r the
mine from which the Incas had procured their emeralds. It was not until
the discovery of New Granada that the source was revealed from which the
stones had been obtained. The wealth of the land did not end here. From
Popayan and Choco, provinces of the north-west, "placer" gold was
obtainable in fairly large quantities by the simple expedient of
washing. Thus, on the whole, New Granada promised the Spaniards ample
supplies of the minerals which they coveted, and which they sought
without intermission.

By reason of these things the Spanish Government, ever fearful of undue
colonial strength, came to the conclusion that the Viceroyalty of Peru
was quite powerful enough and wealthy enough without these newer
possessions. In the year 1718 the limits of the Viceroyalty of New
Granada were defined, rendering the tract of land which now forms the
republics of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, quite independent of the
Peruvian Viceroyalty; for, notwithstanding the fact that the Peruvian
authority had every claim to the retention of the inland province of
Quito, that also was assigned to the newer government.

The conquests of Quesada and Benalcazar had established centres of
Spanish influence, but they had not gone far towards organizing the
control of the country. Consequently, the establishment of a central
authority at Bogota, independent of all but the Spanish Crown, was a
decidedly advantageous move. As was the case elsewhere in the Continent,
one of the chief evils requiring stringent treatment was that of
smuggling. It was said, for instance, that in the early days half the
great gold output of the colony was smuggled abroad by way of the Rivers
Atrato and Hacha. The first Viceroy of New Granada caused forts to be
erected on these and other streams, with a view to stopping the illegal
traffic, and this measure mitigated the evil which nothing--in view of
the half-settled state of the country--could quite subdue.

So little under control was the greater part of New Granada, that the
good results of establishing a separate Viceroyalty only became apparent
slowly. The conquest of the Chibchas, effected as it was with all the
refinements of cruelty familiar to the _conquistadores_, had added
fierce resentment to the natural racial antipathy already existing in
the savage tribes of the country, and communication between provinces
and towns was difficult in all cases, while in many it was altogether
impracticable. Th