Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/713

Rh CUBA 679 1848, his landing with 600 men from the United States in 1850, and his third attempt in 1851, which cost his life and that of many of his followers. Soon after this a reformist party sprang up, desirous of coming to a settle ment which should insure the rights of ths colony without impairing the interests of Spain, and after protracted efforts this party succeeded in obtaining an inquiry at Madrid on the reforms needed by Cuba; but the only alteration decreed was that of a new system of taxation, more oppressive than the former. Great sympathy had long been shown for the Cubans by the people of the United States, and in 1848 President Polk had gone the length of proposing through the American ambassador at Madrid a transference of the island to the United States for a sum of 81,000,000. A similar proposal was made ten years afterwards in the senate the sum suggested being $30,000,000 but after debate it was withdrawn. When the Spanish revolution of 1868 broke out, the advanced party in Cuba at once matured their plans for the liberation of the island from the military despotism of^ Spain, rose in arms at Yara in the district of Bayamo, and made a declaration of independence, dated at Manzanillo, on the 10th of October of that year. This insurrection soon assumed formidable dimensions in the eastern portion of the island ; on the 18th of October the town of Bayamo was taken, and on the 28th the jurisdiction of Holguin rose in arms. Early in November the patriots defeated a force which had been sent against them from Santiago de Cuba, and the greater number of the Spanish-American republics hastened to recognize the Cubans as belligerents. During subsequent years, in spite of the large and continued increase of the number of troops sent from Spain, and organized by the Spanish authorities in the island, the yearly campaigns up to the present time have shown that in the eastern interior the Cuban patriots are practically invincible, and that by maintaining a guerilla warfare they can attack and harass and even defeat their enemies who may be bold enough to act on the aggressive. In a debate on Cuban affairs in the Cortes of Madrid in November 1876 it was stated that } during the past eiglifc years, in attempting to crush the insurgents, Spain hal sent to Cuba 145,000 soldiers and her most favoured commanders, but with little or no result. On tl.3 other hand Cuba, under the perpetual apprehension of the rebellion, has seen her trade decrease, her crops reduced, and her Creoles deserting to the United States and Spanish republics; and her taxes have been trebled in vain to meet the ever-increasing expenses and floating debts. The island of Cuba is long and narrow, somewhat in the form of an irregular crescent with its convex side towards )u the north. It divides the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico teat, into two passages, that to the north-west being 130 English miles wide at the narrowest part, between the points of Ycacos in Cuba and Sable on the Florida coast, and the south-west passage of nearly the sarnie width, between the Cabo de San Antonio of Cuba and the Cabo de Catoche, the most salient extremity of the peninsula of Yucatan. On the north-east, east, and south-east, narrower channels separate it from the Bahamas, Hayti, and Jamaica. Cuba lies between 74 and 85 W. long., and 19 and 23 N. lat. Its length, following a curved line through its centre, 13 730 miles, and its average breadth is 80 miles. The area of Cuba is 43,319 English square miles; the neighbouring island of Pinos, 1214 square miles; and the smaller coastal islands, 1350 square miles; in all 45,883 square miles. The coast of Cuba is generally low and flat, and is surrounded by numerous islands and reefs, which render the approach both difficult and dangerous to those not acquainted with the proper channels. The low nature of the shore subjects it to frequent floods and inundations ; and especially on the north side of the island there are many large lagoons, from which a considerable quantity of salt is obtained. No island, however, in pro portion to its size, has a greater number of excellent Cuba and adjacent islands. harbours, many of them accessible even to ships of the line. Of these the chief are the ports of Bahia, Honda, Mariel, Havana, Matanzas, Cardenas, Nuevitas, and Nipe on tha northern side, and Guatanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad, and Cienfuegos on Xagua Bay on the southern. The highest part of the island is in the range extend- Mountains, ing in the south-east from the Punta de Maysi to Cape Cruz, called the Sierra or Montanos de Maestra or Cobre, the summits of whieh are the Pico de Tarquino, 7670 feet, the highest point of the whole island; Gran Piedra, 5200 feet; Yunque and Ojo del Toro, 3500 feet. From this sierra a ridge of much smaller general elevation follows nearly the central line of the island westward throughout its extent, rising to form a more marked range in the extreme west of Cuba, on which the Pan de Guajaibon attains 2530 feet. An almost isolated mass, of which the Pico de Potrerillo is the summit, 2990 feet above the sea, rises immediately behind the harbour of Trinidad, near the centre of the southern coastlaud. The south-eastern sierra is one great calcareous mass, resting on a schistose formation. The summits are for the most part rocky and naked, occasionally interrupted by more gentle undulations. The central and western parts of the island contain two formations of com pact limestone, one of clayey sandstone, and another of gypsum. Caverns abound in the limestone formations. The secondary formations, east of Havana, are pierced by syenitic and euphotide rocks united in groups. The syenite strata are intercalated with serpentine, and inclined to the north-west. In some places petroleum runs out of rents in the serpentine ; and abundant springs of this fluid are also found in the eastern part of the island. The rivers are necessarily short, and flow toward the north Rivers, and south. The largest is the Cauto, rising in the Sierra del Cobre, and falling into the Bay of Buena Esperanza on the southern coast, after a course of fifty leagues, fur twenty of which it is navigable by boats, though at low water obstructed by bars. The Sagua la Grande rises in the Sierra del Escambray, and falls into the sea in front of the Boca de Maravillas, being navigable for five leagues. The principal of the other rivers are the Sagua le Chica, the North and South latibonica, the Cuyaguateje, Sasa, Agobama, and Hanabana. North-east of Guantanamo the hills of the south-eastern sierra are known as those of Quibijan and Baracoa, and in the hill of Moa in this range there is formed a huge cavern in which the River Moa descends from a height of 100 yards, forming a superb cascade. Situated within and near the border of the northern Climate, tropical zone the climate of the low coastlauds of Cuba is