(W. A. B. C.)
HAUTES-PYRÉNÉES,a department of south-western France, on the Spanish frontier, formed in 1790, half of it being taken from Bigorre and the remainder from Armagnac, Nébouzan, Astarac and Quatre Vallées, districts which all belonged to the province of Gascony. Pop. (1906), 209,397. Area, 1750 sq. m. Hautes-Pyrénées is bounded S. by Spain, W. by the department of Basses-Pyrénées (which encloses on its eastern border five communes belonging to Hautes-Pyrénées), N. by Gers and E. by Haute-Garonne. Except on the south its boundaries are conventional. The south of the department, comprising two-thirds of its area, is occupied by the central Pyrénées. Some of the peaks reach or exceed the height of 10,000 ft., the Vignemale (10,820 ft.) being the highest in the French Pyrénées. The imposingcirques(Cirques de Troumouse, Gavarnie and Estaubé), with their glaciers and waterfalls, and the pleasant valleys attract a large number of tourists, the most noted point being the Cirque de Gavarnie. The northern portion of the department is a region of plains and undulating hills clothed with cornfields, vineyards and meadows. To the north-east, however, thecold and wind-swept plateau of Lannemezan (about 2000 ft.), the watershed of the streams that come down on the French side of the Pyrenees, presents in its bleakness and barrenness a striking contrast to the plain that lies below. The department is drained by three principal streams, the Gave de Pau, the Adour and the Neste, an affluent of the Garonne. The sources of the first and third lie close together in the Cirque of Gavarnie and on the slopes of Troumouse, whence they flow respectively to the north-west and north-east. An important section of the Pyrenees, which carries the Massif Néouvielle and the Pic du Midi de Bigorre (with its meteorological observatory), runs northward between these two valleys. From the Pic du Midi descends the Adour, which, after watering the pleasant valley of Campan, leaves the mountains at Bagnères and then divides into a multitude of channels, to irrigate the rich plain of Tarbes. The chief of these is the Canal d’Alaric with a length of 36 m. Beyond Hautes-Pyrénées it receives on the right the Arros, which flows through the department from south to north-northwest; on the left it receives the Gave de Pau. This latter stream, rising in Gavarnie, is joined at Luz by the Gave de Bastan from Néouvielle, and at Pierrefitte by the Gave de Cauterets, fed by streams from the Vignemale. The Gave de Pau, after passing Argelès, a well-known centre for excursions, and Lourdes, leaves the mountains and turns sharply from north to west; it has a greater volume of water than the Adour, but, being more of a mountain torrent, is regarded as a tributary of the Adour, which is navigable in the latter part of its course. The Neste d’Aure, descending from the peaks of Néouvielle and Troumouse, receives at Arreau the Neste de Louron from the pass of Clarabide and flows northwards through a beautiful valley as far as La Barthe, where it turns east; it is important as furnishing the plateau of Lannemezan with a canal, the Canal de la Neste, the waters of which are partly used for irrigation and partly for supplying the streams that rise there and are dried up in summer—the Gers and the Baïse, affluents of the Garonne. This latter only touches the department. The climate of Hautes-Pyrénées, though very cold on the highlands, is warm and moist in the plains, where there are hot summers, fine autumns, mild winters and rainy springs. On the plateau of Lannemezan, while the summers are dry and scorching, the winters are very severe. The average annual rainfall at Tarbes, in the north of the department, is about 34 in.; at the higher altitudes it is much greater. The mean annual temperature at Tarbes is 59° Fahr.
Hautes-Pyrénées is agricultural in the plains, pastoral in the highlands. The more important cereals are wheat and maize, which is much used for the feeding of pigs and poultry, especially geese; rye, oats and barley are grown in the mountain districts. The wines of Madiran and Peyriguère are well known and tobacco is also cultivated; chestnut trees and fruit trees are grown on the lower slopes. In the neighbourhood of Tarbes and Bagnères-de-Bigorre horse-breeding is the principal occupation and there is a famous stud at Tarbes. The horse of the region is the result of a fusion of Arab, English and Navarrese blood and is well fitted for saddle and harness; it is largely used by light cavalry regiments. Cattle raising is important; the milch-cows of Lourdes and the oxen of Tarbes and the valley of the Aure are highly esteemed. Sheep and goats are also reared. The forests, which occur chiefly in the highlands, contain bears, boars, wolves and other wild animals. There are at Campan and Sarrancolin quarries of fine marble, which is sawn and worked at Bagnères. There is a group of slate quarries at Labassère. Deposits of lignite, lead, manganese and zinc are found. The mineral springs of Hautes-Pyrénées are numerous and much visited. The principal in the valley of the Gave de Pau are Cauterets (hot springs containing sulphur and sodium), St Sauveur (springs with sulphur and sodium), and Barèges (hot springs with sulphur and sodium), and in the valley of the Adour Bagnères (hot or cold springs containing calcium sulphates, iron, sulphur and sodium) and Capvern near Lannemezan (springs containing calcium sulphates).
The department has flour-mills and saw-mills, a large military arsenal at Tarbes, paper-mills, tanneries and manufactories of agricultural implements and looms. The spinning and weaving of wool and the manufacture of knitted goods are carried on; Bagnères-de-Bigorre is the chief centre of the textile industry.
Of the passes (ports) into Spain, even the chief, Gavarnie (7398 ft.), is not accessible to carriages. The department is served by the Southern railway and is traversed from west to east by the main line from Bayonne to Toulouse. There are three arrondissements, those of Tarbes, Argelès and Bagnères-de-Bigorre, 26 cantons and 480 communes. Tarbes is the capital of Hautes-Pyrénées, which constitutes the diocese of Tarbes, and is attached to the appeal court of Pau; it forms part of the region of the XVIII. army corps. In educational matters it falls within the circumscription of the académie of Toulouse. Tarbes, Lourdes, Bagnères-de-Bigorre and Luz-St Sauveur are the principal towns. St Savin, in the valley of the Gave de Pau, and Sarrancolin have interesting Romanesque churches. The church of Maubourguet built by the Templars in the 12th century is also remarkable.
HAUTE-VIENNE,a department of central France, formed in 1790 of Haut-Limousin and of portions of Marche, Poitou and Berry. Pop. (1906), 385,732. Area, 2144 sq. m. It is bounded N. by Indre, E. by Creuse, S.E. by Corrèze, S.W. by Dordogne, W. by Charente and N.W. by Vienne. Haute-Vienne belongs to the central plateau of France, and drains partly to the Loire and partly to the Garonne. The highest altitude (2549 ft.) is in the extreme south-east, and belongs to the treeless but well-watered plateau of Millevaches, formed of granite, gneiss and mica. From that point the department slopes towards the west, south-west and north. To the north-west of the Millevaches are the Ambazac and Blond Hills, both separating the valley of the Vienne from that of the Gartempe, a tributary of the Creuse. The Vienne traverses the department from east to west, passing Eymoutiers, St Léonard, Limoges and St Junien, and receiving on the right the Maude and the Taurion. The Isle, which flows into the Dordogne, with its tributaries the Auvézère and the Dronne, and the Tardoire and the Bandiat, tributaries of the Charente, all rise in the south of the department. The altitude and inland position of Haute-Vienne, its geological character, and the northern exposure of its valleys make the winters long and severe; but the climate is milder in the west and north-west. The annual rainfall often reaches 36 or 37 in. and even more in the mountains. Haute-Vienne is on the whole unproductive. Rye, wheat, buckwheat and oats are the cereals most grown, but the chestnut, which is a characteristic product of the department, still forms the staple food of large numbers of the population. Potatoes, mangolds, hemp and colza are cultivated. After the chestnut, walnuts and cider-apples are the principal fruits. Good breeds of horned cattle and sheep are reared and find a ready market in Paris. Horses for remount purposes are also raised. The quarries furnish granite and large quantities of kaolin, which is both exported and used in the porcelain works of the department. Amianthus, emeralds and garnets are found. Limoges is the centre of the porcelain industry and has important liqueur distilleries. Woollen goods, starch, paper and pasteboard, wooden and leather shoes, gloves, agricultural implements and hats are other industrial products, and there are flour-mills, breweries, dye-works, tanneries, iron foundries and printing works. Wine and alcohol for the liqueur-manufacture, coal, raw materials for textile industries, hops, skins and various manufactured articles are among the imports.
