But the Spaniards came and encountered the resistance of Hatuey and his followers.  The invaders were victorious, and Hatuey was captured and burned alive.  Las Casas relates that while the poor wretch was in the midst of the flames, tied to a stake, “a certain Franciscan Friar of great Piety and Virtue, took upon him to speak to him of God and our Religion, and to explain to him some Articles of Catholic Faith, of which he had never heard a word before, promising him Eternal Life if he would believe and threatening him with Eternal Torment if he continued obstinate in his Infidelity.  Hatuey reflecting on the matter, as much as the Place and Condition in which he was would permit, asked the Friar that instructed him, whether the Gate of Heaven was open to Spaniards; and being answered that such of them as were good men might hope for entrance there:  the Cacique, without any farther deliberation, told him that he had no mind to go to heaven for fear of meeting with such cruel and wicked Company as they were; but he would much rather choose to go to Hell where he might be delivered from the troublesome sight of such kind of People.”  And so died the Cacique Hatuey.  Four hundred years later, the Cuban Government named a gunboat Hatuey, in his honor.

The Velasquez expedition, in the following year, founded Baracoa, now a small city on the northern coast near the eastern extremity of the island.  It is a spot of exceeding scenic charm.  It was established as the capital city, but it held that honor for a few years only.  In 1514 and 1515, settlements were established at what is now Santiago, at Sancti Spiritus, Trinidad, and Batabano.  The latter was originally called San Cristobal de la Habana, the name being transferred to the present city, on the north coast, in 1519.  It displaced the name Puerto de Carenas given to the present Havana by Ocampo, who careened his vessels there in 1508.  Baracoa was made the seat of a bishopric, and a cathedral was begun, in 1518.  In 1522, both the capital and the bishopric were transferred to Santiago, a location more readily accessible from the new settlements on the south coast, and also from Jamaica which was then included in the diocese.  Cuba, at about this period, was the point of departure for an important expedition.  In 1517, de Cordoba, with three vessels and 110 soldiers, was sent on an expedition to the west for further and more northerly exploration of the land discovered by Columbus in 1503.  The coast from Panama to Honduras had been occupied.  The object of this expedition was to learn what lay to the northward.  The result was the discovery of Yucatan.  Cordoba returned to die of wounds received in a battle.  A second and stronger expedition was immediately despatched.  This rounded the peninsula and followed the coast as far as the present city of Vera Cruz.  In 1518, Hernan Cortez was alcalde, or mayor, of Santiago de Cuba.  On November 18, of that year, he sailed from that port in command of