12 - CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



Matanzas is Burrounded by a beautiful Buburban country. 



The caves of Bellamar to the east, and the valley of the 

 Yumuri, elsewhere described, are natural objects which 

 almost equal in interest our Yellowstone Park and Mam- 

 moth Cave. The abra, or canon, of the Yumuri, with its 

 vertical walls overhanging a grass-covered w r alk beneath 

 the cliffs and by the beautiful stream, and the shady waters 

 of the San Juan, to the south of the city, are natural plea- 

 sure-resorts such as no American city possesses, and are 

 fully appreciated by the Matanzans, who find recreation 

 therein by boating and picnicking. The San Juan is as- 

 cended by rowboats for about four miles to a sugar-estate 

 known as Los Molinos, where there are pretty falls, the 

 water-power of which runs the machinery. Short railway 

 journeys from Matanzas also carry one to many interesting 

 sugar-estates, such as those around the pueblo of Union 

 and the famous Concepcion estate of the Aldama family. 



Eailways run from Matanzas south, east, and west, making 

 the city easily accessible from all parts of the Vuelta Arriba. 



Cardenas, founded in 1828, is one of the few towns of 

 Cuba built in this century. It lies on a spacious bay shel- 

 tered by a long promontory. It is one of the principal 

 sugar-exporting places of the island, and is connected by 

 rail with Matanzas, Havana, Santa Clara, and Cienfuegos, 

 and by regular steamers with all the coast towns. 



It is a thriving place, being the depot and shipping-port 

 of a fine adjacent sugar-growing district. The city is regu- 

 larly laid out with broad streets, and has a fine large plaza 

 in the center, in which stands a bronze statue of Columbus. 

 A large number of Americans are engaged in business, and 

 form a considerable proportion of the mercantile community. 

 There are a church, several cafes, and a number of fine, 

 well-built wharves, some of which extend a long distance 

 from the shore. The inhabitants claim that the town is 

 generally a cool place, but, as Hazard has remarked, I 

 cannot at this moment recollect any one inducement to the 

 traveler to visit it, unless he deals in sugar and molasses. 



