The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-02
THE SOUTH COAST OF CUBA
1N E1S1WIRD CRUISE FROM ISL1
 DE PINOS,
A Few of Cnbn's Einy-Four Ports GIimpses A hore--What Americans May Do In the Eig Island.

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 May DO in the Eig Island.
 Especial Correspondence of the Journal
 and Couriar.I
 On Board La Cienega" Aug, 23.- 1 Sailing eastward from Isla de Pinos you find yourself at once in the mazes of another green arehipelago-th Banco de los Jardines Jardinillas, or Reel of Gardens and Gardiners. '" And very i appropriate is the name bestowed by the verbose Spaniards, for every islet big and little, is veritable conserVato- " of bloom and beauty, though nature is the only gardener the archipelago has ever known This particular group numbers about fifty islands the largest not more than six or eight miles long, the smallest bit of roral rock just peepng above the waves. To the north between Los Jardines and the Peninsu- la de Zapata (The Shoe" so-called De- cause of it's shape, which forms the southwest end of santa Clara pro- wheel, the tranquil Caribbean is dotted thick with slets, each tringed With mangroVe thickets, the home of cfoco- | diles, parrots and sea-foWl innumeraDle' The latter find secure breeding places in these miniature paradises unfre- quented by the human species, and | birds of every feather fatten on the wild fruits and seeds. This is the \ chosen home of the Cuban parrots and paroquets which fiud such profitable sale in the United States Every thick ct is alive with them and their shrill screaming fills the air. The fowler has only to row out from the main land in his canoe, set hks snares in the bushes and wait for the gorgeous green and yellow fellows to hutter into them. A modern Cruesoe, cast ashore on one ot these islands would not fare badly, providing he kept at a respectful dls- tance from the crocodile's jaws. and voracious land-crabs did not devous him. Besides fish and lobsters, the finest to be found anywhere, oysters clinging to the mangrove branches ana birds that will almost come at call, hay ing never learned the fear of man-are various wild fruits, including oranges, figs, plantains, cocoanuts, malagoes, ca species of indigenous potato), yucca, l Cassava and other edible roots, ana | usually plenty of fresh water.
 No country on earth is so rich in nat ural gardens of the sea as Cuba being environed by no fewer than fifteen hundred islands of account, besides in- numerable reefs and cays. the smallest of them capable of sustaining a few people almost independently. Most of these islets are not unlike the Bahama and Florida reefs, having been created by the same coral builders that to-day may be seen through the transparent waters, working as busily as when this old world was young and comparatively poor in islands.
 Next to Isla de Pinos, the largest of Cuba's islands lies off the north shore stretching forty miles or more between the province of Puerto Principe and the old Bahama channel and is locally known as Coyo Romano Correctly speaking il is four big islands set close ly together and surrounded by score of little ones, and their combined area is about two hundred square miles They are unique in being vast natu- ral salt mine, capable of supplying hail the world. Their surface is broken all over by many small depressions two or three feet deep. During winter storms Atlantic pillows surge completely over these cays leaving the holloWs lliled with brine The burning sun of sum mer soon dries the water and deposits of pure salt are left behind, all ready for use without the trouble of evapora- ting. The sole industry of Cayo Ro- mano is that of gathering what the sea has thus provided, and the only inhapl- tants are few salt miners who remaln less than half the year and work m de- sultory fashion. off the southern coast of Cuba. Grande Cayman and the two smaller Cavnens are the most impor- tant islands, always excepting Plnosi and next to them in area is the long and narrow archipelago called Cayos de los Doce Leguas. Between the lat- ter and Puerto Principe province are scattered the brightest gems of the Caribbean-faWless emeraids set iis turouoise and sapphire-the hundred 0owery, bird-haunted islets of eternal summer. which Columbus named the Queens Gardena'' when his caraVals were beeamed among them. For one who has had enough of life in cites ana longs for peaceful days far from the maddening crowd" what more perfect place Of retirement could be tound thah one of these beautiful islets? For very little money one of these "Gardlnes de Ia Reina" might be bought and lodge or bungalow built thereon; and nearly need to sustain life he might raise ln his dooryard, assisted by natures boun- tv in tha way of wild fruits, fish, ct cet- ara There are neither snakes nor Wlld animals to be feared, the climate is ab- solute perfection. epidemic diseases are unknown, and. protected by the long cavoe de los Doce Leguas on one hand and the main land on the other, hurrl- canes and severe storms never visit the enchanted locality.
 As everybody knows, the entlre CIT cult of Cuba, following the coast me as nearly as possible, is about .l,'2o miles In all this distance there are fftv-four ports fifteen of which are omen to commerce, and onlN nineteen Iohthouses Some of the noble harbors are tolerably we'll fortified so Tar as stone walls go, but their prominant fea- tures according to war experts, are source of weakness rather than strength. the forts almost invariably oc- cupvine high elevations and the walls carried high up, affording splendid tar gets for bombardment by the shells or modern war-vessels, the ships them