Owing to its excellent transportation facilities and to the local market furnished by the City of Havana itself, the growing of fruits and vegetables, within a radius of one hundred miles from the capital, has proved more profitable than in other parts of the Island.
Although several small streams flow to the north and south of the dividing ridge, passing through the center of the Island, none of them, either in length or depth, could well be termed rivers.
The Almandares, that has its origin in a group of magnificent springs near the western center of the Province, meanders through a comparatively level valley, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, some three miles west of Havana Harbor. The mouth of this stream, with a depth of twelve or fourteen feet, accommodates schooners that come for sand and cement at the factory.
The Vento Springs, already referred to, are a most valuable asset of the City of Havana, since the abundant flow of water, that through skilful engineering has been conveyed some eight miles into the City, is of excellent quality. The quantity of water, with economy, is sufficient, according to engineering estimates, for a city of one or two millions.
In the latter part of the 16th century the Italian engineer Antonelli cut several ditches across the intercepting ridges and brought water from the Almandares River into the city of Havana, not only for domestic purposes but in sufficient quantity to supply the ships that dropped into port on their long voyages between Spain and the eastern coast of Mexico.
On November 7, 1887, the famous Spanish engineer D. Francisco Albear y Lara completed the present aqueduct and system of water works by which the springs of Vento are made to contribute to the present Havana, with its 360,000 inhabitants, a supply of excellent drinking water, although only a small portion of the flow is utilized.
Owing to the peculiar coral and soft limestone formation on which the soil of this province has been deposited, numerous lagoons and rivers flow beneath the surface at various depths, ranging from 30 to 300 feet. These, when found and tapped, furnish an abundance of splendid fresh water, seldom contaminated with objectionable mineral matter. At the Experimental Station at Santiago tiago de las Vegas, a magnificent spring of water was discovered at a little over one hundred feet in depth.
Other springs have formed a shallow lagoon just south of the city of Caimito, the exit from which is furnished by a small swift running stream, that after a surface flow of five or six miles suddenly plunges down into the earth some forty feet or more, disappearing entirely from view and never reappearing, as far as is known. Like many other streams of this nature, it may come to the surface in the salt waters of the Caribbean, off the south coast.
The disappearance of this river takes place within a hundred yards of the railroad station, in the town of San Antonio de los Banos, and furnishes rather an interesting sight for the tourist who is not familiar with this peculiar phenomenon.
Although the City of Havana is considered one of the most delightful winter resorts in the Western Hemisphere, there are many who claim, and with reason perhaps, that the Capital has many advantages also as a place in which to spend the summer. Many visitors from the Gulf States in summer have been loath to leave Cuba.