he withdrawal was only effected by the payment of this heavy ransom. As
Southey has it: "The Portuguese consented to pay for the victory which
they had obtained."

CHAPTER XI

THE COLONY OF PERU

With South America now definitely settled, we may glance at the various
provinces which constituted the Spanish American Continent. For a long
while after the first establishment of the Spanish dominion the
divisions between the various districts remained far fewer in number
than was later the case. South America may be said to have been
partitioned off in the early days into four main divisions. The
northernmost of these was commonly known as Terra Firma, and comprised
New Granada and the neighbouring districts. This area is now occupied by
the Republics of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

To the south of Terra Firma the Viceroyalty of Peru extended itself,
bordered on the south by the Province of Chile; while to the east,
occupying the remainder of the Continent as far as the Brazilian
frontier, and stretching over the fertile plains to the south, was the
great Province of Paraguay, which included the territories now contained
in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and part of Bolivia.

Seeing that the head-quarters of the Colonial Government was vested in
Peru, it would be as well to deal with this portion of the Continent
first. Peru constituted in the first place the sole Viceroyalty, and
subsequently the senior Viceroyalty, of Spanish South America. Lima, its
capital and the seat of government, took care to distinguish itself
from any other colonial city of the Continent. Certainly no other town
possessed such buildings and architectural decorations as those of which
Lima could boast. The home of the Viceroy, it was a city of pomp,
processions, and stately movements. These, as a matter of fact, were by
no means out of place, when the great importance of the spot from a
governmental point of view is considered. Every matter of consequence,
in whatever province it may have had its origin, was referred for
settlement to Lima, and it was here that the Viceroy and his Court gave
judgments, the effects of which were echoed thousands of miles away.

Of all the Viceroyalties in the world, that of Peru was undoubtedly the
proudest during the earlier Spanish colonial period, for the holder of
the high office governed not merely a country, but the greater half of a
vast Continent. Seeing that the colonial policy of Spain i