The department is served almost entirely by the Orléans Railway. It is divided into the arrondissements of Limoges, Bellac, Rochechouart and St Yrieix (29 cantons and 205 communes), and belongs to the académie (educational division) of Poitiers and the ecclesiastical province of Bourges. Limoges, the capital, is the seat of a bishopric and of a court of appeal, and is the headquarters of the XII. army corps. The other principal towns are St Yrieix and St Junien. Solignac, St Léonard and Le Dorat have fine Romanesque churches. The remainsof the chateau of Chalusset (S.S.E. of Limoges), the most remarkable feudal ruins in Limousin, and the château of Rochechouart, which dates from the 13th, 15th and 16th centuries, are also of interest.
HAUT-RHIN,before 1871 a department of eastern France, formed in 1790 from the southern portion of Alsace. The name “Haut-Rhin” is sometimes used of the territory of Belfort (q.v.).
HAÜY, RENÉ JUST(1743-1822), French mineralogist, commonly styled the Abbé Haüy, from being an honorary canon of Notre Dame, was born at St Just, in the department of Oise, on the 28th of February 1743. His parents were in a humble rank of life, and were only enabled by the kindness of friends to send their son to the college of Navarre and afterwards to that of Lemoine. Becoming one of the teachers at the latter, he began to devote his leisure hours to the study of botany; but an accident directed his attention to another field in natural history. Happening to let fall a specimen of calcareous spar belonging to a friend, he was led by examination of the fragments to make experiments which resulted in the statement of the geometrical law of crystallization associated with his name (seeCrystallography). The value of this discovery, the mathematical theory of which is given by Haüy in hisTraité de minéralogie, was immediately recognized, and when communicated to the Academy, it secured for its author a place in that society. Haüy’s name is also known for the observations he made in pyro-electricity. When the Revolution broke out, he was thrown into prison, and his life was even in danger, when he was saved by the intercession of E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. In 1802, under Napoleon, he became professor of mineralogy at the museum of natural history, but after 1814 he was deprived of his appointments by the government of the Restoration. His latter days were consequently clouded by poverty, but the courage and high moral qualities which had helped him forward in his youth did not desert him in his old age; and he lived cheerful and respected till his death at Paris on the 3rd of June 1822.
The following are his principal works:Essai d’une théorie sur la structure des cristaux(1784);Exposition raisonnée de la théorie de l’électricité et du magnétisme, d’après les principes d’Aepinus(1787);De la structure considérée comme caractère distinctif des minéraux(1793);Exposition abrégée de la théorie de la structure des cristaux(1793);Extrait d’un traité élémentaire de minéralogie(1797);Traité de minéralogie(4 vols., 1801);Traité élémentaire de physique(2 vols., 1803, 1806);Tableau comparatif des résultats de la cristallographie, et de l’analyse chimique relativement à la classification des minéraux(1809);Traité des pierres précieuses(1817);Traité de cristallographie(2 vols., 1822). He also contributed papers, of which 100 are enumerated in the Royal Society’s catalogue, to various scientific journals, especially theJournal de physiqueand theAnnals du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle.
The following are his principal works:Essai d’une théorie sur la structure des cristaux(1784);Exposition raisonnée de la théorie de l’électricité et du magnétisme, d’après les principes d’Aepinus(1787);De la structure considérée comme caractère distinctif des minéraux(1793);Exposition abrégée de la théorie de la structure des cristaux(1793);Extrait d’un traité élémentaire de minéralogie(1797);Traité de minéralogie(4 vols., 1801);Traité élémentaire de physique(2 vols., 1803, 1806);Tableau comparatif des résultats de la cristallographie, et de l’analyse chimique relativement à la classification des minéraux(1809);Traité des pierres précieuses(1817);Traité de cristallographie(2 vols., 1822). He also contributed papers, of which 100 are enumerated in the Royal Society’s catalogue, to various scientific journals, especially theJournal de physiqueand theAnnals du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle.
HAVANA(the name is of aboriginal origin; Span. Habana or, more fully, San Cristóbal de la Habana), the capital of Cuba, the largest city of the West Indies, and one of the principal seats of commerce in the New World, situated on the northern coast of the island in 23° 9′ N. lat. and 82° 22′ W. long. Pop. (1899), 235,981; (1907), 297,159. The city occupies a peninsula to the W. of the harbour, between its waters and those of the sea. Several small streams, of which the Almendares river is the largest, empty into the harbour. The pouch-shaped, landlocked bay is spacious and easy of access. Large merchantmen and men-of-war can come up and unload along at least a considerable part of the water-front. The entrance, which is encumbered by neither bar nor rock, averages about 260 yds. in width and is about 1400 yds. long. Within, the bay breaks up into three distinct arms, Marimalena or Regla Bay, Guanabacoa Bay and the Bay of Atarés. On the left hand of the entrance stands the lofty lighthouse tower of the Morro. The sewage of the city and other impurities were for centuries allowed to pollute the bay, but the extent to which the harbour was thereby filled up has been exaggerated. Though certainly very much smaller than it once was, there is a difference of opinion as to whether the harbour has grown smaller since the end of the 18th century.
From the sea the city presents a picturesque appearance. The Havana side of the bay has a sea-wall and an excellent drive. The city walls, begun in 1671 and completed about 1740, were almost entirely demolished between 1863 and 1880, only a few insignificant remnants having survived the American military occupation of 1899-1902; but it is still usual to speak of the “intramural” and the “extramural” city. The former, the old city, lying close to the harbour front, has streets as narrow as is consistent with wheel traffic. Obispo (Pi y Margall in the new republican nomenclature), O’Reilly and San Rafael are the finest retail business streets, and the Prado and the Cerro the handsomest residential streets in the city proper. The new city, including the suburbs to the W. overlooking the sea, has been laid out on a somewhat more spacious plan, with isolated dwellings and wide thoroughfares, some planted with trees. Most of the houses, and especially those of the planter aristocracy, are massively built of stone, with large grated windows, flat roofs with heavy parapets and inner courts. As the erection of wooden buildings was illegal long after 1772, it is only in the suburban districts that they are to be seen. The limestone which underlies almost all the island affords excellent building stone. The poorer houses are built of brick with plaster fronts. Three-fourths of all the buildings of the city are of one very high storey; there are but a few dozen buildings as high as four storeys. Under Spanish rule, Havana was reputed to be a city of noises and smells. There was no satisfactory cleaning of the streets or draining of the subsoil, and the harbour was rendered visibly foul by the impurities of the town. A revolution was worked in this respect during the United States military occupation of the city, and the republic continued the work.
