kept herds of cattle, built ships and engaged in commerce. Some of them
intermarried with Spanish families, and the offspring of such unions
often rose to honorable rank in society and the state.

The question of slavery was not by any means disposed of by this
emancipation of the native Indians. There was a much larger number of
slaves in the island who had been brought thither from other countries,
including both insular and continental Indians and African negroes.
Governor Angulo was directed to order their emancipation and
repatriation at the same time with the others. But he withheld the
decree. These foreign slaves were far more numerous than the natives and
were consequently more important to industry and commerce. They had not
been simply "assigned" to owners, like the Cuban Indians, but had been
purchased outright for cash, like any other merchandise, and were
legally as much the property of their owners as land, houses or cattle.
In view of this circumstance, Angulo declined to proclaim their
emancipation.

CHAPTER XIV

The administration of Gonzalo Perez de Angulo marked the lowest point in
the early history of Cuba. That was not because of the character of his
administration, which was indeed better than some of its predecessors,
but because various processes militating against the progress and
prosperity of the island then reached their culmination. Foremost among
these was the migration to Florida, Mexico, Peru and other lands, which
were richer, or were reputed to be richer, than the Pearl of the
Antilles. Cuba contained no such cities and treasures as those of Mexico
and Peru; no such traditions as that of Florida's Fountain of Youth
pertained to her. The island had been explored from end to end, and its
resources were known; though by no means appreciated. The adventurers of
those days were not inclined to engage in agriculture, even in so
fertile a land as Cuba, when the gold and gems of the Incas were within
reach. With the decline and practical disappearance of the Indians, and
the increasing difficulties of the African or other slave trade, the
scarcity of labor disinclined the Spanish settlers even to raise cattle.
The middle of the sixteenth century saw, therefore, a menacing
emigration from Cuba to other lands which threatened to leave the island
uninhabited.

Statistics of those days are scanty and not altogether trustworthy. It
was the custom to report merely the number of household