104 



the whites an inequality, which had not been 

 fixed by the first legislature of the Indies. 

 The concentration of powers gradually weakened 

 the influence of the municipalities ; and these 

 same cabildos, that in the 16th and 17th cen- 

 turies* had the privilege of governing the 

 country per interim after the death of a gover- 

 nor, were considered by the court of Madrid as 

 dangerous shackles on the royal authority. From 

 that time the richest villages, notwithstanding 

 their rising population, obtained with difficulty 

 the title of a town, and the right of governing 

 themselves. Hence it results, that the recent 

 changes in colonial politics have not all been in 

 favour of philosophy. We may be convinced 

 of this by looking over the laws of the Indies ^f, 

 as far as they concern the Spaniards who have 

 migrated to America and their descendants, the 

 rights of communities, and the establishment of 

 municipalities. 



The environs of La Victoria present a very 

 remarkable aspect, with regard to agriculture. 

 The height of the cultivated ground is from two 

 hundred and seventy to three hundred toises 

 above the level of the ocean, and yet we there 

 find fields of corn mingled with plantations of 



* Cedulas reales of 1560, and 1675. 

 f Leye$ de Indias, the most ancient. 



