er of that year the Field Marshal D.
Jose Fernandez de Cordova Ponce de Leon took charge of the office.
Governor Cordova proved to be a very conscientious and energetic
functionary and distinguished himself first by the vigor and
perseverance with which he pushed work on the fortifications of Havana.
He also showed his ability in fighting the pirate scourge. The
filibusters had begun to organize bases of operation on the islands of
Signale and Lucayas, similar to those of Tortuga. He sent against them
an expedition headed by the captains Acosta and Urubarru, who succeeded
in destroying the outlaw colonies in the name of the king and took a
great number of prisoners. The chief event of Governor Cordova's
administration was an encounter which the coast guard Galliot of the
port Virgen del Rosario y Santa Jose had with a host of French invaders.
The governor and organized forces of patriotic citizens so ably seconded
the guard in the defense of the place that the enemy was defeated.

Governor Cordova made many enemies by his vigorous persecution of the
smugglers who had greatly increased in number and by their clandestine
operations were interfering with and discrediting the legitimate trade
of the island. They had become such a power that they had the audacity
to bring denunciations and accusations against the governor before the
court, which, however, set these charges aside and approved all of
Cordova's measures directed against them. He also had grave difficulties
with the commissary of the Santo Officio, D. Jose Garaondo. They were
not yet settled, when Governor Cordova suddenly died on the second of
June, 1685. There were rumors afloat that he, too, like Bishop Calderon,
had been poisoned by his enemies. During the interim between his death
and the arrival from Spain of his successor, the affairs of the island
were administered by D. Antonio Manuel de Murgina y Mena and Captain D.
Andres de Munive, who shared between them the political and military
authority.

The newly appointed governor of Cuba was the general of artillery, D.
Diego de Viana y Hinojosa. When he arrived in Havana in November, 1687,
he brought with him the first copies of the "Codigo e Recopilacion de
India," as the statutes or laws of the West Indies were called. They
were in force by royal decree, although they were in reality only a
confirmation of the famous Ordinances of 1542. They were distinguished
by a spirit of rectitude and impartiality an