Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol. 1 of 2 / A Historical, Geographical, Political, Statistical and Social Account of That Country From the Period of the Invasion by the Spaniards to the Present Time.

CHAPTER IV.
1568–1589.

Don Martin Enriquez de Almanza.
IV. Viceroy of New Spain.
1568–1580.

The salutary lesson received by the Audiencia in the events which occurred in the metropolis during late years, induced its members to conduct themselves with less arrogance during the short time they held supreme power after the departure of the Visitadores. In October of 1568, a new viceroy, Don Martin Enriquez de Almanza, arrived at Vera Cruz, whence he reached the capital on the 5th of the following November after having routed the English whom he found in possession of the Isle of Sacrificios.

Don Martin immediately perceived, upon assuming the reins of government, that it was necessary to calm the public mind in the metropolis which, from recent occurrences, now began to regard all men in authority with jealousy and distrust. He let the people understand, therefore, from the first, that he did not design to countenance any proceedings similar to those which had lately almost disorganized and revolutionized the colony. An occasion soon presented itself in which his prudence and discretion were required to adjust a serious dispute concerning the Franciscan monks and in which the people sympathized with the brotherhood and their supposed rights. Any act of rigor or harshness would have kindled the flame of sedition, but the mild diplomacy of the viceroy sufficed to calm the litigants and to restore perfect peace to the capital. A religious dispute, in such a community as Mexico then was, seemed, indeed, an affair of no small moment, especially when it arose in so tempestuous a period of the nation and was the first occasion to try the temper and talents of a new viceroy.

But the attention of Don Martin was soon to be drawn from the capital towards the frontiers of his government, where he found that the troublesome bands of wandering Chichimecas, had been busy in their old work of robbery and spoliation, whilst the Audiencia was engaged in its intrigues and corruption in the city of Mexico. The impunity with which these martial vagabonds had been allowed to proceed, increased their daring, and the evils they inflicted on the country were becoming continually greater. Not satisfied with having despatched the chief alcalde of the hostile region with the militia to punish the rebels, he joined the forces of that, officer, and succeeded after great slaughter in compelling the Indians to quit the soil they had hitherto ravaged. It should be recorded, in justice to the viceroy, that he ordered the Indian children who fell into the hands of his soldiery, to be spared, and, at the end of the campaign, brought them all to the metropolis, where he distributed them among rich families so that they might receive a christian education. In order to save the region from further devastation he established therein a colony, to which he gave the name of San Felipe, perhaps in honor of his king, as he bestowed upon it the title of "city."

Such was the condition of things when Pedro Moya de Contreras arrived in Mexico as Inquisitor, having been sent by Philip to establish the dread tribunal of the faith in that capital. The Spanish king feared that the doctrines of the reformation which were then rife in Europe might find friends among his transatlantic subjects, and he mercifully resolved to give them, as a guardian of their consciences, this sad and dreadful present. In 1572, Doctor Pedro Sanchez, a Jesuit, with various brethren of the same order, came to the city of Mexico, and founded a college in certain edifices which were ceded to them for that purpose by Alonso Villaseca. The brethren of the holy office, or inquisition, meanwhile organized their body, for future operations, and settled under the wings of the church of Santo Domingo.

It was at this period, also, that Don Martin established the alcabala; and, although the merchants opposed the measure, which was entirely new to them, and alleged that it was a mortal blow to their business, they were unable to force the viceroy to retract his measure. His determination was founded on the fact that trade had now become established on a firm and robust basis, and that it could well bear without injury an impost of this character.

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In the years 1574 and 1575 there were serious discussions between the temporal and spiritual powers of Mexico, growing out of a royal order that no prelate should be admitted in the country unless he bore a suitable license from the Council of the Indies. In 1576, Mexico was again visited by a frightful pestilence, which spread rapidly, and carried off large numbers of victims. The whole of New Spain was ravaged by it, and neither care, nor medical science, seems to have had the least effect either in curing or in alleviating the sufferers. The symptoms of this malady were a violent pain in the head which was succeeded by a burning fever, under which the patient sank. None survived the seventh day, and it is reported that near two millions perished under the dreadful scourge. The malady abated at the close of the rainy season, and disappeared entirely at the beginning of 1577.

In the two succeeding years, Don Martin commanded that the usual annual tribute should not be collected from the Indians. This measure was designed to alleviate the lot of these suffering subjects of the king and to testify the paternal regard which he cherished for a race that served him and his subjects so beneficially in the mines. It was in the mineral districts that the Indians were in reality the greatest sufferers and laborers in New Spain. Their toil was incessant. Their task masters gave them no respite in the bowels of the earth, for they wrought as if they designed to scrape every vein and artery of the colony's soil. Silver and labor were calculated with exactness, and no limit to the Indian's industry was prescribed save that which was imposed by his capacity for work and his power of endurance. The viceroy, seeking to alleviate this, introduced a milder system, as far as he was able, among the leading miners of the colony. He insisted upon permitting the Indians regular repose, and he forbade their entire confinement within the mines, but commanded that they should be allowed time to breathe the fresh air on the surface of the earth, and suffered to attend to their own domestic labors, or to toil on public works for a competent recompense.

