Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/170

150 arranging for religious instruction, besides destroying idols and repressing pagan rites. The labor squads should receive special training, and Le made to join every morning in prayers accompanied by an admonition.

Encomienda Indians could not be taken to work in the mines, or to places very remote from their villages. For such purposes slaves were employed, consisting of those who had been originally so held by the natives, or who had been condemned to slavery for rebellion. We have seen how large were the numbers captured and branded after the reduction of every obstinate province and city; quarrels being frequently forced upon the natives by greedy captains in order to obtain an excuse for increasing the number of slaves. Even this was not enough, however, and either under pretence of purchase or intimidation the caciques were made to surrender the slaves held by them. Frequently the chiefs did not possess either sufficient slaves or treasures to appease the demand made, and to save themselves from persecution they gave into bondage free subjects. Others were entrapped into borrowing, or to the commission of petty offences, and held as slaves in expiation. They were not only branded, but treated with far greater severity than