Its political importance.—Coveted by the Nations.—National Robbery and Injustice.—Climate of Cuba.—Its Forests and Fruits.—Its great staples, Sugar and Coffee.—Copper mines.—Population.—Extent and surface.—Principal cities.—Matanzas.—Cardenas.—Puerto del Principe.—Santiago de Cuba.—Bayamo.—Trinidad de Cuba.—Espiritu Santo.—Government of the Island.—Count Villa Nueva.—Character and Services of Tacon.—Commerce of Cuba.—Relations to the United States.—Our causes of complaint.—The true interests of Cuba.—State of Education.—Discovery and early history of the Island.
Its political importance.—Coveted by the Nations.—National Robbery and Injustice.—Climate of Cuba.—Its Forests and Fruits.—Its great staples, Sugar and Coffee.—Copper mines.—Population.—Extent and surface.—Principal cities.—Matanzas.—Cardenas.—Puerto del Principe.—Santiago de Cuba.—Bayamo.—Trinidad de Cuba.—Espiritu Santo.—Government of the Island.—Count Villa Nueva.—Character and Services of Tacon.—Commerce of Cuba.—Relations to the United States.—Our causes of complaint.—The true interests of Cuba.—State of Education.—Discovery and early history of the Island.
Cuba is the largest, richest, most flourishing, and most important of the West India Islands. In a political point of view, its importance cannot be rated too high. Its geographical position, its immense resources, the peculiar situation, impregnable strength, and capacious harbor of its capital, give to it the complete command of the whole Gulf of Mexico, to which it is the key. It is certainly an anomaly in the political history of the world, that so weak a power as that of Spain, should be allowed to hold so important a post, by the all-grasping,ambitious thrones of Europe—to say nothing of the United States, where decided symptoms of relationship to old England begin to appear. It has often been found easy, where no just cause of quarrel exists, to make one; and it is a matter of marvel that the same profound wisdom and far-reaching benevolence, that found means to justify an aggressive war upon China, because, in the simplicity of her semi-barbarism, she would not consent to have the untold millions of her children drugged to death with English opium—cannot now make slavery, or the slave trade, or piracy, or something else of the kind, a divinely sanctioned apology for pouncing upon Cuba. That she has long coveted it, and often laid plots to secure it, there is no doubt. That it would be the richest jewel in her crown, and help greatly to lessen the enormous burdens under which her tax-ridden population is groaning, there can be no question. But, the science of politics is deep and full of mysteries. It has many problems which even time cannot solve.
And then, as to these United States—how conveniently might Cuba be annexed! How nicely it would hook on to the spoon-bill of Florida, and protect the passage to our southern metropolis, and the trade of the Gulf. We can claim it by an excellent logic, on the ground that it was once bound closely to Florida, the celebrated de Soto being governor of both; and Spain had no more right to separate them, in the sale and cession of Florida, than she or her provinces had, afterwards, to separate Texas from Louisiana. It is a good principle in national politics, to take an ell where an inch is given, especially when the giver is too weak to resistthe encroachment—and it has been so often practised upon, that there is scarcely a nation on earth that can consistently gainsay it. The annexation fever is up now, and I suggest the propriety of taking all we intend to, or all we want, at a sweep—lest the people should grow conscientious, and conclude to respect the rights of their weaker neighbors.
But, to be serious, let us take warning from the past, and learn to be just, and moderate, in order that we may be prosperous and happy. The epitaph of more than one of the republics of antiquity, might be written thus—ruit sua mole.
Much as has been said, and that with great justice and propriety, of the delightful climate of Cuba, it is subject to no inconsiderable changes, and the invalid, who resorts thither in quest of health, must be on his guard against those changes. The "wet northers," that sometimes sweep down upon the coast, are often quite too severe for a delicate constitution to bear; and a retreat to the interior becomes necessary. During the prevalence of these winds, the southern side of the island is the favorite resort. Fortunately, these chilly visitors are few and far between, seldom continuing more than three or four days, with as many hours of rain. In the absence of these, the climate is as perfect as heart can desire, resembling, for the most part, that of the south of France.
Notwithstanding the large tracts of cultivated plantations and farms, which make this beautiful island a perfect garden, it has extensive forests of great beauty and value. The palm, whether found in clusters or alone, is always a magnificent tree, and is useful for avariety of purposes—its trunk for building, its leaves for thatching, and several kinds of convenient manufactures, and its seeds for food. Mahogany abounds in some parts, and other kinds of hard wood suitable for ship building, a business which has been carried on very extensively in the island. The vine attains to a luxuriant growth, so as often to destroy the largest trees in its parasitical embrace. The orange and the pine-apple, both of a delicious flavor, abound on all sides. Indian corn, the sweet potatoe, rice, and a great variety of other important edibles are extensively cultivated, giving wealth to some, and sustenance to thousands.
The great staples of Cuba, however, and the principle sources of her immense wealth, are sugar and coffee. These are produced in the greatest abundance. The annual exports amount to about six hundred and fifty millions pounds of sugar, and eighty-four millions of coffee. The exports of tobacco are about ten millions pounds in the leaf, besides three hundred and ten millions of manufactured cigars. There are also large exports of molasses, honey, wax, etc.
