Chap. XV. J METRIC A 335 



The Serpents here are about the bignefs of a Hare, having Heads like Weezles * s« pC n«. 

 they prey on little Beads caird Guabimquinazts, and have been accounted delicious 

 and wholfom Meat. 



Theantient Natives went formerly naked. The Men made it a Cuftom to for- ££^ c £ 

 faketheit Wives when they pleas'd ; yet the Women were ftill oblig'd to be faith- Natm*. 

 fultothem, though from the very firft day of their Marriage they were taught to 

 Cuckold them, by a certain wicked Ceremony in ufe amongft them; for the 

 Bridegroom lay not with his Bride the firft Night, but fuffer'd her to be enjoy 'd by 

 one of his Friends of equal Quality withhimfelf, whether he were Lord, Mer- 

 chant, Laboring.man, or what Eftate foever. 



This iQand was redue'd under the Spanijh Government not without great effu- *$f a f£j; 

 fion of Blood ; for the Natives having had continual Wars with the Cannibals, as j^J v n e ^ thc 

 hath been faid, were not ignorant in the Exercife of Arms. The firft Spanijh Com- 

 mander fent againft them was Valdivia, whom they flew with all his Men,and hew'd 

 his Ship in pieces. Little better efcap'd Fogeda, whofe Men were all cut off, and 

 he himfelf efcaping very miraculoufly , died not long after of his Wounds in 



St. Domingo. ^^ 



Within, two years after, v*<. ^/wo 1514. Diego Valafque^ with better fuccefs fet ^ r 3^ m , 

 forth for Cuba, where the firft thing he did was to build a City, which he call'd 

 St.Jago, lying near a Southern Bay, fullofFifih, and defended with feveral fmall 

 Ifles, behind which the Ships in the greateft Storm may Ride very fecure • by rea- 

 fon whereof the new City increased fo much, that in a fliort time it could (hew 

 two thoufand Inhabitants, a brave Church, a Cloyfter, and was made a Bifhop's 

 See, but fubordinate to that of St. Domingo. 



Three or four Leagues from the City are thofe famous Mountains, by the Spa- l^J 1 ^" 

 niards call'd Sierra de Cobre, or The Copper Mountains, from the abundance of that Me- 

 tal which the Mines in them afforded, and do yet afford 5 but the City was after- 

 wards almoft left defolate, (divers Houfes in the fame ftanding empty) having in it 

 fcarce two hundred Inhabitants ; which made it the eafier to be taken by a hun- g,**^ 

 dred and fixty Engltjl?.mcn } led by Captain Cliff, Anno 1601. who carried fromthencc *»iW- 

 a hundred thoufand Pieces of Eight, and a Ships Lading of Hides and Sugar. 



2. Befides St.Jago, Valaj que ^built the Town Baracoa^n theEaftern Shore of Cuba, **r«,a. 

 wafli'd by the River Mares, which falls into the Ocean between two Mountains on 

 one fide, and a flat Point on the other, and is a moft excellent Harbor : Not far 

 from which grows the beft Ebony Wood. 



3. He alfo built the Town St. Salvador, one of the moft healthful Promontories *.*«M*. 

 of all Cuba, near the River !Bayamo, which produces round Stones, us'd there in ftead 



of Bullets. 



4. Helikewife built Trinidad, before which hardly acceflible Harbor many a Ship T ""'^- 

 hath been caft away : But this Fort was by a mighty Storm levell'd even with the 



Ground. 



5. Near the Haven before the Town Puerto del Trincipe is a Fountain, out of %££?* 

 which at certain times flows liquid Pitch. 



6. The Town call'd Villa SanBiSpirim, fix Leagues from the Ocean, boafts v £ nt s ™ m 

 fifty brave Houfes, and is wafli'd by the River Saa^. 



7. The chiefeft City which the Spaniards poffefs in the Weft-Indies, and the pre- u * vaM ' 

 fent Seat of their Governor, is CbriftoVall de Havana 5 which flood firft on the South 



fide oiCuba, but was afterwards built on the North, oppofite to Florida : The Har- 

 bor before it is large and fafe, for it is able to contain a thoufand Ships, without 

 the leaft endangering of one another, and yet the Entrance fo narrow, between a 



K k Promon- 