Climate.—The general characteristics of the climate of Havana are described in the article Cuba. A temperature as low as 40° F. is extraordinary; and freezing point is only reached on extremely rare occasions, such as during hurricanes or electric storms. The mean annual temperature is about 25.7° C. (78° F.); that of the hottest month is about 28.8° C. (84° F.), and that of the coldest, 21° C. (70° F.). The means of the four seasons are approximately—for December, January, February and successive quarters—23°, 27°, 28° and 26° C. (73.4°, 80.6°, 82.4° and 78.8° F.). The mean relative humidity is between 75 and 80 for all seasons save spring, when it is least and may be from 65 upward. A difference of 30° C. (54° F.) at mid-day in the temperature of two spots close together, one in sun and one in shade, is not unusual. The daily variation of temperature is also considerable. The depressing effect of the heat and humidity is greatly relieved by afternoon breezes from the sea, and the nights are invariably comfortable and generally cool.Defences.—The principal defences of Havana under Spanish rule, when the city was maintained as a military stronghold of the first rank, were (to use the original and unabbreviated form of the names) the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta, to the W. of the harbour entrance; the Castillo de Los Tres Reyes del Morro and San Carlos de la Cabaña, to the E.; the Santo Domingo de Atarés, at the head of the western arm of the bay, commanding the city and its vicinity; and the Castillo del Príncipe (1767-1780), situated inland on an eminence to the W. El Morro, as it is popularly called, was first erected in 1590-1640, and La Punta, a much smaller fort, is of the same period; both were reconstructed after the evacuation of the city by the English in 1763, from which time also date the castles of Príncipe, Atarés and the Cabaña. The Cabaña, which alone can accommodate some 6000 men, fronts the bay for a distance of more than 800 yds., and was long supposed, at least by Spaniards, to be the strongest fortress of America. Here is the “laurel ditch” or “dead-line”—commemorated by a handsome bronze relief set in the wall of the fortress—where scores of Cuban patriots were shot. To the E. and W. inland are several small forts. The military establishment of the republic is very small.Churches.—Of the many old churches in the city, the most noteworthy is the cathedral. The original building was abandoned in 1762. The present one, originally the church of the Jesuits, was erected in 1656-1724. The interior decoration dates largely from the last decade of the 18th century and the first two decades of the 19th. In the wall of the chancel, a medallion and inscription long distinguished the tomb of Columbus, whose remains were removed hither from Santo Domingo in 1796. In 1898 they were taken to Spain. Mention may also be made of the churches of Santo Domingo (begun in 1578), Santa Catalina (1700), San Agustin (1608), Santa Clara (1644), La Merced (1744, with a collection of oil paintings) and San Felipe (1693). Monasteries and nunneries were very numerous until the suppression of the religious orders in 1842, when many became simple churches. Some of the convents were successful in conserving their wealth. The former monastery of the Jesuits, now the Jesuit church of Belén (1704), at the corner of Luzand Compostela Streets, is one of the most elegant and richly ornamented in Cuba.Public Buildings.—The Palace, which served as a residence for the captains-general during the Spanish rule, is the home of the city government and the residence of the president of the republic. It is a large and handsome stone structure (tinted in white and yellow), and stands on the site of the original parish church, facing the Plaza de Armas from the east. It was erected in 1773-1792 and radically altered in 1835 and 1851. A large municipal gaol (1834-1837), capable of receiving 500 inmates, with barracks for a regiment, is a striking object on the Prado. The Castillo del Príncipe now serves as the state penitentiary. Among other public buildings are the exchange (El Muelle), the custom-house (formerly the church of San Francisco; begun about 1575, rebuilt in 1731-1737), and the Maestranza (c.1723), once the navy yard and the headquarters of the artillery and now the home of the national library. All these are in the old city. Some of the older structures—notably the church of Santo Domingo and the Maestranza—are built of grey limestone. In the old city also are the Plaza Vieja, dating from the middle of the 16th century (with the modern Mercado de Cristina, of 1837—destroyed 1908), the old stronghold La Fuerza, erected by Hernando de Soto in 1538, once the treasury of the flotas and galleons, and residence of the governors, with its old watch-tower (La Vigía); and the Plaza de Armas, with the palace, the Senate building, a statue of Fernando VII. (1833), and a commemorative chapel (El Templete, 1828) to mark the supposed spot where mass was first said at the establishment of the city. Mention must be made of the large and interesting markets, especially those of Colón and Tacón. Of the theatres, which until the end of the Spanish period had to compete with the bull-ring and the cockpit, the most important is the Tacón (now “Nacional”) erected in 1838.Havana is famous for its promenades, drives and public gardens. On the city’s E. harbour front runs the Paseo (Alameda) de Paula (1772-1775, improved 1844-1845), an embanked drive, continued by the Paseo de Rocali and the Cortina de Valdes, with fine views of the forts and the harbour. On the N., along the sea, beginning at the Punta fortress and running W. for several miles along the sea-wall, is a speedway and pleasure-drive, known—from the wall—as the Malecón. Beginning at the Punta fortress—where a park was laid out in 1899 in the place of an ugly quarter, with a memorial to the students judicially murdered by the Spanish volunteers in 1871—and running along the line of the former city walls, past the Parque Central, through the Parque de Isabel II. and the Parque de la India (these two names are now practically abandoned) to the Parque de Colón or Campo de Marte, is the Prado,1a wide and handsome promenade and drive, shaded with laurels and lined with fine houses and clubs. In 1907 a hurricane destroyed the greater part of the laurels of the Prado and the royal palms of the Parque de Colón. Central Park is surrounded by hotels, theatres, cafés and clubs, the last including the Centro Asturiano and Casino Español. In the centre is a monument to José Martí (1853-1895), “the apostle of independence,” and in an adjoining square is the city’s fine monument to the Cuban engineer Francisco de Albear, to whom she owes her water system. From the Parque de Colón the Calle (or Calzada) de la Reina—an ordinary business street, once a promenade and known as the Alameda de Isabel II.—with its continuations, the Paseo de Carlos III. and Paseo de Tacón, runs westward through the city past the botanical gardens and the Quinta de los Molinos to the citadel of El Príncipe (1774-1794). A statue of Charles III. by Canova (1803), fountains, pavilions and four rows of trees adorn the Paseo de Carlos III. The gardens of Los Molinos, where the captains-general formerly maintained their summer residence, and the adjoining botanical gardens of the university, contain beautiful avenues of palm trees. Near El Príncipe is the Columbus cemetery, with a fine gateway, a handsome monument (1888) to the students shot in 1871, and another (1897; 75 ft. high) to the firemen lost in a great fire in 1890, besides many smaller memorials. The Calzada de la Infanta is a fine street at the W. end of the new city; the Cerro, in the S.W., is lined with massive residences, once the homes of Cuban aristocracy.Suburbs.—In the coral rock of the coast sea-baths are excavated, so that bathers may run no risk from sharks. On the S. and W. the city is backed by an amphitheatre of hills, which are crowned in the W. by the conspicuous fortifications of Castillo del Príncipe. On the lower heights near the city lie Vedado, Jesus del Monte, Luyano and other healthy suburbs. Chorrera, Puentes Grandes, Marianao (founded 1830; pop. 1907, 9332) and Guanabacoa (with mineral springs), are attractive places of resort. Regla, just across the bay (now part of themunicipio), has large business interests.Charities and Education.