Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1912-03-08

these ever.moist depths. The coral holds the rain
water in the many cuplike openings and acts as
q mulch" that favors the development OF the
trees and underbrush. Hardwood Is the wealth
of this section of the Isle Of Pines. The people
engaged in cutting the trees and marketing the
logs are for the most part "caimaneros" West
Indian English Of various shades, from Great and
Little Cayman Islands, British possessions lying
about $50 miles south. Tobacco poles, diversified
hardwood bean poles they seem to the Kansas
farmer, are exported in quantities across to Pinar
del Rio province, in Cuba, where they find a ready
sale among the planters.
The "caimaneros' are a picturesque lot upon
whom has descended the glamor of the romance
with which tradition overlays these shores since
the days Of pirates and wreckers. OF course they
are fishermen, and besides adding variety to their
daily bill Of fare, they increase their income by
hunting a tortoise here, valuable for his shell.
A voyage in one Of the featherweight canoes
in which they ride the breakers whitening the
turquoise sea at the entrance of a ledge protected
cove is a thrilling experience and calculated to
All one with respect for The seamanship of these
half-breeds. Let us leave the South Coast for
the north, the real island. Here conditions are
essentially diferent-a rolling country with In.
terspersing hills and rivers, in appearance remind
Ing one Of the fertile parts Of Florida, a resem-
blance much heightened by the pine trees that
cover much of a sandy soil area. These pine
trees, strikngly visible from a distance, gave the
island its name. Isla de Pinos, from which we
have the English translation, Isle of Pines. Isle
OF Pines. There Is that something in the words
which seems redolent of the soft. sweet winds
that ever blow caressingly over its vernal valleys.
The smoothness of the name is all opposed to the
idea OF rapine and murder. And yet for years this
beautiful island was a pirate rendezvous. Drake
came nrst, four years before the end of the SIX
teenth century, when he massacred the few col
onists he found. and from that date the fame of
the island as a convenient and suitable base
spread among the freebooting fraternity.
The most ferocious of the pack of sea wolves
that hunted the seas in the late sixteenth and
early seventeenth centuries, English, Dutch or
French, all found security and shelter on the
Isle Of Pines, From Morgan, the knight who won
his spurs by successful robbery. rapine, and muir
der, 70 Mansfield. who waged war single-handed
against the throne Of Spain, all the heterogeneous
crews of the sea rovers knew the shoals and
the sheltered bays behind which their ships could
lie in safety under the lee of the island. From
here they sailed forth to attack the numbering
Spanish galleons, heavy laden with loot from
Peru, and back they came again to divide the
spoils and reht for another raid.
These facts have left n heritage of buriedtreas.
ure tales; but while many have dug in Just those
spots that seem ideal for the concealment OF i'll.
gotten riches, yet there is no authoritative evi.
dence 20 the effect Of buried treasure being recov-
cred. There Is a rumor that once someone un.
earthei a btass-bound chest of doubloons near the
shore. and went home to Buffalo to live in luxury
ever after on the wealth so discovered. II you
doubt the tale, the chest can still be seen lying
open on the sand to prove It.
The Isle of Pines was presented by royal grant
from the crew of Spain to Capt D. fernando
Pedroso In 1890 with the understanding that he
transform the pirates lair into a "hourishing
colony"-to use two common descriptive phrases.
The island passed to the Duarte brothers by in
heritance In l7O6, and to these Joint owners all
title should be traced, Not the least interesting