In 1598 death brought to an end the long reign of that remarkable sovereign of Spain, Philip II. He had initiated the settlement of Florida, and later as a crown colony it had come under his supervision. When news of his passing reached Florida in March of 1599, the Franciscans gathered at St. Augustine to hold the customary prayers for their departed patron. The same month the cry of “Fire” rang out in the quiet streets. Flames raced through the tinder-dry palm-thatched roofs of the town’s buildings, destroying many, including the Franciscan quarters. In the fall of the same year a storm did considerable damage. The wind-driven waters of the bay rose higher with each tide, flooding dwellings and washing away a portion of the fort. Philip III, who ascended the throne of Spain in 1598, failed to share his father’s interest in this distant Florida post, from which no riches flowed into the royal coffers. From it came only constant pleas for more assistance. The King ordered Pedro de Valdés, the Governor of Cuba, to make a thorough investigation of conditions in Florida. Valdés sent his son to St. Augustine in 1602 to hold hearings, in which missionaries and settlers of long residence testified. While many of these witnesses expressed the view that a more favorable location for a settlement might be found, the conclusion reached was that St. Augustine should continue to be maintained as a center for the expanding missions, and as a base to guard the vital trade route. The passing years were being added slowly to its age. Deaths, births, marriages, Indian insurrections, the coming of new governors, and the arrival of an occasional ship made up the drama of its obscure existence. Isolated by a wilderness of land and sea, it had little contact with the outside world. _Capital of La Florida_ About 1590 the older portion of St. Augustine was laid out in approximately its present form. The plan followed specifications contained in a _cédula_ issued by the Spanish King in 1573, directing that all Spanish colonial towns should have a central Plaza with the principal streets leading from it. During about the same period an official governor’s residence was established on the site of the present post office. Women were present in the colony from the beginning, a few having come with the original Menéndez expedition. Others arrived with the Arciniega reinforcements and later fleets. Some of the soldiers married Indian maidens, who had become Christians and been given Spanish names. The governors complained of the problem of feeding the increasing number of children in the colony, and asked that the married soldiers be given extra pay. The yellowed pages of St. Augustine’s Cathedral Parish records, dating from 1594, indicate an average of twenty-five births per year during the early 1600’s. They also record the deaths and marriages.