The government of Don Martin had thus far been unusually calm, but his last moments in Mexico were to be disturbed by a quarrel with a Franciscan monk, named Rivera, who had called at the palace to see the viceroy on a matter of business for his convent, and had been forced to wait a considerable time without being finally honored with an audience. The petulant friar regarded this as a slight upon the brotherhood, and, shortly afterwards, whilst preaching in the cathedral, declared, with a sneering and offensive purpose against the viceroy, that "in the palace all became equal, and that no difference was made between ecclesiastics and secular folks!"

The viceroy could not permit so flagrant a breach of decorum and so dangerous a taunt in a popular appeal, to rest unrebuked. He therefore demanded the punishment of the pulpit critic, and the Audiencia ordered Rivera to depart forthwith for Spain. But the haughty monk in order to avoid the disgrace of expulsion, united the whole body of his fraternity in the quarrel, and singing the psalm "In exitu Israel de Ægipto," they departed from the city by the road leading to Vera Cruz. The viceroy seems to have been moved by this act of the brotherhood, and immediately wrote to Rivera in soothing terms requesting him to return to Mexico where justice should be done him. The Franciscan returned, but soon after received a royal order to depart for Spain.

In 1580, the abundant rain caused again an inundation of the capital, and Don Martin Enriquez was about to engage in the construction of the celebrated canal of Huehuetoca, when he was removed to the viceroyalty of Peru.

Don Lorenzo Xuares, Conde de la Coruña,
V. Viceroy of Mexico.
1580–1583.

Don Lorenzo Xuares, Conde de la Coruña, was appointed by the king, successor of Almanza, and made his triumphal entry into the city of Mexico on the evening of the 4th of October, 1580. The gay and affable character of this personage at once attracted the people and the colonial court; and in consequence of the rapidly increasing population, wealth, and luxury of New Spain, as well as from the unreserved demeanor of the viceroy, it was supposed that a golden age had arrived in the history of Mexico, which would forever signalize the administration of Xuares.

Perhaps the viceroy was too lenient and amiable for the task that had been imposed on him in America. The epoch of speculation and adventure had not yet passed by, and of course, the corruption which ever follows in their train required still to be closely watched and quickly checked. To this duty Xuares did not immediately address himself, and the result was that the oidores, the alcaldes, and all who administered justice, at once put themselves up to auction and sold their services, their favors, or their decisions to the highest bidder. Disorder reigned in every department, in the year following the arrival of Xuares; and even the royal revenues, which hitherto had generally remained sacred, were squandered or secreted by the persons to whose care and fidelity their collection was intrusted. The limitations which we have already seen were placed upon a viceroy's power in the time of Velasco, now tied the hands of Xuares. He could not dismiss or even suspend the defrauders of the revenue or the public wretches who prostituted their official power for gold. Nor was he, probably, unwilling to be deprived of a dangerous right which would have placed him in direct hostility to the army of speculators and jobbers. And yet it was necessary for the preservation of the colony that these evils should be quickly abated. In this political strait, concealing his intentions from the viceroyal court, he applied to Philip to send a Visitador with ample powers to readjust the disorganized realm.

The commerce of New Spain had augmented astonishingly within a few years. Vera Cruz and Acapulco had become splendid emporiums of wealth and trade. The east and the west poured their people into Mexico through these cities; and, in the capital, some of the most distinguished merchants of Europe, Asia, and Africa met every year, midway between Spain and China, to transact business and exchange opinions upon the growing facilities of an extended commerce. Peru and Mexico furnished the precious metals which were always so greedily demanded by the east. In 1581, Philip II., in view of this state of things in his colony, issued a royal order for the establishment in Mexico for a Tribunal de Consulado, [33] though, it was not, in fact, actually put in effective operation until the year 1593, under the administration of Velasco the Second. In the midsummer of 1582, the viceroy expired, probably of mingled anxiety and old age; and it was well for Mexico that he passed so rapidly from a stage in whose delicate drama, his years and his abilities altogether unfitted him to play so conspicuous a part.

Don Pedro Moya de Contreras,
Archbishop of Mexico, First Inquisitor and Visitador, and
VI. Viceroy of New Spain.
1583–1585.

Upon the death of Xuares, the Audiencia immediately assumed the direction of the state; but the members of this august tribunal were altogether ignorant of the demand made by the late viceroy for a Visitador, until Don Pedro de Contreras, placed in their hands the despatch from Philip, naming him for this important service.

