ABSTRACT
We were still inside the port, recovering our ground tackle, under shortened sail, when Don Cayetano Valdés approached in the port barge to inform me that the mule trains carrying our flour were just arriving. I felt, however, that it was neither useful nor necessary to stop to take on board the flour as it could be carried by the galleon more quickly and with less inconvenience. We could very well make up any shortage with rice from the Marianas or the Philippines or with wheat from China, if an extended duration of our cruise so required.
