VEYTIA, Mariano (vay-ee'-te-ah), Mexican his- torian, b. in Puebla in 1718; d. there in 1779. He was a precocious child, and at the age of fifteen years took his first degree in philosophy. Three years afterward he was graduated in civil law, and in 1737, notwithstanding his youth, he was admitted as lawyer of the audiencia by a special permission of the viceroy. In May, 1737, he sailed for Spain, and at that time he began to write a detailed nar- rative of his travels. In two years he visited Spain, France, and Holland, and afterward he went to Italy, Portugal, England, and Palestine. In 1742 he became a member of the military order of Santiago in Madrid, and he entered the convent of San Agustin in Puebla in 1768. About that time he devoted himself to the study of the ancient history of Mexico, but at the time of his death he had finished only three volumes of his work, em- bracing the period from the earliest occupation of Anahuac till the middle of the 15th century, which are noteworthy for the fidelity of his researches. Clavigero, who by this time had finished his " Storia Antica del Messico," wrote to Veytia to obtain notes on the period anterior to the beginning of his his- tory. Veytia's work was published under the title of " Historia Antigua de Mexico " (Mexico, 1836), by Jose Ortega. Veytia left also a manuscript en- titled "Historia ecclesiastiea," which has not yet been published, and translated the " Cartas provin- ciates de Pascal."
VEZIN, Hermann, actor, b. in Philadelphia,
Pa., 29 March, 1829. He was intended for the bar
by his father, a German - American merchant of
Philadelphia, and was graduated at the University
of Pennsylvania in 1847. Desiring to follow the
stage, he went to England, and, after some prepa-
ration, obtained, through the recommendation of
Charles Kean, an engagement at a theatre in York.
He appeared in London under Kean's management
in 1852, and two years later played principal parts
in a tour through Great Britain. He visited the
United States in 1857-'8 ; but his style of acting
was not popular. Returning to England in 1859,
he played Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King John,
Louis XL, and Shylock in 1859. After his mar-
riage to Mrs. Charles Young in 1863, he travelled
with his wife, and in the following year they pro-
duced Westland Marston's comedy of " Donna
Diana " at the Princess's theatre, London. He was
successful in "The Man o' Airlie," " The Rightful
Heir," '• Life for Life," and various comedies, new
and old, and in 1875 added greatly to his reputation
by his rendering of Jacques in " As You Like It."
On 4 Feb., 1876, he played Macbeth at Drury Lane
theatre for the benefit of the Philadelphia centen-
nial exhibition, and subsequently he played Dan'l
Druce in William S. Gilbert's drama of that name,
crdated the part De Talde in " The Danicheffs "
and Schelm in " Russia " in 1877, and was success-
ful in the characters of Sir Giles Overreach, the
Duke of Alva in " Fatherland," and Iago in a re-
vival of " Othello " in March, 1878. In 1885 he
played the Shepherd in an open-air representation
of John Fletcher's " Faithful Shepherdess."
VIALE, Agostinho (ve-ah'-lay), Brazilian ex-
plorer, b. in Sao Paulo about 1620 ; d. in the
Ay mores country in 1667. In 1664 he was named
by Afonso VI. administrator-general of the mines
in Brazil, with power to pardon all offenders that
had sought a refuge in the forests. The general
belief, since justified, was that rich mines existed
in the interior of Brazil, and the government, in-
tending to make use of the geographical knowledge
that had been obtained by the outlaws during their
wandering through the forests, had decided to win
their services by the offer of a complete pardon.
Viale left Sao Paulo at the head of 50 soldiers and
150 Indians, and entered the vast forests of the
province of Matto Grosso, but, after journeying with
great difficulties for thirteen months through the
territory of the warlike Aymores, he wrote to Sao
Paulo in 1666 for re-enforcements, announcing
that he soon hoped to reach the much-talked-of
emerald mines. He was joined by a few more
soldiers, and, resuming the march, entered marshes
where the greater part of his host died from ma-
larial fever, and Viale fell a victim to the dis-
ease just in sight of the Serra das Esmeraldas.
His lieutenant, Barbalho Bezena, brought back the
remnants of the expedition to Sao Paulo. Viale's
journey afforded some knowledge of the vast coun-
tries of the interior.
VIANA, Francisco de (ve-ah'-nah), Spanish mis-
sionary, b. in the province of Alava about 1530 ; d. in
Coban, Guatemala, in 1609. He entered the Domini-
can order at Salamanca, and about 1560 went to
New Spain, where he was attached to the missions
of the province of Chiapa. For more than forty
years he labored among the natives of the sur-
rounding district, whose language he acquired, and
became superior of the convent of Coban, rebuild-
ing that and the one at Zacapula. He left some
valuable manuscripts, which were preserved in the
library of the order at Chiapa. The principal are
" Arte de la Lengua de Vera Paz," " Vocabulario
de la Lengua de Vera Paz," numerous religious
works, sermons, and a catechism in that language,
and a "Tratado de los deberes de la Justicia,
para gobierno de Alcaldes mayores de Indias," all
of which were translated into Quiche by Friar
Dionisio Zuniga, of the province of Guatemala.
VIANA, Miguel Pereira (ve-ah'-nah). Viscount
da, Brazilian author, b. in Evora, Portugal, in
1779 ; d. in Bahia in 1838. He received his edu-
cation in the college for nobles at Lisbon, and
afterward obtained a place in the office of the sec-
retary of state, whom he accompanied to Brazil
with the royal family in 1806. There he was ap-
pointed secretary of the commission to mark the
frontier between the Portuguese and the Spanish
possessions, became councillor of state, sided in
1822 with the party of Dom Pedro, who made him
a viscount, and was appointed in 1828 civil judge
at Bahia. He wrote " Romanceiro historico do rio
Amazonas " (Bahia, 1825) ; " Ensaio historico e de-
scriptivo do rio Amazonas " (1829) ; and " Descripcao
geral da provincia da Bahia " (1832).
VICENTE Y BENNAZAR, Andres (ve-then'tay),
Spanish geographer, lived in the second half
of the 15th century. He published at Antwerp
in 1476 four charts, representing the four continents
of the world. Unlike Columbus, he did not
imagine America to be part of Asia, but represented
it as a distinct continent and, what is more
remarkable, as a continent divided into two parts
by an isthmus. This publication, at so early a
date, and before columbus's discovery, has caused
much discussion. Some authorities think that
Vicente y Bennazar had arrived at the conclusion
that America existed as a distinct continent;
others, that such an opinion was general among
scientific circles in the 15th century; and still
others, that he only intended to reproduce the lost
Atlantis spoken of by Plato and the ancients.
VICK, James, horticulturist, b. in Portsmouth, England, 23 Nov., 1818 ; d. in Rochester, N. Y., 16 May, 1882. He received a common-school edu-
cation, came early to the United States, gained a practical knowledge of gardening and floriculture, i wrote on these subjects, and in 1850 became pub-
