Geographical. -- A Remarkable Weed. -- Turtle-Hunting. --
Turtle-Steaks in Olden Times. -- The Gulf Stream. -- Deep-Sea
Soundings. -- Mountain Range of Cuba. -- Curious Geological
Facts. -- Subterranean Caverns. -- Wild Animals. -- The
Rivers of the Island. -- Fine Harbors. -- Historic Memories
of the Caribbean Sea. -- Sentinel of the Gulf. -- Importance
of the Position. -- Climate. -- Hints for Invalids. --
Matanzas. -- Execution of a Patriot. -- Valley of Yumuri;
Caves of Bellamar; Puerto Principe; Cardenas.
Having thus briefly glanced at the historical and political story of
Cuba,--whose very name seems bathed in sunshine and fragrance, yet
bedewed with human tears,--let us now consider its peculiarities of
climate, soil, and population, together with its geographical
characteristics. The form of the island is quite irregular, resembling
the blade of a Turkish scimitar slightly curved back, or that of a
long narrow crescent, presenting its convex side to the north. It
stretches away in this shape from east to west, throwing its western
end into a curve, as if to form a barrier to the outlet of the Gulf of
Mexico, and as if at some ancient period it had formed a part of the
American continent; severed on its north side from the Florida
peninsula by the wearing of the Gulf Stream, and from Yucatan, on its
southwestern point, by a current setting into the Gulf. Two broad
channels are thus formed, by either of which the Mexican Gulf is
entered.
These channels are nearly of the same width, somewhat exceeding a
hundred miles each, the northern passage being a few miles the
broader. The Bahama Banks extend along its northern coast-line about
fifty or sixty miles distant, where commences the group of many small
isles known as the Bahamas, and of which we have already treated. On
her eastern extreme, near Cape Maysi, Cuba is within about fifty miles
of the western shore of Hayti, from which it is separated by the
Windward Passage. The southern shore is washed by the Caribbean Sea,
which is also here and there interspersed with small islands of little
importance. One hundred and fifty miles due south lies the British
island of Jamaica, with a superficial area of over four thousand
square miles. Still further to the eastward, on the other side of
Hayti, lies Porto Rico (like Cuba a Spanish possession), and the two
groups of islands known as the Leeward and Windward isles. These are
of various nationalities, including English, French, and Dutch, thus
completing the entire region familiarly known to us as the West
Indies.
In approaching the coast from the Windward isles, the observant
traveler will notice the fields of what is called gulf-weed, which
floats upon the surface of the sea. It is a unique genus, found
nowhere except in these tropical waters, and must not be confounded
with the sea-weed encountered by Atlantic steamers off the Banks of
Newfoundland, and about the edges of the Gulf Stream in that region.
This singular and interesting weed propagates itself on the waves, and
there sustains, as on the shore of New Providence, zoöphytes and
mollusks which also abound in these latitudes. The poetical theory
relating to this sargasso, and possibly to the animals that cling to
it, is that it marks the site of an Atlantic continent sunk long ages
since, and that, transformed from a rooting to a floating plant, it
wanders round and round as if in search of the rocks upon which it
once grew. The southern shore of Cuba presents much of special
interest to the conchologist in the variety and beauty of the
sea-shells that abound upon its beaches. The water is of an exquisite
color, a brilliant green, very changeable, like liquid opal. Were an
artist truthfully to depict it, he would be called color-mad. Northern
skies are never reflected in waters of such fanciful hues. Some
beautiful specimens of white corals are found here, but they are not a
characteristic of the coast.
On that portion bordering the Old Bahama Channel, and also opposite
the Isle of Pines, which Columbus named Evangelista,--on this south
shore, large numbers of turtles are taken annually, which produce the
best quality of tortoise-shell. It is strange that the habits of these
creatures down here in the Caribbean Sea should so closely resemble
those of the tiny tortoises described by Thoreau as frequenting Walden
Pond. The female turtle digs the hole in which to deposit her eggs on
the sandy beach, just above the margin of high tide, generally
choosing a moonlight night for the purpose. The hole is often so large
that the turtle will require an hour of industrious labor to dig it to
her entire satisfaction. Observing the strictest silence, the
turtle-hunter steals upon the animal, and with a single motion turns
it upon its back, rendering it utterly helpless, after which it can be
secured at will. Thousands are annually caught in this manner.
