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Military defence.

of the total revenue.

It consumes the fourth The Mexican army is

30,000 strong, whereof scarcely a third are regular troops, and more than two thirds militia. The petty warfare continually carried on with the wandering Indians in the provincias internas and the maintenance of the presidios or military posts require a very considerable expence. The state of the eastern coast and the configuration of the surface of the country facilitate its defence against any invasion attempted by a maritime power.

Such are the principal results to which I have been led. May this labour begun in the capital of New Spain be of utility to those called to watch over public prosperity! and may it in an especial manner impress upon them this important truth, that the prosperity of the whites is intimately connected with that of the copper coloured race, and that there can be no durable prosperity for the two Americas till this unfortunate race, humiliated but not degraded by long oppression, shall participate in all the advantages resulting from the progress of civili zation and the improvement of social order!

NOTES

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SUPPLEMENT.

NOTES.

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Note A. (vol. i. page 6.)

THIS information is derived from the manuscripts of Don Josef de Moraleda, preserved in the archives of the viceroyalty of Lima, quoted in the second chapter, p. 42. I have made no mention of the Malouin islands, although their latitude is eight degrees farther south, than that of the island of Caylin, because in the Malouin group, properly speaking, there is no solid establishment. Two corvettes, commanded by officers of the royal navy, annually convey criminals, from Montevideo, to the port of Soledad. These wretches are allowed to construct barracks; but as the viceroy of Buenos Ayres, agreeably to the orders of the court of Madrid, dare send no women to the presidio of the Malouin islands, this military post cannot be reckoned on the same footing with those of New California, which are surrounded with women and villages.

The Archipelago of the Huaytecas, and and Chonos islands, which extend from the 44° 20' to the 45° 46′ of south latitude, present only a mass of granite rocks, covered with thick forests. The Indians of Chiloe, known by the name of Guayhuenes and Payos, periodically visit these shoals. They have put cows in the islands of Tequehuen, Ayaupa, Menchuan, and Yquilao. On the opposite continent, the coast which stretches out to the south of the Fort Maullin, is inhabited by the Juncos Indians, who form an independent tribe.

Note B*. (vol. i. p. 44.)

The island of Cuba, draws for the maintenance of the free inhabitants and slaves, a great quantity of provisions, and especially salt meat (tasajo) from the coast of Caracas. When Spain is at war with England, the navigation from Cumana, Nueva Barcelona, and Guayra, to the Havanah, is very dangerous, on account of the necessity of doubling cape Saint Antony. The enemies' cruizers are stationed near the Cayman Islands, between cape Catoche and cape Saint Antony, and particularly among the Tortugas. This group of shoals, is situated to the west of the ex

* No reference appears in vol. i. corresponding with this Trans.

note.

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