but the pressure brought to bear on the king from the New World metropolis was always too strong, and the interests of the province were disregarded.[1]
The total population of Nueva Galicia in the middle of the eighteenth century was estimated at not less than two hundred thousand, of which number sixty thousand were Indians and the remainder of Spanish and mixed blood. Though this seems a comparatively high figure, Mota-Padilla certainly had excellent apportunities for obtaining correct statistics.[2] During the second half of the century the population seems to have increased more rapidly; for we find that at the beginning of the nineteenth century the population of Guadalajara was variously estimated at from nineteen to thirty-five thousand, and that under the jurisdiction of the audiencia as high as six hundred and thirty thousand.[3]
It will be remembered that at the close of the sixteenth century Zacatecas was the new El Dorado which attracted settlers and adventurers from all parts; the population rapidly increased; mines were being discovered and developed, and a great future seemed to be in store for the new colony. At that time the site of the city of Zacatecas seemed anything but pleasant
- ↑ From 1748-53, according to the Noticias Biog. of Icazbalceta, the historian made efforts to have the four jurisdictions of the coast, Purificacion, Tepic, Acaponeta, and Centizpac, formed into a new government, to be placed under himself as ruler.
- ↑ Mota-Padilla's actual basis is the number of Indian tributaries, which was 8,000, representing 16,000 persons, not including chiefs, the aged, or children. Conq. N. Gal., 509. Gil, Soc. Mex. Geog., viii. 493, says the population in about 1750 was estimated at about 115,000.
- ↑ Gil, in Soc. Mex. Geog., viii. 493, insists however that in 1807, on taking tribute, the population was found to be only 130,000, having increased but 15,000 since 1750. There is no doubt that there was a misunderstanding as to the territory included. Humboldt, Essai Pol., 155, and New Spain, ii. 180-3, gives for the intendencia of Guadalajara 630,500, and for the city 19,500; 6,381 square leagues with 623,572 inhabitants are mentioned in Tribunal del Consulado, 1805. Ortiz, Mex. Indep., 79, gives 630,000 for 1803. According to Navarro, in Soc. Mex. Geog., 2da ép., i. 291, in 1810 the intendencia of Guadalajara comprised 9,612 square leagues; 28 partidos, 100 curacies, 9 missions, 2 cities. 7 towns, 326 villages, 33 mining districts, 370 haciendas, 1,511 ranchos, and 118 stock ranches. There were 29 convents and 7 nunneries; 441 clérigos, 192 friars, and 225 nuns; there were 164,420 Spaniards, 172,676 Indians, and 179,720 of mixed blood, making a total population, including the religious, of 517,674.
