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 service, as if he were already dead.
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