Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 08).djvu/263

 will your Majesty ordain that Mexico shall furnish what pertains to its part. For, if I ask for troops, they send me twenty men, who die before they arrive here; and none are born here. And if I ask for ammunition, they laugh at me, censure me, and say that I ask impossible things. They retain there the freight money and the duties; and if they should send to this state what is yours, your Majesty would have to spend but little from your royal patrimony. And, just as they forget us in everything, I fear that they will do so in this. Surely it is advisable to send troops here, and to have this matter attended to, well and continuously, from Mexico; for, as long as this state of affairs continues and the fortification goes on, the inhabitants are being punished by greater anxiety; as they cannot see that this is taken as a matter of general course and in earnest, and the fortifications are being continued—which is, I believe, the chief reason why Japon is moved to try to obstruct it. Your Majesty will ordain what is most to your service. May our Lord preserve your Majesty many long years, as Christendom requires. Manila, June II, 1592.

[Endorsed: "Manila. To his Majesty. 1592. Gomez Perez Dasmarinas. June 11."]