298 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



Just back of Cabanas at a distance of some six or 

 eight miles, the range apparently culminates in a 

 wooded height of about one thousand feet. We 

 could distinguish no paredones or rock walls, but 

 to satisfy our curiosity about these hills we deter- 

 mined upon their exploration the following day 

 and accordingly made arrangements at the hotel 

 for a guide and horses. 



The town of Cabanas is too near the larger 

 Havana ever to expand into a real city, but it 

 possesses far more life and brightness than its 

 moribund neighbor we had just left to the west. 

 The open hotel cafe or dining-room appears to be 

 the rendezvous of the local "sports" who gather 

 about its little round tables to sip coffee, throw dice, 

 and settle all sporting matters. These moment- 

 ous questions sometimes kindled an astonishing 

 degree of heat with much emphatic banging of the 

 tables. 



The Barrera left soon after our departure and 

 arrived the same night in the harbor of Cabanas. 



