uccaneers. Realizing the necessity of
taking defensive action against them, Valdes armed a few vessels, which
under the command of his son, D. Fernando, cruised about and succeeded
in capturing several ships. In one of these encounters Valdes was
wounded, but he pursued his policy undauntedly. He was also successful
in his campaign against smuggling which had extensively developed,
especially in Bayamo, whither he sent as his deputy the licentiate
Melchior Suarez to inquire into the state of things.

The depredations committed by the pirates at this time were so serious
that the safety of the inhabitants was imperilled. The population of
Santiago seems to have been especially singled out to be harassed by the
outlaws. They set fire to the cathedral and other churches of the town,
robbed them of the precious vessels and vestments and committed other
outrages. Terror-stricken, the inhabitants fled to neighboring towns or
hid in the country. The city faced gradual depopulation. Even the Bishop
D. Friu Juan de las Cabezas and some of the government officials
withdrew to Bayamo, which, for a time at least, offered safety.

But in the year 1604 even the roads in the vicinity of Bayamo were no
longer safe for travelers. When the bishop was on a tour of visitation
in the neighborhood, in company with the canons Francisco Pueblo and
Diego Sanchez, a horde of pirates under the leadership of the notorious
Giron surprised him at the stock farm of Yara. They tied him and took
him barefoot to Mazanillo, where one of their bilanders (sloops) was
anchored. They kept him on board their vessel for the period of eighty
days, expecting the authorities of the town to present themselves and
offer an enormous sum as ransom. The name of Gregorio Ramos is inscribed
in the annals of the island as the bishop's deliverer. It was an
undertaking calling for unusual cleverness and courage and Ramos
acquitted himself most brilliantly. He bravely faced the redoubtable
Giron and rescued the bishop by paying a ransom of two hundred ducats,
one thousand skins and one hundred arrobas (twenty-five pounds of
sixteen ounces each) of jerked beef. After having brought the prelate
into security, he returned with a force of valiant men and attacked the
pirates. He succeeded in destroying the whole horde and even in killing
their leader Giron, whose head was triumphantly carried on the point of
a lance to Bayamo, where it was exhibited in the market-place.

The