THE STANDARD GUIDE. 
162 
BARACOA AND EL YUNQUE. 
Spanish rule in Cuba. He named the town de la Asuncion, in honor of the 
Virgin. In 1518 a cathedral was built named Asuncion de la Maria 
Santisima, and the first episcopal see was established. The first mass in 
Cuba was celebrated by Bartolome de Las Casas, the benevolent missionary 
who proved so great and good a friend of the Indians. Other noted per¬ 
sonages who had part with Velazquez in the founding of Baracoa and the 
subjugation of Cuba were Pamphilo de Narvaez and Hernando Cortes. 
From Baracoa, Velazquez proceeded to other parts of the island, establish¬ 
ing the Spanish rule and reducing the Indians to servitude.* Three years 
later, in 1514, he founded Santiago and Trinidad op the south coast, near 
the Spanish settlements in Jamaica and Santo Domingo, and then Bayamo, 
Puerto Principe, Sancti Spiritus, and in 1518 the San Cristobal de la 
Habana, which was the beginning of Havana. 
The Baracoa of to-day, with its castle-crowned hill and splendid moun- 
* From one of these expeditions the chronicle of the time relates—and it is a note 
of human interest among these dry-as-dust historical data: “Velazquez went away 
to Baracoa to marry a Lady that was come out of Spain for that Purpose. The 
Wedding was celebrated with much Joy on a Sunday, but the next Saturday his 
Wife dy’d.” 
