Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/184

168 From the time of the removal of the episcopal seat to Valladolid the progress of the city was steady; and though not situated near any of the great commercial highways, its population so increased, owing to the general prosperity of the province, that at the beginning of the eighteenth century the number of families there was some five thousand. At this time Michoacan had become one of the largest and most important divisions of New Spain, its principal wealth being derived from its prolific soil, which yielded two crops annually. It was during this century that the

province underwent a great physical convulsion. In the department of Ario, in the southern portion of the territory, extends a vast plain of wonderful fruitfulness, occupied by rich plantations of cotton, indigo, and sugar-cane. Here was situated the hacienda of San Pedro de Jorullo, famous throughout Michoacan for its size, value, and productiveness. On this estate