There are copper mines of great value in the south east part of the island, in the neighborhood of Santiago. They were worked a long time, but for some reason were abandoned for more than a century. More recently they have been re-opened, and are now esteemed the richest copper mines in the world. They are worked principally by an English company, and the ore is sent to England to be smelted. The annual amount is not far from a million and a half of quintals.
The whole population of Cuba is estimated at a little over a million, 420,000 whites, 440,000 slaves, and150,000 free colored persons. The annual revenue of the island, obtained from heavy taxes upon the sales of every species of property, and from duties export as well as import, is twelve millions of dollars. This is all drawn from its 420,000 whites, averaging nearly thirty dollars a head. Of this amount, but very little is expended in the island, except for the purpose of holding the people in subjection. Four millions go into the coffers of the mother country.
The island of Cuba is nearly eight hundred miles in length, from east to west, varying in breadth from twenty-five to one hundred and thirty miles. Its coast is very irregular, deeply indented with bays and inlets, and surrounded with numerous islands and reefs, making a difficult and dangerous navigation. It has many excellent harbors, that of Havana being, as has already been said, one of the best in the world. A range of mountains, rising into the region of perpetual barrenness, traverses the entire length of the island, dividing it into two unequal parts, the area of the southern portion being rather the larger of the two. There are also many other isolated mountain peaks and lofty hills, in different parts of the island, some of them beautifully wooded to their very summits, and others craggy, barren, precipitious, and full of dark caverns and frightful ravines.
The principal places, after Havana, are Matanzas, Cardenas, Puerto del Principe, Santiago, St. Salvador, Trinidad, and Espiritu Santo. Besides these there are some half a dozen smaller cities, twelve considerable towns, and about two hundred villages. The principal seaports are all strongly fortified.
Matanzas is situated on the northern shore, about sixty miles east of the capital. It contains, including its suburbs, about twenty thousand inhabitants, of whom rather more than half are whites, and about one sixth are free blacks. It commands the resources of a rich and extensive valley, and its exports of coffee, sugar, and molasses, are very large. The bay of Matanzas is deep and broad, and is defended by the castle of San Severino. The harbor at the head of this bay, is curiously protected against the swell of the sea, during the prevalence of the north-east winds, by a ledge of rocks extending nearly across it, leaving a narrow channel on each side, for the admission of vessels. The city is built upon a low point of land between two small rivers, which empty themselves into the bay, and from which so heavy a deposit of mud has been made, as materially to lessen the capacity of the harbor. The anchorage ground for vessels is, consequently, about half a mile from the shore, and cargoes are discharged and received by means of lighters.
Cardenas is comparatively a new place, the first settlement having been made less than twenty years ago. It now numbers about two thousand inhabitants. It is finely situated at the head of a beautiful bay, fifty miles eastward of Matanzas. This bay was once a famous resort for pirates, who, secure from observation, or winked at by the well-feed officials, brought in the vessels they had seized, drove them ashore on the rocks, and then claimed their cargoes as wreckers, the murdered crews not being able to claim even a salvage for their rightful owners. In the exhibition of scenes like this, the bay of Cardenas was not alone, or singular.Many an over-hanging cliff, and dark inlet of that blood-stained shore, could tell a similar tale.
The rail-road from this place to Bemba, eighteen miles distant, passes through a beautiful tract of country, and affords to the traveller a view of some of the most picturesque scenery that is to be found in the island.
Owing to its fine harbor, and its facilities of communication with the rich tract of country lying behind it, this place will become a formidable rival to Matanzas, when its port shall be thrown open to foreign commerce. At present, there is no custom house here, and all the produce is transported in lighters to Matanzas or Havana, to be sold. It has not depth of water for the largest class of vessels, but the greater part of those usually employed in the West India trade, can be well accommodated.
Puerto del Principe, situated in the interior of the island, about midway between its northern and southern shores, and more than four hundred miles eastward from Havana, contains a population of twenty-four thousand—fourteen thousand being whites, and about six thousand slaves. This district is celebrated for the excellent flavor of its cigars. It is a place of considerable importance, and the residence of a lieutenant-governor.
Santiago de Cuba, is on the southern coast, about one hundred miles from the eastern extremity of the island, and nearly seven hundred south-east of Havana. Its population is twenty-five thousand, of whom nearly ten thousand are whites, and eight thousand slaves. It has a fine, capacious harbor, scarcely second to that ofHavana, and strongly defended by a castle, and several inferior batteries. It has a large trade in sugar, coffee, and molasses. About twelve miles from the city, westward, is the town of Santiago del Prade, near which the rich copper mines, before mentioned, are situated, giving employment in one way or another, to nearly all of its two thousand inhabitants.
Bayamo, or St. Salvador,—sixty miles west of Santiago, numbers nearly ten thousand souls. Manzanilla, thirty miles south from this, has three thousand.
Trinidad de Cuba, two hundred miles further west, and about two hundred and fifty from Havana, has a population of thirteen thousand, of whom six thousand are whites, and four thousand five hundred, free colored.
Espiritu Santo, thirty-five miles eastward from Trinidad, has less than ten thousand inhabitants in the city, and thirty-four thousand in the whole district, of whom twenty-two thousand are whites, a very unusual proportion in these islands.
In their general features, in the style of the buildings, in the character of the people, their occupations, modes of living, customs of society, etc., etc., all these places bear a close resemblance to each other, varying only in location, and the lay of the land, and the forms of the rivers and bays about them.
