HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



393 



others the ufe of their fpittle, becaufe, from doing it fo 

 much they dried up and almoft excoriated their mouths, 

 their tongues, and their throats. 



From the difcovery of Mexico till now the number of 

 the Indians has been gradually diminifhing. Befides the 

 many thoufands which periflied by the firft contagion of 

 the fmall-pox, carried there in 1520, and in the war of 

 the Spaniards, in the epidemic of 1 545 eighty thoufand 

 periflied, and in that of 1576 upwards of two millions, 

 in the diocefes alone of Mexico, Angelopoli, Michua- 

 can, and Guaxaca, which is known by the bills of mor- 

 tality prefented by every curate to the viceroy. Not- 

 withflanding Herrera, who wrote towards the end of the 

 fixteenth century, reports, on the faith of authentic do- 

 cuments fent him by the viceroy of Mexico, that in the 

 diocefes alone of Mexico, Angelopoli, and Guaxaca, and 

 in thofe provinces of the diocefs of Mexico which were 

 circumjacent to the capital, there were, at that time, 

 fix hundred and fifty-five principal fettlements of Indians, 

 and innumerable other fmaller ones dependent upon 

 them ; in which were contained ninety thoufand Indian 

 families of tributaries. But it is neceflary to be known, 

 in thofe are not included the nobles, nor the TIafcalans, 

 and other Indians who aflifted the Spaniards in the con- 

 queft ; for in refpect to their birth, or the fervices which 

 they rendered the conquerors, they were exempted from 

 tributes. Herrera, who was well informed on this fub- 

 je&, affirms, that in thofe times, four thoufand Spaniflx 

 families, and thirty thoufand Indian houfes were count- 

 ed in the capital. From that time the number of Indians 

 has gradually been diminifhing, and the number of the 

 whites or Spaniards has been increafing. 



M. de Paw will anfwer according to his ftyle, that all 

 Vol. III. 3 E the 