The archbishop was a man well known in Mexico. Cold, austere, rigid in his demeanor and principles, he was the very man to be chosen for the dangerous duty of contending with a band of rich, proud and unscrupulous officials. His sacred character as arch-prelate of Mexico, was of no little use in such an exigency, for it gave him spiritual as well as temporal power over masses which might sometimes be swayed by their conscientious dread of the church, even when they could not be controlled by the arm of law. Besides this, he was the first Inquisitor of Mexico, and in the dreaded mysteries of the holy office, there was an overwhelming power before which the most daring offenders would not venture to rebel or intrigue.

It may be well imagined that the unexpected appearance of so formidable an ecclesiastic upon the state, armed with the sword as well as the cross, was well calculated to awe the profligate officials. The members of the Audiencia trembled when they read the royal order, for the archbishop knew them well, and had been long cognizant, not only of their own maladministration but of the irregularities they countenanced in others.

Don Pedro immediately undertook the discharge of his office, and in a few days, heard a great number of complaints against various individuals, but as he did not design proceeding with revengeful severity against even the most culpable, he resolved to report his proceedings to the king, and, in the meanwhile, to retain in office all persons who performed their duties faithfully whilst he put an end to the most flagrant abuses.

As soon as Philip II. heard, in 1584, of the death of Mendoza, he added the title and powers of viceroy to those already possessed by the archbishop, and, with his commission as royal representative, he sent him additional authority which had never been enjoyed by any of his predecessors. He was, thus, empowered to remove, at will, all persons from public employment, and even to expel ministers and oidores, as well as to visit with severe punishments all who deserved them. Under this ample discretion the viceroy removed some of the oidores, suspended others, hanged certain royal officers who had disgraced their trusts, and brought the tribunals of justice into perfect order. The king had proposed to bring the dispersed Indians into towns and villages so as to control them more effectually, but the viceroy, after consulting the priests who were best acquainted with that population, deemed it best to defer the execution of the royal order until he laid the objections to it before Philip. [34] In 1585, a seminary for the Indians was established, in which they were taught to read, write and comprehend the rudiments of the Catholic faith. This institution was under the charge of the Jesuits, whose zeal for education has been celebrated in the history of all countries into which this powerful and enlightened order of the priesthood has penetrated. A provincial council of American bishops, was, moreover, convened this year in Mexico under the auspices of Contreras.

Nor was the viceroy eager only to correct the civil and religious abuses of the country without attending to the fiscal advantages which he knew the king was always eager to secure from his colonies. In testimony of his zeal he despatched, at this period, a rich fleet for Spain. It bore three millions three hundred thousand ducats in coined silver, and one thousand one hundred marks in gold, together with a variety of other valuable products, all of which arrived safely in port.

The power of this vigorous ruler, as viceroy, continued, however, but for a single year. He was the scourge of officials in all classes, while the good men of the colony prayed heartily for the continuance of his authority; but it is probable that his rigor had excited against him the talents for intrigue which we have heretofore seen were sometimes so actively and successfully employed both in Mexico and Spain. In October of 1585, his successor arrived in the capital.

Don Alvaro Enrique de Zuñiga, Marques de Villa Manrique,
VII. Viceroy of Mexico.
1585–1589.

The arrival of the Marques de Villa Manrique was not designed to interfere with the functions of the archbishop and former viceroy Contreras, as Visitador. He was solicited to continue his plenary examination into the abuses of government in New Spain, and to clear the country of all malefactors before he retired once more to the cloisters. Accordingly, Don Pedro remained in Mexico some time discharging his duties, and it is probably owing to his presence that the first year of the new viceroy passed off in perfect peace. But in the succeeding year, in which the archbishop departed for Spain, his troubles began by a serious discussion with the Franciscans, Agustins and Dominicans, in which the monks at last appealed from the viceroy to the king. Before Contreras, the visitador, left Mexico he had managed to change all the judges composing the tribunals of the colony. The men he selected in their stead were all personally known to him or were appointed upon the recommendation of persons whose integrity and capacity for judgment were unquestionable.

This remarkable man died soon after his arrival in Madrid, where he had been appointed president of the Council of the Indies. Like all reformers he went to his grave poor; but when the king learned his indigence he took upon himself the costs of sepulture, and laid his colonial representative and bishop to the tomb in a manner befitting one who had exercised so great and beneficial an influence in the temporary reform of the New World. The sole stain upon the memory of Contreras is perhaps the fact that he was an inquisitor.

In 1587, the viceroy Zuñiga despatched a large amount of treasure to Spain. Enormous sums were drained annually from the colonies for the royal metropolis; but, in this year the fleet from Vera Cruz sailed with eleven hundred and fifty-six marks of gold, in addition to an immense amount of coined silver and merchandise of great value. These sums passed safely to the hands of the court; but such was not the case with all the precious freights that left the American coasts, for, at this period, the shores of our continent, on both oceans, began to swarm with pirates. The subjects of various European nations, but especially the English, were most active in enterprises which, in those days, were probably regarded more as privateering than as the bandit expeditions they have since been considered not only in morals but in law. In the year before, Cavendish had taken in the Pacific, a Spanish ship, which was bound from Manilla to Acapulco, with a rich cargo of wares from China; and, in this year, it was known that Drake, another noted adventurer, after making himself celebrated by the capture of San Agustin, in Florida, had sailed for the Pacific ocean, whose rich coasts, as well as the oriental traders, formed a tempting booty for the bucanier.

