AMONG THE MAHOGANY FORESTS OF CUBA 



By Walter D. Wilcox 



Author of "Camping in the Canadian Rockies," "The Rockies of 



Canada," Etc. 



THE Bay of Cochinos, on the south 

 coast of Cuba, is about forty 

 miles west of Cienfuegos. It is 

 the largest protected bay in Cuba, with a 

 length of over 15 miles and an average 

 breadth of about four miles, great depth 

 of water, and very fair protection from 

 the sea, and it is surprising at the first 

 glance not to find a thriving port town 

 located here. On the contrary, this is 

 one of the wildest and most sparsely 

 populated parts of Cuba. 



Until within a few years this bay was 

 said to be the resort of brigands and bad 

 characters of all kinds ; the waters were 

 supposedly infested with sharks and 

 other dangerous fish and the shores with 

 crocodiles, while the swampy interior was 

 the reputed breeding place of innumera- 

 ble mosquitoes. The days of piracy are 

 past, and while crocodiles and sharks do 

 abound, no fatalities have ever occurred. 



The isolation of this region, to which 

 may be attributed the vagueness of these 

 evil reports, is due to the fact that this 

 entire coast is hemmed in by a line of al- 

 most impassable swamps more than fifty 

 miles in length, called the Cienaga de 

 Zapata, which cut off communication 

 with the interior. Then, too, the com- 

 paratively new city of Cienfuegos, situ- 

 ated on its beautiful land-locked bay, 

 which Humboldt pronounced one of the 

 most magnificent harbors in the world, 

 has served as an outlet for the adjoining 

 region. 



In connection with the purchase of a 

 timber tract on this bay, I had abundant 

 opportunities to learn many interesting 

 facts about the region. On the first visit 

 a small boat was engaged to sail from 

 Cienfuegos. Under the influence of a 

 fresh land breeze, the forty miles west- 

 ward along the rocky coast were run in 

 the night, and early the following morn- 

 ing the boat was well within the Bay of 



Cochinos and approaching a low, flat 

 shore covered by a uniform expanse of 

 green forest. Above the tree-tops the 

 sky was a rosy red in the early dawn. It 

 was a typical midwinter day in the 

 tropics — the bay smooth as a mirror ; the 

 cool air laden with forest odors and the 

 perfume of flowers, while the chattering 

 of wild parrots could be heard from the 

 shore. Our captain entered a small river 

 or inlet and poled the boat to a convenient 

 landing place. 



A year later, at this same spot, a land- 

 ing was made with a force of carpenters 

 and laborers and a cargo of lumber and 

 tools. A place was cleared in the forest 

 for a house, clocks were built, gardens 

 laid out, wells dug, and eventually a per- 

 manent home made, comfortable enough 

 to house my family during the succeed- 

 ing eighteen months. 



In all that time we were not molested 

 by the natives, and no case of illness oc- 

 curred in any member of the household. 

 It seems that malaria and yellow fever 

 are unknown among the natives of this 

 entire region. _^_ 



HERONS, WHITE EGRETS AND CROCODILES 



The encircling shores of Cochinos Bay 

 are low and flat. The west shore is a 

 sandy beach four or five feet above the 

 water. This coast is often a mere strip 

 of dry land separating the bay from 

 swampy tracts and lagoons full of man- 

 grove trees. Herons and various wading 

 birds, including the white egret, sought 

 for its feathers, abound here in great 

 numbers. Hunters shoot the latter bird 

 by the hundreds, unfortunately in the 

 breeding season, because the feathers are 

 then at their best, and only the inaccessi-; 

 ble nature of these lonely lagoons and 

 the plague of insect life prevent their 

 total extinction. 



