The History of Cuba, vol. 2

e narrowly provincial viewpoint of the residents of the colony. For the nobles to whom large tracts of land had been granted in the earlier days of the colony had never permanently resided ther

na not excepted, had a provincial aspect and offered little attraction to the foreign traveler who did not come there exclusively on business. Nevertheless they left a pleasant memory with many a casual visitor. A Frenchman, who spent some time in Havana about the year 1745, set down his impressions, which with other letters and memoirs of travel were edited by Pierre Jea

, FROM

e neighboring or distant height. This view, from the grounds of the great Cabanas fortress, shows the central portion of the city, with the notable public

ul in America, and they build there warships for the construction of which the king of Spain employs a prodigious number of laborers, an arsenal and an immense workshop. It is the Catholic king's custom to pay one thousand piastres a cannon; so a vessel of eight cannon costs him eight thousand piastres. There are always on the docks five or six vessels at once; it is a company calle

ntageously protected by different forts, of which one, the first, is called Morro or port of entrance; the second is opposite; a third has been erected toward the side of the city; it is so large that it seems rather a citadel than a fort. There is besides before the principal section of the c

o have been exiled. The Havanese are quite frank, extremely gay, more so than suits the ordinary Spanish gravity which is probably due to the great number of s

rich, everything being abundant in Havana; and the residents are far more neatly habited than elsewhere. One does not drink but cistern water, much superior to that of the only fountain which is in the

he Havana of the time of the British calls forth even more appreciative language from the Spani

ith altars, lamps and candelabra of gold and silver of an exquisite taste. There were three principal squares: The Plaza des Armas, which still retains its name, encompassed by houses of uniform frontage with the metropolitan church. A magnificent aspect was added to this square by the castille de la Fuerza, where resided the Captain-Generals, and the pyramid encompassed by three luxuriant five-leaved silk cotton trees planted there in memory of the tradition, that the first mass and town meeting were held in the shadow of a robust tree of that kind; that of San Francisco a

then in vogue at the Spanish court of Madrid, both in their dress and their conversation, as also in the furnishings of their houses and the good table they set their guests. These descriptions of Cu

ich had roused the jealousy of other countries were not sufficient in quantity to justify the labor needed for working them. With the increasing number of negro slaves, the possibilities of exploiting all the rich natural resources of the island were multiplied. Among the products that came into prominence was sugar. Not ordinarily consumed, it brought forty three cents a pound. John Atkins, the

to renew their supply of provisions and water, and enjoy the advantage of going out with the convoy which in the month of September returned to the Peninsula with galleons loaded with the riches of Peru and Chile, and the fleet freighted with the treasures of New Spain. This periodical assembly of a great number of merchant and war vessels in Havana had introduced the custom of holding fairs, during which great animation prevailed in the city. For while they facilitated commercial transactions, they also furnished diversion and entertainment to the sailors and others who were waiting for the sailing of the convoy.

ostoles, so called for having a dozen mounted cannon, situated toward the interior of the port in the lower parts of the Morro bulwark, which looked to the southeast and were almost at sea-level. There was also the Divina Pastora with fourteen cannon, on a level with the sea at a point a little higher than the former facing the gate of la Punta. Toward the west in the same entrance of the port and about two hundred yards from it with four bulwarks well-mounted with artillery, was la Fuerza with twenty-two cannon. Although not of a

unta could be flanked and from the southeast the shipyard was dominated. The zanja real, or royal trench, in the northern part, descended not far from the Punta de Tierra and then ran into the shipyard where its water was employed in running a mill. Half a mile from said church was the Chavez bridge, built over a rivulet flowing into the bay, which served to unite the central road of the island with that of Baracoa; and from the bridge to the Lazareto was a stretch of two miles with an intermediate hill. A trench between these two points could easily cut the co