s us in some degree in the light of poetical justice to
the fact that Amerigo Vespucci, who followed in the footsteps of
others, yet took the honors of discovery so far as to give his name to
the largest quarter of the globe.

Diego Velasquez, the earliest Governor of the island, appears to have
been an energetic and efficient magistrate, and to have administered
affairs with vigor and intelligence. He did not live, however, in a
period when justice ever erred on the side of mercy, and his harsh and
cruel treatment of the aborigines will always remain a stain upon his
memory. The native population soon dwindled away under the sway of the
Spaniards, who imposed tasks upon them far beyond their physical
powers of endurance. The victims of this hardship had no one to
befriend them at that time, and no one has done them justice in
history. The few glimpses of their character which have come down to
us are of a nature greatly to interest us in this now extinct race.
Their one fault was in trusting the invaders at all. At the outset
they could have swept them from the face of the earth, but, once
permitted to establish themselves, they soon became too powerful to be
driven out of the land. A native chief, whose only crime was that of
taking up arms in defense of the integrity of his little territory,
fell into the hands of Velasquez, and was cruelly burned at the stake,
near what is now the town of Yara, as a punishment for his patriotism.
The words of this unfortunate but brave chief (Hatuey), extorted by
the torments which he suffered, were: "I prefer hell to heaven, if
there are Spaniards in heaven!"

In point of energetic action and material progress, Velasquez reminds
us of a later Governor-General, the famous Tacon. In a single decade,
Velasquez founded the seven cities of Baracoa, Santiago de Cuba,
Trinidad, Bayamo, Puerto del Principe, St. Spiritus, and, on the south
coast near Batabano, Havana, since removed to its present site. He
caused the mines to be opened and rendered them profitable, introduced
valuable breeds of cattle, instituted agricultural enterprise, and
opened a large trade with San Domingo, Jamaica, and the Spanish
peninsula. Population increased rapidly, thousands of persons
emigrating annually from Europe, tempted by the inviting stories of
the returned explorers. Emigration schemes were approved and fostered
by the home government, and thus a large community was rapidly divided
among the several c