—Among the numerous charitable institutions the most important hospital is the Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad (Charity and Maternity Asylum), opened in 1794, and containing an orphan asylum, a maternity ward, a home for vagrants, a lunatic asylum and an infirmary. There is also in the city an immense lazaretto for lepers. The Centro Asturiano, a club with a membership of some ten or fifteen thousand (not limited to Asturians), maintains for the benefit of its members a large and well-managed sanatorium in spacious grounds in the midst of the city.Of the schools of the city the most noteworthy is the university (581 regular students, 1907), founded in 1728. Its quarters were in the old convent of Santo Domingo until 1900, when the American military government prepared better quarters for it in the former Pirotecnica Militar, near El Príncipe. There are various laboratories in the city. Other schools are the provincial Institute of Secondary Education (490 regular students in 1907; library of 12,863 vols.), a provincial school of arts and trades (opened 1882), a theological seminary, a boys’ technical school, a school of painting and sculpture, a conservatory of music, normal school, mercantile school and a military academy. The Jesuit church (Belén) has a large college for boys, laboratories, an observatory, a museum of natural history, and an historical library. Great progress has been made in education, which was extremely backward until after the end of Spanish rule. The Sociedad Economica de Amigos del Pais, established in 1792, has always had considerable influence. It has a library of some 42,000 volumes, rich in material for Cuban history. Among other similar organizations are an Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences (1863); a national library, established in 1901, and having in 1908 about 40,000 volumes, including the finest collection in the world of materials for Cuban history; an anthropological society; various medical societies; and a Bar association. An association of sugar planters is a very important factor in the economic development of the island.Of the newspapers of Havana the most notable is theEl Diario de la Marina(established in 1838; under its present name, 1844; morning and evening), which was almost from its foundation an official organ of the Spanish government, and generally the mouthpiece of the most intransigent peninsular opinion in all that concerned the politics of the island.El Ansador Comercial(1868; evening) is devoted almost exclusively to commercial and financial news. Of the other newspapers the leading ones in 1909 wereLa Discusion(1888; evening),La Luchu(1884; evening) andEl Mundo(1902; morning).Trade.—Havana commands the wholesale trade of all the western half of the island, and is the centre of commercial and banking interests. Its foreign trade in the five calendar years 1902-1906 (average imports $57,201,276; exports, $40,563,637) amounted to 68.9% of the imports and 44.6% of the exports of the island. The average number of vessels entering the port annually in the ten years from 1864 to 1873 was 1981 (771,196 tons), and the average entries in the five years 1902-1906 were 3698 of 3,904,906 gross tons (coast trade alone, 2162 of 333,795 tons).In spite of high tariffs and civil wars, and the competition of Matanzas, Cárdenas, Cienfuegos and other Cuban ports opened to foreign trade in modern times, the commerce of Havana has steadily increased. The chief foreign customers are Great Britain and the United States. The two staple articles of export are sugar and tobacco-wares. Other exports of importance are rum, wax and honey; and of less primary importance, fruits, fine cabinet woods, oils and starch. The leading imports are grains, flour, lard and various other foodstuffs, coal, lumber, petroleum and machinery, all mainly from the United States; wines and olive oil from Spain; jerked beef from South America; fabrics and other staples from varied sources. Rice is a principal food of the people; it was formerly taken from the East Indies, but is now mostly raised in the island.The chief manufacturing industry of Havana is that of tobacco. Of the cigar factories, some of which are in former public and private palaces, more than a hundred may be reckoned as of the first class. Besides the making of boxes and barrels and other articles necessarily involved in its sugar and tobacco trade, Havana also, to some extent, builds carriages and small ships, and manufactures iron and machinery; but the weight of taxation during the Spanish period was always a heavy deterrent on the development of any business requiring great capital. There are minor manufacturing interests in tanneries, and in the manufacture of sweetmeats, malt and distilled liquors, especially rum, besides soaps, candles, starch, perfume, &c. There is one large and complete petroleum refinery (1905).Havana has frequent steam-boat communication with New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Tampa, Mobile, New Orleans and other ports of the United States; and about as frequent with several ports in England, Spain and France. It is the starting-point of a railway system which reaches the six provincial capitals between Pinar del Rio and Santiago, Cárdenas, Cienfuegos and other ports. Telegraphs radiate to all parts of the island; a submarine cable to Key West forms part of the line of communication between Colon and New York, and by other cables the island has connexion with various parts of the West Indies and with South America.Population and Health.—The population of Havana was reported as 51,307 in 1791; 96,304 in 1811; 94,023 in 1817; 184,508 in 1841. In 1899 the American census showed 235,981, of whom about 25% were foreign (20% Spanish); and the census of 1907 showed 297,159 (not including the attached country districts) and 302,526 (including these country districts), the last being for the “municipio” of Havana. The industrial population is very densely crowded. Owing to this, as well as to the entire lack of proper sanitary customs among the people, the horrible condition of sewerage and theprevalence of yellow fever (first brought to Havana, it is thought, in 1761, from Vera Cruz), the reputation of the city as regards health was long very bad. The practical extermination of yellow fever during the U.S. military occupation following 1899 was a remarkable achievement. In 1895-1899, owing to the war, there were few non-immune persons in the city, and there was no trouble with the fever, but from the autumn of 1899 a heavy immigration from Spain began, and a fever epidemic was raging in 1900. The American military authorities found that the most extraordinary measures for cleansing the city—involving repeated house-to-house inspection, enforced cleanliness, improved drainage and sewerage, the destruction of various public buildings, and thorough cleansing of the streets—although decidedly effective in reducing the general death-rate of the city (average, 1890-1899, 45.83; 1900, 24.40; 1901, 22.11; 1902, 20.63; general death-rate of U.S. soldiers in 1898, 67.94; in 1901-1902, 7.00), apparently did not affect yellow fever at all. In 1900-1901 Major Walter Reed (1851-1902), a surgeon in the United States army, proved by experiments on voluntary human subjects that the infection was spread by theStegomyiamosquito,2and the prevention of the disease was then undertaken by Major William C. Gorgas—all patients being screened and mosquitoes practically exterminated.3The number of subsequent deaths from yellow fever has depended solely on the degree to which the necessary precautionary measures were taken.The entire administrative system of the island, when a Spanish colony, was centred at Havana. Under the republic this remains the capital and the residence of the president, the supreme court, Congress when in session and the chief administrative officers. None of the public services was good in the Spanish period, except the water-supply, which was excellent. The water is derived from the Vento springs, 9 m. from Havana, and is conducted through aqueducts constructed between 1859 and 1894 at a cost of some $5,000,000. About 40,000,000 gallons are supplied daily. The system is owned by the municipality. The older Fernando VII. aqueduct (1831-1835) is still usable in case of need; its supply was the Almendares river (until long after the construction of this, a still older aqueduct, opened at the end of the 16th century, was in use). The sewerage system and conditions of house sanitation were found extremely inadequate when the American army occupied the city in 1899. Several public buildings were so foul that they were demolished and burned. The improvement since the end of Spanish rule has been steady.
