14 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



Pines and Hardwoods Along the Mountain Trail to the Fall 



The trip to the falls is far from being a comfortable one, and the only means of getting near 

 them at present is by ore-train from Felton to the foothills, thence transferring to the incline 

 railways, and the last leg of the trip must be made on the back of a Culjan pony via the trail 

 route; this list feature of the ourney is full of interest and excitem.ent, and if the bridges over 

 the mountain streams are washed away, as was the case when the writer visited the falls, it is 

 necessary to walk or wade and lead the pony a good part of the distance. 



All along the trail from \^'oodf^ed can be seen the red iron ore yet to be mined, and these 

 hills are estimated to contain five hundred million tons of ore, which is being removed at the rate 

 of one million tons yearly, leaving a supply to last for five hundred years at the present yearly 

 output. One can't help imagining when riding over these fields of untouched ore why the native 

 Cuban did not take possession and mine the ore, but the answer one gets to this query is that 

 the Cuban expected to find the iron in finished bars, rods, etc., ready to be used, and he cou d 

 not see the possibility otherwise of securing iron from the soil. For the first few miles the 

 pine and hardwood trees have been cut down, with few exceptions, to supply timber for 

 building the many frame l)uildings at Felton and Woodfred; also, can be seen nimierous tapped 

 and withering trunks of pine trees, the result of drawing off the turpentine for commercial use. 

 A striking and pecuharly noticeable thing along the trail was the unusual growth of large trees 

 on the mountain side, the tall pines invariably growing on the hills and the hardwoods in the 

 valleys. These same hardwood trees have been the means of a number of employees of the 

 Iron Company furnishing their homes complete with excellent pieces of valuable furniture. 



The officials of the former Spanish-American Iron Company are credited with being the 

 first visitors to the falls from the States some five years ago, and Mr. C. F. Rand, at that time 

 President of the company, constructed foot bridges across the trail from Woodfred to the falls. 

 He also marked and kept the trail cleared and erected a handsome pagoda and obseravtion plat- 

 form opposite the falls from the native bamboo and other woods, all done to show his apprecia- 

 tion of this natural wonder. 



The best time to view these falls and see them at their best is during the rainy season, or 

 during the tropical summer months, when the enormous rainfall floods the many small mountain 

 streams and passes over the falls. However, during this season it is next to impossible to 

 travel across the mountains and get within miles of the falls to enable one to get a near glimpse 

 of the falling water, which is said to be, at this period, one solid fall of water five hundred feet in 

 diameter in the shape of a concave and 500 feet drop at the highest point. The noise of the 

 falling water can be heard several miles away. 



