160 
THE STANDARD GUIDE. 
GIBARA HOUSES. 
distance. High up on the face of one of them a waterfall catches the 
light and shines like a silver mirror. There is an expansiveness about 
Nipe, and a grandeur of scenerv which impress one unlike and beyond 
any other in Cuba. 
The country all about is fertile. Orange groves and banana plantations 
line the shores of the bay. Mayari on the Mayari River, which empties 
into the bay on the east, is famed for its fine tobacco. There are ex¬ 
tensive sugar plantations near Antilla; an immense sugar mill is among 
the projected enterprises; cattle ranches and truck farms are others. 
Vegetables grow here the year around; sweet potatoes (boniatos) once 
planted, establish themselves and grow indefinitely; tomatoes run wild. 
Nipe lies three degrees below Havana, but it is one day nearer the New 
York vegetable market. The bay was at one time selected as a rendezvous 
for the United States troops, and Sampson cleared the harbor of Spanish 
ships and sunken mines. Near the western shore at the mouth of the 
Mayari River are the wrecks of the Spanish gunboats “San Jorge” and 
“Hernan Cortez.” The bay affords good fishing; there are Spanish 
mackerel, red snappers, tarpon and other fish of brilliant hues, with a pro¬ 
fusion of marine growth, fascinating in form and color. When the tide 
is favorable, submarine gardens of wonderful beauty are revealed near 
the mouth of the bay. There are sharks here, of course, as in all Cuban 
