ure of Cordova in September, 1702, the government of the
island was for a number of years once more of a rather interimistic
nature, which greatly hampered the efforts of the government to insure
the safety of the coasts against invaders. The British, being since the
accession of Philip V. to the Spanish throne no longer the allies of
Spain as they had been during the validity of the "American Treaty,"
were now her enemies, and once more began to harass the Spanish colonies
by encouraging the pirates to interfere with their traffic. The squadron
of three vessels which France sent over to patrol the ocean in the
vicinity of the Antilles, did not seem to intimidate the lawless
elements working more or less directly under orders of and agreements
with the British.

The administration of Cordova's successor, D. Pedro Benitez de Lugo,
Maestro de Campo and former Counsellor to the Elector of Bavaria, began
on the twentieth of September, 1702, and ended with his death only three
months later, on the fourth of December. But in that brief period
occurred the invasion of the island of Trinidad by the British pirate
Grant, who had under him a force of three hundred men and succeeded in
thoroughly terrorizing the people.

After the death of D. Benitez, the provisional government was entrusted
to two Habaneros, D. Luis Chacon, Castellan of the Morro, and D. Nicolas
Chirmo Vandeval. They seem to have governed with commendable prudence.
Determined to defend the island against the corsairs which renewed their
activity, the Cuban authorities retaliated by sending out corsairs of
their own. Thus D. Juan Baton de Chavez, governor of Santiago de Cuba,
started from that city in 1704 with a force of two hundred and fifty men
and invaded the islands of New Providence and Siguatey. He destroyed
their fortifications, sacked the houses, took one hundred prisoners and
returned with twenty-two cannon and a large quantity of ammunition and
arms. The town of Santiago having generously contributed to the success
of this enterprise both with volunteers and with material resources, the
king rewarded the city with the title "muy noble y muy leal" (very noble
and very loyal). In the same year there died in Havana the venerable and
much beloved Bishop, D. Diego Evelino de Compostela. In fifteen years of
faithful service he had succeeded in stimulating the religious life of
the diocese by the building of churches, especially those in the plains,
where tob