the governor's house (1841-1844), the military and
government hospitals, market place and railway station are worthy of
note. In the Cathedral Square (Plaza de Armas), embracing two
city-squares, and shaded--like all the plazas of the island--with
laurels and royal palms, are a statue of Isabel the Catholic, and two
marble lions given by Queen Isabel II.; elsewhere there are statues of
General Clouet and Marshal Serrano, once captain-general. The city is
lighted by gas and electricity, has an abundant water-supply, and cable
connexion with Europe, the United States, other Antilles and South
America. The surrounding country is one of the prettiest and most
fertile regions in Cuba, varied with woods, rivers, rocky gulches,
beautiful cascades and charming tropic vegetation. Several of the
largest and finest sugar estates in the world are situated in the
vicinity, including the Soledad (with a botanical experiment station
maintained by Harvard University), the Terry and others--most of them
connected with the city by good driveways. Cienfuegos is a centre of the
sugar trade on the south coast; tobacco too is exported.

The bay of Jagua was visited by Columbus. The city was founded in 1819,
with the aid of the Spanish government, by a Louisianian, General Luis
de Clouet; it was destroyed by a hurricane and was rebuilt in 1825. Many
naturalized foreign Catholics, including Americans, were among the
original settlers. The settlement was first named in honour of Ferdinand
VII., and later in honour of Captain-General Jose Cienfuegos Jovellanos.
The harbour was known from the earliest times, and has been declared by
Mahan to be the most important of the Caribbean Sea for strategic
purposes. In 1740-1745 a fortification called Nuestra Senora de los
Angeles was erected at the entrance; it is still standing, on a steep
bluff overlooking the sea, and is one of the most picturesque of the old
fortifications of the island. On the 11th of May 1898 a force from two
vessels of the United States fleet under Admiral Schley, searching for
Cervera and blockading the port, cut two of the three cables here (at
Point Colorado, at the entrance of the harbour), and for the first time
in the Spanish-American War the American troops were under fire.

CIEZA, a town of south-eastern Spain, in the province of Murcia, on the
right bank of the river Segura, and on the Madrid-Cartagena railway.
Pop. (1900) 13,626. Cieza is built in a narrow bend of