﻿456 
  ANNUAL 
  EEPOET 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  the 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  invaders 
  and 
  finally 
  turned 
  the 
  battle 
  definitely 
  in 
  

   favor 
  of 
  Christianity. 
  

  

  Friar 
  Toribio 
  de 
  Benevente, 
  commonly 
  called 
  Motolinia, 
  arrived 
  at 
  

   Vera 
  Cruz 
  in 
  May, 
  1524, 
  and 
  his 
  "History 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  of 
  New 
  

   Spain" 
  was 
  finished 
  in 
  1541.* 
  He 
  draws 
  a 
  tremendous 
  picture 
  of 
  

   events 
  and 
  conditions 
  which 
  reduced 
  the 
  native 
  population 
  by 
  com- 
  

   paring 
  Ten 
  Plagues 
  of 
  New 
  Spain 
  with 
  the 
  biblical 
  Ten 
  Plagues 
  of 
  

   Egypt. 
  I 
  can 
  not 
  give 
  the 
  gist 
  of 
  depopulation 
  better 
  than 
  by 
  using 
  

   the 
  words 
  of 
  this 
  priest: 
  

  

  God 
  smote 
  and 
  chastized 
  this 
  land 
  and 
  those 
  who 
  found 
  themselves 
  in 
  it, 
  natives 
  

   as 
  well 
  as 
  strangers, 
  with 
  10 
  burdensome 
  plagues. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  was 
  smallpox, 
  and 
  it 
  commenced 
  in 
  this 
  manner. 
  Hernando 
  Cortes 
  

   was 
  captain 
  and 
  governor 
  when 
  Captain 
  Panfilo 
  de 
  Narvaez 
  disembarked 
  here, 
  

   and 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  ships 
  came 
  a 
  negro 
  suffering 
  from 
  smallpox, 
  a 
  disease 
  never 
  before 
  

   seen 
  in 
  this 
  land. 
  Then 
  this 
  New 
  Spain 
  was 
  full 
  of 
  people 
  to 
  the 
  extreme 
  and 
  as 
  

   the 
  smallpox 
  began 
  to 
  catch 
  among 
  the 
  Indians 
  there 
  was 
  so 
  great 
  a 
  malady 
  and 
  

   pestilence 
  among 
  them 
  everywhere 
  that 
  in 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  provinces 
  over 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  

   people 
  died 
  and 
  in 
  others 
  scarcely 
  less. 
  

  

  Eleven 
  years 
  later 
  came 
  a 
  Spaniard 
  with 
  measles 
  which 
  passed 
  from 
  him 
  to 
  

   the 
  Indians 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  g^j^^j 
  many 
  died. 
  

  

  Motolinia 
  then 
  gives 
  other 
  "plagues," 
  the 
  second 
  being 
  the 
  heavy 
  

   mortality 
  at 
  the 
  taking 
  of 
  Tenochtitlan 
  ; 
  the 
  third, 
  the 
  famine 
  which 
  

   resulted 
  from 
  the 
  widespread 
  warfare 
  ; 
  the 
  fourth, 
  the 
  abuses 
  of 
  over- 
  

   seers 
  in 
  the 
  towns 
  given 
  in 
  vassalage; 
  the 
  fifth, 
  the 
  heavy 
  tributes; 
  

   the 
  sixth, 
  the 
  tremendous 
  abuses 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  mines; 
  the 
  

   seventh, 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  Mexico 
  City 
  by 
  forced 
  labor; 
  the 
  eighth, 
  

   the 
  trafl&c 
  in 
  branded 
  slaves; 
  the 
  ninth, 
  the 
  abuses 
  of 
  transportation 
  

   with 
  Indians 
  as 
  human 
  beasts 
  of 
  burden; 
  and 
  the 
  tenth, 
  the 
  factional 
  

   warfare 
  among 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  themselves 
  with 
  Indians 
  bearing 
  the 
  

   brunt 
  of 
  fighting. 
  

  

  The 
  charges 
  of 
  Motolinia 
  were 
  those 
  of 
  a 
  contemporary 
  witness, 
  

   and 
  they 
  are 
  borne 
  out 
  by 
  legal 
  papers 
  against 
  Cortes, 
  Alvarado, 
  

   etc., 
  and 
  by 
  such 
  native 
  documents 
  as 
  the 
  Codex 
  Kingsborough. 
  

   The 
  juggernaut 
  drama 
  was 
  reenacted 
  in 
  Colombia 
  and 
  Peru. 
  

  

  ON 
  THE 
  RECOVERY 
  OF 
  INDIAN 
  POPULATIONS 
  

  

  The 
  great 
  and 
  sudden 
  falling 
  ojff 
  in 
  the 
  Indian 
  population 
  during 
  

   epochs 
  of 
  conquest 
  must 
  be 
  considered 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  increase 
  or 
  

   recovery, 
  which 
  in 
  some 
  regions 
  has 
  been 
  notable. 
  In 
  the 
  United 
  

   States 
  perhaps 
  the 
  most 
  remarkable 
  case 
  of 
  increase 
  over 
  early 
  num- 
  

   bers 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Navajo. 
  This 
  tribe 
  secured 
  sheep, 
  became 
  pastoral 
  

  

  ' 
  (Fray) 
  Toribio 
  de 
  Benavente 
  o 
  Motolinia: 
  Historia 
  de 
  los 
  Indios 
  de 
  la 
  Nueva 
  Espaiia, 
  pp. 
  13-14, 
  Barce- 
  

   lona, 
  1914. 
  For 
  another 
  important 
  reference 
  on 
  depopulation 
  see 
  Juan 
  Lopez 
  de 
  Velasco: 
  Geografia 
  y 
  

   descripcion 
  universal 
  de 
  las 
  Indias: 
  Recopilada 
  por 
  el 
  cosmografo-cronista 
  Juan 
  Lopez 
  de 
  Velasco 
  desde 
  el 
  

   ano 
  de 
  1571 
  al 
  de 
  1574, 
  publicada 
  por 
  el 
  primera 
  vez 
  en 
  el 
  Boletin 
  de 
  la 
  Sociedad 
  Geogr^flea 
  de 
  Madrid, 
  con 
  

   adiciones 
  § 
  illustraciones, 
  per 
  Don 
  Justo 
  Zaragoza, 
  p. 
  26, 
  Madrid, 
  1894. 
  

  

  