306 



SHIP IK DISTRESS. 



Spain could possibly produce, nor obtained these 

 supplies from any but Spaniards. No South Ame- 

 rican could own a ship, nor could a cargo be con- 

 signed to him ; no foreigner was allowed to reside 

 in the country, unless born in Spain ; and no ca- 

 pital, not Spanish, was permitted in any shape to 

 be employed in the colonies. Orders were given, 

 that no foreign vessel, on any pretence whatever, 

 should touch at a South American port. Even 

 ships in distress were not to be received with com- 

 mon hospitality, but were ordered to be seized as 

 prizes, and the crews imprisoned. 



The capture of Lima has put the Patriots in 

 possession of many curious state papers, some of 

 which have been published, reflecting much light 

 on the details of the colonial system. Amongst 

 these is a curious extract from the report of the 

 proceedings of Don Teodoro de Croix, Viceroy 

 of Peru and Chili, between the years 1784 and 

 1790, drawn up by himself for the use of his suc- 

 cessor. He gives at great length, and with as 

 much importance as if the whole Spanish colonies 

 depended upon it, an account of an American ship 

 from Boston, having touched at the Island of Juan 



