score that would demand attention in a
guide-book. Just as there is a certain similarity in most American cities,
in that they are collections of business and residence buildings of
generally similar architecture, so is there a certain sameness in most of
Cuba's cities. To see two or three of them is to get a general idea of all,
although each has its particular features, some particular building, or
some special charm of surroundings. The most difficult of access are
Baracoa, the oldest city of the island, and Trinidad, founded only a few
years later. Glancing at some of these places, in their order from west
to east, the first is Pinar del Rio, a comparatively modern city, dating
really from the second half of the 18th Century. It owes its past and its
present importance to its location as a centre of the tobacco region of the
_Vuelta Abajo_. From comfortable headquarters here, excursions can be made,
by rail or road, through what is perhaps the most attractive, and not
the least interesting section of the island. To the north are the Organ
Mountains and the picturesque town of Vinales, one of the most charming
spots, in point of scenery, in Cuba. To the west, by rail, is Guane, the
oldest settlement in western Cuba, and all around are beautiful hills and
cultivated valleys. Eastward from Havana, the first city of importance is
Matanzas. Here is much to interest and much to charm, the city itself, its
harbor, its two rivers, the famous valley of the Yumuri, and the caves of
Bellamar. The city, founded in 1693, lies along the shore of the bay and
rises to the higher ground of the hills behind it. It lies about sixty
miles from Havana, and is easily reached by rail or by automobile. The
next city in order, also on the north coast, is Cardenas, a modern place,
settled in 1828, and owing its importance to its convenience as a shipping
port for the numerous sugar estates in its vicinity, an importance now
somewhat modified by the facilities for rail shipment to other harbors.
Seventy-five miles or so further eastward is Sagua la Grande, another point
of former convenience as a shipping point for sugar. The city itself is
located on a river, or estuary, some ten or twelve miles from its mouth.
Forty miles or so further on are Remedies and Caibarien, a few miles apart,
the latter on the coast and the former a few miles inland. Caibarien, like
Cardenas and Sagua, is chiefly notable as a sugar port, while Remedios is
the centre o