174

EXPEDITION TO NEW MEXICO.

selfish and avaricious purposes of the receivers. He immediately abolished this impost, and diminished the whole amount of taxation upon the Indians.

In consequence of the loss of the galeon from the Philipines, which we have related, the king ordered an expedition, under the command of General Sebastian Viscaino, to examine and scour the coasts of the Californias, where it was alleged the precious metals, and, especially, the most valuable pearls would be found in abundance. Viscaino recruited a large number of followers in Mexico for this enterprise, and set sail with three vessels, in 1596, from Acapulco. The adventurers coasted the territory for a considerable time without finding a suitable location in which they might settle advantageously, until, at length, they disembarked in the port of La Paz, whence, however, they soon departed for want of provisions and supplies of every kind.

Meanwhile the Count of Monterey examined into the state of the expedition to New Mexico, which he found had been projected and partly prepared by his predecessor. He made some changes in the plan agreed on between Velasco and Oñate, and, in order to exhibit his good will to the latter personage, he joined with him, in the enterprise, his relation Vicente Saldivar, who had gathered a number of emigrants for these remote and northern regions. People were tempted to abandon their homes by the reports of extraordinary mineral wealth which was to be obtained in these unexplored portions of New Spain; and, accordingly, when the standard of the expedition was raised in the great square of the capital, crowds of men with their families flocked around it to enlist for the hazardous and toilsome service.

The first news received from the emigrant colonists, when they reached Caxco, two hundred leagues from the capital, was disastrous. Quarrels had originated among the adventurers, who asserted that the terms of the expedition had not been complied with faithfully. As soon as the viceroy heard of the discontent, he despatched Don Lope de Ulloa as a pacificator, to the inflamed band which was quickly reduced to harmony and persuaded to continue its journey to the promised land. At length the weary emigrants reached the boasted El Dorado; but finding the reports of mineral wealth altogether exaggerated, and doubting the advantage of residing with their families permanently in such distant outposts, many of them retraced their way southward to regions that were more densely populated.

In 1598, another effort was resolved on to gather the dispersed

INDIAN AMELIORATIONS

DEATH OF PHILIP II.

175

and refractory vagabond Indians who wandered about the territory under the name of Mexicans and Otomies. Whilst they maintained their perfectly nomadic state it was evident that they were useless either as productive laborers for the Spaniards, or as objects of taxation for the sovereign. It was a wise policy, therefore, to attempt what was philanthropically called their civilization;but upon this occasion, as upon all the others that preceded it, the failure was signal. Commissioners and notaries were selected and large salaries paid these officials to ensure their faithful services in congregating the dispersed natives. But the government agents, who well knew the difficulty if not the absolute impossibility of achieving the desired object, amused themselves by receiving and spending the liberal salaries disbursed by the government, whilst the Indians still continued as uncontroled as ever. The Count of Monterey was nevertheless obstinately bent on the prosecution of this favorite policy of the king, and squandered, upon these vile ministerial agents, upwards of two hundred thousand dollars, without producing the least beneficial result. In the following viceroy's reign he was sentenced to pay the government this large sum as having been unwisely spent; but was finally absolved from its discharge by the court to which he appealed from the decision of his successor.

In the beginning of 1599, the news was received in Mexico of the death of Philip II. and of the accession of Philip III. This event was perhaps the most remarkable in the annals of the colony, during the last year of the sixteenth century, except that the town of Monterey in New Leon was founded, and that a change was made by the viceroy of the port of Vera Cruz from its former sickly site at la Antigua, to one which has since become equally unhealthy.

The first three years of the seventeenth century were chiefly characterized by renewed viceroyal efforts among the Indians. The project of congregating the nomadic natives was abandoned, and various attempts were made to break up the system of repartimientos, which had been, as we have seen, the established policy of the colony if not of the king, ever since the conquest. If the Indians were abandoned to their own free will, it was supposed that their habits were naturally so thriftless that they would become burthensome instead of beneficial to the Spanish colonists, and, ultimately, might resolve themselves into mere wanderers like the Otomies and their vagabond companions. Yet, it was acknowledged that their involuntary servitude, and the disastrous train of impositions it entailed, were unchristian and

176

NEW SCHEME OF HIRING INDIANS

CALIFORNIA.

unjust. There was a dilemma, in fact between idleness and tyranny; but the viceroy conceived it his duty to endeavor once more, with an honest zeal, to sustain the humane policy of freedom which was recommended not only by the sovereign but by the religious orders who were supposed to know the natives best. Various projects were adopted to harmonize their freedom with a necessary degree of labor, in order to ensure them wages and support, whilst they were preserved together in organized societies. After the repartimientos were abrogated, the Indians were compelled to assemble, on every Sabbath, in the public squares of the villages and towns, where they made their contracts of service by the day. The viceroy himself, anxious to prevent fraud, assisted personally in the reunions at the plazas or squares of San Juan and Santiago. But it was all in vain. The proprietors, land owners, and agents, were opposed to the scheme. Brokers interposed, and, after hiring the Indians at moderate rates in contracts made with themselves, sub-let them to others on higher terms. And, at last, it is alleged that the unfortunate natives, seeing the bad operation of the viceroy's kind intentions in their behalf, and finding their condition less happy when they had to take care of themselves than when they were taken care of, appealed to the Count of Monterey to restore the old system of repartimientos under which they were at least spared the trouble of seeking for task-masters and support. Indolent by nature; creatures of habit; and living in a country whose bosom afforded them spontaneously most of the luxuries required by such a class, they submitted to what, in fact, was the greatest evil of their lot, because it relieved them of the trouble of individual effort!