Climate.—The general characteristics of the climate of Havana are described in the article Cuba. A temperature as low as 40° F. is extraordinary; and freezing point is only reached on extremely rare occasions, such as during hurricanes or electric storms. The mean annual temperature is about 25.7° C. (78° F.); that of the hottest month is about 28.8° C. (84° F.), and that of the coldest, 21° C. (70° F.). The means of the four seasons are approximately—for December, January, February and successive quarters—23°, 27°, 28° and 26° C. (73.4°, 80.6°, 82.4° and 78.8° F.). The mean relative humidity is between 75 and 80 for all seasons save spring, when it is least and may be from 65 upward. A difference of 30° C. (54° F.) at mid-day in the temperature of two spots close together, one in sun and one in shade, is not unusual. The daily variation of temperature is also considerable. The depressing effect of the heat and humidity is greatly relieved by afternoon breezes from the sea, and the nights are invariably comfortable and generally cool.
Defences.—The principal defences of Havana under Spanish rule, when the city was maintained as a military stronghold of the first rank, were (to use the original and unabbreviated form of the names) the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta, to the W. of the harbour entrance; the Castillo de Los Tres Reyes del Morro and San Carlos de la Cabaña, to the E.; the Santo Domingo de Atarés, at the head of the western arm of the bay, commanding the city and its vicinity; and the Castillo del Príncipe (1767-1780), situated inland on an eminence to the W. El Morro, as it is popularly called, was first erected in 1590-1640, and La Punta, a much smaller fort, is of the same period; both were reconstructed after the evacuation of the city by the English in 1763, from which time also date the castles of Príncipe, Atarés and the Cabaña. The Cabaña, which alone can accommodate some 6000 men, fronts the bay for a distance of more than 800 yds., and was long supposed, at least by Spaniards, to be the strongest fortress of America. Here is the “laurel ditch” or “dead-line”—commemorated by a handsome bronze relief set in the wall of the fortress—where scores of Cuban patriots were shot. To the E. and W. inland are several small forts. The military establishment of the republic is very small.
Churches.—Of the many old churches in the city, the most noteworthy is the cathedral. The original building was abandoned in 1762. The present one, originally the church of the Jesuits, was erected in 1656-1724. The interior decoration dates largely from the last decade of the 18th century and the first two decades of the 19th. In the wall of the chancel, a medallion and inscription long distinguished the tomb of Columbus, whose remains were removed hither from Santo Domingo in 1796. In 1898 they were taken to Spain. Mention may also be made of the churches of Santo Domingo (begun in 1578), Santa Catalina (1700), San Agustin (1608), Santa Clara (1644), La Merced (1744, with a collection of oil paintings) and San Felipe (1693). Monasteries and nunneries were very numerous until the suppression of the religious orders in 1842, when many became simple churches. Some of the convents were successful in conserving their wealth. The former monastery of the Jesuits, now the Jesuit church of Belén (1704), at the corner of Luzand Compostela Streets, is one of the most elegant and richly ornamented in Cuba.
Public Buildings.—The Palace, which served as a residence for the captains-general during the Spanish rule, is the home of the city government and the residence of the president of the republic. It is a large and handsome stone structure (tinted in white and yellow), and stands on the site of the original parish church, facing the Plaza de Armas from the east. It was erected in 1773-1792 and radically altered in 1835 and 1851. A large municipal gaol (1834-1837), capable of receiving 500 inmates, with barracks for a regiment, is a striking object on the Prado. The Castillo del Príncipe now serves as the state penitentiary. Among other public buildings are the exchange (El Muelle), the custom-house (formerly the church of San Francisco; begun about 1575, rebuilt in 1731-1737), and the Maestranza (c.1723), once the navy yard and the headquarters of the artillery and now the home of the national library. All these are in the old city. Some of the older structures—notably the church of Santo Domingo and the Maestranza—are built of grey limestone. In the old city also are the Plaza Vieja, dating from the middle of the 16th century (with the modern Mercado de Cristina, of 1837—destroyed 1908), the old stronghold La Fuerza, erected by Hernando de Soto in 1538, once the treasury of the flotas and galleons, and residence of the governors, with its old watch-tower (La Vigía); and the Plaza de Armas, with the palace, the Senate building, a statue of Fernando VII. (1833), and a commemorative chapel (El Templete, 1828) to mark the supposed spot where mass was first said at the establishment of the city. Mention must be made of the large and interesting markets, especially those of Colón and Tacón. Of the theatres, which until the end of the Spanish period had to compete with the bull-ring and the cockpit, the most important is the Tacón (now “Nacional”) erected in 1838.
Havana is famous for its promenades, drives and public gardens. On the city’s E. harbour front runs the Paseo (Alameda) de Paula (1772-1775, improved 1844-1845), an embanked drive, continued by the Paseo de Rocali and the Cortina de Valdes, with fine views of the forts and the harbour. On the N., along the sea, beginning at the Punta fortress and running W. for several miles along the sea-wall, is a speedway and pleasure-drive, known—from the wall—as the Malecón. Beginning at the Punta fortress—where a park was laid out in 1899 in the place of an ugly quarter, with a memorial to the students judicially murdered by the Spanish volunteers in 1871—and running along the line of the former city walls, past the Parque Central, through the Parque de Isabel II. and the Parque de la India (these two names are now practically abandoned) to the Parque de Colón or Campo de Marte, is the Prado,1a wide and handsome promenade and drive, shaded with laurels and lined with fine houses and clubs. In 1907 a hurricane destroyed the greater part of the laurels of the Prado and the royal palms of the Parque de Colón. Central Park is surrounded by hotels, theatres, cafés and clubs, the last including the Centro Asturiano and Casino Español. In the centre is a monument to José Martí (1853-1895), “the apostle of independence,” and in an adjoining square is the city’s fine monument to the Cuban engineer Francisco de Albear, to whom she owes her water system. From the Parque de Colón the Calle (or Calzada) de la Reina—an ordinary business street, once a promenade and known as the Alameda de Isabel II.—with its continuations, the Paseo de Carlos III. and Paseo de Tacón, runs westward through the city past the botanical gardens and the Quinta de los Molinos to the citadel of El Príncipe (1774-1794). A statue of Charles III. by Canova (1803), fountains, pavilions and four rows of trees adorn the Paseo de Carlos III. The gardens of Los Molinos, where the captains-general formerly maintained their summer residence, and the adjoining botanical gardens of the university, contain beautiful avenues of palm trees. Near El Príncipe is the Columbus cemetery, with a fine gateway, a handsome monument (1888) to the students shot in 1871, and another (1897; 75 ft. high) to the firemen lost in a great fire in 1890, besides many smaller memorials. The Calzada de la Infanta is a fine street at the W. end of the new city; the Cerro, in the S.W., is lined with massive residences, once the homes of Cuban aristocracy.
Suburbs.—In the coral rock of the coast sea-baths are excavated, so that bathers may run no risk from sharks. On the S. and W. the city is backed by an amphitheatre of hills, which are crowned in the W. by the conspicuous fortifications of Castillo del Príncipe. On the lower heights near the city lie Vedado, Jesus del Monte, Luyano and other healthy suburbs. Chorrera, Puentes Grandes, Marianao (founded 1830; pop. 1907, 9332) and Guanabacoa (with mineral springs), are attractive places of resort. Regla, just across the bay (now part of themunicipio), has large business interests.
Charities and Education.—Among the numerous charitable institutions the most important hospital is the Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad (Charity and Maternity Asylum), opened in 1794, and containing an orphan asylum, a maternity ward, a home for vagrants, a lunatic asylum and an infirmary. There is also in the city an immense lazaretto for lepers. The Centro Asturiano, a club with a membership of some ten or fifteen thousand (not limited to Asturians), maintains for the benefit of its members a large and well-managed sanatorium in spacious grounds in the midst of the city.
