Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 06).djvu/56

 during the four years that he has spent in this land, he has seen that the conditions and events are as he has described them. He asserts this to be the truth, on the oath that he has taken. He declares that he is twenty-seven years of age, rather more than less; that he has no personal interest in this affair; and is fully competent to be a witness. He signed this with his name,

The licentiate Before me:

[Then follow the depositions of Juan Arze de Sadornel, Andres Cauchela, the captain Juan Pacheco Maldonado, Pedro Carballo, the ensign Christobal de Axcueta, Don Juan de Bivero (treasurer of the Manila cathedral, and a priest), and Don Juan de Armendares (canon of the cathedral, and a priest). They are couched in almost the same words as the foregoing. The testimony of all shows the high cost of living in the islands, and ascribes the cause to the great number of Spaniards, the deaths by disease and war of many natives, and the coming of