As soon as the viceroy heard of this piratical sailor's approach to the western boundary of his colony, he commanded the troops in Guadalajara to embark at Acapulco, under the orders of Doctor Palacios, in all the vessels which were then in port, and to scour the shores of America until the British marauder was captured. But, upon the commander's arrival at Acapulco, he was informed that the freebooter had already abandoned the west coast after sacking several towns, and that he had not been seen or heard of any where for a long period. Drake, meanwhile, was in concealment among the distant and unfrequented coves of California, in such a situation, however, that he could easily intercept the galeon, which passed every year from the Philipines to Mexico, laden with goods and metals of considerable value. In due time he pounced upon his unsuspecting prey; and, carrying her into a bay near the Cape of San Lucas, plundered her valuable cargo, and set fire to the deserted hull. The news of this mishap soon reached the ears of Palacios, who, of course, immediately set sail after the corsair. But Drake was already far on his way to a spot of safety in which he and his companions might enjoy the fruits of their piratical adventure.

This successful attack upon a vessel of so much importance to the colony,—for only one was annually permitted to cross the Pacific,—greatly troubled the people who depended upon its arrival for their yearly supply of oriental wares. But as soon as the general calm was gradually restored, an internal trouble arose which was well nigh proving of serious import to the viceroyalty. Zuñiga does not seem to have been contented with the jurisdiction which had hitherto been conceded to the viceroy, but, being anxious to extend his authority over certain towns and villages, under the control of the Audiencia of Guadalajara, he demanded of that body the surrender of their dominion. The Audiencia, however, was jealous of its rights, and would not yield to the viceroy who was equally pertinacious. The dispute ran high between the parties. Threats were used when diplomacy failed, and at length, the disputants reached, but did not pass, the verge of civil war, for, on both sides they seem to have ordered out troops, who, fortunately never actually engaged in combat.

This ill judged act of the viceroy was fatal to his power. Letters and petitions were forthwith despatched to Madrid requiring and begging the removal of a man whose rashness was near producing a civil war. This was a charge not to be disregarded by the king, and, accordingly, we find that a successor to Zuñiga was immediately named, and that the bishop of Tlascala was appointed visitador to examine the conduct of the deposed viceroy.

On the 17th of January, 1590, this prelate, who seems to have been originally inimical to Zuñiga, and who should therefore have disdained the office of his judge, ordered him to depart from Mexico. All the property of the late viceroy,—even the linen of his wife,—was sequestrated; the most harassing annoyances were constantly inflicted upon him; and, after six years, poor and worn down by unceasing trials, he returned to Spain, where the influence of his friends at court procured the restoration of his property.

CHAPTER V.
1589–1607.

Don Luis de Velasco,—the Second,—Conde de Santiago,
VIII. Viceroy of New Spain.
1589–1595.

Luis de Velasco, Count de Santiago, was the son of the second viceroy of New Spain, and during the administration of his father, as well as for some years afterwards, had resided in Mexico where he filled several offices, and especially that of corregidor of Zempoala. He was not on friendly terms with the last viceroy, Zuñiga, for he had suddenly quitted New Spain in the same vessel that brought his predecessor to America. Upon his arrival at the Spanish court he was sent as ambassador to Florence; and the exaggerated news of the supposed civil war in Mexico having been received just as he returned from his mission, Philip determined to send him back to New Spain. This decision was, no doubt, founded upon Velasco's intimate acquaintance with Mexico and its people, with whom his interests had been so long bound up that he might almost be regarded as a native of the country.

On the 25th of January, 1590, Velasco entered the capital with more pomp and rejoicing than had ever attended the advent of previous viceroys, for the Mexicans looked upon him as a countryman. As soon as he was seated in power his first acts demonstrated his good sense and mature judgment. His wish was to develope the country; to make not only its mineral and agricultural resources available to Spain, but to open the channels through which labor could obtain its best rewards. He therefore ordered the manufactories of coarse stuffs and cloths which had been established by Mendoza to be once more opened, after the long period in which the Spanish mercantile influence had kept them shut. This naturally produced an excitement among the interested foreign traders, but the viceroy firmly maintained his determination to punish severely any one who should oppose his decree.

