Rambles by Land and Water; or, Notes of Travel in Cuba and Mexico

by Benjamin Moore Norman

Much as has been said, and that with great justice and propriety, of the delightful climate of Cuba, it is subject to no inconsiderable changes, and the invalid, who resorts thither in quest of health, must be on his guard against those changes. The "wet northers," that sometimes sweep down upon the coast, are often quite too severe for a delicate constitution to bear; and a retreat to the interior becomes necessary. During the prevalence of these winds, the southern side of the island is the favorite resort. Fortunately, these chilly visitors are few and far between, seldom continuing more than three or four days, with as many hours of rain. In the absence of these, the climate is as perfect as heart can desire, resembling, for the most part, that of the south of France.

Notwithstanding the large tracts of cultivated plantations and farms, which make this beautiful island a perfect garden, it has extensive forests of great beauty and value. The palm, whether found in clusters or alone, is always a magnificent tree, and is useful for a variety of purposes—its trunk for building, its leaves for thatching, and several kinds of convenient manufactures, and its seeds for food. Mahogany abounds in some parts, and other kinds of hard wood suitable for ship building, a business which has been carried on very extensively in the island. The vine attains to a luxuriant growth, so as often to destroy the largest trees in its parasitical embrace. The orange and the pine-apple, both of a delicious flavor, abound on all sides. Indian corn, the sweet potatoe, rice, and a great variety of other important edibles are extensively cultivated, giving wealth to some, and sustenance to thousands.

The great staples of Cuba, however, and the principle sources of her immense wealth, are sugar and coffee. These are produced in the greatest abundance. The annual exports amount to about six hundred and fifty millions pounds of sugar, and eighty-four millions of coffee. The exports of tobacco are about ten millions pounds in the leaf, besides three hundred and ten millions of manufactured cigars. There are also large exports of molasses, honey, wax, etc.

There are copper mines of great value in the south east part of the island, in the neighborhood of Santiago. They were worked a long time, but for some reason were abandoned for more than a century. More recently they have been re-opened, and are now esteemed the richest copper mines in the world. They are worked principally by an English company, and the ore is sent to England to be smelted. The annual amount is not far from a million and a half of quintals.

The whole population of Cuba is estimated at a little over a million, 420,000 whites, 440,000 slaves, and 150,000 free colored persons. The annual revenue of the island, obtained from heavy taxes upon the sales of every species of property, and from duties export as well as import, is twelve millions of dollars. This is all drawn from its 420,000 whites, averaging nearly thirty dollars a head. Of this amount, but very little is expended in the island, except for the purpose of holding the people in subjection. Four millions go into the coffers of the mother country.

The island of Cuba is nearly eight hundred miles in length, from east to west, varying in breadth from twenty-five to one hundred and thirty miles. Its coast is very irregular, deeply indented with bays and inlets, and surrounded with numerous islands and reefs, making a difficult and dangerous navigation. It has many excellent harbors, that of Havana being, as has already been said, one of the best in the world. A range of mountains, rising into the region of perpetual barrenness, traverses the entire length of the island, dividing it into two unequal parts, the area of the southern portion being rather the larger of the two. There are also many other isolated mountain peaks and lofty hills, in different parts of the island, some of them beautifully wooded to their very summits, and others craggy, barren, precipitious, and full of dark caverns and frightful ravines.

The principal places, after Havana, are Matanzas, Cardenas, Puerto del Principe, Santiago, St. Salvador, Trinidad, and Espiritu Santo. Besides these there are some half a dozen smaller cities, twelve considerable towns, and about two hundred villages. The principal seaports are all strongly fortified.

Matanzas is situated on the northern shore, about sixty miles east of the capital. It contains, including its suburbs, about twenty thousand inhabitants, of whom rather more than half are whites, and about one sixth are free blacks. It commands the resources of a rich and extensive valley, and its exports of coffee, sugar, and molasses, are very large. The bay of Matanzas is deep and broad, and is defended by the castle of San Severino. The harbor at the head of this bay, is curiously protected against the swell of the sea, during the prevalence of the north-east winds, by a ledge of rocks extending nearly across it, leaving a narrow channel on each side, for the admission of vessels. The city is built upon a low point of land between two small rivers, which empty themselves into the bay, and from which so heavy a deposit of mud has been made, as materially to lessen the capacity of the harbor. The anchorage ground for vessels is, consequently, about half a mile from the shore, and cargoes are discharged and received by means of lighters.

Cardenas is comparatively a new place, the first settlement having been made less than twenty years ago. It now numbers about two thousand inhabitants. It is finely situated at the head of a beautiful bay, fifty miles eastward of Matanzas. This bay was once a famous resort for pirates, who, secure from observation, or winked at by the well-feed officials, brought in the vessels they had seized, drove them ashore on the rocks, and then claimed their cargoes as wreckers, the murdered crews not being able to claim even a salvage for their rightful owners. In the exhibition of scenes like this, the bay of Cardenas was not alone, or singular. Many an over-hanging cliff, and dark inlet of that blood-stained shore, could tell a similar tale.

The rail-road from this place to Bemba, eighteen miles distant, passes through a beautiful tract of country, and affords to the traveller a view of some of the most picturesque scenery that is to be found in the island.