The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; [Vol. 1, no. 13]

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 13

in accordance therewith, it was not the will of your
Majesty that my place of abode should be taken
from me, as it had been occupied from the time when
it was built by the president and auditors. This was
shown to the governor by the [Audiencia's] record
of proceedings; and it was decreed in the Audiencia
that in the royal building where I was two main
apartments should be cleared out, in which the treasury and the books of the royal exchequer should be
accommodated. The governor, in spite of this action,
took all my apartments from me and lodged therein
a royal official; whereupon, as there is a great lack of
houses in this city, I was obliged to move into a house
of wood and thatch, which was unsuitable to the last
degree, and attended by much danger because of the
frequent fires which occur in this city. Accordingly,
in the two fires which have occurred this year I have
been obliged to go with my effects and books from
one place to another, until at last I rented for them
and my papers an apartment outside of my house in a
building of stone belonging to a citizen, where I
keep them. Besides experiencing so great inconvenience, this country is so warm that I assure your Majesty, with all due regard for truth, that my health
is failing; and I fear that I shall lose my life, through
the poor appointments of the house and on account
of the intemperate heat from which I suffer in going
to the Audiencia. But so great is the dislike which
the governor has taken toward me, that neither the
injustice and wrong, nor the danger of fire, nor the
failure of my health has moved him to give me a
lodging; nor is one to be found at any cost. I beg
your Majesty that, even if it may not be necessary for
me, you may command what is to be done in regard to