^44 ulloa's voyage to south America. 



fuch an amazing quantity of riches, they exceed them in elegance and delicacy. It is 

 quite otherwife in the parifh-churches, where poverty is confpicuous, even on the moft 

 folemn occafions ; though this is partly imputed to thofe who have the care of them. 



Here is alfo an hofpital, with feparate wards for men and women ; and though its re- 

 venues are not large, yet by a proper economy they are made to anfwer all the neceffary 

 expences. It was formerly under the direction of particular perfons of the city, who, to 

 the great detriment of the poor, neglected their duty, and fome even embezzled part of 

 the money received : but it is now under the care of the order of our Lady of Bethlehem, 

 and by the attention of thefe fathers, every thing has put on a different afpe£t, the whole 

 convent and infirmary having been rebuilt, and a church ereded, which, though fmall, 

 is very beautiful and finely decorated. 



This order of our Lady of Bethlehem has been lately founded under the name of a 

 congregation, and had its origin in the province of Guatemala. The name of the 

 founder was Pedro dc San Jofeph Betaneur, a native of the town of Chafna (or Villa 

 Fuerte) ontheifland of Teneriffe, in the year 1626. After his death, which happened 

 in the year 1667, his congregation was approved of by a bull of Clement X. dated the 

 i6th of May 1672, and flill more formally in another of 1674. In 1687, Innocent XL 

 erefted it into a community of regulars, fmce when it has begun to increafe in thefe 

 countries as a religious order. It had indeed before pafTed from Guatemala to Mexico, 

 and from thence, in the year 1671, to Lima, where the fathers had the care of the hof- 

 pital del Carmen. In the city of St. Miguel de Piura, they took poffeffion of the hofpital 

 of St. Ann in the year 167S, and that of St. Sebaflian in Truxillo in 1680 ; and their 

 probity and diligence in difcharging thefe trufts induced other places to felect them as 

 directors of their hofpitals, and among the reft the city of Quito ; where, notwithftand- 

 ing they have been only a few years, they have repaired all former abufes, and put the 

 hofpital on a better footing than it had ever known before. 



The fathers of this order go bare-footed, and wear a habit of a dark-brown colour, 

 nearly refembling that of the Capuchins, which order they alfo imitate in not Ihaving 

 their beards. On one fide of their cloak is an image of our Lady of Bethlehem. Every 

 fixth year they meet to choofe a general, which ceremony is performed alternately at 

 Mexico and Lima. 



t Among the courts, vhofe fefTions are held at Quito, the principal is that of the Royal 

 Audience, which was eftablilhed there in the year 1563, and confifts of a prefident (who 

 is alfo governor of the province with regard to matters of law), four auditors, who are at 

 the fame time civil and criminal judges, and a royal fifcal, fo called, as, befides the 

 caufes brought before the Audience, he alfo takes cognizance of every thing relating to 

 the revenue of the crown. Befides this, there is alfo another fifcal, called Protedor de 

 los Indies (Protector of the Indians), who folicits for them, and when injured pleads in 

 their defence. The jurifdidtion of this court extends to the utmoft limits of the pro- 

 vince^ with no other appeal than to the Council of the Indies, and this only in cafe of a 

 rejedion of a petition, or flagrant injuftice. 



The next is the Exchequer, or chamber of finances, the chief officers of which are ah 

 arcomptant, a treafurer, and a royal fifcal. The revenues paid into the receipt of this 

 court are, the tributes of the Indians of this jurifdidion and thofe of Otabalo, Villa de 

 San Miguel de Ibara, Latacunga, Chimbo, and Riobamba ; as alfo the taxes levied in 

 thofe parts, and the produce of the cuftoms at Babahoyo, Yaquache, and Caracol : 

 which funis are annually diftributed, partly to Carthagena and Santa Martha, for pay- 

 ing tl^ falarks of the prefidents, fifcals, corregidors, together with the flipends of the 



priefts. 



