Ch. i. south AMERICA. 2.9.5 



known from ocular inspection. So that we have suf- 

 ficient reason for warranting the truth of the contents 

 of this histoi'y. 



The large province of Quito, at the time when the 

 Spaniards first settled in it, Vv'as annexed to the king- 

 dom of Peru, and continued so till the year 17 18, 

 when a new viceroyalty being erected at Santa Fé de 

 Bogota, the capital of the new kingdom of Granada, 

 it was dismembered from Peru, and annexed to Gra- 

 nada.' At the same time the audience of Quito was 

 suppressed, together with that of Panama, in the king- 

 dom of Terra Firma ; though the latter continued de- 

 pcjident on the viceroys of Lima. The intention in 

 this frugal scheme was, that the salaries of the great 

 number of officers in both, which ceased on this aboli- 

 tion, should be applied to the support of the new vice- 

 royalty, in order to prevent any additional burden on 

 the royal revenue; a consequence otherwise unavoida- 

 ble. But experience has shown the impropriety and 

 insufficiency of this measure ; and that the tribunals 

 abolished were of indispensable necessity in their re- 

 spective cities ; an insupportable detriment resulting 

 to the inhabitants from the vast distance of the au- 

 diences assigned them ; which were, Lima for the 

 kingdom of Terra Firma, and those of the province 

 of Quito were to apply for ji-.stice to the audience of 

 Santa Fé. And as the amount of all the salaries 

 suppressed, besides the prejudicing many families, was 

 not sufficient to support the dignity of a viceroy, new 

 ideas succeeded ; and rather than keep it up at the 

 expense of the royal revenue, the viceroyalty was 

 suppressed, and things placed again on their antient 

 footing in the year 1722: the officers were restored to 

 their former posts which they had so worthiiy filled, 

 and the audiences have continued the same as before. 

 But the motives for erecting a new vicero)aky at 

 Santa Fé, being confessedly of the greatest importance, 

 its resdtution was again brought on the carpet i and 



U 4 the 



