Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/787

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XIMENES DE QUESADA connt of his life is the biography by Alvaro Gomez de Castro, who was specially appointed by the university of Alcala to undertake the task. See also Hefele, Der Cardinal Ximenes und die kirchlichen Zustdnde Spaniena im 15. Jahrhundert (2 vols., Tubingen, 1844; 2d ed., 1851 ; English translation by Canon Dalton, London, 1860). XIMENES DE Ql ESADA, Gonzalo, a Spanish ex- plorer, born in Granada about 1495, died at Mariquita, New Granada, Feb. 16, 1579. He came to America in 1535 as a judicial func- tionary in the suite of Pedro Fernandez de Lugo, governor of the province of Santa Marta, who chose him to head an expedition against the Chibchas, supposed to number more than 2,000,000 souls, on the great plains of Tunja and Bogoti, and the neighboring regions about the head waters of the river Magdalena. He set out April 6, 1536, with a force of 720 in- fantry and 85 horsemen. Of five vessels and 105 men embarked in them, all were destroyed by storm or by native attacks excepting one vessel which was brought back to Santa Marta by one man. On land the column was hin- dered by almost insurmountable natural obsta- cles and the constant assaults of the savages. At the end of eight months they had made no more than 450 m. On reaching the river Ber- mejo, Ximenes fell sick ; but Capt. San Martin explored the upper waters of the river, and reported that a rich and cultivated country was not far distant. Scaling with immense exertion the formidable mountains of Opon, gaining a height of 5,500 ft. above the sea, Ximenes found a land of beauty and abun- dance, with its population to be conquered, but free from natural obstacles. He now had but 166 men and 60 horses. He resumed his progress on March 2, 1537. The first Indians he met were so terrified by the sight of his horses that they instantly submitted. At Tun- ja one of the great chiefs of the Chibchas treacherously attacked him, and was captured after much slaughter, Ximenes becoming pos- sessed of vast riches. He then marched upon Iraca, the sacred city of the nation, where the great temple of the sun was accidentally set on fire, and it perished with the city after burn- ing several days. Returning toward Tnnja, he fought a desperate and bloody battle at Borja against 12,000 natives, whom he defeated,_ after which he made treaties with several caciques, who voluntarily submitted. He now divided among his soldiers $250,000 in gold and 1,815 emeralds. Another native chief having been surprised and killed, his people undertook a vigorous resistance; but Ximenes formed an alliance with one of the pretenders to the suc- cession, and gained a battle in which his forces consisted of 40,000 natives and 40 Spaniards. His ally was proclaimed king of the Chibchas, but was required to deliver the treasures of his predecessor to the Spaniards. After a short imprisonment he promised within 40 days to fill a room with gold and emeralds. As he did XYLENE 759 not keep his promise, he was put to death with cruel tortures. On Aug. 6, 1588, Ximenes founded the city of Bogota. Shortly after- ward arrived Frederman from Venezuela, with about 160 men in a destitute condition, and Benalcazar with about the same force flushed with the conquest and spoils of Quito. Be- nalcazar wished to combine with Frederman and expel Ximenes from his conquests; but Frederman had already entered the service of Ximenes, and the three leaders, appointing a governor ad interim of all their territories, sailed May 12, 1539, from the Magdalena to lay their claims before the emperor Charles V. Frederman was totally unsuccessful ; Be- nalcazar was released from obedience to Pi- zarro and made governor of Popayan; and Ximenes, after following the court to the Low Countries and spending vast sums in osten- tatious living in Italy, France, and Portugal, was finally summoned before the royal coun- cil, fined 1,000 ducats, banished for one year, and suspended for five years from his office as judge and captain. The emperor afterward remitted these punishments, and bestowed on him the title of marshal of the kingdom of New Granada, with perquisites worth about 4,000 ducats yearly. He returned to Bogota in the beginning of 1551, and henceforth distinguished himself as the protector of the people against the adventurous officials and magistrates. In 1561 he was named by the Spanish govern- ment adelantado or governor-in-chief of the kingdom of New Granada, and afterward spent three years and 300,000 ducats in fitting out an expedition in search of El Dorado, which he thought to find beyond the territories of Pauto and Papamene. He set out with 300 Spaniards, 2,000 Indians, and 1,200 horses, and returned with 24 men and 32 horses. In 1572 he founded the city of Santa Agueda, near Mariquita. He died of leprosy, and by his will declared himself poor, his debts exceeding his property by more than 60,000 ducats. His re- mains were removed to Bogotd in 1597. See J. Acosta, Compendia historico del deseitlrimien- to y colonisation de la Nueva Granada (Paris, 1848), and Antonio de Plaza, Memoriae para la historia de la Nueva Granada (Bogota. 1850). XORILLO. See JOEULLO. XYLENE, or Xylol, a hydrocarbon homolo- gous with benzene and toluene, first obtained in a pure state from coal naphtha by Hugo Miller in 1863. Mixed with toluene and seve- ral other hydrocarbons, it had been obtained several years previously. It is prepared by subjecting coal naphtha to fractional distilla- tion, and subjecting that portion which boils at about 306 F. to the action of oil of vitriol containing some of the fuming acid, which con- verts the xylene into xylene-sulphuric acid ; and this, being decomposed by dry distillation, yields pure xylene by washing, drying, and re distillation. Its formula is OtHit. colorless liquid, having a P 66 " 1 '^ $ nt sp. gr. 0-86 at 66 ; boiling point, 282