THE CUBA REVIEW 



17 



Street Corner, Camaguey 



The investigator will be forced to examine these afoot, as no road or bridle path makes horse- 

 back travel possible. And as this trip will undoubtedly be lengthy, the traveler is advised 

 to have his kit follow him in a boat from one stopping place to the other. The steep terraces, 

 resembling nothing so much as Cyclopean stairs, seem literally to be honey-combed with 

 cave entrances. Everyone of these has to be examined as the Indians not only seem to have 

 used the larger caves as shelters or as places of worship, but also were in the habit of depositing 

 the bones of their dead in the smaller caverns. It is, of course, understood, that Indian re- 

 mains are not found in every one of the cave-s — in fact, one only finds proof of an Indian occu- 

 pancy in something like six per cent of the caves explored. But when proofs are found, the 

 artifacts are always so much better preserved than when they are encountered in the ground, 

 that the 6% fully make up for the 94% of the caves in which one finds nothing. 



Following the coast in this manner, one finally reaches the massively built lighthouse of 

 Cape ^laisi. The busy Windward Passage opens up to view and a steady stream of fruit and 

 cargo steamers pass both south to Jamaican and Central American destinations with products 

 of northern manufacture and north to American ports laden with the fruits of the tropics. It is 

 customary for mariners to take Cape Maisi as a "departure" and the traffic in consequence 

 stands quite close inshore, as most travelers who have made a trip to either Jamaica or Panama 

 can testify. Maisi itself is another small settlement consisting principally of two lighthouse 

 keepers and their families and a number of fishermen whose catch mostly consists of the hawks- 

 bill or tortoise shell turtle which abounds in these waters. 



Passing the settlement of Maisi and the dry mouth of the Maya or Maisi River, there are 

 but few huts or settlements on the north coast between Maisi and the mouth of the Yumuri. 

 A few fishermen have a small settlement at Baga and live in a manner bordering on destitution. 

 The coast here below the tableland is somewhat swampy and unhealthy. 



A road leads from Cape Maisi to the Gran Tierra de IVIaya above and leads through the 

 mldest part of the entire wild region. The lands on either side of this road are virgin forest, 