It is a curious fact worth recalling to memory that four hundred
years ago, when Columbus first landed upon the island, he found that
the aborigines kept turtle corrals near the beach, amply supplied with
these animals. From them they procured eggs, and also furnished
themselves with the only meat which it was possible to obtain, if we
except that of the little "voiceless dog" which they hunted, and such
birds as they could snare. Probably as many turtles were taken by
those Carib Indians in 1492 as are caught by the fishermen this year
of our Lord, in the same waters, showing how inexhaustible is the
supply of Neptune's kingdom. Modern epicures may not therefore claim
any distinction as to the priority of discovery touching turtle soup
and turtle steaks, both of which were certainly indulged in by the
Caribs in Columbus' time, and probably they were in vogue many
centuries previous.
One neither departs from nor approaches the Cuban shore without
crossing that marvelous ocean river, the Gulf Stream, with banks and
bottom of cold water, while its body and surface are warm. Its color,
in the region of the gulf where it seems to have its rise, is indigo
blue, so distinct that the eye can follow its line of demarkation
where it joins the common waters of the sea in their prairie-green.
Its surface temperature on the coast of the United States is from 75°
to 80° Fahrenheit. Its current, of a uniform speed of four to five
miles per hour, expends immense power in its course, and moves a body
of water in the latitude of the Carolina coast fully two hundred miles
wide. This aqueous body exceeds in quantity the rivers of the
Mississippi and the Amazon multiplied one thousand times. Its
temperature diminishes very gradually, while it moves thousands of
leagues, until one branch loses itself in Arctic regions, and the
other breaks on the coast of Europe. It is well known to navigators
that one branch of the Gulf Stream finds its outlet northward from the
Caribbean Sea through the Windward Passage, and that here the current
extends to the depth of eight hundred fathoms; the width, however, in
this section is not over ten miles. It will be nothing new to tell the
reader that the sea, especially in its proximity to the continents,
has a similar topographical conformation beneath its surface. The
bottom consists of hills, mountains, and valleys, like the surface of
the earth upon which we live. A practical illustration of the fact is
afforded in the soundings taken by the officers of our Coast Survey in
the Caribbean Sea, where a valley was found giving a water depth of
three thousand fathoms, twenty-five miles south of Cuba. The Cayman
islands, in that neighborhood, are the summit of mountains bordering
this deep valley at the bottom of the sea. It is known to extend over
seven hundred miles, from between Cuba and Jamaica nearly to the head
of the bay of Honduras, with an average breadth of eighty miles. How
suggestive the subject of these submarine Alps! Thus the island of
Grand Cayman, scarcely twenty feet above sea level, is the top of a
mountain twenty thousand five hundred and sixty-eight feet above the
bottom of the submarine valley beside which it rises,--an altitude
exceeding that of any mountain on the North American continent. A
little more than five miles, or say twenty-seven thousand feet, is the
greatest depth yet sounded at sea.
With an extensive coast-line particularly well adapted for the
purpose, smuggling is at all times successfully carried on in Cuba,
stimulated by an almost prohibitory tariff. It is well understood that
many of the most prosperous merchants in Havana are secretly engaged
in this business. The blindness of minor officials is easily
purchased. The eastern department of the island is most notorious for
this class of illegal trade. It was through these agencies that the
revolutionists were so well supplied with arms, ammunition, and other
necessities during the eight years of civil war. While we are writing
these lines, the cable brings us news of a fresh landing of
"filibusters" on the shores in this immediate neighborhood.
Cuba is the most westerly of the West Indian isles, and compared with
the others has nearly twice as much superficial extent of territory,
being about as large as England proper, without the principality of
Wales. Its greatest length from east to west is very nearly eight
hundred miles; its narrowest part is over twenty miles, and its
average width about forty miles. The circumference of the island is
set down at two thousand miles, and it is supposed to contain
thirty-five thousand square miles. The face of the interior is
undulating, with an average level of three hundred feet above the
surface of the sea. The narrow form of the island, and the chain of
mountains which divides it throughout its whole length, leave a
limited course for its rivers, and consequently most of these in the
rainy season become torrents, and during the rest of the year are
nearly dried up. Those streams which sustain themselves at all seasons
are well stocked with fine fish, and afford to lovers of the piscatory
art admirable sport. Near their mouths some of the rivers, like those
of the opposite coast of Florida, are frequented by crocodiles.
