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668 unfrequently farmed out, but at the auctions at which they were sold frauds were as repeatedly committed as at the sales of other royalties.

In conclusion, with respect to tithes I may add that almost every article of produce or consumption from silk and cacao to lentils and pot-herbs was thus taxed, and that the Spanish colonists frequently endeavored to avoid the payment on certain productions, but, under the pressure of the united interests of church and state, their attempts were generally defeated. Nor did the religious orders escape. In 1655 and 1657 the society of Jesus were condemned to pay tithes on all crops and productions of their estates.

No sooner had the conquest of Mexico been accomplished than the necessity of a numismatic system of exchange became apparent. Previous to the arrival of the Spaniards trade had been mostly carried on by barter, and cacao beans and other articles were used as