t as drastic as
possible and to impose the heaviest possible penalties for any
misdemeanors which might be proved against him. But Zayas was after all
a just and reasonable man, who was not afraid to assert his independence
of Menendez, particularly since, as he pointed out, his commission as
lieutenant governor antedated that of Menendez as governor by two
months. Moreover the people of Havana, through dislike of Menendez and
fear of his policy, gave their strongest support to Osorio, testifying
in his behalf, and at the end sending a great memorial to the King,
signed by almost every man of consequence in Havana, petitioning for the
utmost possible favor for the governor. The result was that the lightest
of sentences was passed upon Osorio, two years after his actual
retirement from office.

In dealing thus with Osorio, however, Zayas sealed his own fate. Nothing
that he could do thereafter pleased Menendez, while he was called upon
by the latter to do or to sanction things which offended his sense of
right. By the beginning of May, 1569, relations between them reached the
breaking point. Menendez caused the city council to protest that Zayas
had never filed the bond which was required of a lieutenant governor,
and to characterize this as a grave offence, indicating criminal intent.
Zayas thereupon resigned his office. Suits were instituted against him
and his wife in Spain, by Menendez, and he returned to the country to
meet them. He appears to have been successful in his defence, since the
King subsequently appointed him to be a judge in the Canary Islands.

Menendez appointed in place of Zayas as lieutenant governor Diego de
Cabrera, who had filled that place under Osorio. His term of service was
short, however, and no fewer than five others succeeded him, one after
another, during the administration of Menendez. They were Diego de
Ribera; Pedro Menendez Marquez, a nephew of Menendez; Juan de
Ynestrosa; Juan Alfonso de Nabia; and Sancho Pardo Osorio.

Diego de Ribera, who served for a brief space under Menendez as
lieutenant-governor, was captain of the galleons, and was presently
commissioned for an expedition to Florida. He was succeeded by Pedro
Menendez Marquez, a nephew of Menendez. He was an accomplished navigator
and on that account was directed by his uncle to sound and chart the Old
Bahama Channel, a much-frequented route of commerce and approach to Cuba
from the north and east. To this undertaking he de