The chain of mountains running through the centre of the island, more
or less broken in its course, is lofty in the east, but gradually
diminishes in elevation towards the west, until it becomes a series of
gently undulating hills of one or two hundred feet above sea level,
ceasing as a connected range in the vicinity of Matanzas. On the
easterly end this range of mountains approaches the south coast
between Puerto Principe and Trinidad. The country lying between Cape
Cruz, Cape Maysi, and the town of Holguin has the highest elevations;
the most lofty point, Turquino, lately measured, has a height of ten
thousand eight hundred feet. Illustrative of the great revolutions
which the globe has undergone in its several geological epochs,
petrified shells and bivalves are found on the summits of these
highest peaks, surrounded by coral rocks, both of which differ
entirely from those at present existing on the shores of the Antilles.
An immense bowlder was pointed out to us on the summit of La Gran
Piedra, at an elevation of five thousand feet, of totally different
composition from any other rocks on the island. The great mystery is
how such a mass of solid stone could have got there. Most of these
mountains are thickly wooded, some of them to their very tops, and
appear to be in a perpetual state of verdure. There are mahogany trees
in these hills reported to be of almost fabulous dimensions, besides
other trees of great age. Some idea of the excellence of the timber
grown in Cuba may be had from the fact that over one hundred Spanish
ships of war--some of which were of the largest size, mounting a
hundred and twenty guns--have been built from native stock at the port
of Havana.
Copper ore is found in abundance, as well as silver and iron, in the
mountains. Snow is never known to fall even in these elevated
districts, and of course in no other part of the island. In the
interior, the extreme heat of the low-lying sea-coast and cities is
not experienced, and the yellow fever is unknown. Low, level swampy
land is found only on the southern coast, where there are some wild
deer, wild cats and dogs, which are hunted; the former introduced into
Cuba half a century since, the two latter descended from domestic
animals. Large tracts of undulating country are without trees,
affording good pasturage. In some of the mountains are extensive
caves, not unlike the caves of Bellamar near the city of Matanzas, in
which are still to be found the bones of an unknown race, while
several of these elevations are so precipitous as to be nearly
inaccessible.
Travelers who have visited the Bay of Biscay, on the French and
Spanish shore near Biarritz, have observed how the rocks have been
worn into caverns, arches, alcoves, and honeycombed formations by the
action of the waters for centuries. Just so the soft limestone strata
beneath the surface of Cuba, in many portions of the island, have been
hollowed out, tunneled, and formed into caves, by the tremendous
downpour and wash of tropical rains. So the action of the sea has
created a cave under Moro Castle, at the mouth of the harbor of
Havana, as well as under that other Moro which stands guard over the
entrance of Santiago de Cuba. The existence of these subterranean
caverns has often led to serious accidents. In some instances
buildings which were by chance erected just over them have suddenly
been swallowed up as though by an earthquake.
Many of the rivers are navigable for short distances. The longest is
the Cauto, in the eastern department, which, rising in the Sierra del
Cobre, passes between Holguin and Jiguani, and empties on the south
coast a little north of Manzanillo. It is navigable for half its
length, between fifty and sixty leagues. The river Ay has falls in its
course two hundred feet high, and a natural bridge spanning it, nearly
as remarkable as that of Virginia. The Sagua le Grande is navigable
for five leagues, and the same may be said of the river Sasa. The
Agabama, emptying on the south coast near Trinidad, is also partially
navigable. There are two hundred and sixty rivers in all, independent
of rivulets and torrents. So abundantly is the island supplied with
fresh-water springs, especially on the south side, that the pure
liquid filters through the fissures of the stratified rock in such
quantities as to form, by hydrostatic pressure, springs in the sea
itself some distance from the shore. The sulphurous and thermal
springs of San Diego are the resort of numerous invalids annually, who
come hither from Europe and America.
