GEOGRAPHY. 



175 



which appears like a shading in our maps, is fortu- 

 nately broken in many places ; and these interrup- 

 tions afford to commerce a free access to the shore. 

 The parts of the island which are least dangerous, 

 and most free from reefs, sandbanks, and rocks, are 

 the southeastern side, between Cape Cruz, and Cape 

 Maysi (72 maritime leagues), and the northwestern, 

 between Matanzas and Cabanas (28 leagues). On 

 the southeastern side, the proximity of high moun- 

 tains makes the shore bold ; there we find the har- 

 bors of St. Jago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Baitiquiri, 

 and, doubling Cape Maysi, Baracoa. This last-named 

 port was the first one settled by Europeans. 



The north side of the island, from Cape Mulas, 

 N.N.W. of Baracoa, to the port of Nuevitas, is 

 equally free from banks and reefs. East of Cape 

 Mulas, ships find excellent anchorage in the bays of 

 Tanamo, Cabonico, and Nipe, and, west of that 

 cape, in the bays of Sama, Naranjo, Padre, and 

 Nuevas Grandes. The uninterrupted series of cays 

 lining the old Bahama Channel, and extending from 

 Nuevitas to Point Hicacos, a distance of ninety-four 

 leagues, commences near the bay of Nuevas Grandes, 

 almost under the same meridian with the beginning 

 of the Buena Esperanza Banks, on the south side, 

 which are prolonged to the Isle of Pines. 



The narrowest part of the old Bahama Channel is 



