sh government tried to recompense itself by imposing on the
out-going cargoes tyrannical exactions called "indults." The results
were fatal. Foreigners often eluded these impositions by interloping in
the West Indies and in the South Sea.[34] And as the _Contratacion_, by
fixing each year the nature and quantity of the goods to be shipped to
the colonies, raised the price of merchandise at will and reaped
enormous profits, the colonists welcomed this contraband trade as an
opportunity of enriching themselves and adding to the comforts and
luxuries of living.

From the beginning of the seventeenth century as many as 200 ships
sailed each year from Portugal with rich cargoes of silks, cloths and
woollens intended for Spanish America.[35] The Portuguese bought these
articles of the Flemish, English, and French, loaded them at Lisbon and
Oporto, ran their vessels to Brazil and up the La Plata as far as
navigation permitted, and then transported the goods overland through
Paraguay and Tucuman to Potosi and even to Lima. The Spanish merchants
of Peru kept factors in Brazil as well as in Spain, and as Portuguese
imposts were not so excessive as those levied at Cadiz and Seville, the
Portuguese could undersell their Spanish rivals. The frequent possession
of Assientos by the Portuguese and Dutch in the first half of the
seventeenth century also facilitated this contraband, for when carrying
negroes from Africa to Hispaniola, Cuba and the towns on the Main, they
profited by their opportunities to sell merchandise also, and generally
without the least obstacle.

Other nations in the seventeenth century were not slow to follow the
same course; and two circumstances contributed to make that course easy.
One was the great length of coast line on both the Atlantic and Pacific
slopes over which a surveillance had to be exercised, making it
difficult to catch the interlopers. The other was the venal connivance
of the governors of the ports, who often tolerated and even encouraged
the traffic on the plea that the colonists demanded it.[36] The
subterfuges adopted by the interlopers were very simple. When a vessel
wished to enter a Spanish port to trade, the captain, pretending that
provisions had run low, or that the ship suffered from a leak or a
broken mast, sent a polite note to the governor accompanied by a
considerable gift. He generally obtained permission to enter, unload,
and put the ship into a seaworthy condition. All the for