is possible that
the spot was discovered earlier, but there is no record of the discovery
if such was made. Ocampo gave it the name of Puerto de Carenas. The next
record is of its occupation, in 1519. Four years earlier, Diego Velasquez
had left a little colony near what is now called Batabano, on the south
coast. He gave the place the name of San Cristobal de la Habana, in memory
of the illustrious navigator and discoverer. Habana, or Havana, is a term
of aboriginal origin. It proved to be an uncomfortable place of residence,
and in 1519 the people moved across the island to the Puerto de Carenas,
taking with them the name given to the earlier settlement, and substituting
it for the name given by Ocampo. After a time, all was dropped except the
present title, Habana, or more commonly by English-speaking people, Havana.
It was not much of a place for a number of years, but in 1538 it was sacked
and burned by a French pirate, one of the many, of different nations, who
carried on a very lively buccaneering business in those and in later years
in West Indian waters. Hernando de Soto was then governor of the island,
with headquarters at the then capital city, Santiago de Cuba. He proceeded
at once to the scene of destruction. On his arrival, he ordered the
erection of a fortress. Some of the work then done still remains in the
old structure near the Palace, at the foot of Calle O'Reilly, known as La
Fuerza. A few years before this time, Hernan Cortes had conquered Mexico,
then called New Spain, and a business between Old Spain and New Spain soon
developed. The harbor of Havana made a convenient halting-place on the
voyages between the two, and the settlement assumed a steadily increasing
importance. A new governor, Gonzales Perez de Angulo, who arrived in 1549,
decided to make it his place of residence. The year 1552 is generally given
as the time of the creation of Havana as the capital city. It was at that
time made the residence city of the Governors, by their own choice, but
it was not officially established as the capital until 1589. The fortress
erected by order of de Soto proved somewhat ineffective. In 1554, another
French marauder attacked and destroyed the town. The principal industry of
those early days was cattle-raising, a considerable market being developed
for export to Mexico, and for the supply of vessels that entered the harbor
for food and water.

The continuance of incursions by pirates made necessary some