following us hither. Let us, therefore, ourselves pay this God
reverence and implore him to bid his Spanish worshippers not to harm us
when they come hither!" The natives performed a religious dance and
other rites about the gold, until they were exhausted, and then Hatuey
further counselled them to cast the gold into the river, where the
Spaniards could not find it; since if they found it they would continue
their search for more, even to cutting out the hearts of the people in
quest of it.

Whether true or fabricated, the story indicates the attitude of Hatuey
toward the Spaniards and explains the intensity of the bitterness which
prevailed between him and Velasquez. Of course, when the Spaniards
arrived and immediately began to hunt for gold, Hatuey's words about
their God seemed to be confirmed. War began, which soon resulted in the
defeat and capture of Hatuey, who was put to death. Tradition has it
that he was burned at the stake, as was the common custom in those
times, and that just before the fire was lighted he was invited to
accept Christianity and be baptized, but refused on the ground that he
did not want to meet any Spaniards in the other world. He was succeeded
in command of the hostile natives by Caguax, who had been his comrade in
Hispaniola and who had come to Cuba with him; and the hostilities were
continued with the usual result of conflicts between a higher and a
lower civilization. In a short time the province of Maysi was conquered
and partly pacified, and that of Bayamo was invaded.

[Illustration: PANFILO DE NARVAEZ]

At this time and in these operations there appeared in Cuba two more men
of commanding importance in the early history of the island, who were
sent thither from Hispaniola to assist Velasquez soon after the defeat
and death of Hatuey. One of these was Panfilo de Narvaez, a soldier and
the leader of a company of thirty expert crossbow-men who had been
serving in Jamaica but were no longer needed by the governor of that
island, Esquivel. Narvaez was a native of Valladolid, Spain, near which
city Velasquez also had been born. It is possible, indeed, that the two
men were related, since there was a marked physical resemblance between
them; both being tall, handsome, and of a pronounced blond complexion.
At any rate, they had long been friends, and Velasquez was glad to make
Narvaez his chief lieutenant and right-hand man. Narvaez appears to have
been a man of high intelligence, hono