dencia of Hispaniola, or Santo Domingo. He had five successors in this office. The first governor, appointed by and immediately answerable to the Crown, was Hernando de Soto. The line of captains-general began with Don Gabriel de Lujan, who assumed the post in 1581.

In 1514, Velasquez founded the towns of Trinidad and Santiago, for the purpose of facilitating communication with Jamaica, and established settlements at Remedios, Bayamo, Puerto Principe, Sancti-Spiritus, and San Cristobal de la Habana, the last named being located where the town of Batabano now stands. Five years later, the name of Habana was transferred to a small settlement on the spot where the capital now stands.

Baracoa was the first bishopric and seat of government. In 1522 Santiago became the centre of both civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and in 1552 the capital was established at Habana.

The settlement of Cuba proceeded slowly. During the hundred years following its discovery, only two towns were founded in addition to those which have been mentioned, namely, Guanabacoa and El Cobre. In the seventeenth century but two more of any importance came

into existence, these being Matanzas and Santa Clara. Nine more were created in the course. of the next century. At the close of this period the Island contained about two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, while the development of its natural resources can scarcely be said to have begun.

The backwardness of the colony was not due to lack of energy on the part of the Spaniards, who in the days of the conquistadores displayed that quality in a remarkable degree. A combination of conditions, some of them entirely beyond the control of the settlers, retarded the development of the Island. A large proportion of the first comers were transients, staying for a while, but responding ultimately to the greater allurements of the mainland. Their object was gold, and in this respect Cuba proved disappointing. After a while the large landed proprietors, who had received royal grants, began to raise cattle and to breed horses. For some time large quantities of meat and mounts for the troops were shipped to Terra Firma. But this source of profit expired toward the close of the sixteenth century, when the continental settlements became able to supply their own needs in these respects. At

this period the cultivation of tobacco and sugarcane was introduced. At the outset these industries suffered from a paucity of labor, and a royal license was obtained for the importation of negroes from Africa. The shipment of the blacks in large numbers to the Island continued until, toward the middle of the nineteenth century, their proportional place in the population became a source of grave anxiety to the authorities. The successful revolt of their race in Haiti and the abolitionary agitation throughout the civilized world created unrest among the slaves in Cuba. Although there was no organized uprising, frequent mutinies occurred in different parts of the Island. The most cruel measures of repression were put into force, with the result of cowing the negroes for a while. It is probable however, that only the growth of the revolutionary movement prevented a general uprising of the blacks in Cuba before their emancipation, which was officially decreed in 1887.

The population of the Island in 1846 was about nine hundred thousand. More than half of the number were negroes, three-fourths of them slaves. According to the latest official figures, less than thirty per cent. of the present