84 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



Constancia, situated near Diana Key, fifteen miles from 

 the city of Cardenas. It has been in operation for more 

 than twenty-five years, and although probably twenty 

 thousand tons have been taken from it, it appears to be 

 practically inexhaustible. Small vessels are moored over 

 the deposit and loaded by the joint labor of their own 

 crews. The deposit lies twelve feet beneath the surface of 

 the bay, in an area about one hundred and fifty feet in 

 circumference, and appears to be constantly renewed. 



Near Villa Clara an unusually large deposit of this min- 

 eral occurs, which for forty years has supplied the material 

 for making the illuminating gas of the city. American 

 investors bought these mines the year before the revolution, 

 and their investment up to date, which would otherwise 

 have been profitable, has proved a total loss. The material 

 at this locality is in a massive bed, some twelve feet in 

 thickness, and resembles lignite. Similar outcrops occur 

 between Villa Clara and Cienfuegos. 



Asphaltum no doubt occurs in many other localities, 

 notably near Guanabacoa, in Havana province; it has 

 frequently been mistaken for coal, which does not exist 

 upon the island. 



Copper occurs at many places in Cuba; the writer has 

 seen it disseminated in rocks of many localities in the east- 

 ern portion of the island. It was mined at the village of 

 Cobre, about twelve leagues north of the city of Santiago, 

 from 1524 to 1867. The mines of Cobre were once the 

 greatest copper- producers in the world, and their old per- 

 pendicular shafts extend down for a distance of seven hun- 

 dred feet. Formerly as much as fifty tons of ore were 

 taken out each day, the richer portion of which was broken 

 up and shipped to Europe, while the poorer part was 

 smelted at the works, giving about fourteen per cent, of 

 the metal. The books of the American consulate show 

 that from 1828 to 1840 an average of from two to three 

 million dollars' worth of copper ore was shipped annually 

 to the United States from these mines. The extensive 