The government of Cuba is a military despotism, whose edicts are enforced by an armed body of more than twelve thousand soldiers. The Captain General is appointed by the crown of Spain, and is a kind of vice-roy, exercising the functions of commander-in-chief of the army, Governor of the western province of the island, President of the provincial assembly, etc. Thepresent incumbent, Don Leopold O'Donnell, enjoys a great share of popularity. He holds no civil jurisdiction over the eastern province, of which Santiago is the capital. The governor of that province is entirely independent of the Captain General, except in military matters, and is amenable only to the court of Madrid.
The Intendente, Count Villa Nueva, recently re-instated in that office, is said to be very desirous to ameliorate the burdens of the planting interest; and in his efforts to secure this result, he has evinced the good sense and prudence, which are usually followed with success. His integrity and talents, together with the fact that he is the only "native" who was ever exalted to high official rank, have secured for him the unbounded confidence and affection of the people. His power is distinct from that of the Governor, and is in no way dependent upon it. He exercises certain legal rights, such as the entire control of the imports and exports, and is, in fact, the sole manager of all the financial concerns of the colony. By this arrangement, the purse and the sword are entirely separated, and the dangers to be apprehended from the abuse of power, greatly diminished.
No attempt to illustrate the position, resources, and character of Cuba, at the present time, would do justice to its subject, or to the feelings of its author, without an honorable and grateful mention of the name of Tacon. And no one who has visited the island, or who feels any interest in its welfare, or any regard for the lives and fortunes of those who hold commercial intercourse with its inhabitants, can withhold from the memory of that truly great and good man, the well-earned tribute ofadmiration and gratitude. He was a rare example of wisdom and benevolence, firmness and moderation, and seems to have been raised up by Providence, and qualified for the peculiar exigency of his time. He has, no doubt, been eminently useful in other stations in his native land; else he would never have been known to his monarch, as fitted for the difficult task assigned him here. But, if he had never acted any other part on the stage of life—if the term of his public and private usefulness had been limited to the brief period of his chief magistracy in Cuba, he had won a fame nobler than that of princes, fairer, worthier, and more enduring than that of the proudest conquerors earth ever saw. The memorial of such a man can never be found in marble, or in epitaph. It is written in the prosperity of a people, and of the nations with whom they hold commercial intercourse. It lives, and should for ever live, in the gratitude, admiration and reverence of mankind.
When General Tacon was appointed Governor General of Cuba, Havana was literally a den of thieves, a nursery of the foulest crimes, a school where the blackest conceptions of which the human heart is capable, and the most diabolical inventions of mischief, were not only seen to escape punishment, but were officially tolerated and encouraged. A spirit of venality and almost incredible corruption prevailed in the judicial and financial departments; and the subaltern magistrates, if not actual partakers, by receiving their share of the booty, connived at every variety of robbery and plunder. No natural or civil rights were regarded—no one's life or property was held sacred. Murders in the open street, and under the broad blazeof a sunlit sky, were fearlessly committed; slaves and pirates unblushingly perambulated the streets, discussing their fiendish machinations, and perpetrating deeds of darkness, over which humanity should weep. Specie transported from one part of the city to another, required the protection of an armed force. Such was the aspect, and such the lamentable state of affairs, both public and private, in Havana, at the time that Tacon came into power. The measures adopted by him for the introduction of order and the purification of the whole political system, were no less wise and judicious, than his fearlessness, promptness and perserverance in enforcing them, were deserving of the highest commendation. His labors were truly Herculean, and his success in cleansing this Augean stable most signal.
During his elevation to power, which continued four years, the aspect of things in Havana was completely changed. Order supplanted confusion, and wholesome authority succeeded to anarchy and misrule. Individuals became secure in the possession of life and property; strangers and foreigners no longer felt themselves surrounded by lawless bandits, and compelled, by the absence of law, order and discipline, to take the law into their own hands, or abandon, at the first appearance of violence, the protection of their rights, property and life. The man who formerly walked abroad in Havana, was forced to feel, and to act accordingly: that "his hand was against every man, and every man's against him."
This Solon of Cuba was the originator and promoter of most of the principal improvements which now adorn the city and surrounding country, many ofwhich bear his name. This bloodless revolution was accomplished without any additional public expense or burdensome tax upon the people, by a wise administration and righteous application of the ordinary resources of the government. Such, and more, were the blessings bestowed upon Cuba by Tacon. Such are the glorious results of the public career of one whose highest ambition and whose proudest aim seemed to be, the elevation of his countrymen—the welfare, security and happiness of mankind. As we honor and revere the names of Washington and La Fayette, so should the dwellers on that island ever love and cherish the name of the illustrious Tacon. At the expiration of four years, he voluntarily retired to Spain, and was succeeded in the government by General Espeleta. "May the shadow of Tacon never be less;" or, as they say in his own native tongue, "viva ustéd múchos âños."
The commerce of Cuba is with the world; yet its importance as a trading mart is chiefly realized by its nearest neighbor, the United States. Its annual imports and exports, which nearly balance each other, amount to about twenty-five millions of dollars each. Of the imports, during the last year, which may be taken as a fair average, it received five millions two hundred and forty thousand dollars, or more than one-fifth, from the United States. Of the exports, during the same period, we received nine millions nine hundred and thirty thousand dollars, within a fraction of two-fifths. In addition to this, its commerce with the different ports of Europe, South America, and other parts of the world, furnished profitable freights to a large number of ourcarrying ships, and employment to our hardy seamen. We are in duty bound, therefore, to regard this miniature continent, hanging on our southern border, with a favorable eye, and to cultivate with it the most neighborly relations.
