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His Excellency Alexander O'Reilly, who came to the Antilles on a commission from Charles IV, in his report on Puerto Rico gives the following description of the condition of the inhabitants at that time: " ... To form an idea of how these natives have lived and still live, it is enough to say that there are only two schools in the whole island; that outside of the capital and San German few know how to read; that they count time by changes in the Government, hurricanes, visits from bishops, arrivals of 'situados, etc.
The difference was made up by the "situados," or remittances in cash from Mexico, which began early in the seventeenth century, when the repeated attacks on the island by French and English privateers forced the Spanish Government to choose between losing the island or fortifying it.
Communications with the metropolis were cut off, and the remittances from Mexico which, under the appellation of "situados," constituted the only means of carrying on the Government, were suspended.
When a remittance arrived in due time, all was joy and animation; when it was delayed, as was often the case, all was gloom and silence, and recourse was had to "papeletas," a temporary paper currency or promises to pay. With the cessation of the "situados" the scanty resources of the treasury soon gave out.
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