April 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



315 



Castilloa in Cuban Valleys. 



By the Editor of ''The India Rubber World." 



Cuba from the East. — Grasping Customs' Officials. — Santiago and the Casa 

 Granda. — On Board the "Habana, " — Along the Coast to Guantanamo. — Beauti- 

 ful Baracoa Bay — In the Footsteps of Columbus. — Into the Wilderness on 

 Horseback. — Cocoanuts, Cacao and Castilloa — Days of Exploration. — Down the 

 River. — A Night Ride Along the Beach. — On Board the "Gibara." 



1HAD visited Cuba a number of times, but bad always entered 

 by the front door, that is through Havana, and had a feeling 

 that perhaps I did not get that intimate knowledge of the 

 island that might come through a less usual mode of approach. 



hunted up the American consul who took hold promptly and said 

 he would have the revolver for me ere long. Then when I 

 was seated in the train the steamship agent appeared and said he 

 could do nothing. 



"Very well," said I, "But I am going to have that revolver. 

 It has been in use for 20 years. I am a tourist in transit and 

 you know that the customs had no business to seize it. If it 

 isn't produced I shall appeal to our own State Department." 



"Then I shall with- 

 draw from the case," 

 was the dignified reply. 

 "Withdraw !" was 

 ( my amazed ejacula- 

 tion. "You cannot 

 withdraw. You have not 

 even gotten into the affair. 

 A dead man cannot die." 

 He stalked off in a 

 hufif. To end the incident, the 

 consul got the revolver for me 

 later and I had the satisfaction ot 

 feeling that the customs officials 

 were balked in their effort to pos- 

 sess themselves of a fine weapon, at 

 no cost to themselves. 

 .•\ntilla consists chiefly in a fine re- 

 inforced concrete hotel, modern and 

 .American, a lot of railroad and steamship 

 docks and sheds, and a series of barren hill 

 sides. A cjueer little town, looking for all the 

 world like a western mining settlement, is fast 

 growing there, and in time it will doubtless be a 

 big fine citj-. 



As I was on my way to Baracoa by way of Santiago 



I only lunched at Antilla and except for the customs 



episode saw little worth chronicling. At 4.30, our train. 



consisting of 17 freight cars and 2 passenger coaches, 



pulled out. The road after skirting the bay ran through 



Map of Eastern End of Cuba 



It was. therefore, with a lively anticipation of happenings of 

 interest and perhaps adventure, that we entered beautiful Nipe 

 Bay at the far end of the island and headed for Antilla, the new 

 commercial port of the railroad and steamship lines. The big 

 boat anchored far out and a small tender took passengers and 

 baggage to the pier. The former were allowed to wander at 

 will but the baggage was piled in real Cuban confusion in a 

 small slat-covered inclosure. And there my troubles descended 

 upon me. The courteous captain of the steamer assured me that 

 there would be no trouble with customs, that the company's 

 resident agent, to whom he introduced me, would see me through. 

 But the customs men ransacked my things ; broke fragile curios ; 

 spent half an hour discussing whether or not a sawfish jaw was 

 a weapon of war, and finally took my heavy service revolver 

 from its worn holster and decided that it must be sent to 

 Havana. I then sought the agent in his office, who kept me 

 waiting half an hour, while he fussed with some papers. Finally 

 he listened to my story and said. 



"Well, I have had no lunch yet. You would not wish me to 

 go without lunch, would you ?" 



At last fifteen minutes before my train left for Santiago, I 



Rio de Miel (Honey River.) 



jungle for miles, with an occasional settlement, the center of a 

 sugar estate or a lumber camp. 



At 6.30 we stopped at Alto Cedro for dinner. The railroad 



