until the noble efforts of Las Casas drew the attention of the Court of Spain to their sufferings. Commissioners were then dispatched to inquire into these abuses, but the measures which were adopted with a view to alleviating the conditions of the Indians were perverted by the avarice and cunning of the conquerors to their disadvantage. The system of encomiendas was introduced, by which the remains of the conquered population were shared out among the conquistadores, and placed under the superintendence and protection of certain masters. The encomiendero was bound to live in the district which contained the Indians of his encomienda, to watch over their conduct, instruct and civilise them, and protect them from persecution or imposition. In return for these services, they received a tribute in labour or in produce. But, in consequence of this attempt at amelioration, slavery only assumed a more systematic and legalised form; and the abuse of the protecting regulations followed close upon their institution. A great number of the finest encomiendas were distributed among the monks, and religion became degraded by its participation in the servitude of the people. These conditions attached the Indians to the soil, and the slave frequently took the family name of his master; hence, many Indian families bear Spanish names, although their blood has never been mingled with that of Europeans. Such was the state of the Mexican peasantry in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the eighteenth, their situation was somewhat improved by the abolition of the encomiendas; and King Charles III of Spain prohibited at the same time the repartimientos, by which the corregidors arbitrarily constituted themselves the creditors, and virtually the masters of the natives, by furnishing them, at extravagant prices, with horses, mules, and clothes, in consideration of which they became entitled to the profits of their labour. The establishment of intendencies during the ministry of the Count de Galvez was an important benefit conferred on the Indian population. Under the superintendence of these governors,
