The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-02

liaS tdHue OH lnS p''''iN''e''''
 midabe enough at the time it was erected,
 At Cienfuegos, the most important commercial harbor on the southern coast, there is no such fort althoush us beautiful and commodious bay present the usual features. Probably the req son why a Moro Castle iS lacking hef3 may be found in the fact that Clenlue- EOS is couple of centuries younger than Habana, Santiago Trinlaad ana Matan2as, Spain had fallen lnto hef days of decadence before the compara- lively new city came into prominence and the era had gone by when she con sGered it worth while to foftlly her American possessions with the massive and picturesque castles ot lneulaeNal times, which would go down Ike so many egg-shells before modern artli- le1y. Back of CienfueSos thefe ls hump, which Cubans dignify as mountain. though 1t is nothing more than a respectable hill just big enough to break the monotony of the flat couh- try surrounding it., The harbor is so well hidden among the cays that it's shipping can be seen only at close view
 
 when he came this way in quest of the Spanish fleet. thought be saw the masls of Ceveras ships in Cienluegos shel- tered harbor; and was about to enter ID hot pursuit when the insurgents brought him word that the heet was far to the eastward The three large rivers that empty into Clenfuegos bay enrich it past computing, being naNlga- ble for small craft a long distance lh- land--a matter of enormous consequence in roadless country The Cuato IS the most important river in Cuba, being naVigable sixty miles above the sea ana penetrating the richest sugar-produclng district During the late war the span ish General Pando held the rivers mouth. but the great Water-highWay 10 the interior was practically controlled by Garcia, who had his camp only few miles above,
 Next comes the bay of Trinidad, with it's trinity of ports and its White-Waileu city clinging like q collection of blrd- nests to the side of La Vijia mountain thousand feet above the sea that gllst- ems in front. The lovely harbor IS al- most land locked but so shallow as to debar vessels drawing more than ten feet of water. Casida, the worst port of the three, is generally used, as 1t lies at the head of the inlet. So shallow IS the water that all vessels must loau py means of lighters and get away as quickly as possible to avoid sticking fast on the sandy bottom let the shabby little port enjoys large trade in prosperous times, principally Ill su- gar and honey. It has eXtenslVe wharves and warehouses and a rather handsome station for the short railway
 leading to Trinidad and twenty miles or SO beyond.
 | The next port of call on our eastward way is Santiago, nearly twice as Tar from that point westward to the isie or Pines. To avoid the dangerous reels' La Cienega'' stands far out to sea- pursuing her course midway between the Cayman group and Cayos ue las Doce Leguas. Morning finds ua rouno- ing Cobo de Cruz the picturesque head- ! land which forms the southwest up or the great triangular province of santa ' 20 de Cuba; and thenceforth the mouh- tains keep us company, croWdinE doWh | c1ose to the sea and peering over one another's shoulders as if to get better view The coast hills are bare and des- | olate enough but the dark heights be- | hind them are forbdding beyond de- ! scriptiou They are said to contain lt- conplItabe stores of mineral wealth, and though apparently inaccesslpie' have. been mined, here and there, since earliest times The aboriginal Indians took silver, copper and gold from them | and the first Spaniards by most pflmi- | five methods, got out an average or four million dollars worth of ore every wear. As late as 1907 six million tons of copper were mined in ten months Then the Spanish government not con tent with realizing very large sum by way of taxes on the product. increased the excise charges to such an out raeeous extent as to utterly Kill the en- terprise Then for more than half a century the ores lay undisturbed in the pockets" of the hills, until the atten- ton of Americans was turned this way | It is only about fifteen years since the first mining claim of foreigner was recognized in Cuba. Now several North American corpora tions are busy in the Maestro mountains, developing rich tracts of mining territory. building rall- ways to the coast from their works in the upper heights and shipping inereas- ing quantities of ore to the United States. In the unknown defiles of this dark Sierra and in the painless wilder ness beyond the mountains, the 'patri- ots" had their secure camping-grounds, from which they defed spain Tor tree long wears. and might have held the armies of the world at bay indefinitely, if food enough to sustain life could nave been grown in their fastnessesA To the world at large this Land of the Sky IS vet a terra incognita and men wonder why Span's hundred thousand soldiers did not crush at once the few hundred | half starved rebels. Under clrcum- stances similar to General Weylers s, the Earl Hereford resigned his command Tn despair, when ordered to wrest the cliff-cast!e of Dunnottar from the Scotch insurgents. Said he; If all
 the imps of mischief had conspired to burden man with an Impossible task, they could have done p worse than to saddle him with the siege Of that sea girt rock
 While the coast mountains or Cupa show traces of former volcanic activity
 the main range-the back bone of the | island, so to speak. which is really a