The coast and harbors of Cuba are carefully marked for the purpose of
navigation by eighteen well-placed lighthouses, visible from fifteen
to twenty miles at sea, according to the importance of the surrounding
points. That which stands in Moro Castle, on the south side of the
harbor's entrance at Havana, is eighty feet in height and about a
hundred and fifty from the level of the sea. It is visible in clear
weather twenty miles from shore. In honor of a former Governor-General
this lighthouse bears the inscription "O'Donnell, 1844," in mammoth
letters. So plain and safe is the entrance to this harbor, which in
the narrowest part is some hundred yards wide, that a pilot is hardly
necessary, though foreign vessels generally take one. There is little
or no tide on this part of the coast, the variations never exceeding
two feet. No regular ebb and flow is therefore observable, but when
the land breeze rises there is a very slight tide-way setting out of
the harbor. No country in the world of the size of this island has so
many large and fine harbors. They number twenty-nine on its northern
side and twenty-eight on the southern. The well-defined water-line
along the yellow, rusty rocks of the coast shows the mark of ages, and
also that there has been no upheaval since the land took its present
shape. Where there are no regular harbors the shore is indented with
numerous deep channels forming inlets, safe only for native boatmen,
as the winding course of the blue waters covers myriads of sunken
rocks. On the southern side, opposite the Isle of Pines, there are
some beautiful reaches of beach, over which the gentle surf rolls
continuously with a murmur so soft as to seem like the whispered
secrets of the sea. Yet what frightful historic memories brood over
these deep waters of the Archipelago, where for nearly two centuries
floated and fought the ships of sea-robbers of every nationality, and
where the cunning but guilty slave-clippers, fresh from the coast of
Africa, loaded with kidnapped men and women, made their harbor! With
all their dreamy beauty, the tropics are full of sadness, both in
their past and present history.
The occasional hurricanes, which prove so disastrous to the Bahamas
and other isles in the immediate vicinity of Cuba, rarely extend their
influence to its shores, but the bursts of fury which these usually
tranquil seas sometimes indulge in are not excelled in violence in the
worst typhoon regions.
The nearest port of the island to this continent is Matanzas, lying
due south from Cape Sable, Florida, a distance of a hundred and thirty
miles. Havana is located some sixty miles west of Matanzas, and it is
here that the island divides the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, whose
coast-line, measuring six thousand miles, finds the outlet of its
commerce along the shore of Cuba, almost within range of the guns in
Moro Castle. Lying thus at our very door as it were, this island
stands like a sentinel, guarding the approaches of the Gulf of Mexico,
whose waters wash the shores of five of the United States, and by
virtue of the same position barring the entrance of the great river
which drains half the continent of North America. Nor does the
importance of the situation end here. Cuba keeps watch and ward over
our communication with California by way of the isthmus. The peculiar
formation of the southeastern shore of this continent, and the
prevalence of the trade-winds, with the oceanic current from east to
west, make the ocean passage skirting the shore of Cuba the natural
outlet for the commerce also of Venezuela, New Granada, Costa Rica,
and Nicaragua. It is not surprising, therefore, when we realize the
commanding position of the island, that so much of interest attaches
to its ultimate destiny.
Cuba seems formed to become the very button on Fortune's cap. No
wonder that the Abbé Raynal pronounced it to be the boulevard of the
New World, or that the Spanish historian called it the fairest emerald
in the crown of Ferdinand and Isabella. Under any other government in
Christendom than that of Spain, the island would to-day have been one
vast smiling garden, for its natural advantages are absolutely
unequaled. To oppress and rob its inhabitants has been the unvarying
policy of the home government from first to last. The undisguised
system has been to extort from them every farthing possible in the way
of taxes. No legitimate business could sustain itself against the
enormous exactions of the Spanish rule. Coffee and cotton planting
have been absolutely driven out of the island by the taxes imposed
upon their production. In short, the mother country has carried her
system of oppression and despotism in Cuba to the utmost stretch of
human audacity.
