ages in ignorance of his divinity. But this was no time either to propose doubts or to expect a solution of them. They surveyed the metal with new attention; they sang and danced round it; they paid it homage; and resigned themselves wholly to its protection. Thus was the rude and unfashioned ore metamorphosed into a deity; and these unsuspecting children of nature were taught to believe, that gold was, in reality, the god of the Spaniards, on whose account so many inhumanities had been practised, and so much blood had been spilled.

But these marks of reverence did not satisfy the enlightened mind and restless suspicions of Hatuey; and therefore, after the first excesses of their devotion were over, he renewed his speech in the following language:

"We must not expect any happiness so long as the god of the Spaniards remains among us. He is no less our enemy than they. They seek him in every place, and establish themselves wherever they find him. Were he hidden in the cavities of the earth, they would discover him. Were we to swallow him, they would plunge their hands into our bowels and drag him out. There is no place but the bottom of the sea that can elude their search. When he is no longer among ts, doubtless we shall be forgotten by them." This speech had the desired effect. The Indians brought their gold, and after they had collected the whole together, they deliberately threw it into the sea.

In the mean while, the Spaniards, ignorant of these religious ceremonies, advanced to their shores; and "their musquets and cannons, (says Raynal) those tremendous deities, dispersed, with their thunder, the savages who endeavoured to resist." Hatuey, finding himself abandoned, retired to the woods, in the hope of finding, among the beasts of the forest, that safety which was not to be obtained among his own species. But his flight was as vain as it was precipitate. The invaders of his territories, the dispersers of his subjects, and the murderers of his countrymen, soon learned the route he had taken. He was pursued, he was overtaken, and was condemned to be burned alive; because, if permitted to live at large, he might, on some future day, re-assemble the Indians, and incite them to rebel."

Between his capture, his sentence, and the execution of it, the stages were but short. Hatuey was soon bound to the stake, and surrounded with fuel, which 2 L

VOL. III.

waited only for the fire, before it encircled him in the flames. It was just at this moment, that one of the Catholic priests presented himself before the Cacique, offering him the rite of baptism here, and the felicities of Paradise hereafter ! After having expatiated on the happiness which lay on the other side of the flames, which were, at that instant, about to be kindled, he was interrupted by the unfortunate victim, who wished to know whether there were any Spaniards in that happy place?" "Yes," replied this branch of infallibility, "but there are none but good ones." "The best of them, returned Hatuey, are good for nothing. I will not go to a place, where I should be in danger of meeting one of them. Talk no more to me of your religion, but leave me to die."

"The Cacique (says Raynal) was burned, the God of the Christians was dishonoured, and his cross was stained with human blood: but Velasquez found no more enemies to oppose him. All the Caciques hastened to do homage to him. After the mines had been opened, and it was found that they did not answer, the inhabitants of Cuba, becoming useless, were exterminated; for at that time to conquer was to destroy. One of the largest Islands in the world did not cost the Spaniards a single man; but what profit have they drawn from the conquest of Cuba?"

To answer this question, with which the Abbe Raynal closes his paragraph, is not an easy task. If their profits have been great, the Spaniards have kept them from the world; for, as the same author has observed, "it would be saying too much, to assert that the hundredth of this Island is cleared."

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More than two centuries elapsed from the conquest of the Island by Velasquez, before it became noted for any memorable transaction. During the above period, the Spaniards that settled on it gradually increased; but as they were chiefly employed in trafficking with those ships which were bound to, and returned from the Spanish settlements on the continent, agriculture became no more than an appendage, or a secondary consideration. The wealth, so far as gold and silver can constitute it, which naturally came from those vessels, which were laden with the spoils of the new world, tended to increase their ha bitual haughtiness; so that they cultivated no more land than necessity compelled them to cultivate, to supply their own demands, and to barter with those traders who

touched upon their shores, the necessaries of life for the gold of New Spain.

It was not long after Cuba was discovered to be an Island, that Ponce de Leon, who, in 1512, had made an attempt to ravage the Florida shores, became acquainted with the Bahama channel. The discovery of this passage, which lies to the North-west of Cuba, immediately led the Spaniards to conclude, that the advantageous route with which this would furnish them, would facilitate their expeditions to Mexico, and afford them shelter in case of disaster or danger. To confirm them in this opinion, a safe and capacious harbour presented itself on the North-west part of the Island, in which their ships were sure to find a refuge from impending storms. This harbour belonged to a part of the Island, now well known by the name of the Havannah. This port

(says Raynal) was afterwards found very convenient, for vessels dispatched from Carthagena and Porto Bello, which in a short time pursued the same course, always putting in there, and waiting for one another, that they might sail in greater pomp to old Spain."

