further disturbance occurred. The sun rose upon a mass of smouldering ruins in the plaza, while the bodies of the dead lay scattered here and there among the various articles of plunder dropped by the rioters in their hasty flight. The greater portion of the viceregal palace was destroyed, as were the halls of the audiencia, the jail, and several government offices, containing many valuable documents. The city hall was almost in ruins, and with it perished the greater part of its archives. The public granary and the adjoining buildings also suffered; and but for the timely efforts of the cathedral treasurer the fire would have extended not only to the residence of the marqués del Valle, but also to the archiepiscopal palace and cathedral. The loss of property caused by this outbreak was estimated at three million pesos. The number of lives lost did not exceed fifty, and was possibly not so great; nor is there any evidence to show that excepting the two or three victims among the palace guard, a single Spaniard was seriously injured.[1]
On Monday morning the viceroy and countess, accompanied by the chief authorities, over two hundred mounted gentlemen, and an immense number of the populace, set forth from the Franciscan convent for the plaza, being joined on the way by the archbishop. Having reached the spot the procession marched around it in order that the viceroy and countess might view the ruins, and then proceeded to the palace of the marqués del Valle where Galve temporarily took up his residence.
There was still much apprehension lest the Indians should return, and this was increased by the discovery
- ↑ Some contemporary authorities have affirmed that the Indians were provided with all kinds of weapons, but the surprisingly small number of victims among the Spaniards, and the statements of other authorities, one an eyewitness of these events, refute these assertions. Other writers have also sought to give to this outbreak of the natives a more serious character, that of a premeditated attempt to throw off the Spanish yoke, but it is only too evident from their own accounts of the riot, which agree essentially with the facts here given, that they seek to draw attention from the culpable negligence of the authorities. Sigüenza y Góngora, Carta, MS., 41-4, 48-9; Carta de un Religioso, 317, 320, 331-3; Robles, Diario, ii. 97.
