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228 who was unprepared, either with men or provisions to resist the invaders. In the following month the garrison and missionaries of Texas returned hastily to Coahuila, and apprised the viceroy of their flight for safety. But that functionary saw at once the necessity of strengthening the frontier. Levies were, therefore, immediately made. Munitions were despatched to the north. And five hundred men, divided into eight companies, marched forthwith to re-establish the garrisons and missions under the command of the Marques San Miguel de Aguayo, the new governor of Florida and Texas.

Notwithstanding the hostilities between France and Spain, and the eager watchfulness of the fleets and privateers of the former nations, the galeons of New Spain, reached Cadiz in 1721, with a freight of eleven millions of dollars! The years 1722 and 1723 were signalized by some outbreaks among the Indians which were successfully quelled by the colonial troops; and, in October, the Duke of Arion, who had controlled New Spain for six years, was succeeded by the Marques of Casa-Fuerte, a general of artillery. He entered Mexico amid the applauses of the people not only because he was a creole or native of America, but for the love that was borne him by Philip the Fifth, who well knew the services for which the crown was indebted to so brave a warrior.