In 1602, Philip III. commanded another expedition for the colonization and exploration of the Californias. It departed in three ships and a barque from Acapulco, on the fifth of May, under the command of Viscaino. Torribio Gomez Corban was the admiral of the little fleet, and Antonio Flores, pilot. From the day of its departure, it was driven by severe gales, but, at length, the port of Monterey was reached by the weary crews, who continued along the coast until they arrived at Cape Blanco de San Sabastian, somewhat beyond Cape Mendozino. There the voyagers were sorely attacked with scurvy which thinned their numbers to such an extent, that, of the whole, only six were able to do duty. With this scant equipment of men, the vessels reached Mazatlan, where the crews recruited their health; and, passing thence to Acapulco, the expedition once more landed in

MONTESCLAROS VICEROY

INUNDATION

ALBARRADA. 177

the midst of civilization and hastened back to the capital to give a bad report of the country which in our day and generation has become the El Dorado of the world.

The Conde de Monterey, was transferred to the viceroyalty of Peru in 1603, and left the capital amid the general grief of a society whose cordial esteem he seems to have won and retained during his whole administration.

DON JUAN DE MENDOZA Y LUNA, MARQUES DE MONTESCLAROS, X. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN.

1603 1607.

The advent of the Marques de Montesclaros to the viceroyalty of New Spain was distinguished by an unusual degree of tranquillity throughout the colony. During the preceding administrations most of the subjects of internal discontent were set at rest, and the aborigines who had been subjected to the yoke were now becoming accustomed to bear it. In 1604, the abundant rains in the valley of Mexico during the month of August, caused an inundation which greatly alarmed the population. The city and adjacent country were laid under water, and such was the general distress that the Marques solicited the opinions of skilful persons in regard to the canal of Huehuetoca, which had heretofore been. spoken of as the only means of freeing the capital from destruction by the swollen flood of the lakes. The reports made to him, however, represented the enterprise as one of immense labor and expense, as well as requiring a great length of time for its completion. He therefore abandoned the project for the present, and merely repaired the albarrada or dyke which Velasco had already constructed. In addition to this precautionary measure he caused the calzadas, or raised turnpikes of Guadalupe and San Cristoval to be constructed, which, whilst they led to the open country beyond the city, served, also, as additional barriers against the waters. After the completion of these highways, he next directed his attention to those of San Antonio and Chapultepec, which were quickly finished, and merited the name of "Roman works," for the massive strength and durability of their construction. Various other useful municipal works, such as aqueducts and sewers, engaged the notice of the viceroy until, in 1607; and after the proclamation of the Prince of Asturias (Philip IV.) by order of the king, he was ordered to pass from Mexico to Peru where he was charged with the duties of the viceroyalty.

CHAPTER VI.

1607-1621.

SECOND ADMINISTRATION

OF DON LUIS VELASCO

HIS GREAT

WORK FOR THE DRAINAGE OF THE VALLEY. -LAKES IN THE HISTORY OF THE DEHUEHUETOCA. -OPERATIONS OF THE ENGINEERS

VALLEY- DANGER OF INUNDATION.

SAGUE OF

MARTINEZ AND BOOT. THE FRANCISCANS.

COMPLETION OF

THE DESAGUE. — LA OBRA DEL CONSULADO. -NEGRO REVOLT. EXTENSION OF ORIENTAL TRADE. GUERRA VICEROY. DE INDIAN REVOLT. — CORDOVA FOUNDED.

CORDOVA VICEROY.

DON LUIS VELASCO, THE SECOND, CONDE DE SANTIAGO AND FIRST MARQUES DE SALINAS,

XI. VICEROY OF MEXICO. HIS SECOND ADMINISTRATION.

16071611.

DON LUIS VELASCO had been seven years viceroy of Peru since he left the government of Mexico, when he was summoned once more to rule a country of which he felt himself almost a native.1 He was tired of public life, and being advanced in years would gladly have devoted the rest of his existence to the care of his family and the management of his valuable estates in the colony. But he could not refuse the nomination of the king, and at the age of seventy, once more found himself at the head of affairs in New Spain.

The government of this excellent nobleman has been signalized in history by the erection of the magnificent public work, designed for the drainage of the valley, of which we spoke during the last viceroyalty. The results of Velasco's labors were permanent, and as his work, or at least a large portion of it remains to the present day, and serves to secure the capital from the floods with which it is constantly menaced, we shall describe the whole of this magnificent enterprise at present, though our description will carry us, chronologically, out of the period under consideration, and lead us from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.

1 Velasco had been sent to Peru eleven years before, and after governing it seven, had returned to reside in Mexico, when he was unexpectedly reappointed viceroy.