44 4 
f June g, igod. 
To the Cubitas Mountains. 
PuERTE Princepe, Cuba. — B,ditor Forest mid Stream: A 
few of ray friends and mi'self have just taken a trip into 
the Cubitas Mountains, a region we have long wished 
to visit, being attracted hy its historic interest and also 
by the mountains themselves, with their blue, fresh appear- 
4ince, particularly on days of hot parching breezes. An 
opportune occasion at last presented itself and I set ofif on 
.a Friday just after noon with a pack train to find a camp 
in the vicinity of the mountains .; the rest of the party were 
to come out the following morning ifi a wagon, and findmg 
the pack train rested and in readiness, immediately take 
up the trail into the mountains, leaving the wagon be- 
hind. 
We journeyed along till about 6 o'clock that afternoon 
through a country apparently uninhabited. 
Puerto Princepe, from M'hich I set forth, is doubtless 
about as old a city as anj' on the American continent, yet 
after leaving its immediate vicinity I did not see a human 
being, a house or a domestic animal throughout the entire 
afternoon's march, nor wild game of any description; the 
country seemed always to have been utterly deserted. As 
it was getting nearly nighr, we encamped just after 
crossing a fine stream, unpacked the mules and got our 
supper. By the time this was over it was nearly dark, and 
what was of more important concern, it was beginning to 
I'ain. We put up two small tents with pointed poles, which 
we liad brought with us for such an emergency, but before 
we had an opportunity to ditch them and make them 
snug, the storm was upon us. Of course, the tents kept 
off most of the rain, but soon the ground was covered 
to the depth of an inch or more. This ran under our 
tents and soaked our bedding, which we had spread down 
on the ground, and made us generally uncomfortable, and 
in spite of our best endeavors we got more or less wet 
through. Our packer made his bed down outside on a 
pile of forage ; this kept him up off the ground, and as he 
had artistically arranged some canvas pack covers over 
him, he went to sleep dry and Hghthearted and was in- 
clined to view with contempt the sufferings of his fellows. 
But, alas ! "pride goeth before a fall." In the midst of 
the storm and darkness a loose mule chanced that way, and 
recognizing the odor of the forage, closed his teeth upon 
a sack and unceremoniously yanked it out from under 
its occupant, precipitating him into the mud and depriving 
him of every advantage over his fellows. After all, getting 
wet through is part of the pleasure of a trip, for you feel 
so nice and comfortable when you are dry again. 
The next morning we dried our wet blankets and 
clothing, and meanwhile sent back to guide the expected 
wagon to our camp, as the storm had obliterated our trail, 
The wagon was found and conducted to camp, thoygh 
with some difficulty, as the creeks were now so high that 
it was a^ difficult matter to ford them, and the trail .was 
heavy with mud; ! 
It . jvas so late when the wagon arrived that we aban- 
doned otif plan of marching Into the mountains with the 
pack trf in that day, but concluded to go in that evening 
with our horses and return to the same camp that night. 
After dinner we set out for the mountains, distant about 
three miles. A fine little stream runs along their base, and 
in its valley we found a few simple habitations, one of 
them being the invariable cantina, or roadway rum shop. 
A Cuban goes without almost everything, but he loves 
rum, so on every trail much traversed one doesn't have to 
go far before he finds one of these dispensarilss of hap- 
piness. We held as much conversation with its proprietor 
as our combined knowledge of the language woijjld permit. 
Engaged him to furnish a guide on the following morn- 
ing, and then set forth for the Paradones Pafs through 
the mountains. 
We discoA-ered the pass without much difficulty, and 
spent the remainder of the afternoon in riding through 
it and gazing upon its beauty and grandeur. Jt is a rift 
(doubtless volcanic) in the solid marble of iWhich the 
mountains appear to be composed; it is a mile or more in 
length, and of a width just sufficient for a wagon road 
with a margin of a few yards on each side. Beyond this 
margin rise the sheer walls of marble to a height which 
I will not attempt to state, as we had no means of meas- 
uring, but it was a long M'ay to the top. The margin on 
each side of the trail grew thick with tropical vegetation, 
and even in raanj^ places along the vertical rocks trees 
had succeeded in attaching themselves to crevices, and 
while "ptlfting stem and branches upward" like ordinary 
trees, had also put vertical branches downward toward 
the ground. I suppose these were of the nature of roots, 
but they looked just like ropes, and taking it all round, the 
walls were in great part obscured with vegetation. This 
greatly enhanced the beauty of the scene, and we all gazed 
with delight upon a sight the like of which we had never 
seen before. 