Of the schools of the city the most noteworthy is the university (581 regular students, 1907), founded in 1728. Its quarters were in the old convent of Santo Domingo until 1900, when the American military government prepared better quarters for it in the former Pirotecnica Militar, near El Príncipe. There are various laboratories in the city. Other schools are the provincial Institute of Secondary Education (490 regular students in 1907; library of 12,863 vols.), a provincial school of arts and trades (opened 1882), a theological seminary, a boys’ technical school, a school of painting and sculpture, a conservatory of music, normal school, mercantile school and a military academy. The Jesuit church (Belén) has a large college for boys, laboratories, an observatory, a museum of natural history, and an historical library. Great progress has been made in education, which was extremely backward until after the end of Spanish rule. The Sociedad Economica de Amigos del Pais, established in 1792, has always had considerable influence. It has a library of some 42,000 volumes, rich in material for Cuban history. Among other similar organizations are an Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences (1863); a national library, established in 1901, and having in 1908 about 40,000 volumes, including the finest collection in the world of materials for Cuban history; an anthropological society; various medical societies; and a Bar association. An association of sugar planters is a very important factor in the economic development of the island.
Of the newspapers of Havana the most notable is theEl Diario de la Marina(established in 1838; under its present name, 1844; morning and evening), which was almost from its foundation an official organ of the Spanish government, and generally the mouthpiece of the most intransigent peninsular opinion in all that concerned the politics of the island.El Ansador Comercial(1868; evening) is devoted almost exclusively to commercial and financial news. Of the other newspapers the leading ones in 1909 wereLa Discusion(1888; evening),La Luchu(1884; evening) andEl Mundo(1902; morning).
Trade.—Havana commands the wholesale trade of all the western half of the island, and is the centre of commercial and banking interests. Its foreign trade in the five calendar years 1902-1906 (average imports $57,201,276; exports, $40,563,637) amounted to 68.9% of the imports and 44.6% of the exports of the island. The average number of vessels entering the port annually in the ten years from 1864 to 1873 was 1981 (771,196 tons), and the average entries in the five years 1902-1906 were 3698 of 3,904,906 gross tons (coast trade alone, 2162 of 333,795 tons).
In spite of high tariffs and civil wars, and the competition of Matanzas, Cárdenas, Cienfuegos and other Cuban ports opened to foreign trade in modern times, the commerce of Havana has steadily increased. The chief foreign customers are Great Britain and the United States. The two staple articles of export are sugar and tobacco-wares. Other exports of importance are rum, wax and honey; and of less primary importance, fruits, fine cabinet woods, oils and starch. The leading imports are grains, flour, lard and various other foodstuffs, coal, lumber, petroleum and machinery, all mainly from the United States; wines and olive oil from Spain; jerked beef from South America; fabrics and other staples from varied sources. Rice is a principal food of the people; it was formerly taken from the East Indies, but is now mostly raised in the island.
The chief manufacturing industry of Havana is that of tobacco. Of the cigar factories, some of which are in former public and private palaces, more than a hundred may be reckoned as of the first class. Besides the making of boxes and barrels and other articles necessarily involved in its sugar and tobacco trade, Havana also, to some extent, builds carriages and small ships, and manufactures iron and machinery; but the weight of taxation during the Spanish period was always a heavy deterrent on the development of any business requiring great capital. There are minor manufacturing interests in tanneries, and in the manufacture of sweetmeats, malt and distilled liquors, especially rum, besides soaps, candles, starch, perfume, &c. There is one large and complete petroleum refinery (1905).
Havana has frequent steam-boat communication with New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Tampa, Mobile, New Orleans and other ports of the United States; and about as frequent with several ports in England, Spain and France. It is the starting-point of a railway system which reaches the six provincial capitals between Pinar del Rio and Santiago, Cárdenas, Cienfuegos and other ports. Telegraphs radiate to all parts of the island; a submarine cable to Key West forms part of the line of communication between Colon and New York, and by other cables the island has connexion with various parts of the West Indies and with South America.
Population and Health.—The population of Havana was reported as 51,307 in 1791; 96,304 in 1811; 94,023 in 1817; 184,508 in 1841. In 1899 the American census showed 235,981, of whom about 25% were foreign (20% Spanish); and the census of 1907 showed 297,159 (not including the attached country districts) and 302,526 (including these country districts), the last being for the “municipio” of Havana. The industrial population is very densely crowded. Owing to this, as well as to the entire lack of proper sanitary customs among the people, the horrible condition of sewerage and theprevalence of yellow fever (first brought to Havana, it is thought, in 1761, from Vera Cruz), the reputation of the city as regards health was long very bad. The practical extermination of yellow fever during the U.S. military occupation following 1899 was a remarkable achievement. In 1895-1899, owing to the war, there were few non-immune persons in the city, and there was no trouble with the fever, but from the autumn of 1899 a heavy immigration from Spain began, and a fever epidemic was raging in 1900. The American military authorities found that the most extraordinary measures for cleansing the city—involving repeated house-to-house inspection, enforced cleanliness, improved drainage and sewerage, the destruction of various public buildings, and thorough cleansing of the streets—although decidedly effective in reducing the general death-rate of the city (average, 1890-1899, 45.83; 1900, 24.40; 1901, 22.11; 1902, 20.63; general death-rate of U.S. soldiers in 1898, 67.94; in 1901-1902, 7.00), apparently did not affect yellow fever at all. In 1900-1901 Major Walter Reed (1851-1902), a surgeon in the United States army, proved by experiments on voluntary human subjects that the infection was spread by theStegomyiamosquito,2and the prevention of the disease was then undertaken by Major William C. Gorgas—all patients being screened and mosquitoes practically exterminated.3The number of subsequent deaths from yellow fever has depended solely on the degree to which the necessary precautionary measures were taken.
The entire administrative system of the island, when a Spanish colony, was centred at Havana. Under the republic this remains the capital and the residence of the president, the supreme court, Congress when in session and the chief administrative officers. None of the public services was good in the Spanish period, except the water-supply, which was excellent. The water is derived from the Vento springs, 9 m. from Havana, and is conducted through aqueducts constructed between 1859 and 1894 at a cost of some $5,000,000. About 40,000,000 gallons are supplied daily. The system is owned by the municipality. The older Fernando VII. aqueduct (1831-1835) is still usable in case of need; its supply was the Almendares river (until long after the construction of this, a still older aqueduct, opened at the end of the 16th century, was in use). The sewerage system and conditions of house sanitation were found extremely inadequate when the American army occupied the city in 1899. Several public buildings were so foul that they were demolished and burned. The improvement since the end of Spanish rule has been steady.