The harbour of the Havannah being thus made a rendezvous for shipping, whose cargoes consisted of the richest treasures of the world, soon led to the establishment of a colony, and finally to the building of a city; which, through the vast sums expended by the sailors, abounded with money. In 1561, the number of its inhabitants amounted to 300 families; these were nearly doubled at the beginning of the sixteenth century; and, towards the middle of the seventeenth, they consisted of 10,000 souls.

In the year 1741, after an unsuccessful attempt had been made on Carthagena by Admiral Vernon, he directed the fragments of his sickly and dispirited followers against the Island of Cuba. But this expedition only tended to aggravate his past misfortunes, and to tarnish his former glory with a deeper stain.

"The miscarriage of this expedition against Carthagena, (says Hume) which had cost the nation an immense sum of money, was no sooner known in England, than the kingdom was filled with murmurs and discontent; and the people were depressed in proportion to that sanguine hope by which they had been elevated. Admiral Vernon, instead of undertaking any enterprise which might have retrieved the honour of the British arms, set

sail from Jamaica with the forces, in July, and anchored in the South-east part of Cuba, in a bay, on which he bestowed the appellation of Cumberland harbour. The troops were landed, and encamped at the distance of 20 miles farther up the river, where they remained totally inactive, and subsisted chiefly on salt and damaged provisions, till the month of November; when, being considerably diminished by sickness, they were put on board again and reconveyed to Jamaica. He was afteward reinforced from England by four ships of war, and about 3000 soldiers; but he performed nothing worthy of the reputation he had acquired; and the people began to perceive that they had mistaken his character."

But although this foolish enterprise of Admiral Vernon accomplished nothing but the loss of many of his soldiers and his own disgrace, it was not sufficient to cause Great Britain to abandon, for ever, a project, which promised riches even beyond the reach of calculation. A favourable moment, and a happy coincidence of circumstances, were all that were wanted to encourage her to renew the attack. This happy coincidence did not occur till nearly eleven years afterwards.

The year 1762, so memorable in the naval annals of this country, for the conquest of Martinico, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Tobago, was crowned also with the capture of the Havannah, under the direction of Lord Albemarle and Admiral Pococke. Whether the success of the expedition that had been fitted out against Martinico was known to the British ministry, at the time that this against the Havannah was planned, can hardly be ascertained; but if known, it was not made public. The British ministry, however, confident of success, issued directions for a considerable portion of those troops, that had been employed in its reduction, to reimbark and repair immediately into a certain latitude, to join an armament about to sail from England; that, in case of a rupture with Spain, which was then expected, and which would be soon determined, the united forces, meeting in the given latitude, might make an immediate descent upon the Havannah.

The squadron from England sailed from Portsmouth on the 5th of March, and found, on their arrival at the North-west point of Hispaniola, the detachments which had been so successful in the reduction of Martinico. This was the given latitude in which both had been

directed to cruise, to wait the arrival of that which should happen to be absent. Their whole force, after this junction, amounted to 19 ships of the line, 18 smaller vessels of war, and 150 transports, on board of which were about 10,000 troops. These were expected to be reinforced, before they entered into actual service, with about 4000 more from the northern continent of America. The land forces were placed under the direction of Lord Albemarle, and those of the sea under that of Admiral Pococke.

As the season was far advanced, and they were still at a considerable distance from the place of their destination, not a moment of time was to be lost. The hurricane months were fast approaching; and their principal hope of obtaining a port of safety, depended upon the valour of their arms. The enemy, whom they were about to encounter, they treated with contempt; they considered them as enervated by sloth and luxury; as unaccustomed to the fatigues of war; and as totally unprepared to resist that force which they were about to bring against them. But the boisterous elements they surveyed in a very different light. A tremendous hurricane, should it overtake them on an enemy's coast, even after their troops had effected a landing, would prove fatal to the fleet, dispirit the soldiers on shore, and totally ruin the whole expedition.

To reach the object of their wishes there were two ways, the one on the South of Cuba, and the other on the North. The former was by far the safest, but it would require a considerably longer time; the latter was direct, but dangerous even in an extreme. The apprehension of approaching hurricanes determined this doubtful question, and directed the Admiral to take the shortest way to gold.

The passage, through which he undertook to steer his fleet, was extremely narrow, and so bounded on each side by sands and shoals, that even single vessels chose to pursue their voyages by a different route, rather than run the hazard of forcing a passage through the Bahama Straits. To increase the boldness of this adventure, not a single pilot was to be found on board of the fleet, on whose experience they could depend for safety. "The Admiral, however, (says Hume) being provided with a good chart of Lord Anson's, was determined to make the experiment, and to trust to his own sagacity, conduct,

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