18 Mexico: Archivo General 
(principales) of royal cédulas and orders addressed to the viceroy, to the 
Audiencia Gobernadora, or other executive ad interim. It covers the period 
from 1609 to 1821, being fairly complete after 1643. The relative incom- 
pleteness for the early portion of this period is illustrated by the fact that all 
of the communications between 1609 and 1643, a total of 304 documents, are 
contained in vol. 1, whereas in after years they annually fill one or more 
volumes. In the series of duplicates there are some earlier documents of this 
class. (See below.) 
The documents in the file of Principales are arranged chronologically and 
are serially numbered by the receiving office, there being a new series for each 
year. The separate volumes have indices, prontuarios, and lists of cosas 
notables similar to those of the correspondence of the viceroys. The refer- 
ences in the prontuarios are sometimes to folio numbers and sometimes to 
document numbers, a double system which is apt to lead to confusion. In — 
some instances the documents bear the viceroy’s annotations (decretos, etc.), 
indicating the disposition to be made of them. In the great majority of cases 
communications are filed without related documents, but there are some im- 
portant exceptions to this rule. 
The cédulas and orders deal with every conceivable subject. This variety 
is well illustrated by the sample prontuario of the volumes of the correspond- 
ence of the viceroys as given on pages 16-17. In the prontuarios the headings 
Californias, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and Interior Provinces occupy a 
prominent place, and, taken together with such headings as explorations, 
colonization, Indians, missions, defence, and appointments to office, they 
guide the way to much of the early history of the Spanish rule in the United 
States. Besides the cédulas and orders to the viceroy filed in this series 
and in the series of Duplicados, a good many duplicates and in some cases 
principals are to be found in other places among papers to which they are 
directly related. 
DUPLICADOS. 
(Duplicates; 176 bound volumes.) 
The second series of royal cédulas and orders, designated as “ Reales Cédu- 
las y Ordenes, Duplicados”’, is located on the second floor, or more strictly 
speaking in the entresuelo. Though very miscellaneous and fragmentary in 
character, some of its contents are of great value. It contains, besides various 
classes of extraneous matter to be noted later, (a) both principals and dupli- 
cates of cédulas and orders directed to the Real Audiencia of Mexico, (b) 
duplicates of some of those sent to the viceroys, of which the principals are 
in the foregoing series, and (c) libros de asiento, or registers, in which the 
documents of both the above classes are copied. Of the 176 volumes 55 are 
numbered in a roughly chronological order. Vol. 1 was lacking when the 
examination was made. Vol. 2 begins at 1583, and the remaining volumes 
extend, with many gaps, to 1699. The unnumbered volumes extend from 
1548 to the end of Spanish rule. As at present arranged, the only means of 
citing these unnumbered volumes is by the dates on the backs or on the fly- 
leaves. Very few of the volumes are indexed. 
Besides the main classes of documents, as named above, there occur 
numerous but miscellaneous documents or volumes of documents of the fol- 
lowing classes: acts of government (autos de gobierno) of the Real Audien- 
cia and of the Secretaria del Virreinato, resolutions (acuerdos) of the Junta 
Superior de Real Hacienda, correspondence of the viceroy with the Spanish 
