108 CUBA AM) PORTO RICO 



the result of defensive necessity, and populations have 

 found, during the many attacks both from without and 

 within, that no better place of security could be found than 

 the thick walls of the city houses. The ten years' insur- 

 rection also resulted in destroying most of the country 

 homes of Cuba. 



Havana, which bears upon its escutcheon, Llave del Nuevo 

 Mundo, the "Key of the New World," as it was named 

 by Diego Velasquez, the first governor of Cuba, is the 

 political capital and principal city of Cuba. It is a pictur- 

 esque and beautiful place, presenting, even in the midst 

 of the most horrible tragedy of the century, the gay ap- 

 pearance of a European city. It should be remembered 

 that in population, interest, customs, and dominant politi- 

 cal feeling, the city (being the seat of the foreign govern- 

 ment which rules the island) is thoroughly Spanish, and in 

 this sense is not entirely representative of the local customs 

 and sentiments of provincial Cuba. This city was founded 

 early in the sixteenth century (about 1519), nearly one 

 hundred years before the first colonization of our sea- 

 board, and has interesting historical associations. 



The entrance to Havana, approached from the Gulf of 

 Mexico, presents a beautiful spectacle. A few hundred 

 yards offshore the characteristic ultramarine blue of the 

 deeper sea is succeeded by a narrow belt of beautiful pearl- 

 green water bordering the shore and overlying the shallow 

 banks of growing coral reef. In front stretches the beau- 

 tiful Cuban coast and a full view of Havana and its 

 surroundings. The entrance of the harbor is a narrow 

 indentation into a straight shore-line. To the east the 

 foliage-covered land, stretching toward Matanzas, ab- 

 ruptly rises from one to two hundred feet; and on the 

 point made by the indentation of the bay stand the pic- 

 turesque lighthouse and fortifications of Morro Castle, 

 whose flying pennants announce to the distant city the ap- 

 proach of vessels. To the right the city, with the historic 

 fort of La Punta on its extreme point, and lying on a low 



