238 CHARACTER OF RE VILLA- GIGEDO VILLALON VICEROY. 



father in requiring from his butler, each night an exact account 

 of every cent that was spent during the day, and every dish that 

 was prepared in his kitchen. 



Notwithstanding the notorious and corrupting habits of the first 

 count, that personage contrived to exercise an extraordinary in- 

 fluence or control over the masses in Mexico. The people feared 

 and respected him ; and, upon a certain occasion, when they were 

 roused in the capital and gathered in menacing mobs, this resolute 

 viceroy, whose wild and savage aspect aided the authority of his 

 determined address, rode into the midst of the turbulent assemblage 

 without a soldier in attendance, and immediately dispersed the 

 revolutionists by the mere authority of his presence and command. 



Don Agustin de Ahumada y Villalon, 

 Marques de las Amarillas, 

 XLII. Viceroy of New Spain. 

 1755 — 1760. 



The government of the Marques de las Amarillas commenced on 

 the 10th of November, 1755 ; and he immediately devoted himself 

 to the task of reforming many of the abuses which had doubtless 

 crept into the administration of public affairs during the reign of 

 his trafficing predecessor. Valuable mineral deposits were dis- 

 covered in New Leon, whose veins were found so rich and 

 tempting that crowds of miners from Zacatecas and Guanajuato 

 flocked to the prolific region. Great works w T ere commenced to 

 facilitate the working of the drifts, but the wealth which had so 

 suddenly appeared on the scene as if by magic, vanished amid the 

 interminable quarrels and law suits of the parties. Many of the 

 foremost adventurers who imagined themselves masters of incalcu- 

 lable riches were finally forced to quit their discoveries, on foot, 

 without a dollar to supply themselves with food. 



In 1759 a general mourning was proclaimed in Mexico for the 

 queen of Spain, Maria Barbara of Portugal, who was speedily 

 followed to the tomb by her husband Ferdinand VI. His brother 

 Charles III. ascended the throne, and whilst the mingled ceremo- 

 nies of sorrow and festivity for the dead and living were being 

 performed in Mexico, the worthy viceroy was suddenly struck with 

 apoplexy which his physicians thought might be alleviated by his 

 residence in the healthful and lower regions of Cuernavaca. But 

 neither the change of level nor temperature improved the condition 