History.—Havana, originally founded by Diego Velasquez in 1514 on an unhealthy site near the present Batabanó (pop. in 1907, 15,435, including attached country districts), on the south coast, was soon removed to its present position, was granted an ayuntamiento (town council), and shortly came to be considered one of the most important places in the New World. Its commanding position gained it in 1634, by royal decree, the title of “Llave del Nuevo Mundo y Antemural de las Indias Occidentales” (Key of the New World and Bulwark of the West Indies), in reference to which it bears on its coat of arms a symbolic key and representations of the Morro, Punta and Fuerza. In the history of the place in the 16th century few things stand out except the investments by buccaneers: in 1537 it was sacked and burned, and in 1555 plundered by French buccaneers, and in 1586 it was threatened by Drake. In 1589 Philip II. of Spain ordered the erection of the Punta and the Morro. In the same year the residence of the governor of the island was moved from Santiago de Cuba to Havana. Philip II. granted Havana the title of “ciudad” in 1592. Sugar plantations in the environs appeared before the end of the 16th century. The population of the city, probably about 3000 at the beginning of the 17th century, was doubled in the years following 1655 by the coming of Spaniards from Jamaica. In the course of the 17th century the port became the great rendezvous for the royal merchant and treasure fleets that monopolized trade with America, and the commercial centre of the Spanish-American possessions. It was blockaded four times by the Dutch (who were continually molesting the treasure fleets) in the first half of the 17th century. In 1671 the city walls were begun; they were completed in 1702. The European wars of the 17th and 18th centuries were marked by various incidents in local history. After the end of the Spanish War of Succession (1713) came a period of comparative prosperity in slave-trading and general commerce. The creation in 1740 of a monopolistic trading-company was an event of importance in the history of the island. English squadrons threatened the city several times in the first half of the 18th century, but it was not until 1762thatan investment, made by Admiral Sir George Pocock and the earl of Albemarle, was successful. The siege lasted from June to August and was attended by heavy loss to both besiegers and besieged. The British commanders wrung great sums from the church and the city as prize of war and price of good order. By the treaty of the 10th of February 1763, at the close of the Seven Years’ War, Havana was restored to Spain in exchange for the Floridas. The English turned over the control of the city on the 6th of July. Their occupation greatly stimulated commerce, and from it dates the modern history of the city and of the island (seeCuba). The gradual removal of obstacles from the commerce of the island from 1766 to 1818 particularly benefited Havana. At the end of the 18th century the city was one of the seven or eight great commercial centres of the world, and in the first quarter of the 19th century was a rival in population and in trade of Rio Janeiro, Buenos Aires and New York. In 1789 a bishopric was created at Havana suffragan to the archbishopric at Santiago. From the end of the 18th century Havana, as the centre of government, was the centre of movement and interest. During the administration of Miguel Tacón Havana was improved by many important public works; his name is frequent in the nomenclature of the city. The railway from Havana to Güines was built between 1835 and 1838. Fifty Americans under Lieut. Crittenden, members of the Bahia Honda filibustering expedition of Narciso Lopez, were shot at Fort Atarés in 1851. Like the rest of Cuba, Havana has frequently suffered severely from hurricanes, the most violent being those of 1768 (St Theresa’s), 1810 and 1846. The destruction of the U.S. battleship “Maine” in the harbour of Havana on the 15th of February 1898 was an influential factor in causing the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, and during the war the city was blockaded by a United States fleet.
See J. de la Pezuela,Diccionario de la Isla de Cuba, vol. iii. (Madrid, 1863), for minute details of history, administration and economic conditions down to 1862; J. M. de la Torre,Lo que fuimos y lo que somos, ó la Habana antigua y moderna(Habana, 1857); P.J. Guitéras,Historia de la conquista de la Habana 1762(Philadelphia, 1856); J. de la Pezuela,Sitio y rendicion de la Habana en 1762(Madrid, 1859); A. Bachiller y Morales,Monografía historica(Habana, 1883), minutely covering the English occupation (the best account) of 1762-1763; Maria de los Mercedes, comtesse de Merlin,La Havana(3 vols., Paris, 1844); and the works cited under Cuba.
See J. de la Pezuela,Diccionario de la Isla de Cuba, vol. iii. (Madrid, 1863), for minute details of history, administration and economic conditions down to 1862; J. M. de la Torre,Lo que fuimos y lo que somos, ó la Habana antigua y moderna(Habana, 1857); P.J. Guitéras,Historia de la conquista de la Habana 1762(Philadelphia, 1856); J. de la Pezuela,Sitio y rendicion de la Habana en 1762(Madrid, 1859); A. Bachiller y Morales,Monografía historica(Habana, 1883), minutely covering the English occupation (the best account) of 1762-1763; Maria de los Mercedes, comtesse de Merlin,La Havana(3 vols., Paris, 1844); and the works cited under Cuba.
1Renamed Paseo de Marti by the republic, but the name is never used.2Dr Carlos Finlay of Havana, arguing from the coincidence between the climatic limitation of yellow fever and the geographical limitation of the mosquito, urged (1881 sqq.) that there was some relation between the disease and the insect. Reed worked from the observation of Dr H. R. Carter (U.S. Marine Hospital Service) that although the incubation of the disease was 5 days, 15 to 20 days had to elapse before the “infection” of the house, and from Ross’s demonstration of the part played in malaria by theAnopheles. See H. A. Kelly,Walter Reed and Yellow Fever(New York, 1907).3The average number of deaths from yellow fever annually from 1885 (when reliable registration began) to 1898 was 455; maximum 1282 in 1896 (supposed average for 4 years, 1856-1859, being 1489.8 and for 7 years, 1873-1879, 1395.1), minimum 136, in 1898; average deaths of military, 1885-1898, 278.4 (in 1896-1897 constituting 1966 out of a total of 2140); deaths of American soldiers, 1899-1900, 18 out of 431.
1Renamed Paseo de Marti by the republic, but the name is never used.
2Dr Carlos Finlay of Havana, arguing from the coincidence between the climatic limitation of yellow fever and the geographical limitation of the mosquito, urged (1881 sqq.) that there was some relation between the disease and the insect. Reed worked from the observation of Dr H. R. Carter (U.S. Marine Hospital Service) that although the incubation of the disease was 5 days, 15 to 20 days had to elapse before the “infection” of the house, and from Ross’s demonstration of the part played in malaria by theAnopheles. See H. A. Kelly,Walter Reed and Yellow Fever(New York, 1907).
3The average number of deaths from yellow fever annually from 1885 (when reliable registration began) to 1898 was 455; maximum 1282 in 1896 (supposed average for 4 years, 1856-1859, being 1489.8 and for 7 years, 1873-1879, 1395.1), minimum 136, in 1898; average deaths of military, 1885-1898, 278.4 (in 1896-1897 constituting 1966 out of a total of 2140); deaths of American soldiers, 1899-1900, 18 out of 431.
HAVANT,a market-town in the Fareham parliamentary division of Hampshire, England, 67 m. S.W. from London by the London & South Western and the London, Brighton & South Coast railways. Pop. of urban district (1901), 3837. The urban district of Warblington, 1 m. S.E. (pop. 3639), has a fine church, Norman and later, with traces of pre-Norman work, and some remains of a Tudor castle. Havant lies in a flat coastal district, near the head of Langstone Harbour, a wide shallow inlet of the English Channel. The church of St Faith was largely rebuilt in 1875, but retains some good Early English work. There are breweries and tanneries, and the manufacture of parchment is carried on. Off the mainland near Havant lies Hayling, a flat island of irregular form lying between the harbours of Langstone and Chichester. It measures 4 m. in length from N. to S., and is nearly the same in breadth at the south, but the breadth generally is about 1½ m. It is well wooded and fertile. A railway serves the village of South Hayling, which is in somefavour as a seaside resort, having a wide sandy beach and good golf links. The island was in the possession of successive religious bodies from the Conquest (when it was given to the Benedictines of Jumièges, near Rouen), until the Dissolution. The church of South Hayling is a fine Early English building.
