Page:Young Folks History Of Mexico.pdf/401

 Rh containing the valuable records of events since the conquest. The authorities retaliated by hanging the leaders of the mob, and depriving the lower classes of their favorite beverage, the pulque. It was estimated that property to the amount of at least three millions of dollars was destroyed in the conflagration.

[A. D. 1694.] The year 1693 was one of plenty, but was followed by another of scarcity, and by a plague that destroyed thousands, while in 1695 an earthquake caused the inhabitants of the city of Mexico to shake with dread. Another expedition was fitted out in this last year for the complete expulsion of the French from Hispaniola, in which the English and Spanish, acting in unison, were perfectly successful. Pirates and privateers multiplied so fast that the sailors of Spain were in danger in whatever waters they sailed. Especially did the foreign freebooters covet the treasure-laden galleons that made annual voyages in fleets to Spain. The French at one time, in the year 1696, lay in wait near Havana to intercept the fleet of that year when it should pass on its way from Vera Cruz to the mother country. They were disappointed, however, for the Spanish authorities, getting notice of this enemy in ambush, delayed the fleet from spring till autumn. The French, thinking their coveted prize must have escaped them, sailed for Europe, where they later learned, to their great chagrin, that the galleons had arrived safely in Cadiz, and the duties alone on their cargoes amounted to nearly half a million dollars.

In the year 1696 another owner of an illustrious name was appointed viceroy of Mexico, Don José Sarmiento Valladeres, Count of Montezuma. He was not a descendant of the great Indian king, but acquired his title by marriage with the fourth grand-daughter of the Aztec emperor, the third Countess of Montezuma.