oil which you have been pleased to grant them as a favor, so that it may not be necessary to take it from your royal treasury as has been done hitherto--I gave orders to the royal officials to place the proceeds of the three said encomiendas in the royal treasury, until, after your Majesty were informed of all the reasons which I present from here, you might order what is most advisable and is your pleasure. I petition your Majesty to be pleased to order that these consequences be not allowed; for with them, all those who should have ordinary favor with the viceroys of Nueva Espana, will take measures to obtain rewards there, seeking to enjoy at the same time those grants which they have here also in encomiendas, and will solicit that favor from your Majesty through third persons. This is to the injury and disappointment of those who remain here, as I say above; and others will not be encouraged to come here, when they see beforehand the great troubles that they will undergo before they can merit and obtain some [reward] for living in so uncertain a country. Some of the encomiendas here are very large, having incomes of from one to four thousand pesos. If your Majesty be pleased to give me permission, so that they may be reduced to five hundred pesos, by dividing these among those who best deserve them, and are poorest, all will be rewarded and paid; and there will be much to give, and also to place in your Majesty's royal treasury. The services [rendered] in these regions, Sire, are not so arduous that this should not be a good and sufficient reward, although those who are from Flandes know better how to exaggerate them. I shall await your Majesty's order, for I have not learned in so many years aught else than to obey. May our Lord preserve your Majesty's Catholic person, as is necessary to Christendom. Manila, the last of June, 1636. Your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera _Administrative and financial_ Sire: