After a lapse of more than four centuries, there are grounds for believing that the dreams of the early Spanish conquerors, who overran Cuba shortly after its discovery by Columbus, may be realized, though not exactly as they expected. Gold may never be found in paying quantities, yet the mineral wealth of the Island may exceed in value its present agricultural output, which amounts annually to hundreds of millions of dollars. The followers of Columbus as a rule cared little for the more quiet pursuits of agriculture, but were obsessed with a craving for the precious metals, and during the first half of the 16th century, with the aid of the Indians, mined and shipped a sufficient amount of gold to encourage greatly the rulers of Spain, who were quite as persistent in their craze for the yellow metal as were the pioneers of the New World. Narvaez, Velasquez’s most active lieutenant, at the head of 150 men in 1512, marched from Oriente westward in a wild search for gold. Samples of this metal were found in various places and sent back to Velasquez, who forwarded them to King Ferdinand. The seven cities founded within the next two years were said to have been selected, not owing to the fertility of their soil or on account of advantageous locations, but solely with reference to their proximity to gold deposits. In spite of these early discoveries, however, the amount of gold found in Cuba, although encouraging at the time, has never approached the value of other metals far more common and found in almost unlimited quantities. The district that first seems to have yielded a fair amount of gold was along the shores of the Arimao River, where the Cubenos panned a few hundred dollars in nuggets from the bed of the stream, and this determined the location of the city of Trinidad in 1514. The first and largest shipment of gold from the Island of Cuba, amounting to $12,437, was forwarded to Spain in the summer of 1515, and was converted into coin of the realm by the King. Since the royal share was one-fifth of all produced, it would seem that the total yield during the first four years in Cuba amounted to $62,000. The large quantities of gold found in Mexico by Cortez, some ten years later, so greatly excited the Spanish conquerors in their quest for this metal, that gold mining in Cuba gradually became an abandoned industry, and by 1535 had practically ceased. Since that time there have been no discoveries that would seem to justify further search.