29. Accompanying this letter, I send a map of the island of Luçon and of the coast of the mainland of China, from which it appears that, from the coast and great river of Cagayan at the northern extremity of this island to the nearest point of China, it is but a short distance by sea, a matter of forty leagues or thereabout. By next year when we shall have seen and explored more of this land, I shall send your Majesty a fuller description of it than now.
30. I am also sending your Majesty another paper which I received from the Chinese, upon which is printed a map of the whole land of China, with an explanation which I had some Chinese interpreters make, through the aid of an Augustinian religious who is acquainted with the elements of the Chinese language. They have promised me to bring next year other maps drawn in more detail and with more precision; and, God willing, I shall send them to your Majesty.
31. By the ship "Spiritu Santo," now about to sail, I am sending to your Majesty's officials in Mexico eighty quintals of cinnamon and forty-six quintals of wax. For lack of room we have a quantity of cinnamon left over. May our Lord preserve the sacred Catholic royal person of your Majesty with an increase of greater kingdoms and seigniories, according to the desire of your Majesty's faithful subjects. Manila, July 30, 1574.
Sacred Catholic Royal Majesty. His loyal subject and faithful servant kisses the royal feet and hands of Your Majesty.
[_Addressed:_ "To his Majesty--from the Islands of Luçon."]
[_Endorsed:_ "Guido de Lavezaris. July 30, 1574. Received August 15, 1575. D."]
By one of your royal decrees, dated Madrid, May 18, 1572, your Majesty commands me to send you an account of the slaves that exist in these parts; and how, and with what justification, they are slaves. What has been ascertained about them, to the present time, in this island is as follows:
Some are slaves from their birth. Their origin is not known, because their fathers, grandfathers, and ancestors were also slaves. But although the reason for their slavery is not known, we may believe that it was for some one of the causes here named. Some are captives in wars that different villages wage against each other, for certain injuries and acts of injustice, committed either recently or in ancient times.