ether probable
that they did not know, and that no such mineral wealth existed on the
island.

It was in Montalvo's time, too, that what was destined to become Cuba's
greatest industry had its permanent establishment. At various times and
places thitherto men had experimented with sugar growing and
manufacture, with varying degrees of success. But every such undertaking
had after a while been abandoned, either for lack of profit or because
of the superior attractions of something else. It was not until 1576
that plantations were established which were never to be abandoned but
were to continue in cultivation down to this present time, and that
sugar mills of similar permanence were put into operation. The scene of
this epochal enterprise was the region around Havana, particularly
between Havana and Matanzas. There in the year named at least three
mills were established, a fact indicating that a considerable area was
planted in cane. These mills were of the most primitive description,
each consisting of three wooden rollers, formed of logs of trees denuded
of the bark, mounted in a rude frame of timber, and caused to revolve by
a long pole of which one end was fastened to the end of one of the
upright rollers while to the other was hitched a mule or an ox, which
walked in a circle around the "mill." The expressed juice was caught in
trays or jars of earthenware, and then was boiled in open pans. The
sugar thus produced was not refined beyond the stage of what would now
be considered a very coarse brown sugar, but it served the uses of the
island. It does not appear that any considerable quantity was exported
until a number of years later. These primitive establishments in 1576
were, however, the beginning of Cuba's gigantic sugar industry.

One other incident of Montalvo's administration must be recalled, to
wit, his quarrel with the church, or at least with the Bishop. Diego
Sarmiento, who became Bishop in De Soto's time, had been gathered to his
fathers, and had been succeeded by Bishop Durango. The latter had in
turn died, and in 1560 had been succeeded by Bernardino de Villapando,
who spent only three years in the island and then departed for Mexico
under unpleasant charges of embezzlement of funds. The charges against
him do not appear to have been pressed, nor did they affect his standing
in the church, for he was presently transferred to the then much more
important see of Guatemala. Moreover, despite the charges