The natives living in town were subject to the Spanish laws and magistrates; but those inhabiting their own villages were left in charge of their _caciques_, by whom their affairs were regulated according to traditional usage. This dignity was in many cases permitted to continue by hereditary descent; and, for the further protection of the natives, the Spanish Court appointed, in the course of time, an officer in each district, who was styled “Protector of the Indians.” It was the duty of this functionary to assert their rights and to represent them in courts of justice. Of the reserved fourth of the Indians’ tribute a portion was assigned as the salaries for the protector and the _cacique_, the remainder being given for the purpose of their religious requirements, or for their own support in years of famine or other such calamity. Where so much has to be recorded of cruelty and misgovernment on the part of the Spaniards towards the natives of South America, it is gratifying to be enabled to state that hospitals were erected for the benefit of indigent and infirm in _Lima_, _Cuzco_, and elsewhere, where the natives were treated with all humanity. On a general review of Spanish legislation with respect to the treatment of the natives of the New World, it is admitted on all sides that, granted that Spain possessed any rights over them at all, her government, from the time of Isabella onwards, was most solicitous for their spiritual and material well-being. Several causes, however, as has been already observed, contributed to thwart the wise and humane legislation on the part of the mother country. Chief amongst these were the distance of the colonies from Spain, and the self-interest of those persons whose duty it was to see the laws and regulations enacted. In _Peru_ more especially the Indians are stated to have been much oppressed, the law forbidding their employment at more than thirty miles from their homes being often broken. In several provinces, however, the natives were permitted to enjoy not only ease but affluence--possessing well-stocked farms, and being supplied with all the necessaries and many of the luxuries of life.