Probably no place has a finer or more desirable climate than has the
main portion of Cuba, with the clear atmosphere of the low latitudes,
no mist, the sun seldom obscured, and a season of endless summer. We
do not wonder that the Northern invalid turns instinctively towards so
inviting a clime, where Nature in all her moods is so regal. The
appearance of the sky at night is far brighter and more beautiful than
at the North. The atmosphere does not seem to lose its transparency
with the departure of the day. Sunset is remarkable for its soft
mellow beauty, all too brief to a New England eye accustomed to the
lingering brilliancy of our twilights. For more than half a century
the island has been the resort of invalids from colder climes in
search of health, especially those laboring under pulmonary
affections. Such have rarely failed to realize more or less benefit
from the mild and equable temperature. The climate so uniformly soft
and soothing, the vegetation so thriving and beautiful, the fruits so
delicious and abundant, give it a character akin to fairyland. Here
Nature seems ever in a tender, loving mood, the very opposite of her
cold temperament at the North.
The best time to visit the island, for those who do so in search of
health, is from the beginning of January to the middle of May. It is
imprudent to remain in the cities of Cuba later than the latter
period, as the fever season then commences. The invalid will find that
very many physical comforts, and some things deemed imperative at
home, must be sacrificed here as quite unattainable: such, for
instance, as good beds, strict cleanliness, good milk, and sweet
butter. The climatic advantages must suffice for such deprivations.
During the greater portion of the year it is dry and hot, the rainy
season commencing in June and ending in September. The northeast
trade-winds blow over the island from March to October, and though it
is especially important to avoid all draughts in the tropics, still
one can always find a sufficiently cool and comfortable temperature
somewhere, when the trade-wind prevails. To persons in the early
stages of consumption this region holds forth great promise of relief;
the author can bear witness of remarkable benefit having been realized
in many instances. At the period of the year when New England invalids
most require to avoid the rigors of the prevailing east winds, namely,
in February, March, April, and early May, the island of Cuba is in the
glory of high summer, and enjoying the healthiest period of its annual
returns. When consumption originates in the island,--as was also found
to be the case at Nassau,--it runs its course to a fatal end with such
rapidity that the natives consider it to be a contagious disease.
Early in May the unacclimated would do well to leave, taking passage
up the Gulf to New Orleans, or across the Gulf Stream, which here runs
thirty-two miles in width, to Key West, Florida, thence by boat to
Tampa Bay, and by railroad to Sanford, and by the St. John's River to
St. Augustine, enjoying a brief stay at the latter places, where every
requisite convenience can be enjoyed. Jacksonville should not be
missed, and by coming north thus slowly and pleasantly, the change of
climate is not realized, and June weather will greet the returning
traveler with genial warmth.
Owing to the proximity of the northwestern part of Cuba to our own
continent, the climate is somewhat variable, and at a height of five
hundred feet above the level of the sea, ice is sometimes, though
rarely formed; but, as has already been said in these notes, snow
never falls upon the island. At long intervals Cuba has been visited
by brief hailstorms, and persons who tell you this will add, "but we
never have known it in our day." In the cities and near the swamps,
the yellow fever, that scourge of all hot climates, prevails from the
middle of June to the last of October; but in the interior of the
island, where the visitor is at a wholesome distance from humidity and
stagnant water, it is no more unhealthy than our own cities in summer.
It is doubtful if Havana, even in the fever season, is any more
unhealthy than New Orleans at the same period of the year. Fevers of
different degrees of malignity prevail from May to November, and
occasionally throughout the year. Among these the yellow fever is the
most dangerous, and sooner or later all resident foreigners seem to
suffer from it, as a sort of acclimation; once experienced, however,
one is seldom attacked a second time. In the ports yellow fever is
often induced by carelessness and exposure; excesses on the part of
foreign sailors are frequently the cause of its fatal attack upon
them. The thermometer is never known to rise so high in Havana or
Santiago, the opposite extremes of the island, as it does sometimes in
New York and Boston. The average temperature is recorded as being 77°,
maximum 89°, minimum 50° Fahrenheit. We have been thus elaborate as
regards this matter because it is of such general interest to all
invalids who annually seek an equable clime.