It is true, we have had some cause of complaint in our intercourse hitherto, and we may not soon look for its entire removal. The imposts upon our productions are severe and disproportionate, the port-charges onerous, and the incidental exactions unreasonable and vexatious. We are often subjected to frivolous delays, and unjust impositions, in the adjustment of difficulties at the custom house, and in the recovery of debts in the courts of law. We have also, in times past, been severe sufferers from the depredations of well known and almost licensed pirates, who, in open day, and under the walls of the castle, have plundered our property, and butchered our seamen. Still, with all the offsets which the most ingenious grumbler could array, we owe much to the "Queen of the Antilles," andmighthave more occasion for regret, than for gratulation, should she ever be transferred to the crown of England, or annexed to the territories of the United States. If her people were prepared for self-government—if the incongruous elements of society there could, by any possibility, amalgamate and harmonize, the establishment of an independent government would doubtless promote her own happiness, and benefit us and the world. The luxuriant plains, and valleys, and hill-sides of this beautiful isle, have capacities amply sufficient to sustain a population ten times as large as that which it now contains. Burdened, and almost crashed under the weight oftheir own taxes, ruled with a rod of iron, and held in almost slavish subjection by the bristling bayonets of a mercenary foreign soldiery, who, under the pretence of defending them from invasion or insurrection, eat out their substance, and rivet their chains—the million who now reside there, with the exception of a few overgrown estates among the planters and merchants, find, for the most part, a miserable subsistence. There is probably no class of people in any portion of the United States, so miserably poor and degraded, as the mass of the Monteros and free blacks of Cuba. Give them a fostering government, and free institutions, educate them, make men of them, and throw wide open to all the avenues to comfort, wealth and distinction—and there is no spot on the face of the globe that would sustain a denser population than this.
The exports from the United States to Cuba consist of lumber of various kinds, codfish, rice, bacon, lard, candles, butter, cheese. The first two articles are almost exclusively from the Northern States, the third from the Southern, the remainder from all. The imports hence are of all the productions of the island.
The cause of education in this lovely land is lamentably low. In the large cities and towns, respectable provision is made for the wants of the young in this respect. The Royal University at Havana, embracing among its advantages, schools of medicine and law, offers very considerable facilities to the industrious student. There are also several other lesser institutions in the city, with schools, public and private, for teaching the elementary branches of a common education. Some of these are tolerably well sustained; but therange they afford, and the talent they command, is comparatively so limited, that most of those who are able to bear the expense, prefer sending their sons to the United States or Europe, to complete their education.
No other place in the island is so well provided in this respect as the capital. Arrangements are made, in most of the towns and interior districts, for gratuitous instruction. In some cases, this provision is wholly inadequate. In others, it is regarded with indifference by the class for whose benefit it is designed. Their abject poverty and destitution of the common comforts of life, seems to cramp all their energies, and dishearten them from any attempt to better the condition of their children. And, indeed, under their present civil and political institutions, but few advances could be made, even if the people were ambitious to improve. For the government, like all despotisms, is jealous of the intelligence of its subjects, well knowing that a reading, thinking people must and will be free.
Cuba was the fifth of the great discoveries of Columbus, and by far the most important of the islands he visited. San Salvador, Conception, Exuma and Isabella, which he had already seen and named, were comparatively small and of little note, though so rich and beautiful, that they seemed to the delighted imagination of the discoverer, the archipelago of Paradise, or the "islands of the blest." It is very remarkable, that, though he skirted the whole of the southern, and more than half the northern coast of Cuba, following its windings and indentations more than twelve hundred miles, till he was fully convinced that it was apart of a great continent, and not an island; yet he made no attempt to occupy it, or to plant a colony there. It was not even visited during his life-time, and he died in the full conviction that it was not an island. He gave it the name of Juana, in honor of the young prince John, heir to the crowns of Castile and Leon. It afterwards received the name of Fernandina, by order of the king in whose name it was occupied and held. But the original designation of the natives finally prevailed over both the Spanish ones, which were long since laid aside. It is understood to be derived from the Indian name of a tree, which abounded in the island.
In 1511, about five years after the death of Columbus, his son and successor, Diego, in the hope of obtaining large quantities of gold, which was then growing scarce in Hispaniola, sent Don Diego Velasquez, an experienced and able commander, of high rank and fortune, to take possession of Cuba. Panfilo de Narvaez was the second in command in this expedition. The names of both these knights are conspicuous in the subsequent history of Spanish discovery and conquest, in the islands, and on the continent, but more especially in their relation to Cortes, the great conqueror of Mexico.
