Beyond this one Viceroy succeeded another; the mines continued to be
worked, and, in response to the incessant clamourings of Spain, the
miners were flogged and driven willy-nilly to their unwelcome task. As
time went on the relative importance of Peru compared to the
neighbouring States tended to diminish rather than to increase. The most
profitable and most easily worked of the then known gold and silver
mines had been practically denuded of their treasure. There were others
in plenty, but these were more remote, and the difficulty of
communication which then prevailed was sufficiently great to render
impossible any attempt at a remunerative working of these. With the
decrease in the working of minerals greater attention was now paid to
the pastoral and agricultural industries, and with the growth of these
the value and importance of the neighbouring countries increased vastly.
This state of affairs was at length acknowledged by the Court of Spain,
and was emphasized in 1776 when Buenos Aires was made the seat of a
Viceroyalty, and was thus released from the last shred of supervision on
the part of the Peruvian officials.
We are now approaching the stage of the War of Independence.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173