Arrived here, he earnestly desired to obtain an interview with Concha, who had been an old companion-in-arms with him in Spain; not that he expected pardon at his hands, but hoping to obtain a change in the manner of his death. His soul shrank from the infamous _garrotte_, and he aspired to the indulgence of the _cuatro tiros_ (four shots). Both the interview and the indulgence were refused, and he was executed on the first of September, at seven o'clock in the morning, in the Punta, by that mode of punishment which the Spaniards esteem the most infamous of all. When he landed at Bahia Honda, he stooped and kissed the earth, with the fond salutation, "_Querida Cuba_" (dear Cuba)! and his last words, pronounced in a tone of deep tenderness, were, "_Muero por mi amada Cuba_" (I die for my beloved Cuba).[10] The remainder of the prisoners who fell into the hands of the authorities were sent to the Moorish fortress of Ceuta; but Spain seems to have been ashamed of the massacre of Atares, and has atoned for the ferocity of her colonial officials by leniency towards the misguided men of the expedition, granting them a pardon. At present it may be said that "order reigns in Warsaw," and the island is comparatively quiet in the presence of a vast armed force. To Concha have succeeded Canedo and Pezuelas, but no change for the better has taken place in the administration of the island. Rigorous to the native population, insolent and overbearing to foreigners, respecting no flag and regarding no law, the captains-general bear themselves as though Spain was still a first-rate power as of yore, terrible on land, and afloat still the mistress of the sea. FOOTNOTES: [8] His reputation as a cavalry officer was very distinguished, and he was commonly recognized as _La primera Lanza de España_ (the first lance of Spain).--_Louis Schlesinger's Narrative of the Expedition._ [9] "The general showed me much of his correspondence from the island. It represented a pervading anxiety for his arrival, on the part of the Creole population. His presence alone, to head the insurrection, which would then become general, was all they called for; his presence and a supply of arms, of which they were totally destitute. The risings already made were highly colored in some of the communications addressed to him from sources of unquestionable sincerity."--_Louis Schlesinger's Narrative of the Expedition._ [10] General Lopez was born in Venezuela, South America, in 1798; and hence, at the time of his execution, must have been about fifty-two years of age. He early became an adopted citizen of Cuba, and espoused one of its daughters. CHAPTER IV.