islands that the trip can be made in boats, and a close and quick communication can be kept up, and it is easy to repair any accident.  Sixth:  there are thereabout several islands, called the Babuyanes, where there are swine, goats, and fowl in abundance, and considerable rice.  Seventh:  there is in the land great store of swine and fowl, and excellent hunting of buffalo and deer, which are so common that two thousand large casks [pipas] of meat can be brought down in a few days.  Eighth:  warehouses can and will be built there sufficient to hold a hundred thousand fanegas of rice, which is the staple food of this country.  Ninth:  there is great abundance of fish, as healthful as meat.  Tenth:  the wine needed will be brought there in great plenty, being palm wine, and very good.  And from China can be brought what is called manderin, which is very good and cheap, and is much drunk in the islands.  Eleventh:  there will be a supply of jars of biscuit and flour.  Twelfth:  kidney beans, even better than Spanish lentils, are common in the islands.  Thirteenth:  there will be made here a supply of sandals of anabo, which is an herb like hemp, of which rigging is made for ships.  There is also a great deal of cotton.  Fourteenth:  linen cloth for shirts, doublets, breeches, hose, and other things wrought of linen, is very common and cheap here, both of domestic and Chinese make.  Fifteenth:  in Cagayan there is abundance of wood for all kinds of vessels that may be built; this is true as well of all the other islands; and nearly all, or at any rate the greater part of the Indians, are carpenters and smiths.  Sixteenth:  iron for nails, which is brought from China, is plenty, and so cheap that five arrobas (a Chinese quintal) are worth eight or ten reals.  Seventeenth:  cast-iron cannon-balls for large and medium-sized guns are furnished by the Chinese, who sell them at two or three reals apiece, while the manufacture alone costs eight or ten reals here.  Eighteenth:  the Indians of these islands are already very skilful in making ships and fragatas with the assistance and labor of a few Spanish carpenters, who furnish them with plans and a model; they make them so quickly and cheaply that a vessel of five or six hundred toneladas can be built for three or four thousand pesos, as some have already been.  Nineteenth:  above all, if his Majesty wishes to take up this enterprise seriously, the encomenderos of these islands will provide him with fragatas, men, and money, as they have always done for the expeditions when occasion offered; and this they have done and will do, so gladly and loyally, that his Majesty is bound to make this expedition, since the readiness and desire for it are as great as the result in spiritual and temporal good which is hoped for, both for his Majesty and for the rest.

The route to be taken by the fleet