Spains Declining Power in South America 1730 1806

anishment was revoked, and those persons who had been affected by it were permitted to return to Trinidad; and with their reappearance intrigues and plots were revived. A critical event in the affairs of Trinidad was the transfer of the capital from San Jose de Oruna to Port of Spain. The former capital was abandoned by all but a few of its inhabitants; its buildings were dilapidated; its streets were choked with tropical vegetation, and torrential rains had washed deep ditches through them; and the cabildo was composed of ignorant persons who neglected their duties and stood in opposition to the governor. The new capital presented conditions more favorable for advancement. It was on the coast; the inhabitants of the town and those of the neighboring country were industrious and thrifty, and through their efforts the island entered upon a period of more hopeful prospects. This petty insurrection is without special significance, except as one of many practical indications of the ambition which moved even small Spanish colonies in America in the eighteenth century, to enlarge their governmental prerogatives, and thereby limit the power exercised by the royal government. CHAPTER III THE SPANISH-PORTUGUESE BOUNDARY TREATY OF 1750 AND THE WAR OF THE SEVEN REDUCTIONS I. Terms of the treaty of 1750. II. Protests of the Indians against removal. III. The boundary commissioners and the disposition of the Indians. IV. Active hostilities of the Spanish and Port...