The inhabitants of Cuba, like those of Hispaniola, and some of the other islands, were a peaceful effeminate race, having no knowledge of the arts of war, and fearing and reverencing the Spaniards as a superior race of beings descended from above. They submitted, without opposition, to the yoke imposed upon them. It was for the most part, a bloodless conquest, yieldingfew laurels to the proud spirits who conducted it, but rich in the spoils of spiritual warfare to the kind-hearted and devoted Las Casas, subsequently Bishop of Chiapa, who accompanied the army in all its marches, the messenger of peace and salvation to the subjugated Indians. According to the record of this good father, the indefatigable missionary of the cross, only one chief residing on the eastern part of the island, offered any resistance to the invaders; andhewas not a native, but an emigrant from Hispaniola, whence he had recently escaped, with a few followers, from the cruel oppression of their new masters, to find repose on the peaceful shores of Cuba. Alarmed and excited by the appearance of the Spanish ships approaching his new found retreat, Hatuey called his men together, and in an eloquent and animated speech, urged them to a desperate resistance, in defence of their homes and their liberty. With scornful irony, he assured them that they would not be able successfully to defend themselves, if they did not first propitiate the god of their their enemies. "Behold him here," said he, pointing to a vessel filled with gold, "behold the mighty divinity, whom the white man adores, in whose service he ravages our country, enslaves us, our wives and our children, and destroys our lives at his pleasure. Behold the god of your cruel enemies, and invoke his aid to resist them." After some slight ceremonies of invocation, in imitation of the rites of Christian worship, which they had learned from their oppressors, they cast the gold into the sea, that the Spaniards might not quarrel about it, and prepared for their defence. They fought desperately, resolved rather to die in battle, thansubmit to the cruel domination of the invaders. They were nearly all destroyed. The Cacique Hatuey was taken prisoner, and condemned to be burned alive, in order to strike terror into the minds of the other chiefs and their people. In vain did the benevolent missionary protest against the cruel, unchristian sacrifice. He labored diligently to convert the poor cacique to the Christian faith, urging him most affectionately to receive baptism, as the indispensable requisite for admission to heaven. His reply is one of the most eloquent and bitterly taunting invectives on record. Enquiring if the white men would go to heaven, and being answered in the affirmative, he replied—"then I will not be a christian, for I would not willingly go where I should find men so cruel." He then met his death with heroic fortitude, or rather with that stoical indifference, which is a common characteristic of the aborigines of America; preferring even a death of torture to a life of servitude, especially under the hated Spaniards, who had shown themselves as incapable of gratitude, as they were destitute of pity, and the most common principles of justice.
The army met with no further opposition. The whole island submitted quietly to their sway, and the unresisting inhabitants toiled, and died, and wasted away under the withering hand of oppression. It is probable, from all accounts, that the population, at the time of the conquest, was nearly, if not quite as great, as it is at the present time; though some of the Spanish chroniclers, to cover the cruelty of so dreadful a sacrifice, greatly reduce the estimate. Whatever were their numbers, however, they disappeared like flowers before the chilling blasts of winter. Unaccustomed to anykind of labor, they fainted under the heavy exactions of their cruel and avaricious task-masters. Diseases, hitherto unknown among them, were introduced by their intercourse with the strangers; and, in a few years, their fair and beautiful inheritance was depopulated, and left to the undisputed possession of the merciless intruders.
In four years after the subjugation, Velasques had laid the foundation of seven cities, the sites of which were so well selected, that they still remain the principal places in the colony, with the exception of Havana, which was originally located on the southern shore, near Batabano, but afterwards abandoned on account of its supposed unhealthiness. Its present site, then called the port of Carenas, was selected and occupied in 1519.
So much has been said of the impregnable strength of Havana, that I shall venture, at some risk of repetition, as well of being out of place with my remarks, to say a few words more on that point. The position of the Moro, the Cabañas, and the fortress on the opposite eminence, has been sufficiently illustrated. I know not that any thing could be added to these fortifications, to make them more perfect, in any respect, than they are. They confer upon Havana a just claim to be called, as it has been, "The Gibraltar of America." In effecting this, nature has combined with art, in a beautiful and masterly manner, so that the stranger is struck, at the first glance, with the immense strength of the place, and the thought of surprising or storming it, would seem to be little short of madness.
But let it be remembered that theimpregnableGibraltarwas successfully attacked, and is now in possession of the conquerors. Theinaccessibleheights of Abraham were scaled in a night, and Quebec still remains to show what seeming impossibilities courage and skill united can achieve.
With the exception of the Moro, all the great fortifications at Havana, are of comparatively recent construction. They have been erected since the memorable seige of 1762, when, after one of the most desperate and sanguinary conflicts on record, the English fleet and army succeeded in capturing the city. The Spaniards say, that the final and successful sortie was made in the afternoon, while their generals was taking theirsiesta—a cover for the shame of defeat, about as transparent as that of the Roman sentinels at the tomb of Christ, whom the wily priests induced to declare, that "his disciples stole him away while they slept." There is no question, however, that, notwithstanding the great strength of this place, and its entire safety from any attack by sea, it could be assailed with effect, by the landing of efficient forces in the rear, in the same manner as these other places, just mentioned, were taken, and as the French have recently succeeded in capturing Algiers.
The Steamer Dee.—Running down the coast.—Beautiful scenery.—Associations awakened by it.—Columbus.—The scenes of his glorious achievements.—The island groups.—The shores of the continent.—"The Columbian sea."—Disappointments and sufferings, the common inheritance of genius.—Cervantes, Hylander, Camoens, Tasso.—These waters rich in historical incidents.—Revolutions.—Arrival at Vera Cruz.—The Peak of Orizaba.—Description of Vera Cruz.—Churches.—The Port.—San Juan de Ulloa.—Scarcity of Water.—The suburbs.—Population.—Yellow Fever.
