58/177 If it has not been examined, we beg your Majesty to have this done, and to make suitable provision for these matters. By your Majesty's order, the soldiers usually come from Nueva Spana with one hundred and fifteen pesos as pay, out of which they clothe themselves and purchase their weapons. They continue to spend their money until they embark at Acapulco, so that, when they arrive at these islands, they have nothing more to spend and find no one to give them food. Unable to find a way to earn their sustenance, they are forced to seek it among the natives, whom they annoy and maltreat. They live in extreme distress, and so fall sick. |