For a considerable time after the last visit of Columbus, Cuba was
strangely neglected by the enterprising explorers and conquistadors of
Spain. Hispaniola, since known as Hayti or Santo Domingo, became the
chief colony and centre of Spanish authority in the Antilles, and it for
many years far outranked Cuba in interest and importance. It does not
appear that for more than a dozen years after the last visit of Columbus
any attempt whatever was made to colonize or to explore the great
island, if indeed it was so much as voluntarily visited. Navigators
doubtless frequently passed near its shores, on their way to and from
Darien and the Venezuelan coast, and occasionally stress of weather on
the "stormy Caribbean" or actual shipwreck compelled some to land upon
it. Such involuntary landings were presumably made either in the
neighborhood of the Zapata Peninsula or, still more probably, not
exactly upon Cuba at all but upon the southern shore of the tributary
Isle of Pines. In consequence, the voyagers carried back to Hispaniola
or to Spain the not unnatural report that Cuba consisted of nothing but
swamps; a report which of course did not inspire others with zeal to
visit so unfavorable a place.
For a similar space of time, too, the delusion that Cuba was a part of
the continent generally prevailed. It is true that on a map of Juan de
la Cosa's, to which the date of 1500 is attributed, Cuba is indicated to
be an island. But the date is not certain, by any means; and it is
notorious that more than one early cartographer drew upon imagination as
well as upon ascertained geographical facts. Somewhat more significant
is the fact that Peter Martyr spoke of Cuba as an island, and said that
some sailors pretended to have circumnavigated it. There is no proof,
however, that this was more than rumor. What seems certain is that as
late as 1508 the best authorities were ignorant whether Cuba was island
or mainland, and that not until that time was the question settled.
Columbus had been succeeded in authority in Hispaniola by Francisco de
Bobadilla, and the latter in turn had in 1501 given way to Nicholas de
Ovando. It does not appear that Ovando sought to colonize Cuba. But he
did wish to determine its extent, and whether it was insular or
continental, and in a memorial to the King of Spain he broached a
proposal for at least its littoral exploration. Ferdinand gave him,
however, no encouragement. On the contrary, he forbade him to spend any
public money on so needless and useless an enterprise. Ovando then
decided to undertake the exploit at his own charge, and, according to
Las Casas, commissioned Sebastian de Ocampo to explore the coasts of the
country and, if he found it to be an island, to circumnavigate it. This
Ocampo did, returning to Hispaniola in the fall of 1508 with the report
that he had sailed completely round Cuba. On the way, he said, he had
made occasional landings, and had found the whole island to be inhabited
by a kindly and intelligent people, well disposed toward Spain.
Immediately following this expedition, various efforts were made to
colonize Cuba, and to enter into relations with the natives. Conspicuous
among these efforts was one which had for its object the introduction of
Christianity into Cuba, and of which an interesting account is given by
Martin Ferdinand de Enciso in his "Suma de Geografia," the first book
ever published about America. Enciso, it will be remembered, was a
partner of Alonzo de Ojeda, that brilliant and gallant cavalier of Spain
who in 1508 was Governor of Nueva Andalusia, a region which we now know
as the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It was Enciso who in 1509 went to
Uraba to the relief of Francisco Pizarro, who had been in command there
but who had become discouraged, had suffered heavy losses from attacks
by the natives, and who was about to abandon the place. It was on one of
Enciso's ships, too, that his friend Vasco Nunez de Balboa, concealed in
a cask to avoid his creditors, escaped from Hispaniola and was conveyed
to Darien, thus getting his opportunity to cross the isthmus and to
discover the Pacific Ocean.