Twenty-two years ago or thereabouts, in the Ten 
Years' War, a Spanish column of troops was surprised 
in this pass by Cuban insurgents, who lined the edges of 
the cliffs and hurled down stones upon them after the 
practice of the Moors and Spanish in former days, as re- 
lated by Irving. There appears to be no authentic account 
of the number killed, but it may have been considerable. 
We interrogated our guide about it on the following day. 
He v^as an aged Cuban of unusual spirit and intelligence, 
a master of the machite, and a thorough woodsman. He | 
told lis that the tradition of the massacre of the Spanish > 
was indeed true, that he himself was one of the Cubans ||' 
who had thrown the stones, and that many Spanish were.p^ 
three hundred." Finally, on our feturn to camp, when we 
settled with him for his services, we were so pleased with 
him — for he had really given us a most interesting day — 
that we gave him a dollar more than his price and invited 
him to dinner with us. This seemed to have completely 
warmed the cockles of his heart, and he showed his appre- 
ciation of our attention in the only way possible to him, 
viz., by increasing the number of Spanish killed in the 
Paradones Pass, for on one of the packers asking him 
about this time as to the number, he replied with great 
gu,sto, "More than a thousand." 
We saw no game this day except two birds in the pas!5 
that resembled pigeons, with heads like quail. They were 
of a sooty or dusky color, were walking on the ground, 
and apparently had mated. We did not disturb them. On 
our return to camp we found that the packers had suc- 
ceeded in killing three jutias, a kind of rodent that in- 
habits Cuban forests, I believe it is said to be the only 
mammal indigenous to the i.sland. It grows about the 
size of a coon, which it resembles some in appearance, and 
is excellent eating. In some parts of Cuba they are said 
to be abundant. They are found in trees like squirrels. 
On the following day — Sunday — we arose early and 
moved our camp over in the vicinity of the mountains, as 
we had now given up the idea of moving into the moun- 
tains in our limited time. We then again set forth, and 
on arriving at the cantina found our guide already there 
and busying himself in making- torches out of hard, dry 
timber with his machete. It was interesting to watch the 
ease with which this feeble old man split long and straight 
strips out of this seasoned timber with his machete, while 
some young and lusty Cubans with him were toiling hard 
and could scarce succeed in splitting a creditable strip. 
After he had prepared his torches we set forth and en- 
tered the mouth of a different pass from that of the day 
before, similar to it in some respects, though not nearly 
so grand; and finally ascending a narrow trail up one 
side at the end of which we left our horses, and proceed- 
ing on foot we soon found ourselves at the mouth of an 
enormous cave in the face of the rocky cliff. The guide 
told us that in some former troubles in this islaiid his 
grandfather had brought his family from Puerto Princepe 
to dwell in this cave for safety, and that he was thoroughly 
familiar with it. We lighted our torches, entered and 
found it a grand subterranean cavern in the marble rock, 
one large chamber opening into another and each descend- 
ing constantly to lower depths, while the ceiling above 
remained at practically the same level. Some of us were 
content with visiting but a few of these chambers, not 
desiring to risk life and limb by passing down any more 
of the, wet, slippery inclines than was necessary for a 
general idea; but others were more venturesome and 
willing to .go to the limit with the gujde,. The latter was 
greatly troubled at our declii^Jtig to; go the full distance, 
•and seemed ■ td't consider ijbu fi ^.reflection either upon his 
cave or himself,' and pleaded; iWlth us as best he could 
to follow him. It Was with' "Hiffifeiilty that we succeeded 
iri'getting him to ioi§pL without us. Finally, after enjoying 
the sights and secu^^iiite a quantity of stalactites and other 
specimens, we took tne trail back toward the camp, the 
guide now doing all in his power to entertain us, and 
proving himself a kind of liatural or practical botanist, as 
he showed us some interestittg facts connected with the 
surroundihg vegetation. As^he rode along he lopped off 
about 20 iiiches of a branch or stem of a tree he called 
Indio, and placing one end. to his lips blew bubbles with 
the sap at the further end;''just as with a pipe and soap 
suds. He lopped off a similar piece of a pSra tree, and 
holding it yettically, placed his open mouth beneath and a 
stream of clear sap ran down into his mouth sufficient to 
give him a fair drink. He pulled bark from the ma- 
hogany and in the twinklt%^ of an eye would have built 
that none could break, and ,1 believe he would have built 
us a House if we had intimated to him it Would please ^us. 
