Chap. VIII. THE " REPARTIMIENTO." 127 



Indians went in and out of the lanes of rushes only kno^^Tl 

 to themselves, baffled their oppressors, and cut off several of 

 the Spanish balsas. A party of cavalry advancing into the 

 swampy ground was suddenly surrounded and cut to pieces, 

 the Indians only losing three men." 



Thus the fugitive Indians retained their liberty for many 

 years in these inaccessible fastnesses of lake Titicaca, and the 

 AugTJstine friar Calancha confesses that " the rebellion was 

 caused by the injustice and tyranny of the Spaniards, who 

 forced the Indians to work without pay, and seized on their 

 goods." 



This was not a solitary instance of rebellion, though, on the 

 whole, the Indians endured their cruel fate with meekness 

 and long suffering. Yet they are not a mean-spirited people, 

 and at length they showed their oppressors that it was pos- 

 sible to press the yoke down too hard even for then- powers 

 of endurance. 



The tribute, the mita, the exactions of the cm'as, and the 

 alcahala, or excise duties,^ were all patiently borne ; but 

 another method of extortion, the " rejKirtimiento," or " reparto,"* 

 at length exhausted the patience of the over-tasked Indians. 

 The reparto was a system, ostensibly for distributing European 

 goods to the Indians, which was converted into a means 

 of wholesale robbery by the Spanish corregidors, and finally 

 led to a general rebellion. An Indian chieftain thus describes 

 the reparto system : — " Abandoning their souls for their 

 avarice, the corregidors have the assurance to distribute 

 (repar'tir) by force, and against all reason, baize and cloths 



2 Culancha. | that of supplying the people with Eu- 



5 In 1591 a duty of 2 per cent, was I ropean goods at a reasonable price. I 

 placed on all merchanchse, and 5 per use the word reparto in future, to dis- 

 cent. on coca. — -Report of the Prince of tinguish this system from that of the 

 Esquilache, 1620. ; repartimiento during the earlier period 



■* This system of repartimientos or of Spanish domination in Peru, wliicli, 

 repartos was also introduced in the with the same word, had a very difter- 

 first instance with a benevolent intent, ent meaning. 



