showing the Spanish character, which centuries have not changed, and which is as cruel and bloodthirsty to-day as it was then.

There was one native chief, a refugee from Hayti, named Hatuey, who had had previous dealings with the Spaniards, and knew what was to be expected from them. He had strongly opposed their invasion, was captured, and sentenced to be burned alive at the stake. As the flames curled about him, a Franciscan monk held up a crucifix before him, urging him to abjure the impotent gods of his ancestors and embrace Christianity.

Hatuey, knowing well that his conversion would not save him from a horrible death, and remembering all the atrocities he had seen committed, asked where Heaven was and if there were many Spaniards there.

"A great many of then," answered the monk.

"Then," cried Hatuey, "I will not go to a place where I may meet one of that accursed race. I prefer to go elsewhere."

Hatuey's death ended all rebellion, if struggling for one's rights can be rebellion, and the iron hand of tyranny, whose grasp has never since been relaxed, closed firmly upon the beautiful island.

Three hundred of the natives were given as slaves to each Spaniard, but, as in Hayti, it was found that they were not strong enough for the enormous tasks their masters would have imposed upon them. So negro slaves were imported from the mother country, and their descendants remained in the bonds of serfdom for centuries.

The first permanent settlement was made at Santiago de Cuba, on the Southeastern coast, the scene of Admiral Sampson's recent brilliant achievements, and this was for a long time the capital of the colony. Then came Trinidad, and in 1515 a town was started called San Cristoval de la Habana, which name was transferred four years later to the present capital, the first named place being rechristened Batabana.

The natives were treated with the utmost cruelty, so cruelly, in fact, that they were practically exterminated. Only a comparatively few years after the settlement of the island there were scarcely any of them left. The result of this short sighted policy on the part of Spain was that agriculture declined to an enormous extent, and Cuba became virtually a pastoral country.

In 1537, the king appointed as captain-general Hernando de Soto, the picturesque adventurer, who was afterwards famous as the discoverer of the Mississippi and for his romantic search for the fountain of eternal youth.

All powers, both civil and military, were vested in the captain-general, the title bestowed upon the governors, although many of them were civilians.

Shortly after this appointment, Havana was reduced to ashes by a French privateer, and De Soto built for the city's protection the Castillo de la Fuerza, a fortress which still exists. But this precaution proved ineffectual, as in 1554, the city which had gained considerably in importance, as it had now become the capital, was again attacked and partially destroyed by the French. Two other fortresses were then constructed, the Punta and the Morro.

The discovery of Mexico and other countries drew away from the island the majority of its working population, and the government passed a law imposing the penalty of death upon all who left it.

Spain also imposed the heaviest trade restrictions upon Cuba. It was exploited in every direction for the benefit of the mother country and to the exclusion of every one else. All foreigners, and even Spaniards not natives of Castile, were prohibited from trading with the island or settling in it.

The consequence was that the increase of population was slow, the introduction of negroes, whose labor was most essential for prosperity, was gradual, and the progress and growth of the island were almost stopped.

Moreover, Spain was ruler of the greater part of the Atlantic, and a most despotic ruler she proved herself to be. Numerous tales are told of the atrocities committed upon navigators, especially those of England.

When Cromwell, who caused many liberal ideas to be introduced into England, tried to induce Spain to abolish the Inquisition and to allow the free navigation of the Atlantic, the Spanish ambassador replied:

"For my master to relinquish those prerogatives would be the same as to put out both his eyes."

One instance of Spain's cruelty, for which, however, she suffered a well-merited retribution, may be related here. In 1564, a party of French Huguenots settled in Florida near the mouth of the river St. John. A certain Menendez, who was sailing under orders to "gibbet and behead all Protestants in those regions," fell upon the colonists and massacred all he could find. Some of the settlers, who happened to be away at the time, shortly afterward fell into the hands of Menendez, who hanged them all, placing this inscription above their heads: "Not as Frenchmen, but as heretics." In 1567, however, a French expedition surprised a body of Spaniards who had undertaken to found St. Augustine, and in their turn hanged these settlers, "Not as Spaniards, but as murderers."

Hampered and oppressed as they were, deprived of a free and convenient market for the produce of the soil by reason of the monopolies imposed by the mother country, it is not strange that the Cubans had recourse to smuggling, and this was especially the case after the British conquest of Jamaica in 1655. So universal did the practice become, that when Captain-General Valdez arrived, he found that nearly all the Havanese were guilty of the crime of illicit trading, the punishment of which was death. At the suggestion of Valdez, a ship was freighted with presents for the king, and sent to Spain with a petition for pardon, which was finally granted.

But the whole of Europe was against Spain in her arrogant assumption of the suzerainty of the New World. Especially were her pretensions condemned and resisted by the English, French, Portuguese and Dutch, all of whom were engaged in colonizing different portions of America. Then arose a body of men, who were productive of most important results. These were known as buccaneers, and were practically a band of piratical adventurers of different nationalities, united in their opposition to Spain.

Hayti, as has already been intimated, had been almost depopulated by the oppressive colonial policy of Spain. The island had become the home of immense herds of wild cattle, and it was the custom of the smugglers to stop there to provision their ships.

The natives, which were still left, had learned to be skilled in preserving the meat by means of fire and smoke, and they called their kilns "boucans." The smugglers, besides obtaining what they desired for their own use of this preserved meat, established an extensive illicit trade in it. Hence, they obtained the name of buccaneers.

Spanish monopolies were the pest of every port in the New World, and mariners of the western waters were filled with a detestation, quite natural, of everything Spanish.

Gradually, the ranks of the buccaneers were recruited. They were given assistance and encouragement, direct and indirect, by other nations, even in some cases being furnished with letters-of-marque and reprisal as privateers.

The commerce of Spain had been gradually dwindling since the defeat of the so-called Invincible Armada, and the buccaneers commenced now to seize the returning treasure ships and to plunder the seaboard cities of Cuba and other Spanish possessions.

Even Havana itself was not spared by them.

The buccaneers, indefensible though many of their actions were, had a great influence upon the power and colonial tactics of Spain.

Beyond this, they opened the eyes of the world to the rottenness of the whole system of Spanish government and commerce in America, and undoubtedly did much to build up the West Indian possessions of England, France and Holland.

It is curious to note here the career of one of