The principal cities are Havana, with a population of nearly three
hundred thousand; Matanzas, with fifty thousand; Puerto Principe,
thirty thousand; Cienfuegos, twenty-five thousand; Trinidad, fourteen
thousand; San Salvador, ten thousand; Manzanillo, Cardenas, Nuevitas,
Sagua la Grande, and Mariel. Among its largest and finest harbors
those of Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Nipe, and Nuevitas are the best;
the bay of Matanzas is also large, but shallow. This city stands next
to Havana in population, but not in commercial importance. It is said
to be healthier than the capital, but it lacks those attractions of
life and gayety which are essential even to invalids to render them
contented. The streets are wide, and many of the Moorish
characteristics of Spanish cities, so common in both this island and
the European peninsula, are wanting here. It was built much later and
more under foreign direction than Havana. The secret of the superior
health of Matanzas over that of the capital is undoubtedly because of
its better drainage and general cleanliness.
Located in one of the most fertile portions of the island, the city
extends up the picturesque and verdant hills by which the bay is
surrounded, in the form of an amphitheatre. The fortifications are of
rather a meagre character, and could not withstand a well organized
attack for half an hour. Modern improvements in the construction of
heavy guns and projectiles have rendered all the forts in Cuba of no
importance as a means of defense against a first-class invading fleet.
The custom house is the most prominent building which strikes the eye
on approaching the city by water; though built of stone, it is only
one story in height, and was erected at the commencement of the
present century. On the heights above the city the inhabitants have
planted their country seats, from whence the view of the widespreading
bay forms a delightful picture. The climate is thought to be
especially adapted for the cure of throat and lung diseases, and the
city is annually resorted to by those seeking relief from these
troubles, as also by those afflicted with neuralgia and rheumatism.
The first land made by southern-bound steamers from Boston and New
York is the Monte del Pan, or Bread Mountain, forming a lofty
background for the city. There are three large churches in Matanzas, a
well appointed and spacious theatre, a bull-ring, and cock-pits.
Statistics show that the custom-house receipts of the port reach about
two million dollars annually. There are two railroads connecting the
city with Havana, one of which runs also to the interior southeasterly
to Cienfuegos, Sagua, and Villa Clara, intersecting a rich
sugar-producing country, from whence it brings a large amount of
freight to the coast for shipment. On these Cuban roads one rides in
American-built cars, drawn by American engines, and often run by
American engineers. Railroads were in use in Cuba before they were
adopted in any other Spanish-speaking country, and there are now
nearly a thousand miles in active operation on the island.
Matanzas is bounded on the north by the river Yumuri, and on the south
by that of San Juan. The town is built upon the site of a former
Indian village, known to the early discoverers by the name of Yucayo.
It is upon the whole a well-built city, containing some small public
squares and a pretty Plaza de Armas, like that of Havana, ornamented
with choice trees and flowers, with a statue of Ferdinand VII. in its
centre. It was in this square that Gabriel Concepcion de la Valdez, a
mulatto poet and patriot of Cuba, was shot by the soldiers of the
line. He was accused of complicity with the slave insurrection of
1844, when the blacks attempted to gain their freedom. At the time of
his execution the first volley fired by the troops failed to touch a
vital spot, and the brave victim, bleeding from many wounds, still
stood erect, facing his executioners. He then pointed to his heart,
and said in a calm clear voice, "Aim here!" The order was at once
obeyed, and the second volley sent the heroic man to that haven where
there is no distinction as to color. This martyr, of whom
comparatively little is known to the public, possessed all the true
elements of a poet. Many of his productions have been preserved in
print, and some were translated and republished in England a few years
since.
