Education in Cuba is, or has been, at a very low ebb. That is due, as many other things are, to the wretched, short-sighted policy of Spain, the country which has never completely emerged from the darkness of barbarism. She was afraid to give education to the Cubans, thinking that she could better dominate them in their ignorance. There is a royal university in Havana, and a collegiate institute in each of the six provinces, the number of students in all amounting to nearly three thousand, but these come almost without exception from the ranks of the well-to-do.
Less than one out of every forty-five of the children in Cuba attend the public schools. There was a farcical law passed in 1880, making education compulsory. How could such a law be of any effect when there was neither the ability nor the desire to provide school-houses and instructors? Now let us take a brief glance at some of the chief cities of Cuba.
Havana, the principal and capital city of the island, is situated on the west side of the bay of Havana, on a peninsula of level land of limestone formation.
It is the seat of the general government and captain-generalcy, superior court of Havana (audencia,) general direction of finance, naval station, arsenal, observatory, diocese of the bishopric and the residence of all the administrative officers of the island (civil, military, maritime, judicial and economic).
Its strategic position at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico has aptly given to the city the name of the Key of the Gulf; and a symbolic key is emblazoned in its coat-of-arms. The harbor, the entrance to which is narrow, is wide and deep, and a thousand ships could easily ride there at anchor.
It has always been supposed to be strongly fortified, its chief defences being Morro Castle, the Cabana, the Castillo del Principe, Fort Atares, the Punta and the Reina Battery.
The population of Havana, from the last official estimate, is about 220,000.
Before the present war, Havana was one of the most charming places in the world for the tourist to visit, more especially during the winter months.
There is scarcely a city in Europe which, to the American seemed so foreign as Havana. The whole appearance of the place, its manners and customs, were all totally different to what the American had been accustomed.
The streets are so narrow that vehicles by law are obliged to pass down one street and up another, while the sidewalks are not more than two feet wide and hollowed down in the centre by the constant trampling of feet. This applies to the city proper, for, outside the walls, there are many broad and beautiful avenues. The streets are very noisy and, as a rule, excessively unclean.