21. The French also have a like interest in the formation of the Spanish company, and they will promote it, in order to have its aid, which may be to them very important; for if they had had it in the late war they would not have lost all their establishments in India; nor would we have lost the fortified posts of Manila and Cavite, if we had had the said company. 22. The lack of a port on the coast of Africa as a landing-place for our ships is another of the difficulties which our navigation by way of Cape Good Hope may encounter; but our friendly relations with the court of Francia will open to us, without doubt, free entrance to the port of Mauritius. With a knowledge, too, of the ports on the said coast of Africa, we can establish ourselves where we think it best to, as the Dutch have done; or we can find some island, like that of Santa Elena, [168] which the English occupy, or those of San Matheo and Acension, which serve the Portuguese for a way-station. 23. The last difficulty may be the greatest of all, and it consists in the probable opposition of the ministers and officials of his Majesty to the ministers and officials of the company. For I assume, in the pursuance of my plan, that there will be here ships of war, a suitable force for the safety of these towns, a governor and captain-general, a royal Audiencia, royal officials, etc.; and that the company will have likewise its own ships, the construction of them, cloth manufactures in the provinces, the working of mines, the cultivation of cinnamon, and other enterprises, which without the aid of the government are difficult, but with it very easy. The aforesaid opposition to those of the company, and the unpleasant relations which follow (or are very probable) between the directors and the government, may be a very great impediment to all the said activities. But this, it seems to me, can be corrected by making suitable regulations, and his Majesty issuing very strict orders for their punctual observance, with heavy penalties against the transgressors; also by the company having so many protectors in the court as its shareholders, especially if the shares be taken by the highest nobility, as an example to the rest. These will be so many more public prosecutors, who will raise an outcry against those who, in whatever way, oppose the interests of the company; and who will demand punishment for him who deserves it, in order that this may serve as a warning to others--under the well-founded assumption that the growth of the aforesaid company can interest no one so much as it does our sovereign, in order that the crown and the nation may be maintained with dignity and splendor, and gain credit by our commerce, and by the riches which it will draw to us if that commerce be undertaken and continued with the ardor which is demanded by love for our country.