Archive of the Indies at Seville, and has written this
attractive and interesting book from the documents, which no one before her had studied with care. Her history begins with the landing of Columbus its 1401 and ends with the threatened visit of Drake in 1586, after which the island was strongly fortified and garrisoned. Tho early colonists killed off the aborigines by harsh treatment, and then had to import African nogrucs. Cuba was almost de. populated by the rush to the Mexican treasure-house which Cortes opened a gencratioa later. French privateers then scourged the colony, and the accounts of their raids make picturesque reading. But the natural riches of the island enabled the Spaniards gradually to establish their colony on a firm basis. Cuba's quarrel with the home Government may be traced to a very early date in its eventful history.
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