After dinner we visited the Maximo River, a fine 
stre;am, which the guide assured us was full of fish, and 
indeed we had little doubt, of it. We had brought fly- 
book and tackle with us ori purpose to try this stream 
for bass, but, alas f the ti^rd storm of the first night had 
left it still high and roilj'; so that fishing was out of the 
qtiestion. We will endeavor to try it later on. The guide 
showed us the general locality of Gomez's headquarters 
during the last war, but he said they moved constantly and 
left nothing to positively mark the place where they had 
been. We had always supposed before, and I understand 
that the supposition is general, that there is a town among 
these mountains called Cubitas, and that this town was 
the seat of the insurgent government during the war. 
Geographers indeed show such a town on their maps. 
The old man, however, said this was an error, that the 
word Cubitas applied merely to the general tract covered 
by the mountains, and that there was no town by that 
name. We were disappointed at hearing this, as we had 
intended to visit this town; we felt, however, that it was 
the truth, for the old man was so anxious to please us 
he would willingly have built a town for us in the same 
manner that he had increased the Spanish losses in the 
pass, if he had only something on which to base it. We 
finally took leave of our interesting guide, and the follow- 
ing morning packed up and hastened back to town, without 
having killed or caught anything, or scarcely having seen 
any game, but having, nevertheless, had a most enjoyable 
trip, "and once more breathed the fresh invigorating air of 
.the mountain.s. Wm. F, Flynst. 
killed. All this was extremely interesting to us; we had |:! 
always heard of this massacre, and here we were at last m 
on the very ground and talking with one of the men who I s 
did it. We pressed him for facts, particularly as to num- 
bers killed. He replied in the Spanish w^ay, "Oh, many, 
toan3'." 1 asked him if he thought a hundred. He said] 
pro'D&blj^ more; and we let the matter drop for the times 
being. The guide bore the usual appearance of poverty! 
arid destitution, but on the strength of his employment! 
as guide, which was doubtless unusual, he had indlulged inj 
a bottle of Jamaica rum. which he pressed on us withS 
great liberality, and of which he partook himself copiously,] 
After one or two tumblers of the scorching beverage hadj 
been turned down his aged throat, he became more com- 
municative, and I asked him again about the number otj 
Spaniards killed ; he now replied that it was over twoj 
hundred. Later, about the time the rum was entirely con- 1 
sumed, he was- again asked, and he said "more thanj 
Long: Island Fishing. 
Queen-swatee, L, I., June 4. — The first weakfish of tHe 
-.eason was caught Decoration Day. Fluke and blaCkfish 
are biting freely, and it is very easy to get a basketful 
of thern in a few hours, but. weakfish, while they are in 
the bay, do not take readily to the bait, and are evidently 
(Waiting for warmer weather. At the Fishing Banks and 
wreck of the Iberia sea bass or ''humpbacks," as the fish- 
ermen call them, are being caught by the bushel, and 
with the commoner sort of fish, secure a good day's 
sport when the sea and weather will allow the sfnall boat 
to go nut of the inler. Qu.ahaug, 
An Indian Reverie. 
"Lay aside your cloak, O birch tree! 
Lay aside your white skin wrapper; 
For the summer time is coming. 
And the suti is warm in heaven." 
— Whittier- 
Along the edges of Melrose and the Highlands in the 
Old Bay State a little brook winds its way by pine-clad 
hills, through white birch groves, across low meadows 
vvhcre cattle delight to cool themselves on hot summer 
days. Here and there it tumbles in bright cascades over 
the rocks, forming dark pools where the speckled trout 
play hide and seek. 
In April a little tent appeared among the birch trees and 
a solitary Indian fishing up and down the brook. What 
was it that called him to this spot? 
More than 250 years ago the great Sagamore Nane- 
pashemet (New Moon), Chief of the Pawtuckets, ruled 
over all this country. He could, by one spoken word, 
command 3,000 braves to do his bidding. It must have 
been the spirits of his forefathers which drew this nine- 
teenth century Indian, the last remnant of a once free 
and powerful people, to dwell beside the little stream. 
"I make chairs," he said, "from the trees which grow 
about. I come every summer." Only a mile or so away 
is one of the largest chair factories in the State^ — ^the' 
Wakefield Rattan Works — and yet this child of the forest 
calmly went to work making chairs. It took him several 
weeks to complete one. As he finished each he took it oa 
his back, carrying it from door to door until he suc^ 
ceeded in selling it. The chairs were of the rustic order, 
strong and serviceable, as well as picturesque, and orna- 
mented by leaving the soft brown inner bark in rings and 
scallops on the twisted arms, backs and legs. 