Enciso relates that a Spanish vessel, cruising off the southern coast of
Cuba, somewhere near Cape de la Cruz, put ashore a young mariner who had
fallen ill, so that he might have a better chance to recover from his
illness than he would on shipboard. The identity of this young man is
not assured, though it has been strongly suggested that he was no other
than Ojeda himself. However that may be, he found himself in his
convalescence the guest of a native chieftain or Cacique who professed
Christianity. The chief had presumably been visited by Ocampo's
expedition. He had been much impressed by the prowess and culture of the
Spaniards, and had desired to become affiliated with the religion which
they professed and to which he attributed their superiority to the
natives of Cuba. Hearing from them that they had been sent thither by
the Comendador Ovando--the Governor of Hispaniola was a Comendador of
the Order of Knights of Alcantara--he chose that title for his own
baptismal name, and was thenceforth known as the Cacique Comendador.
Pleased to find a Christian chief, and grateful for his own restoration
to health, Ojeda--if it was indeed he--erected in Comendador's house an
altar and placed thereon an image of the Holy Virgin, and instructed the
people to bow before it every evening and to repeat the "Ave, Maria!"
and "Salve, Regina!" This was pleasing to Comendador, but offensive to
the neighboring Caciques, who worshipped an idol which they called Cemi.
In consequence a primitive religious war arose among the natives, in
which, according to Enciso, Comendador and his followers were pretty
uniformly successful. His victories were attributed to the intervention
and aid of "a beautiful woman, clad in white, and carrying a wand."
Finally a test was agreed upon which reminds us of Elijah's Battle of
the Gods on the scathed crest of Mount Carmel. A representative warrior
of each party was to be bound securely, hand and foot, and be placed in
an open field for the night, and if one of them was set free from his
bonds, that would be proof of the superiority of his God. "The God who
looses his servant's bonds, let him be the Lord!" This was done, and
guards of both parties were placed about the field, to make sure that
nobody should meddle with the experiment.
At midnight, says Enciso, Cemi came to unbind his follower. But before
he could reach him or touch his bonds, the Holy Virgin appeared, clad in
white and bearing a wand. At her approach, Cemi incontinently fled. At a
touch of her wand the bonds fell from the limbs of the Christian
champion, and were added to those already on the limbs of the other man.
Despite the presence of the guards, the Caciques insisted that there had
been trickery, and demanded another trial, to which Comendador,
confident in his faith, agreed. The result was the same as before. Still
they were unconvinced, and demanded a third trial, at which they
themselves would be present as watchers and guards. This also was
granted, and once more the same miracle was wrought. At that the
Caciques all confessed their defeat and the defeat of Cemi, and declared
that the Virgin was worthy to be worshipped.
This auspicious implanting of Christianity and of good relations between
the natives and the Spaniards did not, unfortunately, endure. It was
interfered with by the too common cause of trouble in those days, the
_auri sacra fames_, the accursed lust for gold. We have seen that King
Ferdinand was unwilling, in his niggardliness, for money to be spent
from his treasury for the exploration of Cuba. But after that work had
been done at Ovando's personal cost, Ferdinand desired to reap the
gains, if any there were. The suggestion was revived that Cuba might be
rich in gold. The King suspected that Ovando and others were deceiving
him concerning the island, and were secretly planning to secure its
riches for themselves. These suspicions were materially increased by the
course of Diego Columbus which, while probably quite honest, was lacking
in tact and worldly wisdom. For when Diego succeeded Ovando as
Governor-General or Viceroy of the Indies, at Hispaniola, one of his
first acts was to commission his uncle, Bartholomew Columbus, to lead an
expedition for the exploration and settlement of Cuba. That was a
legitimate and indeed praiseworthy enterprise. But unfortunately Diego
did not secure in advance the King's authority for it, nor did he
acquaint the King with his intentions. His enemies, however, of whom he
had many, were quick to report the matter to the King, putting it in the
light most unfavorable to both Diego and Bartholomew; and the result was
that Ferdinand at once recalled Bartholomew Columbus to Spain, and
compelled Diego to select another head for the expedition.
