TOPOGEAPHT OF CUBA. 



871 



now stands the Torre de la Chorrera, known as the *' Buccaneers' Fort." Then 

 the rising city was removed farther east to the peninsula separating the sea from 

 the Carenas basin, the new capital, at first called 8an Cristobal, gradually takin» 

 the name of the district — Havana. 



This site offers many advantages, a vast and perfectly-sheltered harbour easily 



60 





i 1'*^ 1 



defended, and surrounded by highly productive plains, but especially a vitally 

 important geographical position about the centre of the American Mediterranean 

 and at the very source of the Gulf Stream, that is to say, the natural starting-point 

 of the highway between the Antilles and "West Europe. Hence its title of Llave 

 del Nuevo Miindo, " Key of the New World," indicated by a key in the city arms. 

 Havana, by far the first city in the Antilles, occupies a peninsula running 



