Luís de Velasco, 1595 
223 
And I also related the difficulties which were being experienced* in this 
matter because of the opposition which certain learned religious were 
making to these partitions, they holding them to be dangerous for one’s 
conscience and very prejudicial to the Indians. At the same time I sent 
the opinions of the religious, so that, after considering them, your Majesty 
might be pleased to order what is to be observed in this matter. I humbly 
beg that your Majesty will be pleased to come to a decision with all brevity 
in this case, so that I may, in accordance with what may be ordered me, 
provide without hesitation for the necessities of the commonwealth, which 
are every day more urgent, especially those of the miners, of which on 
divers occasions I have given special account to your Majesty. 
In another letter of July 3, 1594, I wrote to your Majesty that in order 
to put the affairs of this royal treasury in a proper state, and in order that 
there should be used in it such caution and expedition in its business as 
were necessary, I appointed as treasurer ad interim Gordián Cosasano until 
Juan de Aranda, the holder of this office, should arrive, so that, as an old 
official and very expert—as he is in this kind of papers—he might direct 
Carlos de Yvarguen and Pedro de los Rios (whom I named as factor in 
place of Don Francisco de Valverde, who is in Panamá) ; for, since they 
are both new and little experienced in the administration of the real 
hacienda, it was better that there should be some one to guide them. Juan 
de Aranda came on the vessel which is in port and was initiated into the 
exercise of his office. And since Gordián Cosasano was removed from it 
I named him contador general of the excises, partly because when they 
were introduced into this kingdom he was the first one to set them up, 
and he administered them with great success until the Archbishop of 
Mexico removed him and appointed him contador of the real hacienda 
in place of Melchior de Legaspi (whom he suspended because of charges 
of his visitor), and partly because for many years he has served your 
Majesty in offices and duties of your real hacienda, in which he has much 
experience and has shown great fidelity, honesty, industry, and other 
good qualities with which he brings benefit to many, and merits that your 
Majesty shall retain him in your service and, in addition, grant him per¬ 
mission to go from this place where he is and enlighten the officials of the 
real hacienda, who, through being new, as I have said, need to be instructed 
in some things. Some persons have tried to buy this office, but, as it is 
of great importance and requires great fidelity and ability in the one who 
has to exercise it, and of these there are few, I have not opened the door 
to it, nor does it seem to me that it is proper to sell it unless your Majesty 
should order otherwise. 
The ship, Thomas Gallardo master, of the fleet, Luis Alfonso Flores 
commander, was lost on the coast of Coatzacoalcos. 2 The people on 
it were saved, but very few goods and none of your Majesty’s quicksilver 
which it was bringing, might be . . . [There is a blank.~\ quintals, 
although it is said that the officials of Vera Cruz sent divers and other 
men to try to save it. The commander [Flores] has written to me that this 
ship was dishonestly lost—for the weather was not stormy when it was 
searching for the port and if the master and pilot had wished to do so they 
could have made it—and that he wished to arrest and punish them, but that 