In 1591, the troublesome Chichimecas, of whose disturbances we have already spoken in other chapters, again manifested a desire to attack the Spaniards. They were congregated in strongly armed bands in the neighborhood of Zacatecas, and menaced the Spanish population living in the neighborhood of the rich mines. Travellers could not pass through the country without a military escort. Strong garrisons had been placed by the government on the frontiers, and merciless war declared against them, but all was unavailing to stop their marauding expeditions among the whites. In this year, however, they sent commissioners to treat with the Spaniards in Mexico, and after confessing that they were tired of a war which they found useless, they consented to abstain from further molestation of the district, provided the viceroy would agree to furnish them with a sufficiency of meat for their support. Velasco of course consented to this demand of the cattle stealers, and, moreover, obtained their consent to the admission among them of a body of Tlascalans who would instruct them in a civil and christian mode of life. Four hundred families of these faithful friends of the Mexicans were selected for this colony; and, together with some Franciscan friars, they settled in four bodies so as to form an equal number of colonies. One of these settlements was made on the side of a rich mineral hill and took the name of San Luis Potosi,—the second formed San Miguel Mesqitic,—the third San Andres,—and the fourth Colotlan. Such was the origin of these towns, in which the two tribes lived for many years in perfect harmony, but without intermingling or losing their individuality.

Another attempt was also made, as had been done previously, to gather the dispersed bands of Mexican and Otomi Indians into villages and settlements, where they would gradually become accustomed to civilized life. Velasco, like his predecessor Moya, consulted with the curas and the people who were best acquainted with the temper of these races, and learned that they still opposed humane efforts for civilization, preferring the vagabond life they had so long led and which had now become necessary and natural. Nevertheless he thought it his duty to try the experiment. But the first Otomi who was reduced to the necessity of abandoning his nomadic habits and building for himself a regular habitation, not only destroyed his wife and children, but terminated his own existence by hanging. The viceroy then suspended his operations and reported the untoward result, together with the opinion of his advisers, to the court of Spain.

Velasco, ever anxious not only for the amelioration of the condition of the Indians, but for the embellishment of the capital which was now growing into considerable importance, caused the Alameda of Mexico to be laid out and planted in 1593, for the recreation of the citizens. This magnificent grove, with its beautifully shaded avenues and walks,—embellished by fountains and filled with every thing that can give repose or comfort to the fatigued people who are anxious to steal off awhile from the toil and bustle of a large city,—still exists in Mexico as an evidence of the taste and liberality of the viceroy, and will be more particularly described, hereafter, in that portion of this work which treats of the city of Mexico, and of the manners and customs of its inhabitants.

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In 1594, Philip the Second finding himself straitened for means to carry on the European wars in which he was engaged, recurred to the unfortunate and unjust system of forced loans to increase his revenue. He did not confine himself in this odious compulsory tax to the old world which was most concerned in the result of his wars, but instructed Velasco to impose a tribute of four reales or fifty cents upon Indians, in addition to the sum they already paid his majesty. Velasco reluctantly undertook the unwelcome task; but anxious to lighten the burden upon the natives as much as possible, and, at the same time, to foster the raising of poultry and cattle among these people, he compounded the whole tax of a dollar which they were obliged to pay, for seven reales, or eighty-seven and a half cents and one fowl, which, at that time, was valued at a single real, or twelve and a half cents. This, it will be perceived, was amiably designed by the viceroy, but became immediately the subject of gross abuse. The Indians are slowly moved either to new modes of cultivation or to new objects of care, even of the most domestic and useful character. Instead of devoting themselves to the raising of poultry with the industrious thrift that would have saved one-eighth of their taxation or twelve and a half per cent, they allowed the time to pass without providing the required bird in their homesteads, so that when the tax gatherer arrived they were forced to buy the fowl instead of selling it. This of course raised the price, and the consequence was that the Indian was obliged often to pay two or three reales more than the original amount of the whole taxation of one dollar! It is related that one of the oidores who had taken eight hundred fowls, reserved two hundred for the consumption of his house, and through an agent sold the rest at three reales, or thirty-seven and a half cents each, by which he contrived to make a profit of two hundred per cent. Various efforts were made to remedy this shameful abuse or to revoke the decree, but the system was found to be too profitable among the officials, to be abandoned without a severe struggle. We are unable to discover that the viceroy, in this instance, used his authority to restore the Indians to their original rights.

In 1595, it was determined to colonize the supposed kingdom of Quivara, which now received the name of New Mexico, but, before the expedition could set forth under the command of Juan de Oñate, Velasco received a despatch informing him that he had been named viceroy of Peru, and that his successor Don Gaspar de Zuñiga Acebedo, Conde de Monterey, would soon appear in the colonial metropolis.

Don Gaspar de Zuñiga Acebedo, Conde de Monterey,
IX. Viceroy of New Spain.
1595–1603.

The Count of Monterey arrived at San Juan de Ulua on the 18th of September, 1595, and on the 5th of the following November, entered the capital as viceroy. At first he exhibited a cold and apathetic temper, and appeared to take but little interest in the affairs of the government; but it is supposed, that being a prudent and cautious man, he was in no haste to undertake the direction of affairs whilst he was altogether unacquainted both with the temper of the people and the nature of their institutions. An early measure, however, of his administration deserves to be recorded and remembered. He found the Indians still suffering and complaining under the odious fowl tax, created by his predecessor for the protection of domestic industry, but which had been perverted for the 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 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 uncontrolled 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 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 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.

