(-lll>3. 



Moron. 

 San Miguel. 

 El Cano. 

 Managua. 

 Guir.es. 

 Rio Blanco. 

 Guauiutas. 



CUB 



Alvarez. 



Hanavana. 



Macuriges. 



Guanajay. 



El Ciego. 



Cacarajicaras. 



Pinal del Rio. 



481 



cue 



The island of Cuba contains 1 1 very large and con- 

 venient bays, and many secure harbours, of which the 

 principal are the port of Havannah, and the bay of Ma- 

 taca. The harbour of the Havannah is large and safe, 

 and is capable of containing about 1000 vessels. It 

 possesses numerous and excellent fortifications, and has 

 always been regarded as the military port of Mexico. 

 A hostile squadron can anchor only at the foot of the 

 castle of Saint John D'Ulua, which rises like a rock 

 in the middle of the sea ; and. it is generally supposed 

 that this fort is capable of holding out till the land- 

 forces descend from the central table land, and till the 

 health of the besiegers is affected by the insalubrity of 

 the climate. 



The bay of Mataca is very deep and spacious. It re- 

 ceives the sea by a very large canal; and, in conse- 

 qiience of two or three rivers discharging themselves 

 into the bay, it is much frequented, both from the fa- 

 cility of procuring water, and from the abundance of 

 refreshment which can be obtained. 



Owing to the great expence of maintaining the squa- 

 drons which were stationed at Cuba during the last 

 war, the sum required for the interior administration 

 of Cuba is very great, amounting to no less than 

 l,8~6,00O piastrts. This sum is made up of the follow- 

 ing items, taken at an average from the years between 

 1788 and 1792. 



Piastres. 



1, 



146,000 

 290,000 

 740,000 



150,000 



500,000 



Aid to the internal government, attention 



de tierra, for Santiago de Cuba 

 Ditto for the Havannah 



2. Maritime expences, attention maritima * 



3. Expence of maintaining the fortifications 



of the Havannah .... 



4. Purchase-money of tobacco from the island 



of Cuba, which goes into Spain 



1,826,000 



These enormous charges almost entirely swallow up 

 the revenues which the royal treasury receive from the 

 island, which amounted only to 2,500,000 piastres, 

 not including the annual situaclo from Mexico. 



In the spring of 1 804', when Humboldt was in Cuba, 

 the following was its military state : 



Men. 



1. Disciplined militia (infantry) at the Havan- 



nah 1,442 



At the Villa de Puerto del Principe . 721 



2. Disciplined militia (cavalry) at the Havan- 



nah, and its jurisdiction . . . 517 



3. County militia (undisciplined) to the east of 



the Havannah and of Matanzas . . 7,995 



To the west of the Havannah . . 5,688 



In the suburbs of the Havannah . . 1,368 



In the jurisdiction of the four towns . 2,640 



In that of the Puerto del Principe . 1,728 



In that of Santiago de Cuba . . 2,112 



Total force 24,511 



Humboldt is of opinion, that Cuba could command 

 for its defence a body of 36,000 whites, from the age 

 of 16 to 45. 



The island of Cuba is supplied with a great quantity 

 of provisions, but especially salt meat, from the coast of 

 the Caraccas ; but in the time of a war with England, 

 the navigation to the Havannah is extremely danger- 

 ous, from the necessity of doubling Cape St Antonio. 

 To avoid these dangers, an interior communication be- 

 tween the northern and southern coasts of the island 

 has been projected. It is proposed to open a naviga- 

 ble canal for flat boats, through an extent of eighteen 

 leagues, from the Gulf of Batabano to the Havannah, 

 passing through the beautiful plains of the district of 

 Los Guines. This canal will require few locks, and 

 will not only fertilize the country by irrigation, but 

 will convey to the Havannah, by a short and a safe 

 route, the salted provisions, cocoa, indigo, and other 

 productions of the Terra Firma. 



The population of the island of Cuba, in 1774, a- 

 mounted only to 171,628 inhabitants, including 44,328 

 slaves, and from 5000 to 6000 negroes. The number 

 of negroes brought into Cuba, from 1 789 to 1 803, ex- 

 ceeded 76,000 ; and during the last four years of this 

 period the number was 34,500, or more than 8600 an- 

 nually. In 1804, according to Humboldt, the popula- 

 tion of the island stood thus : 



1. Freemen, 



Whites . 

 People of colour 



2. Slaves 



234,000 

 90,000 



324,000 

 108,000- 



82° 



22' 



53" 



23° 



9' 



27" 



80 







51 



21 



48 



20 



84 



57 



7 



21 



55 







82 



17 



30 









80 



34 



7 









81 



43 



7 



22 







© 



81 



16 



57 



21 



56 



40 



Total population, .... 432,000 



That is, in every 100 inhabitants there are 54 Creole 

 and European whites 2 1 men of colour, and 25 slaves. 



The following important geographic positions in the 

 island of Cuba, and the small adjacent islands, we owe 

 to M. Humboldt : 



Long. West from 

 Greenwich Observatory. Latitude. 

 The Havannah, the Morro 

 The Trinidad of Cuba . 

 Cape St Antonio, N. W. 

 Punta de Mata, Hambre 

 Bocca de Xagua 

 Cayo Flamingo 

 Cayo de Piedras 



This island was discovered by Columbus in 1492, and 

 in ! 494 it was circumnavigated by Nicholas de Obando. 



See Humboldt's Political Essay on the Kingdom of Sew 

 Spain, passim; Raynal's History of the Ei's/ an -i^est 

 Indies ; Thomson's Alcedo ; and Peuchet's D 1 lionnaire 

 del a Geographie Commergante. See also the article Ha- 

 vannah, and West Indies. (u>) 



CUBiEA, a genus of plants of the class Decandria, 

 and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 210. 



CUCKOO. See Ornithology. 



CUCUBALUS, a genus of plants of the class Decan- 

 dria, and order Tngynia. See Botany, p. 217. 



CUCULLARIA, a genus of plants of the class Mo- 

 nandria, and order Monogynia See Botany, p. 82. 



CUCULUS. See Ornithology. 



CUCUMIS, a genus of plants of the class Moncecia, 

 and order Monadelphia. See BotAny, p. 330. 



Cuba 



H II . 

 Cucunus. 



* This includes 700,000 piastres for the port and dockyards of the Havannah, and 40,000 for the vessels stationed off the coast of 

 the Mosquitos 



VOL. VII. PART II. 3 p 



