tory that the Indians of
Hispaniola were annihilated in one generation after the settlement of that
island is sufficient evidence of the frightfully inhuman treatment to
which they were subjected. The laws of Spain provided for justice and
humanity in the dealings with the Indians, but the settlers, thousands of
miles away, paid no attention to these laws, and the red men were almost
everywhere reduced to slavery, or where free and given political rights,
were looked upon as far inferior to the whites. In every district Spain
placed an official called the "Protector of the Indians," but it does not
appear that they were much the better off for their "Protectors." It is
our purpose here to say something about the cruel treatment of the natives
in South America.

[Illustration: INDIANS OF THE PLATEAU.]

INDIANS OF THE PLATEAU.

The Spanish settlers had three terms which applied to their dealings with
the Indians, the _encomiendo_, the _mitad_, and the _repartimiento_, each
indicating a form of injustice. The conquerors divided the country between
them, and the _encomiendos_ were rights granted them to hold the Indians
for a number of years as workers in their fields or their mines. Under
these grants, the natives were converted into beasts of burden, and forced
to do the hardest work without the least compensation. They were obliged
to labor all day long under the burning tropical sun, to dive into the sea
in search of pearls for their masters, or to toil buried from the light of
day in the depths of the mines. It is not surprising that these miserable
slaves, accustomed to a life of indolence and ease, perished as if exposed
to a killing plague.

The _mitad_ was a law formed for their protection, but it soon became one
of the worst of the abuses. Under it every man from the age of eighteen to
fifty was required to render bodily service, the natives of each mining
colony of South America being divided into seven sections, each of which
had to work six months in the mines. Every mine-owner could demand the
number of Indians he needed. In Peru alone fourteen hundred mines were
worked, and labor of this kind was in constant demand.

As to the kind of labor they had to do, we need only say that when any man
was called upon to work in the mines he looked upon it as a sentence of
death. Before going he gave all his possessions to his relatives, and they
went through the funeral se