104 



humboldt's cub a. 



dilated from the most exact delineation of its shores, 

 its staples of product and commerce, and the condi- 

 tion of its public revenues. 



The view of Havana from the entrance to the port 

 is one of the most picturesque and pleasing on the 

 northern equinoctial shores of America. This view ? 

 so justly celebrated by travellers of all nations, does 

 not possess the luxury of vegetation that adorned 

 the banks of the Guayaquil, nor the wild majesty of 

 the rocky coasts of Rio Janeiro, two ports in the 

 southern hemisphere ; but the beauty that in our cli- 

 mate adorns the scenes of cultivated nature, unites 

 here with the majesty of the vegetable creation, and 

 with the organic vigor that characterizes the torrid 

 zone. The European who experiences this union of 

 pleasing impressions, forgets the danger that mena- 

 ces him in the midst of the populous cities of the 

 Antilles, and strives to comprehend the different ele- 

 ments of so vast a country, gazing upon the fortress- 

 es crowning the rocks east of the port, the opening 

 arm of the sea surrounded with villages and farm- 

 houses, the tall palms, and the city itself half hid- 

 den by a forest of spars and sails of shipping. 



The entrance to the harbor of Havana passes be- 

 tween the Morro Castle {castillo de los Santos Reyes) 

 and the fort of San Salvador de la Punia ; its width 

 is from 360 to 450 yards which it preserves for three- 



