Omaha daily bee., 1888-01-15

pors vi Ntlue-llaNann, MutanZuS ana
Cardinas. Bold, PERCEPTIONS headlands
jet out from dreary cliffs from end to
| end OF the island. These great heights
are buttressed by lodges and hidden
reefs at their base which extend from
an eighth to IA half mile from land.
or these harbors. that of Havana. while
incomparably the finest and most spa
ciOus, is still most inaccessible during
great storms and tempcsts. You could
throw Il stone across the navigablc
channel of its entrance. With Il strong
sea behind vessel. the slightest error
in its course involves certain destruc-
tion. To the east the rock on which
stands Moro castle. rises straight from
the bottom of the channel hundreds of
feet. But a few rods to the west is Il
sunken reef over which the breakers
seethe and spume to the low walls of La
Punta fort. Scylla and Charybdis are
more than here: while that other
more dangerous rock. the sodden and
murdereus stupidity of the Spanish rule.
threatens with the deadly peril Of not
permitting vessels to even in storm un-
less Moro castle signals the fact that
Havana S lazy pilots consent to emerge
from their safe sicstas. and set the Of
fetal seal of their wholly unnecessary
presence upon entrance.
Ht NuWHlnS sea Denculn us anu tnp
bowling gulf behind us made us glad
enough, however. to regard all the
frowning forts and the glorious unseen
labor behind them with an utter alb
scnce of criticism. We were being
pounded squarely into port at the rate
of twenty knots an hour. We saw no
welcome signal from Moro Even with
our glasses we could see no lookout
Along the whole savage coast there was
naught but the craigs. the pink and
white city, with its strange. half-Moor-
ish architecture. and the tremendous
forts in front of us. with rim of white
spray whore the great waves beat
madly upon the deadly lodges before.
just there. between Moro castle and the
low-lying La Punta fort opposite. was "a
steely. black line. That marked the mar
row entrance not five hundred feet wide.
The splendid bay was III there behind
all this fury. But three other wind
whipped objects were in sight--thc
gray gulls that circlcd and shricked,
the hateful flag Of yellow and red above
old More 5 tower, and Il dismastcd Span
ish bark just astern of us, with her
decks stove in, her hold water-logged,
and her hull carcening to Ieeward Us
though the very life were beaten out of
her. Like a broken life going down
silent, in sight of her own flag and in
desperate peril, there was no sign of
aid from behind those grim battlements
where hundreds of craft were safe and
silent in peaceful waters underneath n
glowing sun.
Our captain was agitated, but he
swore he'd make that harbor. So our
steamers blistered old nose went crack
ing and cutting through the boiling sea
with increasing speed. We were
charged right into Spanish authority
like IL rotous ram. Moro castle loomed
high and grand above us. The surf at
its feet and our side reminded one Of
swirling snow-storm. Opposite, La
completely hidden from sight by the
waves which rose up and shook their
crests like shrieking hags. Suddenly
there popped up out of the cauldron in
front of, and beneath us, a lifeboat full
of Cuban barqueros, and pilot wild
with Indignation at our temerity.
Like the sea. the pilot fairly foamed.
Though
YELLING At Us SAvAGELY,
we could not hear his voice. But his
gesticulat;ons plainly ordered us to
put about and stand out to sea again.
Our captain responded in still more
frantic tones and movements. High
above the fury of the elemental din his
brave oaths rang out excuse. incentive.
scorn. defiance. We nearly ran down
the boat which barely got under our
leeward. its occupants the maddest
Spaniards that ever escaped drowning:
and thus as we rounded Moro, we swept
past all danger of the sea-the pilot
crew and our captain testing their
lungs and profanity to the utmost---into
one of the most beautiful harbors known
to seamen, finally coming t6 anchor,
over against the Regla side of the har-
bor.where the quaint city, rising higher
from the wharves to the low-lying, for
titled mountains behind, was spread be-
fore our view like some fantastic pic
ture from halfMoslem old Spain.
The noble harbor which made the gay
capital of the West Indies possible, is
Place." the child-like natives call it;
because here came land and sea chiefs
to attend to the ''careening" and mend
ing of their craft on the circling palm
shaded beeches of its shores. They also
took counsel and rum here. Lay your
left hand on your table, back downward,
with the fingers pointing south. Then
imagine your thumb twice its size, and
standing out squarely to the east. and
you will have very clever notion of the
shape of Havana Bay, save that its en-
trance from your wrist joint would be
proportionally no larger than your
wrists least vein. The bay is nearly
three miles long and quite as wide. AS
you enter, overhanging your very ves-
sci is the famous Moro castle, and to the
right and opposite, not two hundred
yards distant, is La Putna, fort set
low in the shore, its southern angel ex-
tending to where the shipping is dense
and the wharves swarming, and its
western angle turning sharp from
the narrow entrance back along the
sea, terminating where the noted sea
drive, Gala Anche del Norte, begins.
La Punta is so low it might almost be
described as water battery. 1t bristles
threateningly with cannon. Behind it
are hospitals, morgues, arsenals and
many buildings of ugly suggestiveness;
u little park, Parque de la Punta, where
the lovely Cabahas tlirt with the gay
trumpeteers, and many low-life trag-
edy is begun; and still behind this is
the colossal prison, which immense
quadrangular structure will guard 5000
prisoners at one time. Havana proper
lies to the south and west of this spot.
You may wander in lod Nuremgurg and
dream in older Granada, and you will
find no more quaint and vagarous struc-
tural composites than you will here