t it did not occasionally occur. We have already seen that
amalgamation with the Indians was not unknown, and in other Spanish
colonies of those and later days there were some fusions with African
blood.

What is chiefly to be remembered, however, is that negroes, although
enslaved, were regarded in Cuba as human beings, with immortal souls, no
less than their masters, and that they were invariably so treated. There
was no pretence that they were of an intrinsically inferior race, or
that they were suffering from the primaeval curse of Canaan or of Ham.
And when they gained their freedom and became educated, they were
treated socially and politically according to their merits, without
regard for the color of their skin.

In the most literal sense, the administration of Carreno was marked with
constructive statesmanship. As a statesman this Governor set about
enlarging and improving Havana and other cities, and providing them with
public and private buildings commensurate with the needs of an
increasing population. He laid out enough of the streets of Havana to
establish for all time the plan of that city. He encouraged the building
of houses, or at any rate discouraged the holding of town sites
unimproved, by making distributions of lots to all who wished them, on
condition that the owners would promptly build. If they did not build
within six months, their titles were forfeited. Another important reform
effected by him was the substitution of adobe or other masonry for wood
as building material. By the end of his administration fully half of the
houses in Havana had walls of masonry, and a considerable number had
also tiled roofs.

It was Carreno, too, who began the building of the first custom house in
Cuba, at Havana. The king had ordered Montalvo to undertake this
enterprise, but he appears to have taken no steps whatever in that
direction, not even selecting a site. Carreno essayed the task with
characteristic energy. He selected an appropriate site, at the water
front and close to the principal wharf, where an excellent rock
foundation was to be found, and there he planned to erect a building of
solid masonry, seventy feet long and two stories high. The royal
government approved the plans, and the work was promptly entered upon.

Finally, it was impossible that the new governor should not be seriously
concerned with La Fuerza. Carreno found that long-delayed edifice
practically finished, according to the old p