In which are described three voyages that changed the face of a continent, the American population at the time of contact, the demographic catastrophe of the Indios, the sorrowful increase of the Africans, and the expansion of the Europeans -- A humble Franciscan, two combative Dominicans, an Italian humanist at the court of Spain, a remorseful viceroy, a naturalist 'alcalde', a Europeanized Inca and an Inca fallen on hard times, a conquistador observer ... different witnesses and a common analysis of the catastrophe -- A tireless traveler disrupts a continent, but a quarter century too late. From the Caribbean to Per: a brief history of a long voyage and of the suspected assassin of Huayna Capac, father of Atahuallpa. The true and presumed sins of smallpox and other crowd diseases -- A golden nose ring and the tragic destiny of the Taíno. An Indio follows a deer and discovers a mountain of silver. A people in constant movement, over 1,000 miles and at an elevation of 4,000 meters, and the wealth of Potosi. Deeds and misdeeds of gold and silver -- Hispaniola, the terrestrial paradise of Columbus and the imagination of modern scholars. One hundred thousand or ten million Tano? The catastrophe of the Antilles as seen from close up and a credible Leyenda Negra. People die while animals flourish -- A great and rich city, dreamed of by Columbus and destroyed by Cortes. The modern dispute over the population of Meso-America. Tributaries, tributes, and population. Thirteen brigantines hauled overland and a tunnel in the rocks. Men and beasts -- The Incas and many millions of subjects. A quarter century of wars: Indios versus Indios, Spaniards versus Indios, Spaniards versus Spaniards. "Quipo" pen and ink. A viceroy who counts, measures, and acts. Epidemics: the moderns debate them, the ancients ignore them -- Colonists and "Paulists" hunting down Guaran between the Paran and the Uruguay. One hundred Jesuits for 100,000 Indios. Steel axes and security in exchange for Christian habits. Monogamy and reproduction stronger than crowd diseases

1. Indians -- Population -- History
2. Indians -- First contact with Europeans
3. Indians
4. Treatment of -- Latin America
5. America -- Discovery and exploration -- Spanish
6. Spain -- Colonies -- America
7. Latin America -- History -- To 1830