The History of Cuba, vol. 5

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

There is much fine, valuable hard-wood timber in the mountain ranges of Pinar del Rio, between Vinales and Bahia Honda, but lack of facility for the removal to the coast will probably cause it to remain unmolested for some years to come.

The extreme length of Pinar del Rio, from southwest to northeast, in a straight line, is nearly two hundred miles, while its average width is fifty. The rivers and streams all have their sources in the central divide, and flow to the north and south, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. None of these, of course, are available for navigation more than a few miles up from their mouths, and while serving as drainage streams during the rainy season, many of them, unfortunately, cease to flow during the dry months of February and March.

Some of them, with sources in large springs, back in the mountains, could be used very advantageously, with small expense, for irrigation purposes, thus rendering adjoining lands, especially in the tobacco and vegetable district, doubly valuable. With the control of the water supply, the profit to be made from these lands, on which three or four crops may be gathered a year, would seem almost incredible, especially if compared with the returns of similar lands in the United States.

As an illustration, in any of the rich sandy soils bordering streams like the Rio Hondo or Las Cabezas of the south coast, or the Manimani or the Mulata of the north coast, whose waters are always available for irrigation purposes, in January, February or March corn and cow peas may be planted on the same ground in the early spring. Crops from these may be gathered in late May or June, and the same land planted in carita beans, sweet potatoes or squash, that may be removed in September, leaving the field to be again planted in October with tobacco, peanuts, yuca, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, egg plants or okra, that when gathered in January and February will bring splendid returns in either the local markets of Havana, or the early spring markets of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.

The short streams flowing from the mountain chains along the north coast are the Mariel, the Manimani, the Mulata, the San Marcos, the Guacamayo, the Caimito and Mantua, and the Rio Salado. Returning on the south coast we have the Cabeza, the Guama, Ovas, Hondo, Herradura, San Diego, Los Palacios, Bacuranabo, Sabanal and the Bayale.

The northern coast of Pinar del Rio is fortunate in having three of the finest harbors of Cuba, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. First, the beautiful Bay of Mariel, located about 30 miles west of Havana, has a narrow, deep entrance with a lighthouse on the eastern point, and the Government Quarantine Station for foreign ships on the western side at the entrance. This Bay rapidly widens out into a large deep basin, three miles in length from north to south, with an average width of perhaps a mile, together with several prolongations towards the west, all furnishing excellent anchorage and securely protected against any possible weather.

The shores of Mariel are beautiful. Palm covered bluffs several hundred feet in height rise almost abruptly from the eastern side of the Bay. On top of this promontory or plateau is located a fine two-story building, erected in 1905 as a club house, but occupied at the present time by Cuba’s Naval Academy. The view from the crest over the surrounding country, with its tall mountains in the distance, its forest covered foothills and great valleys planted in sugar cane to the south and west, with the Gulf of Mexico lying off to the north, presents a picture of rare tropical beauty.

Between this promontory and the lighthouse a modern cement factory was built in 1917, turning out at the present time 1,000 barrels of Portland Cement per day, while near the head of the Bay, a narrow gauge railroad, bringing asphalt from back in the foothills, terminates alongside the shipping wharf.

The quaint little fishing village of Mariel is located on the shore at the southern end of the Bay. Its inhabitants, although leading rather an uneventful life, seem quite content to remain, although Havana is less than thirty miles distant over a splendid automobile drive; one of the most beautiful in Cuba. The Quarantine Station is splendidly equipped and always in readiness to take care of any ship’s crew or passengers that may be detained by orders of the authorities in Havana. Mariel, owing to its natural beauty and its proximity to Havana, is frequently visited by President Menocal in his yacht, and furnishes a delightful, cool resting place for anyone during the summer season.

Ten or twelve miles further west, we have the Bay of Cabanas, another perfectly land-locked harbor, whose deep entrance is divided by an island into two channels. These open out into a wide picturesque expanse of water, extending east and west for some ten miles or more, with an average width of two or three.