ON THE NORTH SHORE. 
163 
THE OLD FORT AT BARACOA. 
tain background, lacks none of the charm which excited the admiration of 
Columbus. The town is built on a small peninsula and the crescent bays; 
all about lie hill and mountains. Conspicuous in the west is the celebrated 
Yunque or Anvil, its scarped heights rising 2,000 feet, and the flat table top 
defined sharp and clear against the sky. The distinguishing features of 
the landscape are the cocoanut palms, which are seen everywhere, on shore 
and hill and mountain. Millions of cocoanuts are exported annually, 
with immense quantities of cocoanut oil, copra and other by-products. 
Second in importance only to the cocoanut trade is the banana industry; 
some of the choicest bananas exported to the United States go from 
Baracoa. From interior plantations the fruit is brought down to the 
town on gravity trolley wires. The shops are striking for their size 
and large stocks of goods; Baracoa is the distributing point for the planta¬ 
tions all about. The old fort on the hill dates from a very early period; 
tradition connects it with the founders. The country about Baracoa is 
extremely rough and rugged; a peculiarity of travel is that men and 
women ride on the backs of oxen. There are numerous cascades in the 
vicinity and many caverns, in some of which have been found fossilized 
remains >>l animals and men, the human skulls showing the peculiar 
flattened form due to the artificial modeling of the head, which was 
practiced by the aborigines. 
The illustrations on pages 158, 160, 162 and 163, are from photographs by 
courtesy of the “Cuba Bulletin and Review.” 