The Steamer Dee.—Running down the coast.—Beautiful scenery.—Associations awakened by it.—Columbus.—The scenes of his glorious achievements.—The island groups.—The shores of the continent.—"The Columbian sea."—Disappointments and sufferings, the common inheritance of genius.—Cervantes, Hylander, Camoens, Tasso.—These waters rich in historical incidents.—Revolutions.—Arrival at Vera Cruz.—The Peak of Orizaba.—Description of Vera Cruz.—Churches.—The Port.—San Juan de Ulloa.—Scarcity of Water.—The suburbs.—Population.—Yellow Fever.
The British Royal mail steamer Dee, arriving at Havana on one of her regular circuits, presented a very favorable opportunity to gratify a disposition for change. Accordingly, on the 10th of February, I embarked on board of her, with the intention of touching at Vera Cruz, and thence proceeding to Tampico, and such other interesting points as my time and health would allow.
The "Dee" is one of a Line of Steamers, built by a company in London, to carry the mails, which are placed in charge of an officer, acting under the directionof the British government. This company receives from the government, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds annually. The vessels average about one thousand tons each, and are so built as to be readily altered into men-of-war, should they be required to strengthen the English naval power. The Dee consumes about thirty-five tons of coal per day. Her average speed, however, under the most favorable circumstances, does not exceed eight and a half knots an hour. She is commanded by a sailing master of the British navy, whose salary is about fifteen hundred dollars per annum. She has been in service only two years, but has the appearance of being a much older vessel; a circumstance caused no doubt by the "retrenchments" consequent upon the unlimited extravagance of the company's first outfit. Her so-called "accommodations" were very inferior, and the table was miserably furnished, but the service of plate, emblazoned with heraldic designs, was, unquestionably, beautiful.
We steamed out of the harbor at sunrise, the ever wakeful Moro looking sternly down upon us as we passed under its frowning battlements; and, being favored with delightful weather, skirted the coast as far as we could, and took our departure from Cape Antonio.
Nothing can exceed the beauty and sublimity of the natural scenery thus presented to our view, between Havana and the point of the Cape. The broad rich plains, the gentle slopes, the luxuriant swells, the hills clothed with verdure to their very crowns, the lofty mountains with their abrupt and craggy prominences and ever changing forms, make up a landscape of the richest and rarest kind, beautiful in all its parts, andexceedingly picturesque in its general effect. The hills, with highly cultivated plantations, extending from the lovely valleys below, in beautiful order and luxuriance, far up towards their forest-crowned summits, looked green and inviting, as if full of cool grottos and shady retreats; while the far-off mountains where
"Distance lent enchantment to the view,"
"Distance lent enchantment to the view,"
seemed traversed with dark ravines and gloomy caverns, fit abodes for those hordes of merciless banditti, whose predatory achievements have given to the shores and mountain passes of Cuba, an unenviable pre-eminence in outlawry.
The motion of our oaken leviathan, sweeping heavily along through the quiet sea, created a long, low swell, which, like a miniature tide, rose gently upon the resounding shore, washing its moss-covered bank, and momentarily disturbing the echoes that lingered in its voiceless caves. It was painful to feel that I was leaving those beautiful shores, never, in all probability, to revisit them. A gloomy feeling took possession of my soul, as if parting again, and for ever, from the shores of my early home. Then came up, thronging upon the memory and the fancy, a multitude of historical associations, suggested by the land before me, and the sea on whose bosom I was borne—associations of the most thrilling and painful interest, and yet so wonderfully arrayed in the gorgeous drapery of romance, that I would not, if I could, dismiss them.
Albeit, then, I may be in imminent danger of running into vain repetitions, in giving indulgence to the melancholy humor of the hour, I cannot refrain from followingout, in this place, where a clear sky and an open sea leave me no better employment, some of those reflections, which, if indulged in at all, might, perhaps, with equal appropriateness have found a place in one of the previous chapters. With Cuba, one of the earliest, and the most important of the great discoveries of Columbus, behind me—the shores of Central America, the scene of his last and greatest labors in the cause of science, before me—and the wide expanse of sea, which witnessed all his toils, and sufferings, around me on every side—how could I do otherwise than recall to mind all that he had accomplished, and all that he had endured, in this region of his wonderful adventures! Here was the grand arena of his more than heroic victories, the theatre of his proud triumph over the two great obstacles, which, in all ages have opposed the march of mind—the obstinate bigotry of the ignorant, and the still more obstinate ignorance of the learned.
Behind me, far away toward the rising sun, was the little island of San Salvador, where the New World, in all its elysian beauty, its virgin loveliness, burst upon his view. Conception, Fernandina, and Isabella, the bright enchanting beacons rising out of the bosom of the deep, to guide his eager prow to Cuba, the "Queen of the Antilles," were there too, slumbering on the outer verge of the coral beds of the Bahamas. Nearer, and full in view, its mountain peaks towering to the skies, and stretching its long arm nearly three hundred leagues away toward the south-east, lay the beautiful island I had just left, the richest jewel of the ocean, the brightest gem in the crown of Spain. Farther on in the same direction, and dimly descried from the easternpromontories of Cuba, were the lofty peaks of St. Domingo, beautifully flanked by Porto Rico on the right, and Jamaica on the left. Then, farther still, sweeping in a graceful curve toward the outermost angle of the Southern continent, and completing the emerald chain, which nature has so beautifully thrown across the broad chasm that divides the eastern shores of the two Americas, lay the windward cluster of the Caribbean islands, terminating with Trinidad, in the very bosom of the Gulf of Paria. Returning westward, along the coast of Paria, where Columbus first actually saw the continent, and traversing the whole extent of the Caribbean Sea, you might reach the shores of Honduras, where he again touched the shores of the continent, and finished, amid the infirmities of age, and the sufferings consequent upon a life of toil, hardship and exposure, his great achievement of discovery, his career of usefulness and glory.