The Plaza of Matanzas is small, smaller even than that of Cienfuegos,
but it presents within its circumscribed space a great variety of
tropical trees and flowers, over which stand, sentinel-like, a few
royal palms with their ashen-gray stems and concentric rings. The star
of Bethlehem, fifteen feet high, was here seen full of lovely scarlet
blossoms; the southern jasmine, yellow as gold, was in its glory;
mignonette, grown to a graceful tree of twenty feet in height, was
fragrant and full of blossoms, close beside the delicate vinca, decked
in white and red. Some broad-leaved bananas were thriving in the
Plaza, while creeping all over that tree and shrub combined, the
Spanish bayonet, were pink, purple, and white morning-glories, at once
so familiar and suggestive. Opposite the Plaza are several government
offices, and two or three very large, fine club-houses, remarkable for
the excellence of their appointments and the spaciousness of the
public rooms. Club life prevails in Matanzas, as usual at the expense
of domestic life, just as it does in Havana, being very much like
London in this respect. It is forbidden to discuss politics in these
clubs, the hours being occupied mostly over games of chance, such as
cards, dominoes, chess, and checkers. Gambling is as natural and
national in Cuba as in China. Many Chinese are seen about the streets
and stores of Matanzas, as, indeed, all over the island--poor fellows
who have survived their apprenticeship and are now free. They are
peaceful, do not drink spirits, work from morning until night, never
meddle with politics, and live on one half they can earn, so as to
save enough to return to their beloved native land. You may persuade
him to assent to any form of religion as a temporary duty, but John is
a heathen at heart, and a heathen he will die.
The famous afternoon drive of Matanzas was formerly the San Carlos
Paseo. It has fine possibilities, and is lined and beautifully
ornamented with thrifty Indian laurels. It overlooks the spacious
harbor and outer bay, but is now utterly neglected and abandoned; even
the roadway is green with vegetation and gullied with deep hollows. It
is the coolest place in the city at the evening hour, but the people
have become so poor that there are hardly a dozen private vehicles
owned in the city, and, consequently, its famous drive is deserted.
Matanzas, like all the cities of Cuba, is under the shadow of
depressed business, the evidences of which meet one on all hands.
The two objects of special interest to strangers who visit Matanzas
are, first, the valley of the Yumuri, which may be described briefly
as a narrow gorge four miles long, through which flows the river of
the same name. The view of this lovely valley will recall, to any one
who has visited Spain, the Vega of Granada. There are several
positions from which to obtain a good view of the valley, but that
enjoyed from the Chapel of Monserrate, on the hill just back of the
town, is nearest, and was most satisfactory to us. The view includes a
valley, peaceful, tropical, and verdant, embracing plantations,
groves, and farms, in the midst of which the river glides like a
silver thread through the verdure, and empties into the Bay of
Matanzas. The universal belief is that this vale was once a vast, deep
lake, walled across the present seaward opening of the valley, from
whence a fall may have existed as a natural overflow. Some fearful
convulsion of nature rent this bowl and precipitated the lake into the
ocean, leaving only the river's course.
The second object of note which the visitor will not willingly miss is
a sight of the famous caves of Bellamar, situated about two leagues
from the city proper. It is customary to make this trip in a volante,
and it is quite the thing to ride, at least once, in this unique
vehicle, the only article ever invented in Cuba. The road to the
caves is extremely rough, and this vehicle is best adapted to pass
over the irregularities. If there are only gentlemen of the party, go
on horseback. On entering the caves the visitor should throw off any
extra clothing that can conveniently be left behind, as it is very
warm within, and on coming out, unless one has an extra garment to put
on, too great a change of temperature will be realized. These singular
caves lead three hundred feet and more beneath the surface, and
present beauties to the eye incident to all such subterranean
formations. They were discovered accidentally, a few years since, by
some stone quarriers, who, on opening into them, imagined they had
broken the crust of the earth. In driving to the caves the Bay Street
road, through the city, should be taken, which forms one of the finest
thoroughfares of any Cuban town. The architecture of the dwellings is
that of combined Italian, Grecian, and Moorish, ornamented with
colonnades and verandas of stone and iron. Fine as the façades of
these houses are,--none above one story in height,--they present a
faded and forlorn aspect, a sort of dead-and-alive appearance, yet in
accordance with life and business, not only in Matanzas, but all over
the island. This one boulevard of Matanzas ends by the shore of the
bay, where the fine marine view will cause you to forget all other
impressions for the moment, but you will not tarry here. Turning
eastward you soon strike the road to the caves, and _such_ a road--it
is like the bed of a dry mountain torrent.
