THE CUBA REVIEW 



13 



ALL AROUND CUBA 



AN ANCIENT HAVANA FORTRESS WELL 

 WORTH VISITING 



The fortification of Cabana — or, to give 

 it the full title, Castillo de San Carlos de la 

 Cabana — occupies an elevated site on the 

 hill which rises 100 feet abruptly from the 

 water's edge across the harbor from Havana. 

 The harbor is practically a continuous wall 

 extending along the crest of the hill. The 

 landward side has three pronounced bastons, 

 and is protected by ditches forty feet deep. 

 The principal entrance is on this front. A 

 drawbridge, which may be raised by the 

 heavy chains, leads across the ditch to the 

 salljTJort. The legend above the entrance 

 is on this front. A drawbridge was begun 

 during the reign of Carlos III, in the year 

 1763, and was completed in 1774. 



Within the fortification is a vast labyrinth 

 of windings and turnings, ascents and de- 

 cents, tlu'ough narrow high-waUed passages 

 and vaulted halls, covered ways, courts, 

 barracks, prisons, officers' quarters, and 

 chapel; tree lined roads and drill grounds, 

 rampart, parapet, and terreplein, one beyond 

 another, and the whole seemingly inter- 

 minable. 



The point of greatest interest is Laurel 

 Ditch, an enclosure against the walls about 

 which Cuban i:)atriots were lined up when 

 the wars for independence were on, and 

 shot by squads of Spanish soldiers detailed 

 to the duty. The line marked by the bullets 

 in the wall is traceable for eighty-five feet; 

 it is called by the significant name of "tlie 

 dead-line." A bronze memorial, provided 

 by popular subscription, has been set in 

 the wall to commemorate the martyrdom of 

 those who died there in the cause of "Cuba 

 Libre." The design represents an angelic 

 messenger receiving the soul of the dying 

 patriot. 



Ascending to the ramparts, one gains 'a 

 commanding view of harbor and town arid 

 sea and the palm-fringed encircling hills 

 about Havana. The antiquated Spanish 

 guns, elaborately ornamented and bearing 

 each one the name of a sovereign, are quite 

 in keeping with Cabana's age and uselessness. 

 The marble shaft which rises from the next 

 parapet commemorates the valor and loyalty 

 of the soldiers who marched out from Havana 

 and repulsed the Lopez expedition at Las 

 Pazas in 1851. — Havana Post. 



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The bronze tablet, marking the "dead line," where many Cubans met their death at the hands of the 

 Spainards during the ten years' war. 



