reefs and islets, almost attached to the shore at its
western extremity between Cardenas and Matanzas.
West of Havana again, from Bahia Honda almost
to Cape Antonio, there is a vast coral bed from
which rise the calcareous peaks and pinnacles of
another line of keys and reefs, one hundred and
forty miles long.
Off the southern coast there are few outlying reefs
along the shore from Cape Maisi to Cape Cruz in the
east, where the sweep of the current from the Windward
Channel is felt, or at the western end of the
island, where a similar influence comes from the currents
of the Yucatan Channel. But westward from
Manzanillo there are the Cayos de las Doce Leguas,
or the “ Twelve Leagues of K e y s ,” with multitudinous
rocks and reefs between them and the main
shore. Here were the “ Gardens of the Queen ” of
Columbus. T he Isle of Pines farther west is on the
outskirts of a veritable wilderness of these coral
islands which includes the Jardines and the Jardinil-
los, “ gardens ” and ‘ ‘ little gardens.” T he Isle of
Pines itself, which Columbus called Evangelita, is
divided by a tortuous passage, la rivière salée, or
“ salt river,” the section north of this being diversified
by hill and dale, with the Sierra de la Cañada, rising
to a height of 1540 feet, and that south of it being
low, swampy, and full of quagmires and bog-holes.
T he island takes its name from the northern tree
which thrives there as nowhere else in the tropics.
Notwithstanding the coralline barrier that guards so
much of its coast, Cuba has many bays and harbours
accessible to the largest vessels. T h e chief ports on
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CUBA 135
the northern coast are Bahia Honda, Mariel, Havana,
Matanzas, Cardenas, Nuevitas, and Nip e ; and
on the southern side, Guantanamo, Santiago de
Cuba, Trinidad, and Cienfuegos. While the general
coast-line of the island of Cuba is said to be 2200
miles in extent, it stretches to 6800 miles, if all the
indentations and the contours of the outlying keys
and reefs are followed.
What mineral wealth may be concealed in the
bowels of Cuba or within the interstices of its rocky
skeleton is scarcely known. The Spanish discoverers
sent from here some meagre treasures of gold
which were extorted or enticed from the natives and
may have been the slow accumulations of a long
time. Gold there is known to be in some of the
river beds, and from those of the Holguin and Sagua
la Grande fine samples of the precious metal have
been obtained, but not in permanently ” paying
quantities.” Silver ore was discovered back in
1827 in some of the mountains of the Santa Clara
province, which promised a rich yield at first, but
either it grew poorer or was badly worked, for the
mines were long ago abandoned. Rich copper deposits
there are known to be in the Cobre Mountains,
and mining was carried on profitably there many
years. T h e mines are now abandoned and filled
with water. Iron has been extracted from the hills
of Juragua near Santiago by an American company
with good returns, notwithstanding official interference
and obstruction that frequently had to be
bought off. There is a variety of coal widely distributed,
which is so bituminous that it burns with