Luís de Velasco , 1595 
255 
in so far as they may not be con¬ 
trary to these agreements, which are 
to be secured to us irremissibly— 
to me and to my said successors and 
to those who may be conquerors and 
settlers of the said provinces, in 
whose name I also agree to them. 
Don Juan de Oñate. Copied from 
the original and corrected. Mar¬ 
tín López de Gauña. With ru¬ 
bric. 
Letter of Don Luís de Velasco to his Majesty. [ Mexico, October 14, 
I 595-~\ 
The fleet of this present year, [in command of] General Pedro Melendes 
Marqués, entered safely into the port of San Juan de Ulua on Monday, 
September 18, bringing with it the Count of Monterey, whom your 
Majesty appointed as viceroy of this New Spain. By it I received the 
commission of viceroy of Peru and the [letter] which your Majesty 
ordered to be written to me on the twenty-first of last June. In the few 
days that remain from now until the Count will enter this city, I will 
hasten to do, as I ought, what your Majesty orders me by it; what I am 
not able to do I will communicate to the Count so that he may carry it out, 
and I will give account of everything to your Majesty by the first despatch- 
boat, which will soon be sent. 
By what I have pointed out on other occasions to your Majesty you will 
have learned of the poverty and need which I have been experiencing since 
I have been serving in this office and the causes from which it arises; 
since I have stated them before now I will not relate them in this. 
Although up to this time I have lived very penuriously and with extreme 
circumspection, not spending more than what was indispensable and 
necessary, the journey to Peru which I have in hand compels me to depart 
from this conduct and to incur greater expenses, not only for the provi¬ 
sioning of my household, but also to provide myself with some things 
which the importance of that post demands more than this and which I 
had done without up to this time as far as I possibly could. There is 
added to this another and greater difficulty—that of my transportation— 
for there are no ships in the port of Acapulco except those of Peru, which 
are small and very uncomfortable, as they have but one deck and no cover 
from the sun and rains that occur on that voyage, which would evidently 
be the cause of great danger to health. I hoped from the greatness of 
your Majesty that as a remedy for these difficulties you would be pleased 
to order that I be given the same means of transportation as my prede¬ 
cessors who have gone from here to serve you in that kingdom, and some 
aid from this royal treasury for my preparations, for, under the heavens, 
I have no other place whence it can come to me, nor any credit by which 