Don Luis Velasco,—the Second,—Conde de Santiago and
First Marques de Salinas,
XI. Viceroy of Mexico. His Second Administration.
1607–1611.

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. [35] 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.

The valley of Mexico is a great basin, which although seven thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea, and of course subject to constant and rapid evaporation, is yet exceedingly humid for so elevated a region. No stream, except the small arroyo, or rivulet of Tequisquiac, issues from the valley, whilst the rivers Papalotla, Tezcoco, Teotihuacan, Guadalupe, Pachuca and Guautitlan pour into it and form the five lakes of Chalco, Xochimilco, Tezcoco, San Cristoval and Zumpango. "These lakes rise by stages as they approach the northern extremity of the valley; the waters of Tezcoco, being, in their ordinary state, four Mexican varas and eight inches lower than the waters of the lake of San Cristoval, which again, are six varas lower than the waters of the lake Zumpango, which forms the northernmost link of this dangerous chain. The level of Mexico in 1803 was exactly one vara, one foot and one inch above that of the lake of Tezcoco, [36] and, consequently, was nine varas and five inches lower than that of the lake of Zumpango; a disproportion, the effects of which have been more severely felt because the lake of Zumpango receives the tributary streams of the river Guautitlan, whose volume is more considerable than that of all the other rivers which enter the valley combined.

"In the inundations to which this peculiarity in the formation of the valley of Mexico has given rise, a similar succession of events has been always observed. The lake of Zumpango, swollen by the rapid increase of the river Guautitlan during the rainy season, forms a junction with that of San Cristoval, and the waters of the two combined burst the dykes which separate them from the lake of Tezcoco. The waters of this last again, raised suddenly more than a vara above their usual level, and prevented from extending themselves to the east and south-east, by the rapid rise of the ground in that direction, rush back towards the capital and fill the streets which approach nearest to their own level. This was the case in the years 1553, 1580, 1604 and 1607, in each of which years the capital was entirely under water, and the dykes which had been constructed for its protection destroyed." [37]

Such is a topographical sketch of the country accurately given by a careful writer; and to protect an important region so constantly menaced with inundation, the viceroy now addressed himself. Accordingly he commissioned the engineer Enrique Martinez, in 1607 to attempt the drainage of the lake of Zumpango, by the stupendous canal now known under the name of the Desague de Huehuetoca.

"The plan of Martinez appears to have embraced two distinct objects, the first of which extended to the lakes of Tezcoco and San Cristoval, while the second was confined to the lake of Zumpango whose superfluous waters were to be carried into the valley of Tula by a subterraneous canal into which the river Guautitlan was likewise compelled to flow. The second of these projects only was approved by the government; and the line of the canal having been traced by Martinez between the Cerro or hill of Sincoque and the hill of Nochistongo to the north-west of Huehuetoca, where the mountains that surrounded the valley are less elevated than in any other spot,—the great subterraneous gallery of Nochistongo was commenced on the 28th of November, 1607. Fifteen thousand Indians were employed in this work, and as a number of air shafts were sunk, in order to enable them to work upon the different points at once, in eleven months a tunnel of six thousand six hundred metres [38] in length, three metres five in breadth and four metres two in height, was concluded.

"From the northern extremity of this tunnel called la boca de San Gregorio, an open cut of eight thousand six hundred metres conducted the waters to the salto or fall of the river Tula, where, quitting the valley of Mexico, they precipitate themselves into that of Tula, from a natural terrace of twenty Mexican varas in height, and take their course towards the bar of Tampico where they enter the gulf of Mexico. An enterprise of such magnitude could hardly be free from defects, and Martinez soon discovered that the unbaked bricks, of which the interior of the tunnel was composed, were unable to resist the action of water, which, being confined within narrow limits, was at times impelled through the tunnel with irresistible violence. A facing of wood proved equally ineffectual, and masonry was at last resorted to; but even this, though successful for a time, did not answer permanently, because the engineer, instead of an elliptical arch, constructed nothing but a sort of vault, the sides of which rested upon a foundation of no solidity. The consequence was that the walls were gradually undermined by the water, and that the vault itself in many parts fell in.

"This accident rendered the government indifferent to the fate of the gallery which was neglected, and finally abandoned in the year 1623, when a Dutch engineer, named Adrian Boot, induced the viceroy to resume the old system of dyke and embankments, and to give orders for closing the tunnel of Nochistongo. A sudden rise in the lake of Tezcoco caused these orders to be revoked, and Martinez was again allowed to proceed with his works which he continued until the 20th of June, 1629, when an event took place, the real causes of which have never been ascertained."

