224 CUBA 



island, winning battle after battle, and was only checked by 

 treachery and assassination. Baracoa at the beginning of the 

 present revolution was again becoming an important commer- 

 cial city, being the seat of the banana and cocoanut trades. 



Returning again to the south side of the island, there are three 

 ports of importance east of Trinidad, and these are all situated 

 on the south or west coast of the Sierra Maestra peninsula. The 

 westernmost of these is Manzanillo. This is the chief outlet of 

 the fertile valley of the Cauto. Since the close of the ten years' 

 revolution and up to the recent outbreak it was acquiring an in- 

 creasing trade in tobacco, sugar, wax, honey, and other produce. 



Santiago, as it is called by the Americans, Saint Jago or sim- 

 ply Cuba by the natives, is a port second only to Habana in 

 strategic and political importance. It is the capital of the east- 

 ern department as well as its most flourishing seaport. It is lo- 

 cated on one of the many pouch-shaped harbors which outlet 

 to the sea through a narrow gateway, like that of Habana, but 

 with an entrance dotted by many islands with handsome villas. 

 At its narrowest part this outlet is only 180 yards wide, but it 

 gives access to a magnificent basin, with many indentations, large 

 enough to accommodate all the shipping of the island. Its 

 many-colored structures, promenades, gardens, and superb pros- 

 pects over the valley make Santiago one of the most marvel- 

 ous cities of the Antilles. The town is well fortified and has 

 been practically the only stronghold of the Spanish authorities 

 in eastern Cuba during the present revolution. Back of the city 

 the overtowering cliffs of the Sierra Maestra separate it from 

 the interior. Several lines of railroad run from the city to the 

 iron mines, 16 miles east, where Pennsylvania capitalists were 

 employing nearly 2,000 hands at the date of the recent outbreak. 

 The city is the telegraphic center from whence radiate the sub- 

 marine coastal cables of the island for the western department, 

 Mexico, Jamaica, South America, Haiti, Porto Rico, and the 

 Lesser Antilles. 



INHABITANTS 



Perhaps there is no question upon which the American people 

 are so ill informed as upon that of the population of Cuba. 

 It is impossible to obtain accurate statistics, owing to the fact that 

 no reliable census has been taken by the government for many 

 decades. All figures which maybe presented are merely estimates, 

 and great variation is found in those given by different authorities. 



