No single Viceroy, for instance,
from first to last, was American born, although the holders of this high
office included in their numbers four grandees, two priests, one Bishop,
one Archbishop, three licentiates, and a number of military officers.
After a while, as was only natural, the tendency arose to split up the
main areas of colonial government. Thus, in 1718, the Viceroyalty of
Santa Fe de Bogota was established, and in 1777 that of Buenos Aires.
Neither of these innovations had occurred a day too soon. With the
growing population and the increasing political and commercial
importance of the Continent, the strained machinery with which it had
been attempted to govern all matters from a single centre had broken
down and become useless so far as the remoter provinces were concerned.
In the course of the settlements and of the industrial progress, such as
it was, the claims and rights of the aborigines had become a negligible
factor. Indeed, from any but an industrial point of view, the existence
of the descendants of the Incas had practically been ignored.
In 1632 a minor revolution of Indians occurred, which resulted in a
quaint species of naval engagement on Lake Titicaca, with the native
_balsas_, or rafts, posing as diminutive battleships.
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