"The rainy season having set in with unusual violence, Martinez, either desirous to convince the inhabitants of the capital of the utility of his gallery, or fearful, as he himself stated, that the fruits of his labor would be destroyed by the entrance of too great a volume of water, closed the mouth of the tunnel, without communicating to any one his intention to do so. The effect was instantaneous; and, in one night, the whole town of Mexico was laid under water, with the exception of the great square, and one of the suburbs. In all the other streets the water rose upwards of three feet, and during five years, from 1629 to 1634, canoes formed the only medium of communication between them. The foundations of many of the principal houses were destroyed; trade was paralyzed; the lower classes reduced to the lowest state of misery; and orders were actually given by the court of Madrid to abandon the town and build a new capital in the elevated plains between Tacuba and Tacubaya, to which the waters of the lakes, even before the conquest, had never been known to extend.

"The necessity of this measure was obviated by a succession of earthquakes in the dry year of 1634, when the valley was cracked and rent in various directions, and the waters gradually disappeared; a miracle for which due credit should be given to the Virgin of Guadalupe, by whose powerful intercession it is said to have been effected.

"Martinez, who had been thrown into confinement in 1629, was released upon the termination of the evils which his imprudence was said to have occasioned; and was again placed by a new viceroy,—the Marques de Cerralvo,—at the head of the works by which similar visitations were to be averted in future. Under his superintendence the great dyke, or Calzada of San Cristoval was put in order, [39] by which the lake of that name is divided from that of Tezcoco. This gigantic work which consists of two distinct masses, the first, one league, and the second, one thousand five hundred varas in length, is ten varas in width or thickness throughout, and from three and a half to four varas in height. It is composed entirely of stone, with buttresses of solid masonry on both sides, and three sluices, by which, in any emergency, a communication between the lakes can be effected and regulated at the same time. The whole was concluded, like the gallery of Nochistongo, in eleven months, although as many years would now be required for such an undertaking. But in those days the sacrifice of life, and particularly of Indian life, in public works, was not regarded. Many thousands of the natives perished before the desague was completed; and to their loss, as well as to the hardships endured by the survivors, may be ascribed the horror with which the name of Huehuetoca is pronounced by their descendants.

"It is not our intention to follow the progress of the canal of Huehuetoca through all the various changes which occurred in the plans pursued with respect to it from 1637, when the direction of the work was again taken from Martinez and confided to the Franciscan monks, until 1767, when, under the viceroyalty of the Marques de Croix, the Consulado or corporate body of Mexican merchants, engaged to complete this great national undertaking. The necessity of converting the tunnel of Martinez into an open cut, had long been acknowledged, it having been found impossible to prevent the tunnel from being continually choked up by the sand and rubbish deposited by the water on its passage; but as the work was only prosecuted with vigor when the danger of an inundation became imminent, and was almost suspended in the dry years, two thousand three hundred and ten varas of the northern gallery remained untouched, after the expiration of one hundred and thirty years when the Consulado was intrusted with the completion of the arduous task. As the old line of the gallery was to be preserved, it became necessary to give the cut which was to be sunk, perpendicularly upon it, an enormous width at the top, in order to prevent the sides from falling in; and in the more elevated parts, between the mountains of Sincoque and the hill of Nochistongo, for the space of two thousand six hundred and twenty-four feet, the width, across, varies from two hundred and seventy-eight to six hundred and thirty feet, while the perpendicular depth is from one hundred and forty-seven to one hundred and ninety-six feet. The whole length of the cut from the sluice called the vertideros to the salto or fall of the river Tula, is sixty-seven thousand five hundred and thirty-seven feet or twenty-four thousand five hundred and thirty Mexican varas. The highest point of the hill of Nochistongo is that called Boveda Real, and it would be difficult when looking down from it, upon the stream below, and, following with the eye the vast opening through which it seeks an issue, to conceive that the whole is, indeed, the work of man, did not the mounds on either side, as yet but imperfectly covered with vegetation, and the regular outline of the terraces, denote both the recentness of its completion, and the impossibility of attributing it to any natural convulsion.

"The Obra del Consulado, as the opening cut is called, was concluded in the year 1789. It cost nearly a million of dollars; and the whole expense of the drainage from 1607 to the beginning of the present century, including the various projects commenced and abandoned when only partially executed,—the dykes connected with the desague,—and the two canals which communicate with the lakes of San Cristoval and Zumpango,—is estimated at six millions two hundred and forty-seven thousand six hundred and seventy dollars, or one million two hundred and forty-nine thousand five hundred and thirty-four pounds. It is supposed that one-third of this sum would have proved sufficient to cover all the expenses, had Martinez been furnished in the first instance with the means of executing his project upon the scale which he had judged necessary; for it is in the reduced dimensions of the gallery of Nochistongo, which was never equal to the volume of water to which at particular seasons it afforded an outlet, that all the subsequent expenditure has originated." [40]

