The Republican journal., 1899-10-12
"Saint James, of Cuba. ~

hbInotu VI odhtliSo.
special Correspondence of The Journal
OFF THE EASTERN END OF CUBA, Sept,
st, Nowhere can you find more pic
,esque place, as seen from the deck of a
Gamer, than the four hundred and -eigh-
six-y year old town which Diego Velaz-
ael christened in honor of Spain patron
saint. San Jago, San Diego, Santiago, are
rJly the same name, rendered James in
u language; and wherever Spaniards
ave been there are dozens of them.
5 particular city of the Patron Saint,
40 ken of as Santiago de Cuba by way of
.utitication, is the oldest standing town
The Western Hemisphere, next to
aoto Domingo, which Columbus himself
.Ablished only eighteen years earlier.
na such an ancient and Spanish SAVIOR
- it still retain, in spite of General
~ and American sanitation, that if
srews of the discoveries were to come
Way on ghostly cruise, they would
no difficulty in recognizing the scene
-Leir ancient triumph. Merely to 90
ugh the long. sinuous channel which
WIS from the open sea to Santiago har-
is worth making trip to Cuba. Hay-
rounded the pink and gray walls of
Moro-the rock-rbbed fortress of the
ile ages, which antedates Habana's
by at least hundred years, you
al break in the hills, barely wide
Oh for the steamer to squeeze through.
ted by an experienced pilot. And
lceforth you seem to be sailing on
B, instead Of a ribbon-like strip of
il, blue water, SO close are the shores
their medieval Qualifications, man
We swamps whose lower branches are
red with ludicrousiy gaping bvalves,
nps Of royal palms waving their green
mes in welcome, laurel groves, thick
If intensely green bananas, and here
there pleasant villa, surrounded by
ems and cane fields Presently YOU
u a sharp angle of the hills and find
Iself in a broad, sheltered basin-one
The most beautiful harbo1s in the
ld. 1t is not quite SO big as the bay
fio de janerio, but like the Brazilian
Dor it lies among hills with mountains
ped round about it. Santiago bay is
iPletely land-locked, ranges of hills
osing it or every side, with numerous
MS and promontones jutting down
tle tranquil waters, leaving deep
.e coves behind them, all with silvery
hes and borders of cocoa palms. To
tight are low hills, covered with
nest yeiaure; to tile left stretches
,Fo Smith, with its fishermen nuts and
le pIetentious dwellings; IN the rear,
Castle cuts off the sea; and in front,
rely covering a slipping hillside, lies
antique city, between blue water and
fie mountains. Its low, massive walls. |
4-sling around central counts and tint
the colors Of the rainbow, barred
'otows and flat roots covered with red /
$. look as oriental as Bagdad or Con
mtiuuple. as ancient as Damascus or
,aalem, Tangiers, in Africa, occupies
milar sloping hillside, and this old |
of san Jdgo shows the same Moorish |
-in transmitted through Southern
ID. What a oheekeIed career had this |
place enjoyed before ever Plymouth
was heard Of In l51o, a few years
It's christening, Juan de Gmialva re-
led an army here for the subiugation
ucatan. Cortez sailed to the CON
SC d Mexico from the then tlourshing /
Of Santiago. In los, Don Narvaez /
this port to subdue the Indians of |
ida. Here, in the same year, came
>oto's expedition; and here the ban |
OF spain were uplifted for the CON
ST Of the two Americas. Pohre 1
ana. None are now 50 poor as to
Ter her homage. And what history
dat Iusty infant, the United States,
8 The locality been making in the last
years-what a place of stirring and |
owful memories it now is to all Amer |
hearts.
o the stranger, the streets of Santiago |
f of unttagging interest, they are so
p and narrow and winding, their Old,
buildings, masquerading under bright |
iut like bewigged and berouged octo-
narians, set flush with the foot wide |
.ewalks; their musty churches, dilapi-
.ed public buildings, plazas, and market
Use, quaint as the bazaars of Cairo. All |
e,e have been so often photographed |
written about of late by our visiting
untrymen that stay at homes can al i
lst see them in their mind eye-all |
the heavenly blue of sea and sky, the |
az green of the yerdure and the pur-
q grandeur of the mountains, the soft, !
irm air and intangible charms of the |
pics, which neither artists brush nor
.nors pen can accurately portray.
here are several outside points of in
est which the traveller should not fail |
visit. Besides the now easily access-
e Moro Castle, with all its dismal dun
ons, above and below, exposed to the
mid, there is another spot of infamous
s 5ry-the long, low slaughter house at
e edge of nearby mangrove swamp, !