No. 2.] MATTHEW — IMPRESSIONS OF CUBA. 81 



of the district of Cienfuegos, which is said to number more than 

 thirty thousand inhabitants. Evidences of this may be seen, not 

 only in the appearance of the thriving town where it centres, but 

 in the trade carried on, on such an insignificant stream as the 

 Damuji. 



The Damuji, though of small size, is quite an attractive stream, 

 and well worthy of a visit from any one who may be so near as 

 Cienfuegos. I have already spoken of its aspect near the mouth, 

 where the banks are bordered with mangrove swamps. This 

 monotonous fringe disappears as one approaches the Ferry, and 

 from this point onward, to the head of navigation, there is every 

 variety of scenery which a somewhat flat, but rolling country, 

 will admit of. A luxuriant growth of trees fringes the stream, 

 except in places where the cane-fields of the estates, which line 

 the banks, come down to the shore. Groves of elegant palm-trees, 

 lordly ceibas, the silvery-leaved trumpet-tree, or the deep green 

 glossy foliage of the Indian fig, appear at intervals along the 

 slopes and swales descending to the stream. Elsewhere the banks 

 of the river are covered with a dense forest, bristling with para- 

 sites, and matted with interlacing vines. The navigable part of 

 the Damuji abounds in water fowls : at every bend of the stream 

 we came in sight of flocks of cranes, herons and other aquatic 

 birds, among which the white and scarlet ibis were conspicuous. 

 Near the head of navigation, where the banks of the stream be- 

 come somewhat rocky, and the grasses and undergrowth come 

 down to the water's edge, a more timid water bird, thegallinuelaj 

 is common. Here the openings along the shore are less numer- 

 ous, and the plantations further apart. It was along this river 

 only that I saw anything like tropical luxuriance in the vege- 

 tation ; the country, at the time of my visit, having been parched 

 by many months of drought. 



In sailino; alono- the front of the bold mountain ranije at the 

 eastern end of Cuba, the whole slope, from the summit almost 

 to the water's edge, was clothed with what appeared in the distance 

 to be a coverino; of little bushes, like the heaths of northern lands ; 

 but which, on a nearer approach, was resolved by a marine glass 

 into a thick growth of trees, seemingly as devoid of leaves as any 

 of our own hardwood trees in winter. During the dry season the 

 greater part of the plants are taking their rest, and it is only in 

 the case of the evergreen species, or of those growing along the 

 sides of the streams, where perennial verdure reigns, that anything 

 Vol. VII. P No. 2. 