In 1510, then, the King directed Diego Columbus to send forth his
proposed expedition to Cuba, to make a careful examination of the
island, to ascertain the character of its resources, and above all to
determine whether it contained gold. He took pains, moreover, to impress
upon Diego and through him the actual members of the expedition, the
eminent desirability of cultivating the most friendly and confidential
relations with the natives, both as a matter of policy and for the sake
of humanity and religion. The result was the sending, early in 1511,
from Hispaniola, of an expedition in which were interested if not
actually implicated a number of the most conspicuous men in the Indies,
and which marked the actual and permanent opening of Cuba to Spanish
settlement and civilization.
Diego Columbus was the son and heir of the Great Discoverer, who under
the terms of the royal compact of 1492 was to inherit all his father's
powers and dignities as Admiral and Viceroy of the Western Hemisphere.
For a time Ferdinand on various pretexts refused to fulfil that compact
and to recognize his rights, but appointed Ovando to rule in Hispaniola
in his stead. But after Diego's marriage to Dona Maria de Toledo, the
daughter of the Grand Commander of Leon and the niece of the King's
favorite councillor and friend, the Duke of Alba, a combination of
personal, social and political influence prevailed for the vindication
of his claims, and he was invested with supreme authority in place of
Ovando, who was provided for elsewhere. Diego seems to have been a man
of integrity and engaging character, though perhaps more idealistic than
practical, and not always a match in policy for the scheming politicians
by whom he was surrounded.
Bartholomew Columbus was the brother of Christopher, was intimately
associated with him in his great enterprises, and was named by him
Adelantado, or Lieutenant Governor, of the Indies. He too was a man of
character and fine parts, bold and enterprising, and possessed of more
practical worldly wisdom than either his brother or his nephew.
These two stood alone, against a numerous company of personal and
political enemies, both in Hispaniola and in Spain. Indeed, as
Bartholomew was recalled to Spain and was kept there for some time,
Diego was left solitary to contend with or to yield to his foes. It was
therefore probably through necessity that he organized the Cuban
expedition largely with men hostile to him.
Miguel Pasamonte was his chief foe. He had been the secretary of Queen
Isabella, and had filled important Ambassadorships, but was now the
royal treasurer in Hispaniola. He had been one of the bitterest enemies
of Christopher Columbus, and had transferred a full measure of hostility
to Diego; and it was he who reported to the King in its most unfavorable
light Diego's plans for sending Bartholomew Columbus to Cuba. In his
hostility to both Christopher and Diego Columbus he was greatly aided
and abetted by Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, Bishop of Seville; who had
violently quarrelled with Christopher Columbus over the fitting out of
his second voyage and who also had transferred his hatred to the
Admiral's son.
[Illustration: DIEGO VELASQUEZ]
Diego Velasquez was another of the faction hostile to the Columbuses,
though at first he had been a friend and companion of the Admiral. It is
probable that he had no personal enmity toward Diego Columbus, but
joined himself to the other faction through motives not unconnected with
personal pecuniary profit. He had gone from Spain to Hispaniola with
Christopher Columbus on his second voyage, and had ever since been one
of the most efficient administrators in that island and indeed in all
the Indies. For a time he was a military leader in campaigns against
hostile natives, and afterward he became Lieutenant Governor of the
island. He was a man of high ability, of singularly handsome person, of
engaging manners, of much popularity, and of abundant force of character
for successful leadership and command of men. He was, however, not
always scrupulous in his dealings, and it was not to his moral credit
that he became the richest man in all the Indies. He was a close friend
and partisan of Pasamonte, and associated with him in the same alliance
were the royal secretary in Hispaniola, Conchillos, and also the royal
accountant, Christopher de Cuellar, who was both the cousin and
father-in-law of Velasquez.
