All these exploits are worthy of great praise, this last one no less than those preceding, considering the circumstances; and in all these shines brightly the favor of Heaven toward our people. According to the estimate made by well informed persons, although we fired, in these battles, over two thousand cannon-shots, and the enemy over five thousand, we had only fourteen killed, and comparatively few wounded; while the enemy, besides the vessels which we sank, arrived at their forts so damaged, and had lost so many men, that for many a year they will remember the two stout galleons of Manila. Nor will they forget the gallantry, courage, and experience, and the excellent arrangements of their generals, captains, officers and other men who took part in this fight under orders of the governor and captain-general Don Diego Faxardo y Chacon, whom God protect. Thanksgiving [for this victory] was celebrated by a solemn fiesta--a procession, divine worship, and [a parade of] the squadron, with other demonstrations--in fulfilment of the vow made to the Virgin of the Rosary, the city making a new vow to continue this anniversary every year. These exploits are all successful, and with them we might have congratulated ourselves on having maintained our good fortune on the sea, if our success against the enemy's guns had also marked our conflict with the elements. The galleon "San Luis," commanded by General Fernando Lopez Perona, left Acapulco late in the season and encountered the vendavals so prevalent in these islands that before land was sighted it passed through fierce tempests, lost its masts, and finally made the unlucky port of Cagayan. There, driven by the currents, it struck on the rocks and was torn open at the keel--not before, however, the commander had placed in safety the men, and the registered silver (which is the most essential part of the succor sent), and afterward removed the artillery. Nevertheless, the loss is great, owing to the lack of vessels on these islands at present, the many failures [which it occasioned] to business men, and the lawsuits to which such disasters give rise. It cost no less than the life of the commander, who died in that same city of Cagayan a few days after his arrival--giving up his life, as a proof of his honorable devotion and of his zeal in fulfilling his duties in the service of the king and the welfare of the colony.