erly he was notorious as a smuggler
and half pirate on the coast of the island, being a daring and
accomplished leader of reckless men. At one time he bore the title of
King of the Isle of Pines, where was his principal rendezvous, and from
whence he despatched his vessels, small, fleet crafts, to operate in the
neighboring waters.

His story, well known in Cuba and to the home government, bears
intimately upon our subject.

When Tacon landed on the island, and became governor-general, he found
the revenue laws in a sad condition, as well as the internal regulations
of the island; and, with a spirit of mingled justice and oppression, he
determined to do something in the way of reform.[27] The Spanish marine
sent out to regulate the maritime matters of the island, lay idly in
port, the officers passing their time on shore, or in giving balls and
dances on the decks of their vessels. Tacon saw that one of the first
moves for him to make was to suppress the smuggling upon the coast, at
all hazards; and to this end he set himself directly to work. The
maritime force at his command was at once detailed upon this service,
and they coasted night and day, but without the least success against
the smugglers. In vain were all the vigilance and activity of Tacon and
his agents--they accomplished nothing.

At last, finding that all his expeditions against them failed, partly
from the adroitness and bravery of the smugglers, and partly from the
want of pilots among the shoals and rocks that they frequented, a large
and tempting reward was offered to any one of them who would desert from
his comrades and act in this capacity in behalf of the government. At
the same time, a double sum, most princely in amount, was offered for
the person of one Marti, dead or alive, who was known to be the leader
of the lawless rovers who thus defied the government. These rewards were
freely promulgated, and posted so as to reach the ears and eyes of those
whom they concerned; but even these seemed to produce no effect, and the
government officers were at a loss how to proceed in the matter.

It was a dark, cloudy night in Havana, some three or four months
subsequent to the issuing of these placards announcing the rewards as
referred to, when two sentinels were pacing backwards and forwards
before the main entrance to the governor's palace, just opposite the
grand plaza. A little before midnight, a man, wrapped in a cloak, was
watching them from be