The History of Cuba, vol. 5

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

Another delightful drive sweeps along the south shore towards Cardenas. A few miles from Matanzas, however, a sharp turn to the right leads up on to the summit of the ridge south of Matanzas. The drive passes through the long stretches of henequen fields whose plants furnish the fibre to the factory near the railway station.

On the crest of the plateau, under the shade of a small grove of trees, is found an odd little building that serves as the entrance to the Bellamar Caves. This famous underground resort is quite well known to tourists who visit Cuba in the winter season. Visitors are lowered by means of an elevator to a depth considerably below the level of the sea, after which guides take the party in charge and lead the way through several miles of interesting underground passages, ornamented with stalactites, stalagmites and other beautiful formations peculiar to those old time waterways that forced their tortuous channels through the bowels of the earth thousands of years ago.

Many of these formations are of a peculiar pearl white with a delicate texture that resembles Parian marble and gives a metal-like ring when struck. The entire cave is lighted with electricity and entrance to the more inaccessible spots has been rendered possible through artificial steps and balustrades. The city of Matanzas furnished an interesting and pleasant spot in which the tourist can spend a few days agreeably.

The harbor of Matanzas is a wide mouthed roadstead, cutting back from the Atlantic some five or six miles with a width varying from three to four. Dredging within recent years has greatly improved the port, although with deep draft vessels, lightering is still necessary to convey freight from the warehouses out to the various places of anchorage.

The view of the City, covering the slopes of the hills on the west as you enter the bay, is very attractive. Since the Province of Matanzas has no harbors on the south coast, nearly all the sugar produced in her forty big mills is shipped from either Matanzas or Cardenas, both of which are connected with railroads that tap the various agricultural sections lying south of them.

The second city of the Province, Cardenas, is located on Cardenas Bay, a large and well protected harbor thirty miles east of Matanzas. In comparison with most of the harbors, however, it is comparatively shallow, needing a good deal of dredging to make it available for deep draft vessels. Cardenas, like Matanzas, is comparatively modern, with wide streets, regularly laid out. The old square, with its statue of Columbus, has been recently remodeled at considerable cost.

The first serious indication of revolt on the part of the Cuban people against the rule of Spain, was started here by General Narciso Lopez, who landed at Cardenas with 600 men, mostly Americans from New Orleans, on May 19, 1850. Within a few hours they had captured the Spanish garrison and made prisoners of Governor Serrute and several of his officials. The city was theirs, but to the unspeakable chagrin of General Lopez, only one man came to his aid on Cuban soil, and before nightfall, after defeating a Spanish column sent to oppose him, the disappointed revolutionist abandoned the city, and with his followers embarked for Key West.

It was on May 11, 1898, that Cardenas Bay became the scene of an engagement between blockading vessels of the United States fleet and the Spanish batteries, in which Ensign Worth Badgley was killed, he being the first officer to lose his life in the war.

The exportation of sugar from the rich lands tributary to this bay has always given Cardenas importance as a shipping point and rendered it, for a city of only 30,000, quite a wealthy and prosperous community. Many beautiful residences have been built along its stately avenues, and the great henequen industry recently started in the great fields to the west will add, undoubtedly, to the wealth of the locality. Splendid stone warehouses line the shore for a mile or more, with a capacity sufficient to hold in storage while necessary the enormous crop of sugar that is produced in the province.