THE RESOURCES OF THE ISLAND 83 



in the Sierra Maestra range, in the neighborhood of Ponupo. 

 In 1895 a party of Pennsylvanians organized the Ponupo 

 Mining Company and despatched the first ship-load of man- 

 ganese ore to Philadelphia. They also completed a short 

 railroad to connect with the Cabanilla and Maroto Railroad, 

 which gave them rail facilities to Santiago Bay. The 

 mines had a capacity of two hundred tons per day, and the 

 demand for the ore from the United States was far beyond 

 their power to supply. These mines were speedily closed 

 by the insurgents, because they yielded a large tonnage 

 royalty to Spain. 



Asphaltum (vhapapote) of unusual richness occurs be- 

 neath the waters of Cardenas Bay and in several other 

 parts of the island in beds of late Cretaceous and early 

 Eocene age. 



In the vicinity of Cardenas asphaltum of several grades, 

 some of superior quality, has long been mined for exporta- 

 tion. The deposits, four in number, are all submerged. 

 One of these, in the western part of the bay, produces a 

 very fine grade of practically pure asphaltum, used in the 

 United States for the manufacture of varnish. This has 

 been mined for the past twenty-five years by mooring a 

 lighter over the shaft, which is from eighty to one hundred 

 and twenty- five feet in depth below the water surface, 

 varying with the rapidity with which the asphaltum is 

 removed and replenished. The asphaltum is loosened by 

 dropping a long iron bar with a pointed end from the 

 vessel. After a sufficient quantity has been detached a 

 common scoop-net is sent down and filled by a naked diver. 

 The average quantity obtained is from one to one and 

 one half tons daily, which formerly sold in New York for 

 from eighty to one hundred and twenty-five dollars per 

 ton. The material is very much like cannel-coal in appear- 

 ance, but has a much more brilliant luster. 



There are three other mines in this vicinity which pro- 

 duce a lower grade of asphaltum, such as is used for pav- 

 ing and roofing purposes. The largest of these is the 



