Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/660

640 ordered a mail vessel to be despatched every four months to Spain, touching at Habana to take on board Cuban correspondence. From this time knavish mismanagement kept pace with the increase of public requirement and yielded corresponding profits. The eyes of viceroys, both good and bad, were not closed to this state of affairs, and in 1765 the crown assumed the administration of the mail service, and greatly increased its facilities.

Having presented a general sketch of the external commerce of New Spain, it remains to give some account of the methods of conducting internal traffic. Trade in the interior was facilitated by the establishment of fairs held at certain seasons of the year at various trading centres. Notable among these assemblages for the purposes of traffic were the fairs held at Acapulco, Jalapa, and San Juan de los Lagos. Activity in trade was and still is greatly stimulated