Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 1.djvu/252

236 the several provinces of the viceroyalty the Indian tributes were collected through the intervention of one hundred and forty-nine chief alcaldes who governed them, and who, before they took possession of their offices, were required to give security for the tribute taxed within their jurisdiction. The frontier provinces of this vast territory, inhabited only by garrisons, and a few scattered colonists, were exempt from this odious charge. In all the various sections of the nation, however, the Indians were accurately enumerated. Two natives were taxed together, in order to facilitate the collection by making both responsible, and, every four months from this united pair, six reales were collected, making in all eighteen in the course of the year. This gross tax of two dollars and twenty-five cents was divided as follows: eight reales were taxed as tribute;—four for the royal service;—four and a half as commutation for a half fanega of corn which was due to the royal granary;—half a real for the royal hospital, in which the Indians were lodged when ill; another half real for the costs of their law suits; and, finally, the remaining half real for the construction of cathedrals:

In 1748, the Count Revilla-Gigedo, in conformity to the orders of the king, and after consultation in general meeting with the officers of various tribunals, determined to lay the foundation of a grand colony in the north, under the guidance of Colonel José Escandon, who was forthwith appointed governor. This decree, together with an account of the privileges and lands which would be granted to colonists, was extensively published, and, in a few years, a multitude of families and single emigrants founded eleven villages of Spaniards and mulattoes between Alta-Mira and Camargo. The Indians who were gathered in this neighborhood composed four missions; and, although it was found impossible to clear the harbor of Santander, or to render it capable of receiving vessels of deep draft, the government was nevertheless enabled to found several flourishing villages which were vigilant in the protection of the coast against pirates.

In 1749 the crops were lost in many of the provinces where the early frost blighted the fields of corn and fruit. The crowded capital and its neighborhood, fortunately, did not experience the want of food, which in other regions of the tierra adentro amounted to absolute famine. The people believed that the frown of Heaven was upon the land,—for, to this calamity, repeated earthquakes were added, and the whole region, from the volcano of Colima to