The History of Cuba, vol. 1

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

England in dealing leniently with these buccaneers sailing under her flag, argued that since the gold and silver carried from America to Spain in Spanish ships was used to defray the expenses of a war which threatened her, English mariners were justified in capturing these vessels and seizing such treasures. But there is little doubt that by this interpretation the doors were opened wide to all sorts of trickery and outrage, carried on regardless whether the countries under whose flags both captors and captured sailed were at the time at war or at peace. Thus the naval and commercial restrictions, which Spain imposed upon other countries, proved at the end a boomerang, which did irreparable loss to Spain itself.

For the long war with England had greatly weakened Spanish power and when the peace of 1604 was concluded, the once so powerful country was visibly entering upon its downward path. Philip II, called the Great, had left a son, Philip III, who had neither the personality nor the ability to continue his famous father's policy of imperialism. Before long it was found that the naval power had sunk from the proud Armada which had challenged England in the time of Queen Elizabeth to no more than thirteen galleys. Ship-building practically ceased. To bring the tobacco crop from Havana to Spain, French and British vessels had to be hired. Nothing was done to keep up the military strength of the kingdom which had once ranked as Europe's greatest military power and had as such been feared by other nations. The army was composed either of inexperienced youths or of nerveless old men. The magazines and arsenals stood empty. With no ships patrolling the seas and protecting the coasts, the predatory outlaws of the ocean, sailing under various flags, soon recognized in the Spanish overseas possessions a territory which upon slight effort promised to yield rich booty. Cuba, Santo Domingo, Jamaica and other West Indian Islands were repeatedly ravaged by them. They established settlements on St. Christopher's Island, called St. Kitts, and on one of the Bahamas, and from these bases carried on their destructive operations.

Notwithstanding the great progress which navigation had made during the previous century, news between the Eastern and the Western continent traveled slowly. This proved a serious drawback to an efficient management of the colonies which European powers had established in America. It was responsible for a great deal of confusion and for the dilatory policy which characterized the government of the Spanish West Indies. Communication between the mother country and Cuba was so irregular and unreliable that Philip III, the new king, was not proclaimed in Cuba until the spring of the year 1599. Yet at no time was the fate of the island more closely linked with that of Spain, whose decline profoundly affected Cuba's political and economic conditions during the seventeenth century.

In that most critical period for Spain, when the fate of the Kingdom passed from the hands of Philip the Great into those of his incapable successor, Cuba had the good fortune of being under the administration of strong and able governors. D. Juan Maldonado Barrienuevo, who entered upon his office in the year 1596, did a great deal towards the improvement of the capital, starting the erection of a government house and a public prison. He recognized the great value of sugar as one of the staple products of the island and by every measure possible encouraged the cultivation of sugar cane. He obtained from the King special exemptions and privileges for the builders and owners of sugar mills. He was the first to construct that of Vicente Santa Maria in Fuente de Chaves. Sugar was at that time sold at fabulous prices. A cargo of sugar of inferior quality brought in Seville as much as twelve pesos per arroba (twenty-five pounds). The importation of and traffic in African negroes who were set to work on the sugar plantations was inseparable from this industry which henceforth became the chief source of Cuba's wealth. But Maldonado, too, had troubles with the pirates. As the two galleys in the port were known to be absolutely useless, the pirates approached almost within cannon-shot of the place.

The administration of D. Pedro de Valdes, Ensign (alfevez major) of the Order of Santiago and nephew of the famous admiral of that name, began most auspiciously. He was appointed successor of Maldonado in 1602. A worthy heir of his uncle's glory, he started for his post from San Lucas with a galleon and a galizabra (vessel used in the Levantine trade) on the seventeenth of April. On his voyage he captured an enemy vessel, sailed bravely through a Dutch squadron and sank three of their ships in the port of Santo Domingo. After putting to flight a horde of smugglers that swarmed about the coasts of Cuba, he cast anchor in Havana on the nineteenth of July, 1602.

Valdes immediately set out to improve the artillery of the fortifications, and even to superintend the casting of the cannon. Within the short space of two years he succeeded in providing the port of Havana with eighty pieces of good quality and various calibre, most of which had been cast in the capital itself. Frequent changes of administration had not only hampered the initiative of minor functionaries and opened the door to official malpractice of miscellaneous nature, but had also perceptibly weakened authority. Valdes was determined to re-enforce it and by his energy and rectitude brought upon himself the hatred of those elements who had encouraged disorder. At the end his only loyal supporter was Friar Juan Cabezas de Altamirano, who had succeeded Salcedo in the bishopric of Santiago. But Valdes did not mind the hostility, which was more or less openly manifested towards his government, and continued his untiring efforts in defense of Spanish interests and policies.

The steadily increasing wealth of these colonies excited the covetousness of the pirates and buccaneers. Realizing the necessity of taking defensive action against them, Valdes armed a few vessels, which under the command of his son, D. Fernando, cruised about and succeeded in capturing several ships. In one of these encounters Valdes was wounded, but he pursued his policy undauntedly. He was also successful in his campaign against smuggling which had extensively developed, especially in Bayamo, whither he sent as his deputy the licentiate Melchior Suarez to inquire into the state of things.

The depredations committed by the pirates at this time were so serious that the safety of the inhabitants was imperilled. The population of Santiago seems to have been especially singled out to be harassed by the outlaws. They set fire to the cathedral and other churches of the town, robbed them of the precious vessels and vestments and committed other outrages. Terror-stricken, the inhabitants fled to neighboring towns or hid in the country. The city faced gradual depopulation. Even the Bishop D. Friu Juan de las Cabezas and some of the government officials withdrew to Bayamo, which, for a time at least, offered safety.

But in the year 1604 even the roads in the vicinity of Bayamo were no longer safe for travelers. When the bishop was on a tour of visitation in the neighborhood, in company with the canons Francisco Pueblo and Diego Sanchez, a horde of pirates under the leadership of the notorious Giron surprised him at the stock farm of Yara. They tied him and took him barefoot to Mazanillo, where one of their bilanders (sloops) was anchored. They kept him on board their vessel for the period of eighty days, expecting the authorities of the town to present themselves and offer an enormous sum as ransom. The name of Gregorio Ramos is inscribed in the annals of the island as the bishop's deliverer. It was an undertaking calling for unusual cleverness and courage and Ramos acquitted himself most brilliantly. He bravely faced the redoubtable Giron and rescued the bishop by paying a ransom of two hundred ducats, one thousand skins and one hundred arrobas (twenty-five pounds of sixteen ounces each) of jerked beef. After having brought the prelate into security, he returned with a force of valiant men and attacked the pirates. He succeeded in destroying the whole horde and even in killing their leader Giron, whose head was triumphantly carried on the point of a lance to Bayamo, where it was exhibited in the market-place.

The growth of the island which then numbered from eighteen to twenty thousand inhabitants was greatly hampered by such invasions. Santiago offering so little safety, the bishop ventured to suggest the removal of the cathedral to Havana; but the plan was found impracticable and never carried out. In time, however, the prelates began to ignore the disapproval of the government and to install themselves in Havana. Other members of the ecclesiastical cabildo (chapter) followed their example and also left Santiago. Governor Valdes, in accord with the ayuntamento, demonstrated to the king the pitiful state of the island and urged as an indispensable necessity the stationing of a permanent fleet in Cuban waters. Only in this way did it seem possible to check the increasing pirate menace which was paralyzing commerce and arresting the progress of the island.