals from each month's pay, and the sailors four--as is done in the States of Flandes with the royal hospital of your Majesty's army, where the soldiers give one real from each month's pay, and the officers, higher and lower, according to their pay. This amounts to more than seven thousand pesos per year, as your Majesty will have seen by the certifications which I enclose.