ry prowess. Cuba had so far been the victim of
piracy and privateering; now it decided to defend her rights by fitting
out her own privateers and sending them against the enemy. The first
encounter was with corsairs that had been lying in wait for a vessel
coming from Vera Cruz; the Cuban who distinguished himself in the
command of the expedition which frustrated the enemy's designs, was
Andres Manso de Contreras.

The demand for ships suitable for undertakings of this kind was so great
that the ship-builders Carera and Perez of Oporto were kept busy
building vessels for that purpose.

The administration of D. Francisco Riano y Gamboa was short, but some
important measures were enacted in that period. The Exchequer Tribunal
de Corientes was established with a single auditor for the royal chests
of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Florida and other Spanish possessions. When it was
subsequently found that the duties were too numerous for one man, a
second official was appointed. It was then arranged that while one of
the auditors was to remain in Cuba, the other was alternately to visit
the other cajas (chests). In this way the government tried to avoid
delays and complications which had caused considerable trouble. At this
period, too, a commission of the Inquisition of Carthagena, elsewhere
generally abolished, established its residence in Havana. Ecclesiastical
life assumed greater proportions and a wider sphere of influence.
Bishops who had previously looked upon Havana as an undesirable place of
residence, no longer hesitated to accept a call to that city.

Work on the fortifications of the island was actively pursued during the
administration of Gamboa. It was ordered that el Morro should have a
garrison of two hundred, and that as soon as feasible, la Punta and la
Fuerza were to be garrisoned by one hundred men each. The construction
of the fort at the entrance to the port of Santiago de Cuba was an
important improvement. It was called San Pedro de la Rocca, in honor of
the governor of that city, D. Pedro de la Rocca, although it is
generally known as the Morro. A garrison was installed, consisting of
one hundred and fifty men sent from the Peninsula, and the ammunition
destined for the defense came from New Spain. The power of the
armadilla, which had theretofore been arbitrary, was also regulated at
this time. Governor Gamboa, however, retired from office on the
fifteenth of September, 1639, when he had barely inaugurated th