Diego Columbus, then, either through policy or through compulsion,
appointed Velasquez to be his lieutenant in Cuba, and commissioned him
to organize and personally to lead the intended expedition to that
island. He also promised that the King would refund whatever private
expenditures Velasquez and his companions should make on account of it;
a promise which was authorized by the King, but not fulfilled save in
the indirect way of empowering the members of the expedition to recoup
themselves at the expense of the people of the island; an arrangement
decidedly at variance with Ferdinand's former solicitude for good
treatment for the natives. Further than that, Diego had little or
nothing to do with Cuba, and in a short time Velasquez was known not as
Lieutenant but as Governor, as though he were entirely independent of
the Viceroy in Hispaniola.
[Illustration: BARACOA
First Capital of Cuba]
Early in 1511 Velasquez assembled a flotilla of three or four vessels on
the northwest coast of Hispaniola, at or near the place where Columbus
had landed when he discovered that island and first visited it from
Cuba. In the adjacent region he recruited a company of about three
hundred men, and with that force set out for the conquest and
colonization of Cuba. The precise date of his expedition is not to be
ascertained, but it was probably in February or at latest March of that
year. The place of his landing in Cuba, however, is known. It was at
Baracoa, where also Columbus had landed before him. Following the
practice of Columbus and the other explorers he promptly gave the place
a new name of his own selection, calling it the City of Our Lady of the
Assumption. There he established his seat of government and base of
further operations, giving to the place in both civil and ecclesiastical
affairs the technical rank and dignity of a city. But, as also
frequently happened, the new name was unable to supplant the old one in
popular usage; and when, in 1514, the insular capital was transferred to
Santiago de Cuba, and in 1522 the cathedral of the diocese was similarly
transferred, the new name was permitted to lapse, and the place became
again universally known as Baracoa. Despite its vicissitudes of fortune,
therefore, and its loss of its former high estate, Baracoa is entitled
to the triple distinction of having been the site of the first permanent
European settlement in Cuba, of the first civilized government, and of
the first cathedral church.
At Baracoa, immediately upon his arrival, Velasquez built a fort, the
exact site of which is now matter of conjecture, and various other
edifices. These were all constructed of wood, probably of bamboo and
thatch, and no trace of them remains to-day. Search was also promptly
made for gold, and some seems to have been found in the beds of streams,
though in no large quantities, and the attempt to operate mines was soon
abandoned. Attention was then turned to further explorations and
conquests, and to the quest for gold in other parts of the island.
Still more unfortunate than the failure to find much gold, and largely
because of that fruitless quest, was the rise of bitter hostilities
between the Spaniards and the natives. This was also a sequel to and in
part a consequence of the Spanish administration in Hispaniola and
particularly of the part which Velasquez had played therein. Shortly
before coming to Cuba, Velasquez had waged several strenuous and
probably somewhat ruthless campaigns against the natives of Hispaniola,
chiefly in that part of the island which lay nearest to Cuba and in
which he recruited his Cuban expedition. His chief opponent there was a
native chief named Hatuey, who, finding himself unable to cope with the
Spaniards, fled to Cuba with many of his followers and settled in the
country near Baracoa. These refugees were of course quick to report to
the natives of Cuba the cause of their migration, and to portray the
conduct and character of the Spaniards, and of Velasquez personally, in
the most unfavorable light. The natural result was to predispose the
Cuban natives to regard the Spaniards with distrust and aversion. And
when Velasquez himself presently appeared among the very people who had
been thus prejudiced against him, trouble inevitably arose.
The leader in the trouble was Hatuey, who had a large following both of
his own tribe from Hispaniola and also of Cubans. He had maintained a
system of spying and communication through which he kept himself
perfectly informed of the doings of Velasquez, whom he considered his
chief foe, not only politically but personally, and when he learned that
he was coming to Cuba he busied himself with preparations to resist him.
He was foremost in spreading among the Cuban natives all manner of evil
reports concerning the Spaniards, all of which, whether true or false,
found ready credence.
