SPANISH SEAMEN IN THE NEW WORLD 645 



. . . That two hundred Ducats per Month be distributed among 

 the Sailors of every Galeon [and ship of the armada and flota], above 

 their Pay, so that no one receive above four Crowns, and that all those 

 who serve in the India voyage shall be rewarded according to the ser- 

 vice they do. 8. That those who do not furnish good Provisions, 

 for the Armada's and Flota's, shall be punish'd. 9. That the Admirals 

 do not suffer the Sailors to be abus'd. 10. That Sailors serving aboard 

 the Armada's and Flota's, be exempt from Town Offices, if they think 

 fit. 11. That no Quarters [for troops] be taken up in the Houses of 

 such as serve in the India Voyage. . . . That a Seaman, who has 

 serv'd 20 Years, enjoy for ever after these Privileges, tho' he follow 

 not the Sea. 70 



Besides, mariners were free from arrest for debt. 71 The royal 

 arm also stretched out to protect the sailors from the extortions 

 practiced upon them by the people of Vera Cruz. To check this 

 evil it was ordered that prices should be no higher to men of the 

 fleet than to the inhabitants. 72 



Judge Peters in 1807 declared that the Spaniards were "the 

 most unkind, and indeed unjust, to their sick mariners of any 

 people; for they neither pay them any wages nor maintain them. 

 . . ," 73 The mariners of the India trade thus apparently 

 had an advantage over other sailors of Spain, in that they were 

 entitled to the privileges of the hospital provided by the Uni- 

 versidad at Seville. 



The ordinary daily ration for each person in 1534 was one and 

 one-half pounds of bread, two pints of drinking water and another 

 for bathing, and two pints of wine. 74 Salt pork, fish, beans and 

 peas, oil, vinegar, rice and sometimes cheese and beef were also 

 part of the ration. 75 In 1665 the allowance in the Windward 

 Flota was as follows: 



70 Stevens, pp. 225, 226. 



71 Ibid., p. 184. 



72 Ibid. 



73 Laberinto de Comer do, lib. tertio, cap. Navigantis, numero 18, cited, 

 Richard Peters, Admiralty decisions, 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1807), I. Appendix, 

 cvii. 



74 Haring, p. 273. 

 7 * Ibid., p. 278. 