Coming northward, toward the point whither we were then tending, and rounding Cape Catoche into the Gulf of Mexico, you would behold the true Eldorado which they all sought for, and which the brave Cortes afterwards found—the golden mountains and golden cities of Anahuac. Northward still, some two hundred leagues, the "Father of rivers" pours his mighty current into the bosom of the Gulf, after watering and draining the richest and broadest valleys in the world, and linking together, by its various and extended branches, the mighty fraternity of republics, spread over the vast territories of the North.
I pity the man, whoever he may be, and of whatever nation, who can visit these islands, or traverse these seas, for the first time, without feeling as if he weretreading on enchanted ground. Every country, every sea has its peculiar history, and its peculiar associations. There is much to interest the heart, and inflame the imagination in the dark legends of the Indian archipelago—in the classic memories and time-hallowed monuments of the "Isles of Greece," and of the shores and bays, the mountains and streams of all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean—in the rock-bound coast of the North Sea—in the basaltic columns and gigantic caverns of the Emerald Isle;—but they do not, in my view, either or all of them, surpass, in the deep interest and moral grandeur of the associations they awaken, the shores that then surrounded me—the American Isthmus, and the American archipelago.
The American archipelago!—the Mediterranean of the Western World, with its beautiful clusters of magnificent islands—why not call it, as Bradford long ago suggested,The Columbian Sea? Surely, if the Florentine merchant has been permitted to rob the great Genoese discoverer of the honor of conferring his own illustrious name upon the two vast continents, which his genius and perseverance brought to light, while the whole world has quietly sanctioned the larceny—we, who know the equity of his claims, and feel how shamefully he has been abused, might at least do him the lardy justice to affix his name, in perpetuo, to this sea, which, by universal acknowledgment, he was the first to traverse and explore—the scene of his glorious triumph over the narrow and ignorant prejudices of his day, as well as of his romantic adventures, toils and sufferings.
What must have been the emotions of Columbuswhen he first traversed these waters, and beheld these lovely islands! For, even now, with the mind already prepared by the full and elaborate descriptions of geographers and travellers, they are beheld by the voyager, for the first time, with sensations of surprise and delight. The objects of wonder with which he and his crew were surrounded—the variation of the compass, the regularity of the winds, and other phenomena, of the existence of which they could not possibly have been apprised, must have been truly exciting. Think of his astonishment on landing, to find myriads of people, disposed to regard him and his adventurous crew, as beings of a superior order, whom they were almost ready to adore. And then, pray that the veil of oblivion may be thrown over the fiendish requital which, in after years, succeeded this hospitable reception.
It is any thing but agreeable to a generous heart, to witness or contemplate the strivings of a noble mind, with the cares and anxieties of life, having some magnificent project in view, but hindered from carrying it forward, by the stern demand of a starving household, or the want of thatgoldenlever, which, with or without a place to stand upon, has power to move the world. With but few exceptions, it has ever been the case, that men of genius have struggled with adversity,—
Have felt the influence of malignant star,And waged with fortune an eternal war.
Have felt the influence of malignant star,And waged with fortune an eternal war.
Fortune seldom smiles upon the sons of science. Rarely, indeed, does she condescend to become the companion of genius. It was not until Columbus had touched the master passion of his royal patrons, that he could inducethem to grant him assistance. When he had convinced the king of the great pecuniary advantage to be derived to the crown from his enterprise, and the queen of the vast accessions to the holy church, in bringing new territories under her sway, and converting nations of heathen to the Christian faith,—then, and not till then, did they consent to favor his expedition. Absorbed with their one idea of planting the standards of Castile and of the Cross on the marble palaces of the Alhambra, they had no time to consider, no treasure to sustain, such magnificent schemes of discovery. Should Columbus be succored, when Cervantes, suffered and hungered for bread? Was it not the cold treatment Cervantes received, that wrung from his subdued spirit the humiliating complaint, that "the greatest advantage which princes possess above other men, is that of being attended by servants as great as themselves?" But why should we seek out, dwell upon, and hold up to the execration of the world, these instances of royal littleness, injustice, and ingratitude, when the world is, and always has been, full of such exhibitions of human nature? Was not Hylander compelled to sell his notes on Dion Casseus for adinner? Did not Camoens, the solitary pride of Portugal,—he who after his death was honored by the appellation of "the great,"—beg for bread? Has not a Tasso from the depths of his poverty, besought his cat to assist him with the lustre of her eyes, that he might pen his immortal verse? Yes,—and one simple story would tell the fate of a Homer, Ariosto, Dryden, Spenser, Le Sage, Milton, Sydenham, and a mighty host of others, who, after having spent their lives in the cause of letters, and of human advancementand liberty, were neglected by their countrymen, and suffered to die in obscurity, if not in poverty and want!
