Al'RIL 1. 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



321 



a ring of anxiety in his voice, urged greater haste. So I lustily 

 whaled my mount, dug the spurs into him and yelled, but only 

 succeeded in stirring him up to a slightly faster walk. He was 

 nearly tired out. My friend's anxiety increased. His little bay 

 seemed quite fresh and he spurred back and helped me urge 



mine. But it did 

 not work. It be- 

 gan to look as if 

 we were to be 

 caught between 

 the sea and the 

 high coral cliffs. 

 Just then I saw 

 an opening in the 

 reef and swing- 

 ing off I pulled 

 my beast up a 

 steep path to a 

 grassy pasture 

 above. Talk of 

 luck I that was the 

 p a t li w- c w ere 

 seeking. An hour 

 more and riding 

 turn and turn 

 about and leading 

 a spent horse we 

 reached Baracoa 

 not a bit the 

 worse for our 

 somewhat unusual 

 ride. 



It is fully as 

 hard to get away 

 from Baracoa as 

 it is to reach it. 

 We waited several 

 days for a boat, 

 and hnally got passage on the Gibova of the Sobrinos de 

 Herrara and through the good offices of Don Angel were com- 



B.MiBoo Thicket. 



.^'8.^ 





^i?>«M^C«j»'. 



Primitive ]\Iol'nt.\in L.vundrv. 



fortably quartered. We could not return to Santiago direct but 

 were obliged to go to Antilla and thence by rail to Santiago. 

 The Gibara was not as large even as the Habana, but the sea 



was smooth and the coast line was enchanting, so we spent nuich 

 time on deck. 



Steaming out of the harbor recklessly at six miles an hour 

 (full speed) we passed the cocoanut plantation "Jaitecio" and 

 were on our way. At four that afternoon we reached the hidden 

 entrance to Sagua de Tanamo Bay where we lay for twenty-four 

 hours taking on mahogany. Here we had our meals on the 

 upper deck under an awning and were very comfortable. It was 

 during this wait that I became acquainted with the Reverend 

 Juan. He appeared a short, thickset, energetic English business 

 man, but was really a whole-hearted, hustling Baptist missionary 

 preacher. I learned later that he had converted 65 per cent, of 

 the whites in that part of Cuba to his Faith ; had five little 

 churches and something like a thousand communicants. Like 

 the early Jesuits, no hardships were too great for him. He 

 swam rivers, slept in the forest, acted as physician, nurse and 



One of the Rev. Juan's Congregations. 



counsellor to the Cuban negro and was exceedingly loved. He 

 was full of information concerning the country and I was glad 

 to verify my figures on temperature with his and clinch my 

 conclusion that the mountain valleys, sheltered though they were, 

 were hardly fitted for Hevea. 



He pointed out a cocoanut plantation owned by an Englishman 

 that had been attacked by disease but had recovered and was 

 flourishing because the owner had burned every affected tree. 

 He told us of the great iron deposits along that shore, one con- 

 taining thousands of acres, purchased by an American, and of 

 the preliminary location of a huge blast furnace. As the Cuban 

 Government, however, demanded six dollars a ton for all 

 machinery brought in, the project was abandoned. 



Our leisurely loading finished we pulled out for Preston where 

 the United Fruit Company is operating a large sugar mill and 



