CHAPTER XIII 



OTHER CUBAN CITIES 



Matanzas. Beauty of the surrounding country. Cardenas. Sagua la 

 Grande. Cienfuegos. Trinidad. Santa Clara. Puerto Principe, Bay- 

 amo, and Holguin. Manzanillo. Santiago de Cuba. Guantanamo. 

 Baracoa. 



THE second city and seaport of central Cuba is Matan- 

 zas, about sixty miles east of Havana. It was founded 

 in 1693, and is the chief outlet for that part of the sugar 

 region which stretches south and east toward Cardenas, 

 and which includes the most fertile lands in Cuba. The 

 harbor is large and capacious, but, like many others, through 

 the laisser-faire policy of the Spanish government, has been 

 allowed to fill with sediment, and hence the larger steamers 

 are obliged to load in the roadstead. 



The city itself is handsomely situated on the south and 

 east side of the harbor, on a lower plane, backed on all sides, 

 except toward the sea, by a noble terrace of wooded hills, 

 out of which two beautiful streams, the Yumuri and San 

 Juan, flow into the bay. It is divided into three parts by 

 rivers, the principal business part occupying the central 

 portion and extending west one and a half miles. The 

 chief warehouses, distilleries, and sugar-refineries are on 

 the south of the river San Juan, easily accessible to rail- 

 roads and lighters. The population is 49,384, and that of 

 Matanzas province 271,000, according to the 1893 census. 



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