Here and there along the brookside is a group of the 
primeval pines and hemlocks which once covered the hills 
and valleys, and through which Nanepashemet's men' 
hunted the fleet-footed red deer, wolves, bears, moose,' 
rabbits and squirrels. Their arrows were of elder wood, 
feathered with eagles' quills and tipped with porphyry or 
jasper. 
Their bows of walnut were strung with moose and deer 
sinews. 
Beside this same brook the pretty Brownettos, as the In- 
dian girls were called, wandered to see their reflections 
mirrored in the still pools, and the lads trapped beaver, or 
fished with their lines of wild hemp and hooks of fish 
bone. 
The men wore only a deer or seal skin tied about the 
waist, and in winter a larger skin of wolf or bear thrown 
over the shoulders, with moosehide moccasins. The 
vvomen. were dressed in deerskin robes ornamented with 
figures of birds and flowers, drawn in bright colors, and 
often plume-decked fillets crowned their heads. The 
sachems carried a wealth of wampum in belts, bracelets 
and pendants, sometimes many feet long, with the shells 
cut into the form of bird and beast. 
Along the edges of the streams and lakes the red men 
built their lodges, and it is not many years since arrow- 
heads and tomahawks were picked up about Lake Quan- 
apowitt (in Wakefield) which bears the name of one of 
Nanepashemet's descendants. They planted their fields of 
corn when the oak leaves were as large as mouse ears. 
Capt. Smith says that as h.e passed along the coast in 1614 
he saw "large corne fields and great troupes of well pro- 
portioned people." 
Occasionally the Indians had a great feast when wus- 
rowan (the wanderer) appeared. These birds (wild, 
pigeons) sometimes passed over the country in such, 
hordes that the children killed them with sticks. The first 
Lynn settlers tell us that they continued flying for four or 
five hours together to such an extent that one could see 
neither beginning nor end, length nor breadth, of these 
millions of millions, and when they alighted in woods they 
often broke down great limbs. 
Thus the red men lived in happiness and plenty in the 
early days of the coming of the white men ; but a few 
years after a terrible sickness swept away great numbers 
of them. There are no records left to tell us the name 
or the nature of this dread disease, but historians of that 
period have decided that it must have been the plague, 
the smallpox, or possibly yellow fever. Many more were 
killed in tribal wars, and those who were left became 
gradually converted to the white man's ways of living. 
Alas, that this influence should have gone so far as to* 
cause Poquanum, or as he is called in the Salem records, 
Black Will, the ruler of Nahant, to sell the whole of that 
peninsula to Thomas Dexter for a suit of clothes ! 
The language of the Indians was full of poetic mean- 
ing and expression. They called the ocean by a name 
which meant the great panting. One of their old sachems 
on seeing the prosperity of the Europeans and the de- 
cline of his own people through sickness and war, said, "I 
am an aged hemlock whose head has been whitened hy, 
many snows. You are the rising sun ; we are the setting." 
A Persian sage has said, "Change not the barbarous 
names, for they are given of God." So let us pling to the 
few reminders yet left to us of this fast dying race h 
the names of lake, stream and mountain. 
M.'VEGARET WeNTWORTH LeIGHTON. 
Melrose, Mass, 
Game Laws in Brief. 
iHE new number of the. Game Laws in Brief and Woouv/aft 
fMagazine contains an attractix'e list of contents and several hours 
[of good reading. See advertisement elsewhere. . 
Fish Stories horn Rhode Island. 
Pkovidence, R. I., May 26. — Editor Forest and Stream : 
The tautog down the bay are still biting voraciously. 
Wednesday evening Judge George .\. Bliss, of East Provi- 
dence, carried a party, including the tax assessors of this 
city, in his yacht down to the vicinity of Nayatt, and he 
said the fishing was the best he ever, had, the party catch-< 
ing about 500 pounds. He thinks that the abundance o£ 
fish this spring is owing to the systematic destruction 
of the star fish by the oystermen. They have invented a 
method of catching them by which they are kept down to 
the minimum. Besides preying upon oysters, the star fish 
in previous years have consumed much of the food used 
by tautog and other food fish. 
Albert Rhodes, of Wrentham, has made the largest catcli 
of pickerel recorded in these parts in many years. It was 
at the Glenwood Mill Pond that he cast his line, and in 
a few minutes landed fifteen handsome pickerel. All were 
of good size, but one tipped the scales and 43^ pounds. 
W. H. M. 
