THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND 143 



come reduced, the climate and scenes of Cuba will work 

 wonders ; but the atmosphere is fatal for consumption or 

 other pulmonary complaints. It is safe to visit the island 

 after December, and the unacclimated can remain even until 

 the first of June, although in May it is very hot, and fever 

 appears among the shipping. 



The chief advantage to us of the liberation of Cuba will be 

 the benefits which will accrue to our commerce, as a result of 

 the removal of the restrictions upon trade. The one-sided 

 condition which now exists, whereby we purchase nine 

 tenths of the products of the island and sell it only one 

 quarter of its food and manufactured articles, will cease. 

 The lumber of our Southern seaboard, the foodstuffs of 

 the Western farmer, and the manufactured articles of the 

 East, will find increased and profitable consumption. 

 Under any possible settlement of the political and eco- 

 nomical status of Cuba, the thirty millions of annual im- 

 ports from Spain would be drawn, for the most part, from 

 the United States. 



SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON THE ISLE OF PINES 



The principal of the outlying islands considered geo- 

 graphically as a part of Cuba is the Isle of Pines, which 

 is situated about thirty-eight miles south of the coast of 

 Pinar del Rio. This is the only one of the adjacent islands 

 which is not merely an elevated reef or mangrove swamp, 

 and which has a geologic structure and configuration com- 

 parable to the mainland. Its area of 1214 square miles is 

 almost equal to the combined area of the other thirteen 

 hundred islands and islets. 



The island is circular in outline, and almost divided by 

 a bayou, or salty depression, into two divisions, the south- 

 ernmost of which is a vast cienaga, occupied only by a 

 handful of fishermen. The main portion of the island is 

 diversified, being dominated by a central ridge of low 



