_ 202 _ twenty years in this land he may be heard. In brief, Sir, I say that if God wills Your Highness should not aid another to rule this land and not trust in the provision of friars and religious relics, because there were many such in Rhodes, Belgrade and Spain and a great part of Christendom was lost because of the thoughtlessness of our sinning, as a result of which I say. Sir, that Your Highness must provide against this with the measures and instructions that I shall indicate later. Because this land can only be sustained by money, I shall show how one can have this to maintain the war and what the two supports are that this land needs for this, and may Our Lord provide proper persons who may see to the custody and expenditure of this money. In my letters in past years, I pointed out to Your Highness that cloves from the Moluccas should not come on the stalk, but only the heads should be sent, of which his nao would bring 4900 odd quintals, because with the heads the nao is able to take a third more, 2600 odd quintals would come to Your Highness, being one third plus the freight, being paid in kind which in this land would be worth 100,000 pardaos, and they may ask any price of each person, because they consume 900 quintals in Java, Malacca and China and in those parts and 1300 quintals go
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