. . .y; but it is concerned mainly with the size of the packages on the Manila galleon.8 It appears [56]that these were measured by the vara de Ribera,9 instead of the Castilian vara, the former being “longer than the Castilian, by four dedos and part of another;” but allowance was afterward made for this difference. Ardila, the accountant, also recommended to the viceroy the enlargement of Manila’s permission to 1,200,000 pesos of returns, and the reopening of the commerce between Nueva España and Peru. The royal Council discussed the fiscal’s reply and other documents, and advised the king (December 19, 1733) to order the viceroy to recall his obnoxious orders relative to the galleons of 1734 and succeeding years, and to regulate the cargoes by the decrees in force from 1712 to 1720—“excluding absolutely the regulation of the permission by piezas, and commanding that this be made in future strictly by invoices and sworn declarations.. . . Read More