Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/31

Rh The value of either plan was disputed till Viceroy Gelves, in 1623, caused the tunnel to be closed in order to test the effect of the Quauhtitlan and Pachuca tributaries on Zumpango Lake and consequently on the Tezcuco. The rise proved considerable, and in December came unexpected rains which so increased it that the city was endangered, and the Huehuetoca tunnel had again to be opened; and work was renewed upon it in accordance with a neglected royal decree of 1516, although not without much discussion and numerous reports.

In 1609 occurred a serious revolt among the negroes in the Vera Cruz district. Tired of their masters' yoke, a number of slaves had escaped from different towns and plantations, to unite with their free brethren near the present town of Córdoba, and ensconce themselves among the rugged hills in that vicinity, whence they would pounce upon travellers and settlements. Their leader was an aged man named Yanga, who for thirty years had been seeking to stir his race to united action against the colonists. The raids had been endured for some time, attended by the defeat of escorts and improvised troops, under cruel circumstances; but finally the insecurity of the road to Mexico called for stringent measures against the bands, which were growing both in number and daring. Pedro Gonzalez de Herrera of Puebla was commissioned to subdue them, and set forth toward the end of January 1609 with one hundred soldiers, as many volunteers, and a number of native archers, to whom some two