The extensive railroad system of Cuba makes it possible to reach almost any part of the Island with little trouble. The Provinces of Habana and Matanzas, in particular, are completely covered by the ramifications of the United Railways of Habana. The majority of tourists confine their excursions from Habana to points which may be reached by this line. There are, however, on the Cuba railroad many cities and districts that will well repay a visit, whether the object be merely sightseeing, or a study of the resources and development of the country. It is a short run from the capital to Hoyo Colorado, the route traversing a rich tobacco district and the centre of the pineapple culture. Ten miles out, the line reaches the Playa of Marianao, Habana’s fashionable bathing resort and the headquarters of the yacht club. Mari{264}anao is to Habana what Waikiki Beach is to Honolulu.
The trip to Guines is beginning to rival in popularity with tourists the excursion to the famous caves of Bellamar. The railroad is one of the oldest in the world, having been opened to traffic in 1837. The picturesque little town occupies a beautiful situation in an extensive valley, almost entirely surrounded by mountains. It is in the centre of a rich sugar district, but the lands in the immediate vicinity are devoted to truck farming, in which a number of Americans are engaged with marked success. Near by is the village of Madruga, famed long ago for the curative quality of its sulphur baths and mineral waters. Centuries ago, solitary invalids performed the tedious journey to the spot and sojourned in the peasants’ huts, whilst undergoing the cure. Nowadays Madruga is much frequented and has comfortable hotels, as well as several well-appointed bathing establishments.
The most recent railroad to be opened in Cuba is the Habana Central, running from the capital to the great Providencia Sugar Mill, situated thirty-five miles to the southwest. This line has the distinction of being operated en{265}tirely by electricity. Thousands of tourists last year visited the plantation and factory at the terminus of the road. As the crop season is from the beginning of December to the first or second week of May it coincides with the tourist season, and thus visitors have an exceptionally good opportunity to see one of the most up-to-date mills of Cuba in full operation, with little trouble and in a few hours’ time.
Batabano, situated on the coast almost directly to the south of Habana, is an unattractive place, but a port of considerable importance. An extensive sponge industry is carried on in the neighboring waters and great numbers of turtles are shipped from here to the United States.
Batabano is the port from which the traveller takes steamer to the Isle of Pines. The value and importance of the Isle of Pines have only been realized in recent years. It was at one time a rendezvous of pirates and Henry Morgan once planned to assemble his men there and make a raid upon Habana by way of Batabano. In the hands of Spain the Isle was turned to account only to the extent of working its marble quarries. After the last war of independence an American colony settled there{266} and has since become numerous and prosperous. The Island is now practically owned by citizens of the United States, who represent a majority of the population. Several land companies have been in operation for the past ten years, and have established many thriving towns and settlements. The soil of the island is adapted to all kinds of farming and the climate has been famous for its salubrity during the past hundred years.
Pinar del Rio is best known for the possession of the finest tobacco lands in the world. Tobacco is, however, by no means the only industry of the Province. Along its north coast are extensive sugar lands and a number of large mills; also numerous plantations owned by Americans and Canadians. The Province is singularly deficient in harbors. The best of the few which it has is Bahia Honda. A coaling station in this bay was ceded to the United States by Cuba, but it has not been used as yet.
The most pronounced physical feature of the Province is the group, rather than range, of mountains called the Organo. Their verdant sides form the background of the view from almost every point. The soil in the valleys{267} between the numerous spurs is exceedingly fertile. These lands were peaceably tilled through all the disturbances previous to the last war, but then Maceo carried the conflict into the far west, and Pinar del Rio will not recover from its effects for many a year to come. On the north and on the south the Organo Mountains slope down to undulating plains. That on the southern side is the more extensive and in it the celebrated Vuelta Abajo tobacco district lies.
For two centuries the Spaniards looked upon the Province of Matanzas as a hotbed of rebellion. The Cubans style it “El Suelo natal de Independencia,” meaning the birthplace of independence. Though, after Habana, the smallest of the provinces of Cuba, it is one of the richest sections of the country. In the beginning it was a great cattle grazing region, but long since its fertile plains were extensively planted with sugar-cane. Before the War there were five hundred stock farms in the Province, nearly as many sugar estates, and at least three thousand plantations of various other kinds. During the rebellion all this industrial wealth was practically destroyed. Its rich lands insured a revival, however, and the{268} Province has again taken its place in the forefront of sugar-producing sections of Cuba.
The favorite excursion of visitors to Habana is to the Valley of the Yumuri, which Humboldt characterized as the “loveliest valley in the world.” It has been described by many pens, as have the caverns of Bellamar, with their numerous chambers filled with stalactite and stalagmite crystals.
The City of Matanzas is one of the most attractive in Cuba. It contains several beautiful parks and boulevards and, in the newest portion, some of the finest residences in the Island.
Not far from Matanzas is Cardenas, a centre of about twenty-five thousand inhabitants. It ranks third among the sugar shipping ports of Cuba, handling most of the output of the Province. Cardenas is beautifully situated and enjoys a delightful climate. It is sometimes spoken of as an “American city,” on account of the number of persons of that nationality resident there. Cardenas appears to be justified in its boast that it is the most progressive city in Cuba. No more than seventy years old, it is far in advance of every other city of its size in the matter of public utilities, whilst its
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FORT SAN SEVERINO, MATANZAS.
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buildings are as handsome and substantial as any to be found outside of Habana. The harbor of Cardenas will be remembered as the scene of the tragedy in which the little torpedo boat “Winslow” and Ensign Bagley figured.
Although sugar-cane is by far the chief product of Santa Clara Province, its tobacco and cattle industries are of considerable importance. There is some ground for the belief that it possesses latent mineral resources of great value. Gold and silver have been found in the Province, and the output of asphalt has reached as much as ten thousand tons in a year.
The City of Santa Clara is situated at a considerable elevation above sea level. It is well laid out, with unusually wide streets, considering the age of the town, which was founded in the seventeenth century. Santa Clara has long been noted for its healthfulness and its exceptionally beautiful women. Although the capital of the Province, its population of somewhat less than seventeen thousand is only about half that of Cienfuegos.
Cienfuegos, on the south coast, has one of the peculiar pouch-like harbors found on several points of the Cuban shore. Centuries ago Las Casas pronounced this harbor to be the most{270} magnificent in the world, an opinion which many naval experts of to-day support. The City, which is comparatively modern, occupies a beautiful site in the lap of a group of hills, backed by rugged mountains. It is one of the most progressive centres of Cuba, with an extensive and constantly growing business.
Trinidad is, after Baracoa, the oldest city of Cuba. It was founded by Velasquez in 1514. It is situated upon the side of a mountain, at an elevation of nearly one thousand feet. Trinidad was at one time a port of considerably more ............