cessor. He had
arrived in Cuba almost simultaneously with de Soto, and inclined toward
the policy of the latter in respect to Florida.

A strong governor might have saved even this unfortunate and unpromising
situation. But there was none. Lady Isabel died of grief a few months
after learning of her husband's fate, and for a time thereafter there
was no actual governor at all. De Soto had been empowered to appoint an
alcalde mayor to serve as his substitute while he was out of the island,
if he so desired. He did thus appoint Bartholomew Ortiz; a good enough
man but aged and infirm, and quite unable to cope with the problems
which confronted him. He found himself involved in a vigorous rivalry
between Santiago and Havana in the matter of fortifications. De Soto had
begun the construction of an earthwork fort at the entrance to Santiago.
Then when he went across to Havana he ordered the building of a strong
fort there of stone masonry. This of course aroused the jealousy of
Santiago, whose indignant citizens pointed out that their city was and
always would be the capital of the island, and was therefore at least as
well entitled to a stone fort as Havana. The sacking and burning of
Havana, and of Carthagena and other places on the continent, alarmed
them, lest Santiago should suffer a like fate. Their insistence was
finally rewarded in the building of a stone fort near the mouth of the
harbor.

CHAPTER XIII

Bartholomew Ortiz was at last, on his earnest entreaty, relieved of his
duties as alcalde mayor in the fall of 1542, and for some time the
insular government was again without a head. But in August, 1543, since
nothing had been heard from or of de Soto for three years, the crown
assumed that he was dead and that his office was vacant. It therefore
appointed Juan de Avila to be not alcalde mayor but governor; permitting
the title of Adelantado of Florida to fall into desuetude. The new
governor was a young lawyer, whose chief recommendation was that he was
a member of the de Avila family, a relative of Lady Isabel de Soto and
of her father, the formidable Pedrarias d'Avila. He seems to have been
doubtful of his own ability to administer the office successfully, and
therefore reluctant to assume its duties. However, he finally came to
Cuba, arriving at Santiago at the beginning of February, 1544, nearly
six months after his appointment. He was, of course, regularly appointed
and commissioned by the crown, wi