HAVANA tablishments of commercial, industrial, and agricultural credit ; a savings bank ; a monte de piedad (pawn office) under the direction of the government ; and 21 daily and other news- papers and periodicals. Besides the library of the university, there are several others attach- ed to the various literary and scientific institu- tions. The royal Havana lottery is under the immediate supervision of the government, to which it yields annually about $40,000,000; and another lottery, under the auspices of the municipal government, was organized in 1873. -Diego de Velazquez, the conqueror of the island, founded, on July 25, 1515, a town at the mouth of the river Gtiines or Mayabeque, and lied it San Cristdbal in honor of Christopher Columbus. Shortly afterward it was trans- ferred to the embouchure of the Rio Almen- dares, and finally, in 1519, to its present site and under its present name. As early as 1508 Sebastian de Ocampo visited the bay for the purpose of repairing his ship, and from that circumstance named it bahia de las Carenas (Careen bay). To its convenient geographical position and the excellence of its harbor is due the rapid growth and early prosperity of Ha- vana ; but that prosperity aroused before long the cupidity of freebooters and pirates, who sacked and burned it in 1538. In order to pre- vent the repetition of similar incursions, a fort called La Fuerza, still standing and occupied as a barrack, was built by Hernando de Soto, ind the town declared to be a stronghold, or- ders being issued at the same time that it should be saluted by vessels of war entering the port. Havana was probably raised to a bishopric soon after its foundation, for its second bishop died in 1528. In 1539 De Soto set out from here on his expedition for the conquest of Florida, taking with him 900 foot and 300 horse, but leaving the garrison well defended ; for Havana had already been constituted the chief naval station and port of outfit for the Spanish forces in the new world, then called Indias, and the indispensable haven and outpost for the newly established viceroyalty of New Spain, whose shores were without any adequate harbors. In 1550 the residence of the captain general and the seat of government were transferred from Santiago de Cuba to Havana. In 1551 pirates, under the notorious Jacob Sores, sacked the church and the houses of the wealthy, and forced the commandant of the fort to surrender. After committing numerous outrages and mur- dering many of the influential citizens, Sores departed; but the place was afterward re- peatedly seized by buccaneers. It was unsuc- cessfully attacked by Drake in 1585 ; but from that time until the middle of the 18th century it was the scene of no remarkable event. The yellow fever first made its appearance among the shipping in the summer of 1761. The fol- lowing year an English squadron commanded by Admiral Pocock bombarded the city, and compelled it to capitulate, Aug. 14, after a brave defence during two months. It was re- HAVELOCK 521 stored to the Spaniards in 1763, by the treaty of Paris. In 1782 was published La Gaceta de la Hdbana, the earliest newspaper in the island. In 1789, after the expulsion of the Jesuits, their church became the cathedral of Havana, in which seven years later was de- posited the urn containing the ashes of Colum- bus. In 1818 the port of Havana, in common with the others of the island, was by law opened to foreign commerce. The work on the first railway of the island, that from Ha- vana to Gtiines, was begun in 1835 ; and in 1837 the first ferry boats were established be- tween the city and Regla on the opposite shore of the bay. In 1850 the first line of mail steamships from Cadiz to Havana was estab- lished. On the revolution in Hayti in 1795 upward of 12,000 families from that island set- tled in Havana, as did also a large portion of the French army driven from Hayti in 1802 ; and a few years later, during the struggle of the Spanish continental colonies for their in- dependence, vast numbers took refuge in Ha- vana, especially from Mexico. Many useful in- stitutions and material improvements and em- bellishments of the city are mainly due to Cap- tain General Don Miguel Tacon, such as the fire company, established in 1835, the theatre which bears his name, and several of the finest public promenades. HAVEL, a river of Germany, and the prin- cipal right branch of the Elbe. It rises in a small lake near Neu Strelitz in Mecklenburg, flows S., passing within a few miles of Berlin, to Potsdam, and thence W. and N. W. to its junction with the Elbe. Its entire length is 218 m., and it is navigable to Furstenberg, 30 m. from its source. It is the connecting link of a chain of 18 lakes, of which the lake of Tegel, the most northerly, the great lake be- tween Spandau and Potsdam, the Fahrland- see, the Jungfernsee near Potsdam, and the Schwilowsee are the most important. Near Deetz it expands to a breadth of 1,000 ft., and again contracts suddenly to 300 ft. Near Brandenburg it enlarges into the Beetzsee. Its principal affluents are the Rhin, Dosse, Spree, and Plaue. The Finow canal connects it with the Oder, and the Plaue canal with the Elbe ; and the Rappin canal, connecting the upper and lower course by means of the Rhin, saves a long stretch of winding navigation. The river, with these canals, is of great importance to the internal commerce of Prussia. HAVFAOCK, Sir Henry, a British soldier, born at Bishop Wearmouth, Durham, April 5, 1795, died near Lucknow, India, Nov. 25, 1857. He was educated at the Charterhouse school. In 1813 he began the study of the law, but in 1815 obtained a commission in the army, and in 1823 was sent to India. He distinguished himself in the Burmese war of 1824, and at its conclusion was sent on a mission to the court of Ava, and in 1827 published "The History of the Ava Campaigns." In 1828 he was promoted to a captaincy, and accompanied