Thus on one occasion, as related by Herrera, he gathered many of the
natives together with a promise to reveal to them the God of the
Spaniards, whom they worshipped and to whom they made human sacrifices
of Indians' lives. When they were assembled and their anticipation was
whetted, he placed before them a small basket filled with gold. "That,"
said he, "is the God which the Spaniards worship, and in quest of which
they are following us hither. Let us, therefore, ourselves pay this God
reverence and implore him to bid his Spanish worshippers not to harm us
when they come hither!" The natives performed a religious dance and
other rites about the gold, until they were exhausted, and then Hatuey
further counselled them to cast the gold into the river, where the
Spaniards could not find it; since if they found it they would continue
their search for more, even to cutting out the hearts of the people in
quest of it.
Whether true or fabricated, the story indicates the attitude of Hatuey
toward the Spaniards and explains the intensity of the bitterness which
prevailed between him and Velasquez. Of course, when the Spaniards
arrived and immediately began to hunt for gold, Hatuey's words about
their God seemed to be confirmed. War began, which soon resulted in the
defeat and capture of Hatuey, who was put to death. Tradition has it
that he was burned at the stake, as was the common custom in those
times, and that just before the fire was lighted he was invited to
accept Christianity and be baptized, but refused on the ground that he
did not want to meet any Spaniards in the other world. He was succeeded
in command of the hostile natives by Caguax, who had been his comrade in
Hispaniola and who had come to Cuba with him; and the hostilities were
continued with the usual result of conflicts between a higher and a
lower civilization. In a short time the province of Maysi was conquered
and partly pacified, and that of Bayamo was invaded.
[Illustration: PANFILO DE NARVAEZ]
At this time and in these operations there appeared in Cuba two more men
of commanding importance in the early history of the island, who were
sent thither from Hispaniola to assist Velasquez soon after the defeat
and death of Hatuey. One of these was Panfilo de Narvaez, a soldier and
the leader of a company of thirty expert crossbow-men who had been
serving in Jamaica but were no longer needed by the governor of that
island, Esquivel. Narvaez was a native of Valladolid, Spain, near which
city Velasquez also had been born. It is possible, indeed, that the two
men were related, since there was a marked physical resemblance between
them; both being tall, handsome, and of a pronounced blond complexion.
At any rate, they had long been friends, and Velasquez was glad to make
Narvaez his chief lieutenant and right-hand man. Narvaez appears to have
been a man of high intelligence, honorable character, and much personal
charm. He was, however, too much inclined toward fighting, was sometimes
reckless in his leadership, and was no more scrupulous in his conduct
toward the natives than were many other conquerors of various lands in
those days of adventure and violence. At the head of a force of more
than a hundred and fifty men, including a score of horsemen, he led the
way in the conquest, first of Bayamo and finally of all the rest of the
island. In his campaign he enjoyed immense advantage from the awe and
terror which were caused among the natives by the appearance of the
horses, which were the first ever seen in Cuba.
[Illustration: BARTHOLOMEW DE LAS CASAS]
The other and more famous of these two men was Bartholomew de Las Casas,
known to the world as the "Protector of the Indians" and as the "Apostle
to the Indies." As a youth he had accompanied his father on Columbus's
third voyage to America, and he had come to the Antilles a second time
and permanently with Ovando, the Governor of Hispaniola, in 1502. In
1510 he was ordained to be a priest, and it was in that clerical
capacity that he was sent over to Cuba to assist Velasquez in the
conquest, pacification and settlement of the island. He appears at first
to have had no important religious scruples against oppression of the
natives, but joined with Velasquez and Narvaez in their sometimes
ruthless policy. When the island was divided among the conquerors under
the system of repartimientos, or allotments of natives as practical
slaves of the Spaniards, he received and accepted without demur his
encomienda or commandery, and held it for some time in partnership with
his friend Pedro de Renteria. But a little later, realizing the
injustice and cruelties which the natives suffered under this system, he
became, as he himself described it, "converted," and thereafter was an
earnest, zealous and almost fanatical champion of their rights. He
visited Spain several times, to secure commissions of inquiry and other
measures for their relief. Also, thinking thus to redeem them from
enforced servitude, he secured royal sanction for the introduction of
Negro slavery and the importation of Negro slaves into Cuba; a policy
which he afterward deeply regretted.
