During the past decade there has been a great increase in American emigration to Cuba and in the investment of American money there, with the result that the interest of our people in the country, which was formerly of an abstract character, has become practical and specific. There exists in the United States a wide-spread desire for information regarding the progress, prospects and present-day conditions of Cuba, which it has been my chief design to supply.

In the following pages the history and geography of the country have been sketched with special reference to their essential influence upon its development. Aside from this necessary introduction to an understanding of Cuban affairs, I have given my attention mainly to the established and prospective industries of the Island and to the fields offered by them to American capital and American settlers.

Forbes Lindsay.

Santiago de Cuba, August, 1911.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
[Preface][vii]
[I.][ The Island of Cuba][1]
[II.][ The History of Cuba][22]
[III.][ The History of Cuba (Continued)][43]
[IV.][ Cuba in Transition][63]
[V.][ The People of the Country][83]
[VI.][ The People of the Country (Continued)][102]
[VII.][ The Condition of Cuba][120]
[VIII.][ The Future of Cuba][147]
[IX.][ Cuba’s Sugar Industry][166]
[X.][ Cuba’s Tobacco Industry][185]
[XI.][ Cuba’s Mineral Resources][200]
[XII.][ Latent Agricultural Wealth][216]
[XIII.][ Future Farming in Cuba][231]
[XIV.][ The Capital of Cuba][249]
[XV.][ The Provinces of Cuba][263]
[Appendices][279]
[Index][325]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
[A Cuban Courtship] ([See page 92])[Frontispiece]
[Map of Cuba][1]
[River Scene, Isle of Pines][2]
[The Famous Palms of Camaguey][7]
[A Street in Santiago de Cuba][10]
[“Over thirty species of palm are found in the Island”][12]
[President’s Palace, Habana][18]
[Bayamo][28]
[The Prado, Habana][36]
[The Water-front, Habana][46]
[Mountain Road in the Province of Oriente][52]
[View of Baire, near Bayamo, from the Cuban Trenches][66]
[Street Scene, Santiago de Cuba][75]
[Morro Castle from Central Park, Habana][83]
[Country Homes of Wealthy Cubans][89]
[“Her world is contained in the town of which she is resident”][96]
[Young Cane-field, with Banana Grove in the Distance][100]
[A Narrow Street, Habana][109]
[A Cuban Milkman][114]
[Sugar-cane ready for Cutting][122]
[An Ideal Road for the Motorist][124]
[An Avenue of Palms][128]
[Street Scene, Habana][143]
[A Guajiro’s Shack][150]
[General View of Jiguani][158]
[Harvesting the Cane][166]
[Central Providencia][170]
[Transferring Cane and Automatically Weighing It][176]
[Grinding Sugar-cane][183]
[Well-developed Tobacco Plants][186]
[Hundreds of Acres of Tobacco under Cover][194]
[A Tobacco Field after Harvesting][198]
[Santiago de Cuba][208]
[A Street in Jiguani][214]
[Gathering Cocoanuts][224]
[Pineapple Field][226]
[Breadfruit][229]
[Hemp Field above Matanzas][230]
[Orange Tree][234]
[“A sugar plantation of fifteen hundred acres will need about three hundred oxen”][237]
[Hotel Camaguey][240]
[A Road in the Province of Oriente][246]
[Map of the City of Habana][249]
[La Fuerza, Habana][250]
[Obispo Street, Habana][255]
[The Cathedral, Habana][259]
[Fort San Severino, Matanzas][268]
[Parlor, Hotel Camaguey][271]
[Manzanillo][273]
[The Docks and Warehouses of Antilla][275]