Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/201

Rh out from Mexico, but on reaching Tepeaca his wife fell sick and died. Her funeral was held on the 28th of April in the cathedral of Mexico by the archbishop, and Mancera sailed from Vera Cruz the 3d of July. His rule had lasted more than nine years and had materially changed for the better the aspect of affairs in New Spain.

Almost two hundred years had now elapsed since the discovery of the New World, when the services of the great navigator were again acknowledged by exalting one of his descendants to the viceroyalty of New Spain. Pedro Nuño Colon de Portugal, duque de Veraguas y de la Vega, marqués, de Jamaica, a grandee of Spain of the first class, and knight of the golden fleece, was appointed as the twenty-sixth representative of the sovereign of Castile and Leon. On the 26th of September 1673 he arrived at Vera Cruz, and on the 8th of December made his official entry into Mexico, taking possession of the government. He was well advanced in years, and in a few days died, that is to say on the 13th, and so suddenly that not even the last sacraments could be administered. His death brought much grief, for he was said to be kind and benevolent, and the steps taken by him to alleviate the condition of the natives seemed to justify the opinion. The obsequies were held with the pomp becoming his illustrious rank, and three years later the remains were taken to the family vault.