brought under a more systematic order of government. The death of Charles II. of Spain, which took place in 1700, was the occasion of impressive mourning ceremonies throughout the vast empire over which the House of Austria had maintained its sway for nearly two centuries. The Duke de la Palata had died ten years before at Panamá, where he was attacked with yellow fever while on his way to Spain, and his successor, the Count de la Monclova, a nephew of the Cardinal Portocarrero, had already won the clergy of the colony to his support and coöperation by his protection and liberal donations. He was greatly beloved and esteemed, and remained in Peru as viceroy after the fall of the Austrian dynasty and the accession of the House of Bourbon in the person of Philip V., grandson of Louis XIV. of France; his government was marked by tolerance and the encouragement of social and commercial development throughout the colony. [Illustration: ONE OF THE COLONIAL PALACES OF AREQUIPA, BUILT TWO CENTURIES AGO.] Five viceroys, two of whom were ecclesiastics, governed Peru during the reign of Philip V.; they made a determined fight against the evils of contraband trade, which had grown to enormous proportions, but their efforts met with little success. The Marquis de Torre-Tagle and Don Angel Calderon, two wealthy Limeños, fitted out warships at their own cost to fight the Dutch contrabandists, and took rich prizes; but although the viceroys punished with great severity all who were captured, the traffic seemed to increase rather than diminish. In the meantime, the mines continued to yield great treasure, four million dollars being coined annually. During the government of the Marquis de Villagarcia, who was viceroy from 1736 to 1745, the royal fifth was reduced to a tenth, and colonial commerce was stimulated by the service of registered vessels that sailed _via_ Cape Horn. Many comforts and luxuries, which had previously been too expensive for any but the wealthiest colonists to afford, now appeared in the markets of Lima; the houses began to be better furnished, and the _calèche_,—a two-wheeled vehicle, drawn by one horse, on which the coachman rode,—gave place to the coach and pair. The viceroyalty of Santa Fé was separated from that of Peru in 1740.