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410 under the orders of a Royal officer; which fleets only sailed from Seville or Cadiz once, in a term of four years.

The intercourse with Europe, which, as infinitely the most important, I shall make the first subject of my enquiries, was managed, during this period, almost entirely by a few great houses, (established in the City of Mexico,) which bought up the cargoes of the Register ships at the Fair, which was then held at Jalapa, on the arrival of the Fleet, and afterwards regulated, at their pleasure, the retail price of the different importations from Europe, which they disposed of to the merchants of the Interior.

In 1778, an important change occurred. The abolition of the Register ships, and the freedom of communication allowed with most of the principal ports of the Peninsula, put an end to the exclusive monopoly of Mexico, and induced a number of Spanish capitalists to establish themselves at Veracruz, which continued to be, under the new system, what it had been under the old, viz: the only port of entry on the Atlantic side of the Mexican dominions.

These new houses, which were either branches of other houses in Spain, or agents, or importers at their own risk, soon engrossed the whole trade.

The Capital, (with the exception of what was actually consumed there,) became a mere place of transit: the fair of Jălāpă was discontinued, and the wholesale dealers, (who multiplied rapidly in the