138 six Months in mexico. 



any thing of the productions of the open fields, 

 which was executed even for the small quan- 

 tity of seven ears of Indian corn; but, in 

 order to avoid as much as possible the in- 

 fliction of it, he commanded that fields should 

 be sown at the sides of the highways, to pro- 

 cure food for the distressed. He was very 

 charitable to the destitute, to old people, and 

 to widows. To prevent bribery, he ordered 

 that the judges should be maintained and 

 clothed at the expense of government, accord- 

 ing to their rank ; and for these motives, the 

 expenses of his household and ministry were 

 astonishing, as it is reported by Don Antonio 

 Pimental, who was one of the three grand- 

 sons of that king, who received baptism, and 

 who relates, that it was seen in the pictures 

 of that time, that these expenses amounted 

 annually to four millions ninety thousand 

 three hundred fanegas, of one hundred pounds 

 each, of Indian corn ; to two millions seven 



