272 Statistical IRotes on 



marquis was soon after deposed, his place being taken by the Marquis 

 de Cerralvo, whose first act was to set Martinez free at the request of 

 the city council who provided him with means of continuing his work 

 on the canal and tunnel. The Viceroy revoked his predecessor's 

 order and issued another to open up the tunnel, and that with all speed, 

 on his personal responsibility. Although Cerralvo gave these orders, 

 he forgot to give Martinez the money to carry them out, and, as a con- 

 sequence, the works remained in a deplorable condition. 



The tunnel was blocked up by this cause, and Martinez was cruelly 

 scored for not having done his work aright by the very ones who had 

 refused to give him the necessary material for it. He bravely essayed 

 to repair the damage, but the water-soaked condition of the ground 

 gave no resistance for the building of the needed walls, while death 

 mowed down the enslaved workers. They were crushed to death by 

 the frequent cavings in of the loose soil, or were sent to the grave by 

 the deadly damps. Finally, the charge being made that the builder 

 was blocking up the tunnel in revenge, he was thrown into prison, 

 where he languished for many months. As there was no one else 

 available who could carry on the great work, he was afterwards released 

 and again put in charge. It was then decided that, the tunnel being 

 completely useless, the next thing to be done would be to make a great 

 cut down to the tunnel and thus open it out. This entailed the making 

 of an excavation fourteen miles in length with an average depth of one 

 hundred and eighty feet and width of four hundred feet. 



On June 20, 1629, the ever troublesome river Cuautitlan over flowed 

 and inundated the north of the plain, and swept with it other streams 

 into Lake Texcoco. In the September following the increase of the 

 water was greater than ever had been known. The city was so sud- 

 denly and completely submerged that thirty thousand persons perished, 

 the bodies floating about the streets for some time after. The destruc- 

 tion of property and life, consequent on the inundation, was so great 

 generally, and affected the tunnel to such an extent, that during a 

 period of five years there was scarcely any reduction in the height of 

 the water, and the water in the city remained during all this time as 

 high as the second story of the houses; the slight difference in the 

 heighth of the water being caused by evaporation. 



The Spanish Government at Madrid gave orders to change the 

 capital to a better and more secure site. To this suggestion the citizens 

 demurred, saying, in effect, that to insure complete security an outlay 

 of only $3,000,000 was necessary, this being the estimated cost of com- 

 pleting the tunnel, whereas to build a new city would involve an outlay 

 of $50,000,000, with a loss of another $50,000,000 in leaving the old 

 one. 



Several plans were now submitted in opposition to that of Enrico 