After a brief campaign in Bayamo, which was not particularly successful,
beyond the killing of Caguax and the final dispersion of the force which
Hatuey had organized, Narvaez formed an expedition of perhaps five
hundred men for more extended enterprises, in which he had as his
principal companions Las Casas and a young nephew of Velasquez, Juan de
Grijalva. The precise route of this expedition cannot now be stated. It
certainly, however, traversed the Bayamo region, and went as far west as
Camaguey. It also visited the neighborhood of Cape Cruz and there passed
through the town of Cueyba, as Las Casas called it, where, as hitherto
related, a Spanish mariner, presumably Ojeda, had landed and had
established a Christian shrine with a statue of the Holy Virgin. Here
and at other places amicable relations were maintained between the
Spaniards and the natives.
Unhappily that was not always the rule. At the large town of Caonao,
probably near Manzanillo, a number of Spanish soldiers, as if suddenly
stricken with madness, began a massacre of the natives, killed a great
number, and drove the rest into flight. Narvaez does not seem to have
ordered nor to have taken part in the slaughter, but neither did he
exert himself to prevent it or to stop it. Whereupon Las Casas,
righteously wrathful, bade him to go to the Devil, and thereafter
devoted himself to ministering to the sufferers and to reassuring the
survivors.
From Caonao the expedition moved westward, through the southern part of
the Province of Camaguey, where the natives were so frightened that they
fled to the little islands off the coast which Columbus had named the
Queen's Gardens. Thence it went across the island to the north coast,
and probably in the region of Sagua la Grande, in Santa Clara Province,
found some small deposits of gold. After stopping there for some time,
it continued its progress into Havana Province, where more gold was
found and where, unhappily, serious trouble with the natives was
renewed.
On the way across the island Narvaez had heard of three Spaniards, a man
and two women, who had been shipwrecked on the coast and were living
with the Indians somewhere in the west. He sent word of this report back
to Velasquez, who returned him orders to search for the castaways even
in preference to gold, and who also dispatched a ship along the north
coast to meet Narvaez and his party in the region to which they were
going. In Santa Clara the two women were found, unharmed and well, and
they presently married members of the expedition. Finally, in Havana the
man also was found. He too was unharmed and well, though he had become
in speech and habits more like an Indian than a Spaniard. According to
his story, he and the two women were the sole survivors of a company of
twenty-six. They had fled from Ojeda's ill-starred settlement at Uraba,
on the Gulf of Darien, and were trying to make their way back to
Hispaniola, but had been driven out of their course around the north
coast of Cuba. Not far from Cape San Antonio they had been shipwrecked
and thence had made their way by land, along the north coast. Most of
them had been killed by natives while trying to cross an arm of the sea,
which has been assumed to have been the Bay of Matanzas, which was so
named on that account.
On the Havana coast the expedition met the vessel which Velasquez had
sent. But leaving it in port there the expedition went across the island
again to Xagua, or Cienfuegos, there to meet Velasquez himself and
another expedition which he was leading, and there to spend with him the
Christmas season of 1513. At the beginning of 1514 Narvaez and a hundred
men returned to Havana and thence marched westward into Pinar del Rio,
the vessel keeping in touch with them along the coast. How far they went
in that province is not now certainly known. Some accounts have it that
they stopped at Bahia Honda and there took ship back for Baracoa, while
others insist that they got as far as Nombre de Dios. All that is
certain is that Narvaez and his comrades visited on this expedition all
parts of the island, and thus completed the nominal exploration and
occupation of Cuba in the early part of 1514.