*****

We have judged it better to group together in this place all the facts relative to this most important national work,—so as to afford the reader a complete picture of the undertaking,—than to relate the slow and tedious history of the work as it advanced to completion during the reigns of many viceroys. The present condition of the desague and its advantages will be treated in another portion of this work; and we shall therefore revert at once to the year 1609, in which a large number of negroes rebelled against the Spaniards. It seems that the blacks in the neighborhood of Cordova, who were in fact slaves on many of the hiciendas or plantations, having been treated, in an inhuman manner by their owners, rose against them in great force, and gathering together in the adjacent mountains menaced their tyrannical task-masters with death, and their property with ruin. Velasco sent one hundred soldiers, one hundred volunteers, one hundred Indian archers, together with two hundred Spaniards and Mestizos, to attack them in their fastnesses. Several skirmishes took place between the slaves and these forces, and at length the negroes yielded to the Spaniards,—craving their pardon, inasmuch as their "insurrection was not against the king,"—and promising that they would no longer afford a refuge to the blacks who absconded from the plantations. Velasco at once granted their request, and permitted them to settle in the town of San Lorenzo.

In 1610 and 1611, there were but few important incidents in the history of New Spain, which was now gradually forming itself into a regularly organized state, free from all those violent internal commotions, which nations, like men, are forced to undergo in their infancy. The viceroy still endeavored to ameliorate the condition of the Indians, and despatched a mission to Japan in order to extend the oriental commerce of Spain. The true policy of Castile would have been, instead of crushing Mexico by colonial restrictions, to have raised her gradually into a gigantic state, which, situated in the centre of America, on the narrowest part of the continent between the two oceans, and holding in her veins the precious metals in exhaustless quantities, would have surely grasped and held the commerce of the east and of Europe. Such would seem the natural destiny of Mexico if we examine her geographical features carefully; nor do we venture too much in predicting that the time will come when that destiny will be fulfilled.

Velasco was now well stricken in years and required repose. His master, appreciating his faithful services and his unquestionable loyalty, added to his already well earned titles that of Marques of Salinas, and creating him president of the Council of the Indies recalled him to Spain where he could pass in quiet the evening of his days, whilst he was also enabled to impart the results of his vast American experience to the king and court.

Fray Garcia Guerra, Archbishop of Mexico,
XII. Viceroy of New Spain.
1611–1612.

Velasco, as an especial mark of royal favor, was desired to retain his power as viceroy until the moment of embarkation for Spain, and then to depose it in favor of the monk Garcia Guerra, who had been the worthy prior of a Dominican convent at Burgos in Spain, until he was nominated to the Archepiscopal See of Mexico. His government was brief and altogether eventless. He became viceroy on the 17th of June, 1611, and died on the 22d of February in the following year, of a wound he received in falling as he descended from his coach.

Don Diego Fernandez de Cordova,
Marques de Guadalcazar,
XIII. Viceroy of New Spain.
1612–1621.

Upon the death of the last viceroy, the Audiencia, of course, took possession of the government during the interregnum;—and, as it seems that this body of men was always doomed to celebrate its authority by acts of folly or cruelty, we find that soon after its accession to power the city was alarmed by the news of another outbreak among the negroes. The people were panic struck. A terrible noise had been heard in the streets of the metropolis during the night, and, although it was proved that the disturbance was entirely caused by the entrance, during the darkness, of a large drove of hogs, the Audiencia determined, nevertheless, to appease public opinion by the execution of twenty-nine male negroes and four negro women! Their withered and fetid bodies were left to hang on the gallows, tainting the air and shocking the eyes of every passer, until the neighborhood could no longer bear the sickly stench and imperiously demanded their removal.

*****

The Marques de Guadalcazar took possession of the viceroyalty on the 28th of October, 1612, and his government passed in quiet engaged in the mere ordinary discharge of executive duties during the first four years, subsequent to which an Indian insurrection of a formidable character broke out in one of the departments, under a chief who styled himself "Son of the Sun and God of Heaven and Earth." This assault was fatal to every Spaniard within reach of the infuriate natives, who broke into the churches, murdered the whites seeking sanctuary at their altars, and spared not even the ecclesiastics, who, in all times, have so zealously proved themselves to be the defenders of their race. Don Gaspar Alvear, Governor of Durango, assembled a large force as soon as the viceroy informed him of the insurrection, and marched against the savages. After three months of fighting, executions and diplomacy, this functionary succeeded in suffocating the rebellion; but he was probably more indebted, for the final reconciliation of the Indians, to the persuasive talents of the Jesuits who accompanied the expedition, than to the arms of his soldiers.

The remaining years of this viceroyalty are only signalized by the founding of the city of Cordova,—whose neighborhood is renowned for the excellent tobacco it produces,—and for the construction of the beautiful aqueduct of San Cosmé which brings the sweet waters of Santa Fé to the capital. This monument to the intelligence and memory of Guadalcazar was completed in 1620; and, in March, 1621, the viceroy was removed to the government of Peru.