COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION 89 



from Oasilda through Trinidad northward. East of this 

 longitude an independent road twenty- five miles long con- 

 nects the interior city of Sancti Spiritus with Las Tunas. 

 Just opposite on the north coast are five short lines, two 

 of which have ramifying branches radiating out from the 

 town of Yaguajay. Still eastward a military line thirty- 

 two miles long runs north and south across the island along 

 the Moron- Jucara trocha. The next railway is encounter* < 1 

 fifty miles east of the latter, running in an east direction 

 for thirty miles between Puerto Principe and the sea-coast 

 near Nuevitas. From the latter place through the eastern 

 part of Puerto Principe and Santiago provinces no railways 

 are found until reaching Santiago de Cuba, on the south 

 coast, from which three short lines radiate : one northwest 

 to the village of Cobre, ten miles distant; another due 

 north twenty miles to San Luis; and another eastward 

 along the coast toward the Juragua iron-mines. The most 

 eastern railway of Cuba connects the city of Guantanainc 

 with the suburb of Jamaica, six miles north, and La Cai- 

 manera, the seaport, about ten miles south. 



The train service from Havana, so far as the first- and sec- 

 ond-class coaches are concerned, is good, the cars usually 

 being American-built, and upholstered with wicker seats, 

 in harmony with the climate, and the officials attentive and 

 accommodating. 



On the various sugar-estates narrow-gage roads are in 

 extensive use for the handling of cane, and often form 

 means of communication with the interior in connection 

 with coasting-steamers and the broad-gage roads. These 

 narrow-gage roads are of much greater extent than might 

 be supposed. The large estate called Constancia, for in- 

 stance, has more than forty miles of such road, and many 

 have more than twenty miles. 



Good highways are both short and few. It is a bitter 

 comment on Spanish rule to point out that common roads 

 for wheeled vehicles hardly exist, except in the near vicinity 

 of the larger towns. In past centuries a few good roads 



