The penalty for bringing in contraband goods even in Spanish bottoms was confiscation. The law provided that after taxes 1/6 of the value went to the magistrate, 1/3 of the remainder to the informer, and the rest to the king’s coffer. [Note 69: Recop 8/31/1657] In many parts of the Indies this inconvenience was circumvented by the sloop trade in out-of-the-way harbors. In Florida, which had operated outside the mercantile law from the start, such evasions were necessary only when someone important was out of sorts. (Bushnell KC)