The Republican journal., 1899-10-05
enterprise. Then for more than half a


century the ores lay undisturbed in the
''pockets'' of the hills, until the attention
of Americans was turned this way. 1t is
only about fifteen years since the first
mining claim of foreigner was recognized
in Cuba. Now several North American
corporations are busy in the Maestro
mountains, developing rich tracts of min
ing territory, building railways to the
coast from their works in the upper
heights, and shipping increasing quaint
ties of ore to the United States. In the
unknown defiles of this dark Sierra, and
in the painless wilderness beyond the
mountains, the 'patriots" had their Sc
cure camping grounds, from which they
defed Spain for three long years and
might have held the armies of the world
at bay indefinitely, if food enough to sus-
tain life could have been grown in their
Businesses. To the world at large this
land of the sky is yet terra incognita,
and men wonder why Spain's hundred
thousand soldiers did not crush at once
the few hundred half starved rebels. I'm
der circumstances similar to Gen. Wey-
ler's, the Earl Hereford resigned his COM
mand in despair, when ordered to wrest
Scotch insurgents. Said he: 'lf all the
imps of mischief had conspired to burden
man with an impossible task, they could
have done no worse than to saddle him
with the siege of that sea GRIT rock
While the coast mountains of Cuba show
traces of former volcanic activity, the
so to speak, which is really a continuation
of our western Alleghanies- resembles the
Cumberland chain of Kentucky and Ala
bama in limestone cliffs and deep caverns.
The Sierra Honda, (''Hollow Mountains
for example, which cover more than 3, 900
square miles of Central Cuba, are honey
toes that absorb good sized rivers, and
have underground communications for
long distances. Their entrances are gen.
orally concealed by impenetrable screens
of tangle- vines, and some of them have
several outlets, wide apart. There are
underground side vaults, too, with portals
that can be hidden by moving rocks; SO
that those familiar with the architectural
details of these subterranean abodes were
as safe from invasion in them as if lying
in their graves. Their mere neighborhood
was such guarantee of security that
bands of insurgents, relying on the swift
ness of their legs to get them beyond pur-
suit if the enemy approached, came bold
iy forth to cultivate corn, tobacco and
potatoes for their own support. Where
the perils of Cloudland end the jun
gle begins, with g-zag trails through
which the maehete must cut way. Each
rowing band of patriots was followed by
hQiddor literally translated a leaf scraper)
whose duty it was to obliterate all tell
tale tracks. Often the hojador went
farther and facetiously led the pursuers
merry dance upon a sham trail, into
quagmire or impossible morass, where
they tloundered about helplessy, while
the rebels chuckled in the bushes. The
forests are equally unfavorable for catch
ing human game familiar with their in
tricacies. There are absolutely no land
marks in the dense jung!es, where cur
tains of creepers extend for miles and the
moon and stars are obscured by solid
canopy of green, the only way to tell one S
whereabouts being the constant expedient
of climbing the tallest trees.
FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD.