`yanaconas' and `mitayos', which were in fact designed to reduce the Indians
to the condition of mere slaves.

Herrera* says that the `"yanaconas" were men destined from birth
to perpetual slavery and captivity, and in their clothing, treatment,
and the conditions of their toil, were differently treated from free men.'

--
* `Historia General de los hechos de los Castellanos
en las Islas y tierra firme del Mar Oceano', decad. v., lib. iv., cap. xl.
--

In Paraguay these `yanaconas' were known as `Indios Originarios',
and generally were descendants of Indians conquered in war; they, too,
were in a condition of serfdom. They lived in the house of the `encomendero',
and could not be sold, and the `encomendero' was (in theory) obliged
not only to feed and clothe them, but to instruct them in religious truths.
In order to see that these conditions were duly carried out, visitors were
sent each year to hear what mutually the `encomenderos' and the Indians
had to say.

Herrera*1* describes the Indians under the `mitayo' system
by the name of `mitayos tindarunas', explaining that the word `tindaruna'
signifies `forced labour'. The chiefs had to provide
a certain number of them every year to work in mines and manufactories,
and so well was the labour in the mines known to be fatal,
that the Indians upon being drawn for service disposed of all their property,
and not infrequently divorced their wives. The `mitayos' were
at the beginning Indians who had not fought against the Spaniards,
but had submitted to their rule. They were grouped in townships