The Columbian Sea! divided by the projecting peninsulas of Yucatan and Florida, and the far-stretching walls of Cuba and Hispaniola, into two great sections, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico—how full of interest, historical and romantic, how curious, how wonderful in many of the phenomena it exhibits! Here is the inexhaustible fountain head of that inexplicable mystery of nature, the Gulf Stream, which, without any visible adequate supply, throws its mighty current of calid water, thousands of miles across the cold Atlantic. Here European civilization, and European depotism first planted its foot in the elysian fields of the west. Here the dreadful work of subjugation, and extermination commenced a work, which, in three brief centuries, under the banners, too, of the Prince of Peace, and in the name of Christianity, has blotted from the face of the earth a mighty family of populous nations, some of them far advanced in civilization and refinement, leaving only here and there a scattered and almost exhausted tribe, bending under the yoke of slavery, or flying before the continual encroachments of the white man.
It is difficult to say to which quarter of this sea one should turn, in order to gather up the incidents and associations, which shall most deeply touch the heart, and excite the imagination. On the east, these beautiful, luxuriant islands, the first seen and visited, where the great, the noble, the generous-hearted discoverer was received as a god by the simple and hospitable natives,and afterwards calumniated, oppressed, deserted by his friends, and left by his envious foes to pine a whole year on the shores of Jamaica, with no shelter but the wreck of his last vessel—where too he was shamefully imprisoned, and then sent home in chains, deprived of his honors and his rights. On the west, the golden regions of Mexico, where the Montezumas reigned with a degree of splendor rivalling the most brilliant dynasties of the Old World—where civilization, and the arts of refinement, were enjoyed to a degree unknown to many of the most powerful nations of antiquity—where pyramids, temples, and palaces, whose extent and magnificence might have vied with those of Egypt and Syria, still remain in ruins to attest the departed glory of the Aztec races—and where the marvellous, the scarcely credible adventures of Cortes, and his little hand of brave invaders, brought desolation and wo on all that sunny region. On the south, the great continent, the scene of similar adventures—the theatre of oppression, of civil discord, of revolution, of a perpetual struggle for power, but, it may be hoped, ere long of republican liberty. On the north—what shall I say—the fairest and best portion of the wide earth—the home of liberty—the home of our fathers—in a word, which contains a depth of meaning that belongs to no other in any language—home!
How wonderfully have these shores changed hands and masters, since the day when Columbus gave them all to Spain. What has she now left? The entire continent of South America, the golden regions of the Isthmus, the broad savannahs of Florida, and the boundless prairies of the great west, have all beenwrested from her iron and oppressive rule. And, of all that rich cluster of islands, that lie along the eastern boundary of this great sea—only Cuba and Porto Rico now acknowledge her sway. How bitterly the wrongs she inflicted upon the hapless natives of these fair lands, have recoiled upon her own head, and upon the heads of all her representatives in the New World. Scarcely for one moment have they held any of their ill-gotten possessions in peace. Revolt and revolution have swept over them in quick succession, like the Sirocco of the desert, burying millions of merciless oppressors in the same graves with the millions of the oppressed. Anarchy, confusion, bloodshed, and civil discord and commotion, have been the lot of their inheritance. And even to this day, except in the islands above named, wherever the Spanish race remains in the ascendancy, the seat of its power is, as it were, the crater of a volcano, where society, no less than the earth, heaves and groans and trembles with the throes of inward convulsion. Look yonder, as we near the shores of Mexico. Clouds of dust and smoke—the thunders of artillery, the falling of successive dynasties, mingle with the terrible din of the earthquake, and the sulphureous belchings of subterraneous fires, and send up their angry shouts, and voices of wailing to the skies, till the whole civilized world is disturbed by their incessant broils. How long shall it be? When shall this land have rest? When shall the curse of war, which has been laid upon it for so many centuries, be revoked? Heaven speed the day.
There are some features which have been noticed by voyagers, as peculiar to these waters. Whether theydo not belong to inland seas, and to bays and gulfs generally, my personal observation does not enable me to determine. The color of the water is a less decided blue than that of the ocean. This phenomenon I am at a loss to explain, having always supposed that the color of the sea was only the reflection of the azure depths of the sky, and that, consequently, in the clear atmosphere, and the deep blue heavens, of the tropics, it would show a deeper tinge of cerulean than elsewhere.
It is also remarked that there is seldom known here, the long equable swell, and gentle undulation, of the open ocean, but a short pitchy sea, which, in small craft, is very disagreeable, but is less noticeable in the larger class of vessels. The gulf is subject to periodical calms in the summer, and to violent gales from the north in the autumnal months. Of the Chapoté, an asphaltic ebullition on the surface of the sea, I shall speak more fully in another place, in connection with a similar phenomenon observed in the lakes of Mexico.
We arrived at Vera Cruz on the 15th of February. The voyage proved agreeable—especially to those of our party who were subject to sea-sickness, and who could therefore well appreciate their entire freedom from the unpalatable, and often ludicrous effects produced by the unceremonious movement of the waves, when uncontrolled by the irresistible agency of steam. Indeed, we all felt strongly convinced, that steam navigation is thene plus ultraof travelling at sea.