In May, 1745, Montiano made an impassioned plea to the Havana company to relieve this burden. Asking for an additional appropriation to provide for those on detached service in Saint Augustine, he claimed that he had no more money or supplies to care for the Cubans in his employ. If his own colony was to survive, he would need more assistance. In his plea to his superiors in Spain, Montiano complained that the Havana Company was not doing its part to provide for his own garrison or the extra soldiers and sailors on detached service. In Madrid Montiano got support from a fiscal of the Council, who believed that refusal of the company to send aid was a breach of contract. Under their charter company officials were obligated to support the Floridians. Still, this legal opinion was not enough to stimulate royal action against the Cubans, and in his reproachful dispatch to the Havana Company, the king refused to spell out the obligations of the company towards Florida. (Tepaske GSF)