456 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



hackman swindled us ag-ain. I wanted to 

 see Yumuri Valley. He argued, as before, 

 that it was a long- way. After quite a 

 "confab" we paid him half the price he 

 wanted, and then discovered we could have 

 walked it easily. This valley is a great 

 basin, something the shape of a wash-bowl, 

 if you will excuse the illustration. It is 

 entirely surrounded by mountains, and ev- 

 idently was once an inland lake; but either 

 Nature or some of the early settlers of the 

 island cut a passage through close to the 

 city of Matanzas, thus connecting it with 

 the ocean; and as the tide rises and lowers, 

 the water goes up a little way into this ba- 

 sin, and then back again. I suppose this 

 great bowl or basin is five miles across, 

 and it may be ten miles. The mountains 

 surrounding it produce a kind of illusion 

 (especially in people not accustomed to see- 

 ing mountains), so one can not tell whether 

 he is going up hill or down, except by feel- 

 ing that it is hard work going one way and 

 easy in going the other. 



After my first sight of Yumuri Valley 

 (on another occasion) I followed a trail 

 along up the outlet; and the overhanging 

 rocks and spurs of the mountain produced a 

 sort of weird effect that makes one feel 

 queer. Several times I felt like shaking 

 and pinching myself, and saying, "Well, 

 old fellow, where are j'ou, and ' what are 

 you at,' any way?" It was quite a bad 

 road for the cab-driver, and he got his ve- 

 hicle in the mud a great deal; but if he had 

 told me truthfully in the outset how far it 

 was to the apiary, I should have very much 

 preferred to go on foot. In fact, he had to 

 hitch his horse and let us go on foot part of 

 the way as it was. 



Now, you might think being swindled 

 twice by this same man was enough; but I 

 was very anxious to see another of friend 

 Woodward's apiaries, and make it before 

 train time, and the fellow got a big price 

 for going out there and then not doing as he 

 agreed to do. Friend Woodward thought 

 he knew these fellows, and knew how to 

 deal with them; but they took so much time 

 in going over the details of the bargain I 

 suggested paying the man his price, to save 

 time. Then after the fellow violated his 

 contract there was going to be more time 

 spent in settling matters. But I proposed 

 again that we get all the good we could in 

 looking over the apiary, and friend W. and 

 the driver settle their differences after I 

 got away. I am sorry to say this about 

 even a poor colored man. But he hires the 

 rig of the proprietor for so much a day, and 

 there are probably a good many days when 

 he does not get hold of a real live Yankee 

 (that has any money) at all. So he has to 

 make the most of his chances when he 

 catches one. 



I am not yet through with Yumuri Val- 

 ley. No wonder Humboldt said, when he 

 stood on the site of the old church (Monser- 

 rate) on the hill that commands a view of 

 this whole basin, that it was one of the lov- 

 liest valleys in all the world. It is worth 



a trip to Matanzas to get this view; and I 

 declare I do not know but it is almost worth 

 a trip to Cuba. 



Now, I must not wind up my Cuba trav- 

 els without a further mention of the won- 

 derful spring or springs that supply the 

 city of Havana with water. This spring is 

 near a station called Vento. A great aque- 

 duct, almost large enough for a man to 

 stand up in, carries the water from Vento 

 to Havana, a distance of nine miles. This 

 aqueduct and all its appointments were 

 made by the Cuban government, and the 

 work is certainly well done. The great 

 springs of Vento are walled in with a cir- 

 cular piece of masonry rising 60 feet high. 

 On top of this masonry is an iron fence to 

 keep intruders out. It is all kept under 

 lock and key. This masonry is about 200 

 feet across the top of the circular basin, and 

 perhaps 100 feet at the bottom. The water 

 is not quite soft; but it is beautiful drink- 

 ing-water. Where it runs over the stones 

 it leaves no sediment nor incrustation. I 

 do not think it even crusts the pipes. The 

 water boils up a great deal like the springs 

 at Castalia, O., or near Lebanon, Mo. The 

 stones on the bottom are variously colored, 

 like the springs I have mentioned. If I re- 

 member correctly, a million gallons of wa- 

 ter goes to waste every day after supplying 

 the great city of Havana with all the peo- 

 ple need for any purpose. Just as the 

 aqueduct starts out from the spring it meets 

 quite a river; and by a sort of inverted si- 

 phon the water goes down under this river. 

 Here the Spanish people have shown their 

 skill in hydraulic architecture, if I may 

 use the term. Along the side of the aque- 

 duct that goes under the river is a large 

 tunnel, giving plenty of room for the men 

 employed to care for the waterworks to go 

 back and forth with a lighted lantern.' 

 Here the great valves are situated that shut 

 off the water whenever it is desirable to re- 

 pair or clear the aqueduct; and at short in- 

 tervals all the way from the spring to Ha- 

 vana there are round houses that permit 

 the workmen to get out of and into the 

 aqueduct, and also to let in fresh air when 

 at work in cleaning or repairing the great 

 waterway. 



Perhaps I should caution visitors that 

 one can visit and go through these water- 

 works only on certain da3's. My friend 

 Mr. de Beche, however, being acquainted 

 with the officials, succeeded in getting a 

 permit to go through, even though it was 

 not the regular daj-. This system of wa- 

 terworks was commenced, I am told, in 1858. 

 and completed in 1878. The river under it 

 is called the Almenderas. About 41^2 mil- 

 lions of gallons of water is delivered in the 

 city of Havana daily. The spring is so 

 high above the citj' that the water goes all 

 over it by gravit3\ A beautiful stone road, 

 or "calzada," runs out from the city to 

 Vento. The water is of such excellent 

 quality that I, while in the city, for the 

 first time in years found I could drink cold 

 water without interfering with my diges- 



