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tyrannical visitadores having been divested of power, the audiencia resumed the reins of government, and profiting by past experience adopted a mild policy which gradually allayed public fears. With restored confidence the people returned to their vocations, and soon nothing was left to remind them of the late horrors but the black dungeons of Muñoz and the pillar on the salt-sown ground where Alonso de Ávila's house had stood. This happy state of things continued until the arrival of the fourth viceroy. Previous to the coming of this official, however, there was quite a flutter of excitement at the capital, owing to the seizure of the island of Sacrificios, opposite the castle of San Juan de Ulua, by the famous English corsair, John Hawkins, with nine armed ships, on the 14th of September, 1568. Hawkins surprised the garrison and captured the fort. Among the prisoners were the king's treasurer and factor. He then removed the artillery and

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