236 INDIANS TAXES COLONIES IN THE NORTH. 



the several provinces of the viceroy alty the Indian tributes were 

 collected through the intervention of one hundred and forty-nine 

 chief alcaldes who governed them, and who, before they took pos- 

 session of their offices, were required to give security for the 

 tribute taxed within their jurisdiction. The frontier provinces of 

 this vast territory, inhabited only by garrisons, and a few scattered 

 colonists, were exempt from this odious charge. In all the various 

 sections of the nation, however, the Indians were accurately enu- 

 merated. Two natives were taxed together, in order to facilitate 

 the collection by making both responsible, and, every four months, 

 from this united pair, six reales were collected, making in all 

 eighteen in the course of the year. This gross tax of two dollars 

 and twenty-five cents was divided as follows : eight reales were 

 taxed as tribute ; — four for the royal service ; — four and a half as 

 commutation for a half fanega of corn which was due to the royal 

 granary ; — half a real for the royal hospital, in which the Indians 

 were lodged when ill ; another half real for the costs of their law 

 suits ; and, finally, the remaining half real for the construction 

 of cathedrals. 



In 1748, the Count Revilla-Gigedo, in conformity to the orders 

 of the king, and after consultation in general meeting with the 

 officers of various tribunals, determined to lay the foundation of a 

 grand colony in the north, under the guidance of Colonel Jose 

 Escandon, who was forthwith appointed governor. This decree, 

 together with an account of the privileges and lands which would 

 be granted to colonists, was extensively published, and, in a few 

 years, a multitude of families and single emigrants founded eleven 

 villages of Spaniards and mulattoes between Alta-Mira and Ca- 

 margo. The Indians who were gathered in this neighborhood 

 composed four missions ; and, although it was found impossible to 

 clear the harbor of Santander, or to render it capable of receiving 

 vessels of deep draft, the government was nevertheless enabled to 

 found several flourishing villages which were vigilant in the pro- 

 tection of the coast against pirates. 



In 1749 the crops were lost in many of the provinces where 

 the early frost blighted the fields of corn and fruit. The crowded 

 capital and its neighborhood, fortunately, did not experience the 

 want of food, which in other regions of the tierra adentro amounted 

 to absolute famine. The people believed that the frown of Heaven 

 was upon the land, — for, to this calamity, repeated earthquakes 

 were added, and the whole region, from the volcano of Colima to 