HAVEL, a river of Prussia, Germany, having its origin in Lake Dambeck (223 ft.) on the Mecklenburg plateau, a few miles north-west of Neu-Strelitz, and after threading several lakes flowing south as far as Spandau. Thence it curves south-west, past Potsdam and Brandenburg, traversing another chain of lakes, and finally continues north-west until it joins the Elbe from the right some miles above Wittenberge after a total course of 221 m. and a total fall of only 158 ft. Its banks are mostly marshy or sandy, and the stream is navigable from the Mecklenburg lakes downwards. Several canals connect it with these lakes, as well as with other rivers—e.g.the Finow canal with the Oder, the Ruppin canal with the Rhin, the Berlin-Spandau navigable canal (5½ m.) with the Spree, and the Plaue-Ihle canal with the Elbe. The Sakrow-Paretz canal, 11 m. long, cuts off the deep bend at Potsdam. The most notable of the tributaries is the Spree (227 m. long), which bisects Berlin and joins the Havel at Spandau. Area of river basin, 10,159 sq. m.
HAVELBERG, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Brandenburg, on the Havel and the railway Glöwen-Havelberg. Pop. (1905), 5988. The town is built partly on an island in the Havel, and partly on hills on the right bank of the river, on one of which stands the fine Romanesque cathedral dating from the 12th century. The two parts, which are connected by a bridge, were incorporated as one town in 1875. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in tobacco manufacturing, sugar-refining and boat-building, and in the timber trade.
Otto I. founded a bishopric at Havelberg in 946; the bishop, however, who was a prince of the Empire, generally resided at Plattenburg, or Wittstock, a few miles to the north. In 1548 the bishopric was seized by the elector of Brandenburg, who finally took possession of it fifty years later, and the cathedral passed to the Protestant Church, retaining its endowments till the edict of 1810, by which all former ecclesiastical possessions were assumed by the crown. The final secularization was delayed till 1819. Havelberg was formerly a strong fortress, but in the Thirty Years’ War it was taken from the Danish by the imperial troops in 1627. Recaptured by the Swedes in 1631, and again in 1635 and 1636, it was in 1637 retaken by the Saxons. It suffered severely from a conflagration in 1870.
HAVELOCK, SIR HENRY(1795-1857), British soldier, one of the heroes of the Indian Mutiny, the second of four brothers (all of whom entered the army), was born at Ford Hall, Bishop-Wearmouth, Sunderland, on the 5th of April 1795. His parents were William Havelock, a wealthy shipbuilder in Sunderland, and Jane, daughter of John Carter, solicitor at Stockton-on-Tees. When about five years old Henry accompanied his elder brother William to Mr Bradley’s school at Swanscombe, whence at the age of ten he removed for seven years to Charterhouse school. In accordance with the desire of his mother, who had died in 1811, he entered the Middle Temple in 1813, studying under Chitty the eminent special pleader. His legal studies having been abridged by a misunderstanding with his father, he in 1815 accepted a second lieutenancy in the Rifle Brigade (95th), procured for him by the interest of his brother William. During the following eight years of service in Britain he read extensively and acquired a good acquaintance with the theory of war. In 1823, having exchanged into the 21st and thence into the 13th Light Infantry, he followed his brothers William and Charles to India, first qualifying himself in Hindustani under Dr Gilchrist, a celebrated Orientalist.
At the close of twenty-three years’ service he was still a lieutenant, and it was not until 1838 that, after three years’ adjutancy of his regiment, he became captain. Before this, however, he had held several staff appointments, notably that of deputy assistant-adjutant-general of the forces in Burma till the peace of Yandabu, of which he, with Lumsden and Knox, procured the ratifications at Ava from the “Golden Foot,” who bestowed on him the “gold leaf” insignia of Burmese nobility. His first command had been at a stockade capture in the war, and he was present also at the battles of Napadee, Patanago and Pagan. He had also held during his lieutenancy various interpreterships and the adjutancy of the king’s troops at Chinsura. In 1828 he published at Serampore Campaigns in Ava, and in 1829 he married Hannah Shepherd, daughter of Dr Marshman, the eminent missionary. About the same time he became a Baptist, being baptized by Mr John Mack at Serampore. During the first Afghan war he was present as aide-de-camp to Sir Willoughby Cotton at the capture of Ghazni, on the 23rd of July 1839, and at the occupation of Kabul. After a short absence in Bengal to secure the publication of hisMemoirs of the Afghan Campaign, he returned to Kabul in charge of recruits, and became interpreter to General Elphinstone. In 1840, being attached to Sir Robert Sale’s force, he took part in the Khurd-Kabul fight, in the celebrated passage of the defiles of the Ghilzais (1841) and in the fighting from Tezeen to Jalalabad. Here, after many months’ siege, his column in a sortieen massedefeated Akbar Khan on the 7th of April 1842. He was now made deputy adjutant-general of the infantry division in Kabul, and in September he assisted at Jagdalak, at Tezeen, and at the release of the British prisoners at Kabul, besides taking a prominent part at Istaliff. Having obtained a regimental majority he next went through the Mahratta campaign as Persian interpreter to Sir Hugh (Viscount) Gough, and distinguished himself at Maharajpore in 1843, and also in the Sikh campaign at Moodkee, Ferozeshah and Sobraon in 1845. For these services he was made deputy adjutant-general at Bombay. He exchanged from the 13th to the 39th, then as second major into the 53rd at the beginning of 1849, and soon afterwards left for England, where he spent two years. In 1854 he became quartermaster-general, then full colonel, and lastlyadjutant-general of the troops in India.
In 1857 he was selected by Sir James Outram for the command of a division in the Persian campaign, during which he was present at the actions of Muhamra and Ahwaz. Peace with Persia set him free just as the Mutiny broke out; and he was chosen to command a column “to quell disturbances in Allahabad, to support Lawrence at Lucknow and Wheeler at Cawnpore, to disperse and utterly destroy all mutineers and insurgents.” At this time Lady Canning wrote of him in her diary: “General Havelock is not in fashion, but all the same we believe that he will do well. No doubt he is fussy and tiresome, but his little old stiff figure looks as active and fit for use as if he were made of steel.” But in spite of this lukewarm commendation Havelock proved himself the man for the occasion, and won the reputation of a great military leader. At Fatehpur, on the 12th of July, at Aong and Pandoobridge on the 15th, at Cawnpore on the 16th, at Unao on the 29th, at Busherutgunge on the 29th and again on the 5th of August, at Boorhya on the 12th of August, and at Bithur on the 16th, he defeated overwhelming forces. Twice he advanced for the relief of Lucknow, but twice prudence forbade a reckless exposure of troops wasted by battle and disease in the almost impracticable task. Reinforcements arriving at last under Outram, he was enabled by the generosity of his superior officer to crown his successes on the 25th of September 1857 by the capture of Lucknow. There he died on the 24th of November 1857, of dysentery, brought on by the anxieties and fatigues connected with his victorious march and with the subsequent blockade of the British troops. He lived long enough to receive the intelligence that he had been created K.C.B. for the first three battles of the campaign; but of the major-generalship which was shortly afterwards conferred he never knew. On the 26th of November, before tidings of his death had reached England, letters-patent were directed to create him a baronet and a pension of £1000 a year was voted at the assembling of parliament. The baronetcy was afterwards bestowed upon his eldest son; while to his widow, by royal order, was given the rank to which she would have been entitled had her husband survived and been created a baronet. To both widow and son pensions of £1000 were awarded by parliament.