Persons visiting Matanzas must make up their minds to be content with
indifferent hotel accommodations. In fact there are no really good
hotels in Cuba; those which exist are poor and expensive. On the
inland routes away from the cities there are none, and the humble
hostelries, or posadas, as they are called, are so indifferent in
point of comforts as not to deserve the name of inns. As a rule,
invalids rarely go beyond the cities to remain over night. Brief and
pleasant sojourns may be made at Havana, Cienfuegos, Matanzas, and
Sagua la Grande, from whence excursions can be made by rail or
otherwise and return on the same day. Let us qualify these remarks, as
applied to the Hotel Louvre at Matanzas. There was a degree of
picturesqueness about this establishment which was not without its
attraction, and it was certainly the most cleanly public house in
which we found a temporary home while on the island. Its rooms
surrounded a bright clean court, or patio, planted with creeping
vines, palmettos, bananas, and some fragrant flowering shrubs. The
dining-room is virtually out of doors, being open on all sides, and
opposite the hotel is a small plaza with tropical trees, backed by an
old, musty church, whose bell had the true Spanish trick of giving
tongue at most inopportune moments. The rooms of the Louvre are quite
circumscribed as to space, and the partitions separating the
apartments do not reach to the ceiling, so that privacy, night or day,
is out of the question. The floors are all tiled in white marble, and
the attendance is courteous. One does not look for a choice bill of
fare in Cuba, and therefore will not be disappointed on that score.
You will be charged Fifth Avenue prices, however, if you do not get
Fifth Avenue accommodations. If you have learned in your travels to
observe closely, to study men as well as localities, to enjoy Nature
in her ever-varying moods, and to delight in luxurious fruits,
flowers, and vegetation, you will find quite enough to occupy and
amuse the mind, and make you forget altogether the grosser senses of
appetite.
Puerto Principe is the capital of the central department of Cuba, and
is located well inland. The trade of the place, from the want of water
carriage, is inconsiderable, and bears no proportion to the number of
its inhabitants, which aggregates nearly thirty-one thousand. The
product of the neighborhood, to find means of export, must first make
its way twelve and a half leagues to Nuevitas, from whence, in return,
it receives its foreign supplies. The two places are now, however,
connected by a railroad. Puerto Principe is about one hundred and
fifty leagues from Havana. Its original location, as founded by
Velasquez in 1514, was at Nuevitas, but the inhabitants, when the
place was feeble in numbers, were forced to remove from the coast to
avoid the fierce incursions of the pirates, as did the people of
Trinidad, who removed from the harbor of Casilda.
Cardenas is situated a hundred and twenty miles from Havana on the
north coast, and is the youngest town of note in Cuba, having been
founded so late as 1827. It has a population of between four and five
thousand. Its prosperity is mostly owing to the great fertility of the
land by which it is surrounded. It is called the American city,
because of the large number of Americans doing business here, and also
because the English language is so universally spoken by the people
who reside in the place. The Plaza contains an excellent marble statue
of Columbus, and is tastefully ornamented with tropical verdure. In
the harbor of Cardenas is seen one of those curious springs of fresh
water which bubble up beneath the salt sea. The city is the centre of
a sugar-producing district, and a considerable portion of the sugar
crop of the vicinity of Havana is also shipped from this port to
America. It is connected with both the metropolis and Matanzas by
rail, and is well worthy of a visit by all who can find the necessary
time for doing so.
Between Havana and Nuevitas, along the northern slope of the island,
are many vast tracts of unimproved land of the best quality. Much of
it is overgrown with cedar, ebony, mahogany, and other valuable
timber; but a large proportion is savanna or prairie, which might,
with little difficulty, be reduced to cultivation. The timber alone,
which is often found in large compact bodies, would pay the cost of
the land and the expense of clearing it. Many branches of agriculture
are neglected which might be made very remunerative, but it will never
be brought about except by foreign capital and tact. The natives have
not the requisite enterprise and industry. While these chapters are
passing through the press, the home government is discussing in the
Cortes the propriety of making a large loan to the Cubans for the
purpose of bringing the lands above referred to into market, as well
as rendering others accessible. But it is doubtful if anything
practical is accomplished, unless foreign interest should be enlisted.