Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 09).pdf/18

 memorandum—unsigned and undated, but probably written about 1593—of "the troops required in the Philippines;" this is itemized, and gives a total of 1,517. On September 27, 1593, Dasmariñas sends a friendly letter, with gifts, to the king of Camboja, who is threatened by the king of Siam; and he offers to be arbitrator of their differences. An unsigned list (1594?) is given of the villages reduced by the Spaniards under an officer named Berramontano.

Luis Perez, son of Gomez Perez Dasmariñas, who has succeeded to his father's office, writes to the king of Camboja (February 8, 1594) renewing his father's proffers of friendship for that ruler. At this time Hernando de los Rios, administrator of the royal hospital at Manila, demands from the government more aid for that institution. Witnesses testify that there is much sickness and mortality among the Spanish soldiery in the islands; and that the hospital, as their only resource for care when ill, should receive an increase of its present inadequate income, and new buildings should be constructed for its use.

In 1594 Francisco de Ortega, Augustinian visitor-general in the Philippines, presents a number of reports and petitions to the king. The abstracts of these papers which are preserved in the Sevilla archives are here presented. The first of these documents contains a list of the islands, with a brief account of their size and population, of the number of religious already at work in them, and of the number yet needed. Next, Ortega asks for certain grants from the royal bounty for his order: a fixed sum for the building of the burnt monastery; an increased allowance for the yearly support of the religious, as prices have risen; allowances of wine, oil, and medi-