The Republican journal., 1899-10-05

had taken one bottle the cough stopped
and I have since had no signs of its
returning"
for enemies might be maintained Most
of Cuba's harbors are land locked bays,
opening to the sea through long ard mar
row channels. They have been well COM
pared to the shape of mans hand, with
the fingers spread and the wrist reduced
in size. The wrist is marked with warts
of bold, rocky headlands where the chan
mel enters the sea, one side generally much
lower than the other, and on the higher
and sleeper angle of the shore, between
the harbor entrance on one side and the
ocean on the other, stands the Moro, ''the
Castle on the promontory' formidable
enough at the time it was erected.
At Cienfuegos, the most important com
mercal harbor on the southern coast,
there is no such fort, although its beaut-
full and commodious bay presents the usual
features. Probably the reason why a Moro
Castle is lacking here may be found in the
fact that Cienfuegos is a couple of cen
turtles younger than Habana, Santiago,
Trinidad and MatanZas. Spain had fallen
into her days of decadence before the
comparatively new city came into promi-
hence, and the era had gone by when she
considered it worth while to fortify her
American possessions with the massive
and picturesque castles Of medieval times,
which would 90 down like so many egg
shells before modern ARTILLERY. Back of
Cienfuegos there is hump, which Cubans
dignity as a mountain, though it is moth
ing more than a respectable hill, just big
country surrounding it. The harbor is SO
well hidden among the keys that its ship
ping can be seen only at close view. You
remember how Commodore Schley, when
he came this way IN quest Of the Spanish
tleet, thought lie saw the masts of CeYera $
ships in Cenfuegos' sheltered harbor; and
was about to enter in hot pursuit, when
the insurgents brought HIM word that the
fleet was far to the eastward. The three
large rivers that empty into Cienfuegos
bay enrich it past computing being navi-
land-a matter of enormous consequence
| in roadless country. The Cuato is the
most important river i'll Cuba, being navi-
gable sixty miles above the sea and pene-
tratlng the richest sugar producing dis
trict. During the late war the Spanish
General Pando held the rivers mouth
but the great water highway to the in
terror was practically controlled by Gar
cha, who had his camp only a few miles
above.
Next comes the bay of Trinidad, with
its trinity of ports and its white-walled
city clinging like a collection of birds
nests to the side of La Villa mountain, a
thousand feet above the sea that glistens
in front. The lovely harbor is almost
land locked, but 50 shallow as to debar
vessels drawing more than ten feet of wa
ter. Casilda the worst port of the three,
the inlet. SO shallow is the water that all
vessels must load by means of lighters and
get away as quickly as possible, to avoid
sticking fast on the sandy bottom. Yet
the shabby little port enjoys large trade
in prosperous times, principally in sugar
and honey. 1t has extensive wharves and
warehouses, and a rather handsome sta
ton for the short railway leading to Trini-
dad and twenty miles or SO beyond.
The next port of call on our eastward
way is Santiago, nearly twice as far from
Trinidad as from that point westward to
the Isle of Pines. To avoid the dangerous
reefs, LA Cienega' stands far out to sea,
pursuing her course midway between the
Cayman group and Cayos de las Doce Lee
guas. Morning finds us rounding Cabo de
Cruz, the picturesque headland which
forms the southwest tip of the great tri
angular province of Santiago de Cuba; and
thenceforth the mountains keep US COM
pany, crowding down close to the sea and
peering over one another's shoulders, as
if to get a better view. The coast hills are
bare and desolate enough, but the dark
heights behind them are forbidding be-
yond description. They are said to contain
incompatible stores of mineral wealth,
and though apparently inaccessible, have
been mined, here and there, since earliest
times. The aborigin Indians took silver,
copper and gold from them, and the first
Spaniards, by most primitive methods,
got out an average of four million dollars
worth of ore every year. As late as 1907,
six million tons of copper were mined in
ten months, Then the Spanish govern
ment, not content with realizing very
large sum by way of taxes on the product,
increased the excise charges to such ar