244 



DAHOMEY. 



CUBA, an island in the West Indies, belonging 

 to Spain. The area is 43,220 square miles. The 

 population in 1877 was 1,521,684, having de- 

 creased in eight years by 20,500. The Spanish 

 Cortes in 1879 passed a law for the gradual ex- 

 tinction of slavery, and in 1886 abolished slavery 

 absolutely. The capital, Havana, had 198,271 

 inhabitants at the end of 1887 ; Matanzas, 87,760 ; 

 Santiago de Cuba, 71,307; Cienfuegos, 65,067; 

 Porto Principe, 46,641 ; Holguin, 34,767 ; Sancti 

 Spiritu, 32,608. The military forces in Cuba are 

 fixed in the budget at 19,000 men. The naval 

 forces maintained there consist of 3 second-class 

 cruisers, 14 gunboats, and 4 steam launches, with 

 1,233 sailors and 199 marines. 



Commerce and Communications. The for- 

 eign trade is largely in the hands of Americans. 

 In 1889 an extra duty of 20 per cent, on all im- 

 ports into the island went into force, and at the 

 beginning of 1890 a supplementary export duty 

 was imposed on sugar. This is the chief export. 

 The quantity produced in 1888 was 656,719 tons, 

 against 646^578 in 1887, and 731,723 in 1886. 

 The production of molasses in 1887 was 153,015 

 tons, and in 1888 it was 157,791 tons. About 

 300,000 bales of tobacco are grown annually. 

 The export from the port of Havana was 182,- 

 636 bales in 1888, against 175,364 in 1887. 

 The number of cigars exported in 1888 was 220,- 

 000,000, against 162,750,000 in 1887. The im- 

 port of rice in 1888 was valued at 4,626,000 pesos 

 or dollars ; of lard, 3,588,000 pesos ; of flour, 3,- 

 457,000 pesos, three fifths of it coming from the 

 United States and the rest from Spain. The 

 total value of imports from Spain in 1888 was 

 about $13,000,000 ; of the exports to Spain, $7,- 

 000,000. There were no mineral deposits of 

 value known, nor metal mined, except copper, 

 until iron was discovered in large quantities in 

 the mountains of the eastern provinces in 1881. 

 These mines have been worked by citizens of the 

 United States, who have also mined manganese 

 ore with profit. Valuable deposits of asphaltum 



have more recently been found, and some Ameri- 

 cans have made a beginning in gold-mining. 



The number of vessels entered at the port of 

 Havana during 1888 was 1,058, of 1,266,104 tons ; 

 the number cleared was 1,121, of 1,330,403 tons! 

 There are in Cuba 2,810 miles of telegraphs and 

 about 1,000 miles of railroads. 



Finance. The income of the central admin- 

 istration is about $25,000,000 a year, of which 

 nearly half is derived from customs. Of the 

 expenditure, which nearly balances the revenue, 

 nearly half is required for the debt and finan- 

 cial administration, one quarter for military ex- 

 penditure, and one sixth for the expenses of the 

 Ministry of the Interior. In 1889 there was a 

 deficit of nearly $3,000,000. The collection of 

 taxes constantly becomes more difficult. The 

 taxation amounts to $33,000,000 a year, including 

 municipal taxes, while the annual income of the 

 inhabitants of the island is reckoned to be not 

 more than $80,000,000. The interest on the pub- 

 lic debt is more than $9,000,000 a year. The ca] >i- 

 tal of the debt in August, 1889, was nearly $186,- 

 000,000. In accordance with a royal decree of 

 May 10, 1886, it was consolidated into a 6-per-cent. 

 stock of the total nominal value of 124,000,000 

 pesos, and this, pursuant to the decree of Nov. 

 19 of the same year, was converted into a new 

 stock, larger in nominal amount, but bearing a 

 lower rate of interest, which is guaranteed on 

 the customs receipts and all the direct and in- 

 direct taxes. To a very great extent the loan is 

 held in Germany. A new conversion into 5-per- 

 cent, bonds was authorized in 1890. and on Oct. 

 15 40,000,000 pesos were readily taken in ex- 

 change for war loans, which bore no guarantee. 

 The energetic General Salamanca, who was ex- 

 pected to reform the abuses in the Cuban ad- 

 ministration, however earnest his purpose, was 

 unable to check corruption and introduce dis- 

 cipline. At the time of his death, Feb. 6, 1890, 

 complaints of enormous defalcations reached 

 Spain. 



D 



1)AHOMEY, a negro kingdom in Upper 

 Guinea, Africa, having an area of about 15,000 

 square miles and a population variously esti- 

 mated at from 200,000 to 500,000. The king- 

 dom, which has existed for nearly three hun- 

 dred years, was much larger before its strength 

 was crippled by wars with Abbeokuta and other 

 neighboring states. The people are fetish-wor- 

 shipers. They devote themselves to agriculture, 

 and produce the best palm oil, cultivate Indian 

 corn, and rear cattle. Ivory is obtained in quan- 

 tities and India-rubber is gathered for export. 

 Whydah, the commercial town, has about 20,- 

 000 inhabitants, and Abomey, the political capi- 

 tal, half as many, not counting the military. 

 The King is an absolute despot. His army con- 

 sists of 15,000 troops and a body guard of 4,000 

 Amazons armed with muskets and short swords. 

 The warriors of both sexes have been trained by 

 severe discipline to fight in solid ranks unflinch- 

 ingly. The wholesale massacre of slaves is one 

 of the King's cruel customs. Near the coast the 



country is covered with lagoons and 

 The interior is mountainous. 



The French relations with this coast 

 traced to the fourteenth century, when na 

 tors landed and built a fort at Whydah, which 

 has been preserved, and toward the end of tin; 

 eighteenth century had a small garrison. For 

 practical purposes the French interests here be- 

 gan about 1850. A Marseilles trader named 

 Regis sent out a cargo of cotton cloth and beads, 

 was so successful in this venture that he founded 

 a factory in the old French fort, sent ships to 

 the coasts of Madagascar and Zanzibar to gather 

 cowry shells, which passed as money in Dahomey 

 and neighboring lands, and is said at first to 

 have exchanged these for slaves. The firm that 

 he founded, now known as Monte & Fabiv. con- 

 tinues to do a large business, though in more 

 legitimate articles of commerce. On July 1, 

 1851, the first treaty was concluded with the 

 King of Dahomey, by which the title to the fort 

 and a piece of land around it was confirmed and 



