CHAPTER XI--A. D. 1675 121

Letters to the King from the Governor Pablo Ita Salazer--Oath of office administered in the tower of the old Fort which is rapidly going into ruins--The Garrison needing supplies and ammunition--No warehouses, and owing to the distance and frequency of storms delaying supplies, the people are forced to hunt in the woods for roots to appease their hunger--The Fort in danger from pirates--Ammunition and guards exposed to the fatalities of the weather--Pleads for more money to complete the Castle--Its great importance--A pentagonal shape recommended--The Viceroy of Spain fails to send the ten thousand dollars--One hundred men needed to guard the Castle--Great danger from pirates--Two hundred leagues from Havana and five hundred from New Spain.