"There inhabit within the town of Havana about three hundred Spaniards and about sixty soldiers; which the King maintaineth there, for the keeping of a certain castle which he hath of late erected, which hath planted in it about twelve pieces of small ordnance. It is compassed round with a small ditch, where through at their pleasure, they may let in the sea.
"About two leagues from Havana there lieth another town called Guanabacoa, in which there are dwelling about one hundred Indians; and from this place sixty Leagues there lieth another town named Bahama, situated on the north side of the island. The chiefest city of the island of Cuba which is above two hundred miles in length, is also called Cuba (Santiago de Cuba); where dwelleth a Bishop and about 200 Spaniards; which town standeth on the south side of the island about a hundred leagues from Havana.
"All the trade of this island is cattle; which they kill only for the hides that are brought thence into Spain. For which end the Spaniards maintain there many negroes to kill the cattle, and foster a great number of hogs, which being killed are cut into small pieces that dry in the sun; and so make provisions for the ships which come for Spain."
Many books of West Indian travel are by French writers, among them an anonymous "Relation des voyages et des decouvertes que las Espagnols on fait," Jean de Laët's "Histoire du Nouveau Monde," Jean Baptiste Labat's "Nouveau Voyage aux îles de l'Amérique," François Coréal's "Relation des Voyages aux Indes Occidentales" and that interesting work entitled "Relation de ce qui s'est passé dans les îles et Terra Firma de l'Amérique," which does not give the name of the author, but bears on its title-page the name of the printer, "Gervais Clouzier au Palais, à la seconde Boutique sur les degrés en montant pour aller à la Ste. Chapelle au Voyageur MDCLXXI" and is dedicated to the Duc de Luynes, a peer of France. There is also the work of a Dutchman, Linschoten: "Histoire de la Navigation de Jean Hugues de Linschoten," which has been translated into English, French and other languages.
Jan Huygens van Linschoten was a born traveler. His favorite reading had always been books of travel and as the news of the exploits of foreign mariners in the New World came pouring into Holland, this young Dutchman was seized with an irresistible longing to see those far-off worlds. He frankly speaks in his book of travel of the difficulties he encountered in trying to persuade his family to approve of his venture, and whether they did or not, he set out for Lisbon as the place where he would be most likely to obtain passage. He arrived there just after the death of Alba. He found the Peninsula in great commotion which even interrupted the regular routine of overseas traffic. But a man of daring puts his trust in chance, and chance favored the venturesome youth by an extraordinary opportunity.
There was at that time a noble Dominican monk in Lisbon, Fra Vincente Fonseca, scion of a distinguished family. He had been a preacher to King Sebastian of Portugal, had done missionary work in Africa and been later attached to the court of Madrid as confessor of Philip II. The archbishopric of the West Indies having become vacant, Fonseca was appointed, but he was unwilling to accept this position, dreading the long voyage and a repetition of some unpleasant experiences which he had had in Africa. The king, however, insisted, promised to recall him in four or five years and held out to him the lure of rich revenues. So Fra Fonseca finally accepted, and Jan Huygens van Linschoten succeeded in obtaining a position in the retinue of the prelate. Linschoten's brother, who was secretary to the king, being tired of court life, had also asked to be sent overseas and was about to sail as scribe on board a vessel going to the Levant. But on learning of his brother's luck, he decided also to go to the West Indies and joined the fleet waiting to embark in some professional capacity. There were five vessels; the Admiral ship called San Felipe, the Vice-Admiral San Diego, the third was San Laurente, the fourth San Francisco and the fifth San Salvador. The two brothers boarded the latter, and set sail on Good Friday, the eighth of April, 1583.
Jan Huygens van Linschoten has this to say of Cuba:
"Cuba is a very large island belonging to the Antille group, first discovered by Christopher Colomb in 1492, and called by him Jeanne et Ferdinande and also Alpha and Omega. It has also by others been called Island of Santiago, after the name of the principal town, so considered on account of the great harbor and big trade. To the east it has the island of San Domingo, to the west Yucatan, to the north the extremity of Florida and the Lucaya islands, to the South the island of Jamaica. The island of Cuba is greater in length than in width; it measures from one end to the other three hundred leagues, from North to South seventy and in width it is only fifteen and in some places nineteen leagues. The center of the island is at 91 degrees longitude and twenty latitude. The island has long been considered part of the continent on account of its size, of which one ought not to be surprised, for the inhabitants themselves seem not to know its limits and since the arrival of the Spaniards they know no better, being a people, naked and simple and contented with their government and bothering about no other. The ground is rough and hilly. The sea makes inlets in various places; there are small rivers, the good waters of which carry gold and copper. The air is moderately warm, sometimes a little cold. You find there dye-stuffs for linen and furs. The island is full of shady woods, ponds and beautiful fresh water rivers; you also find plenty of ponds the waters of which are naturally salt. The forests contain wild boars. The rivers frequently yield gold.
"In this island are six cities, inhabited by Spaniards, the first and principal of which is San Jago, which is the seat of the archbishop; but Havana is the principal mercantile center of the island and there they build ships. Two notable things were remarked on this island by Gonsalo Onetano. One is a valley between two mountains, of the length of two or three Spanish leagues, where you find boulders by nature so round that they could not be rounded better, and in such quantity that they could serve as ballast for several ships, that use cannon balls instead of lead or iron. The other is a mountain, not far from the coast, from which there is a constant flow of pitch to the coast and wherever the wind may divert it. The residents and Spaniards use this pitch to tar their vessels.
"The inhabitants of this island are like those of the island of Spain (Hispaniola) though a little different in language. Both men and women go about naked. In their marriage a strange custom prevails; the husband is not the first to approach his wife. If he is a gentleman, he invites all gentlemen to precede him; if he is a merchant, he invites the merchants, if he is a peasant, he asks the gentlemen and the priests. The men can for the slightest cause abandon the women; but the wives cannot desert their husband for any reason whatsoever. The men are very inconstant and lead a bad life. The soil produces big worms and serpents or snakes that are not poisonous so the people eat them without danger. And these snakes feed on certain little animals called Guabiniquinazes, of which sometimes seven or eight are found in their stomach, although they are as big as hares, resembling a fox, the head of a weasel, the tail of a fox, the hair long like a deer's, color somewhat reddish, and the flesh tender and wholesome. This island should be well populated; but it is not so at present, unless it be by some Spaniards, who have exterminated the greater number of natives, of which many died of starvation."
The Sieur Jean de Laët d'Anners, whose History of the New World bears the imprint of Bonaventure and Elzevir, Printers of the University of Leyden, also gives a description of Cuba as it was in the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century. He says:
"There are few towns in proportion to the size of the island; Santiago ranks first, both for its age and name; it was built by Diego Velasco. At the south coast of the island about 20 degrees North Latitude, opposite Hispaniola, almost two miles from the sea, in the depth of a harbor which one may well pronounce the first among the large and safe harbors of the New World. For the ocean enters through a narrow inlet and is received by a large bay, like a gulf, with several little islands; it is so safe a port that one does not need to cast anchor. This city was once well populated, but now the population is reduced to a very small number. It has a cathedral church and a bishop Suffragans of the archbishopric of San Domingo and a monastery of the Minorite brothers. It is owned by the Lieutenant-Governor of the island. The chief articles of trade are ox-skins and sugar. Three miles from the town are rich mines of copper, which is now extracted from high mountains, called for that reason by the Spaniards Sierras de Cobre.
"Near