| Show ISLA DE LOS PINAS june 14 1898 maps of cuba are so numerous nowadays that you will have no difficulty in locating the isle of pines although it does not figure in the present war and has seldom been heard of in the united states but them the world is not long to remain in ignorance of it soon as aa peace is restored and some levelheaded level headed yankee develops its wonderful springs it will hold the same relation as a sanitarium to our continent that the furnas valley of st michaels in the azores does to europe it lies off the southern coast of cuba about 90 miles due south of havana city and equidistant from the western tip and is the only islet of size and consequence among the thousands that encompass the queen of the antilles I 1 visited it early last spring sailing westward from cienfuegos but the future tide of travel arabel will come down from new york or tampa to havana thence two or three hours by rail across the narrowest portion of cuba dirty little southern port Ba tabano and then b by y steamer across 64 miles of tranquil sea to pine island A native coaster used to make the trip every thursday from Ba tabano until our blockade out short its career it is a most delightful journey similar to that among the keys of the florida coast winding in and out among innumerable green islets whose listening glistening beaches are fringed with cocoa palms over waters blue as the tropic sky smooth and aminous as a mirror and so beautifully translucent that starfish star fish lying on the silvery bottom and sea flowers growing far below look as though seen through glass the air to is deliciously balmy the same in midsummer mid summer as in winter and your eyes are continually feasted upon the beauty of bf the verdure clad shore close by and the distant mountains veiled pin in mist the or golden range 11 the isle of pines also known as retna reina queen amalia is the same that columbus discovered on a june day in 1494 and named la evangelista it is about 60 miles lang by 60 50 broad and of exceedingly picturesque appearance crossed from end to end by two hill chains known as the sierra canada and the serra berra de la daguilla both ase averaging raging 1600 1500 feet in height between these ranges are broad green valleys dad many beautiful rivers some of them of considerable depth and navigable four and five miles A great giamp or junelle Ju nerle like the everglades of florida extending across the island from east bof west divides it into two unequal barts and everywhere the tall r atoe trees which have given the island ae its later name loom darkly against the sky it is a singular fact act that the pine pin family peculiarly a product of cold and elabd elevated regions should have many species also in the tro tropics pico and at sea level we are wont to think of pine as upon the mountain tops and palms and yuccas yucca in the torrid lowlands low lands but here they grow amiably side by side two varieties varl of pines found in this island are extremely ily rate rare and of great interest to botanists by being surrounded submerged caya reefs islets and impasse able marshes t the lie channels of approach tb isle de pines are so few and intricate that in earlier days the piratical 4 who lo infested tested these waters fou found ita r R safe and convenient hiding PIERL place e jr years they made it a favo favorite te depot for or gUp supplies plies and stolen treasures tort borth fram 96 bi re on an many AL a dint discovered when expedition a arouse or oUse 1 sw iambus bu tt it FRIL densely populated bulat ed f ell U t now birder ha eliy am WO ark prk ale lind and the villages yet only two insign insignificant itlean small island Is priceless territory for three things fine marbles wonderful thermal springs and a climate of such unrivalled salu briety that cubans consider it an unfailing panacea for consumption the mountain ranges are almost entirely composed of beautiful marbles of all qualities and colors a perfect mine of riches waiting to be developed by enterprising northerners one remarkable mountain called loz casas the houses seems to contain every sort of marble known in all the colors of the rainbow piled as by art in contrasting strata varying from black brown and gray to palest tints of pink blue and green another low mountain called los cristales Ori stales is even more curious its steep sides being literally coated with beautiful green rock crystals though not of great height some of these hilts are wild and impressive presenting to seaward a succession of sheer precipices feet high you may disembark at either of the two little ports nue nueva a genoa pronounced hay i one ah or santa fe both near the northern end of the island but on opposite sides of the great marsh the regular steamer from havana goes first to nueva gerona which is situated about three miles up the river casas backed by hills and fronted by an emerald plain dotted with palm trees it Is the seat of what government there is on the island it being a dependency of the province of havana has a tolerable toj erable hotel some shops and at one time maintained a considerable spanish garrison but this so called capital with its third rate comforts and galet gaieties les is a long way from the chief attraction of the island the life giving springs and therefore most comers pass it by for the wretched little hamlet called santa fe around on the northeastern side of the island to reach it you sail up a river of the same name to a tumble down wooden landing place a few miles above its mouth where a still more tumbled down walts waits to take you the rest of the way the town to is well named holy faith for it takes a good deal of that commodity to make bearable its many dis comforts A wide bare space in the center of the village called by courtesy a plaza is occupied by heaps of dust and garbage discarded cans and hungry dogs and wondering donkeys around two this general dumping grounds the low thatched houses are built straggling oft into irregular unpaved streets there Is no inn or other public accommodation for man or beast except the plaza aforesaid the sooner you get out of the wretched place the better so you re hire the delapl dated whose owner stands waiting knowing from previous experience that no foreigner to is going to stay long in santa fe now he has three miles harnessed tandem and nourishing his whip over their head many prolonged mulas ah h b h h he rattles you over the dusty road at a pace which threatens to disjoint yourself as well as the vehicle finally the low green hills are reached whose steep and gullied byways make such ravid rapid transit impossible cross a queer little bridge beneath which ascending steam tokens betokens be some of the warm springs and suddenly you see standing before you several stately structures built of at stone one surrounded by beautifully kept grounds and many well dress people tottering loitering under the trees trea or lolling in hammocks on an the wide va pandas randan the transformation scene cene between thin land and santa pe ire to is indeed surprising these stone and marble casas ai the spa ova hotels and at the best beet ol of them the flaata luta you way may find large cool rooms an obliging proprietor and some of the comforts of life A great deal is lack ing however which mine host 1 under present circumstances cannot supply by and by when the war is ended and prosperity restored to lorg suffering cuba some northern bonifacas Boni faces will come down here with sufficient capital to make of it an ideal resort casort the climate is as near absolute perfection as can be found this side of heaven the dry pure air cooled by breezes froza from t the e nearby near by ocean and odorous of the pine forests at present only one of the springs that called templado temperate is used as a bath A house has haa been erected over it divided into compartments part ments for ladies and gentlemen ench bathing pool being twelve felt feet by six with four inches of water on 6 floor of solid stone the temperature of the water is 82 degrees fahr and is very strongly impregnated with oxygen carbonic acid gasses chloride e of sodium sulphate of lime nitrate of lime iron magnesia silex chloride of calcium and nobody knows what other constituents making about the nastiest drink imaginable besides it the savor of added eggs common to 0 most mineral springs is ia an abr abrosia Os la and even the smell of it gene acts as an a lively emetic on the new comers the regulation cure here as prescribed by the cuban doctors for almost every dis die ease known to materia medica is four glasses a day of the water and two baths but it is ie probable that the pine odors the warm pure air and simple diet and above all faith have much to do with it at any rate r te a greatt great ea many surprising cures have been effected particularly of bronchial rheumatic and scrofulous complaints invalids v have been brought from the ste steamers amere on litters apparently just ready to gr give up the ghost who in a weeks time horseback and in a month have gone home good as new and well as anybody if the springs were managed i by some sensible wiio awake judicious anglo saxon they would soon become the sanitarium of the continent besides which las begas in new mexico white sulphur in virginia saratoga and other of our spa would hide bide their diminished heads As it is life here is not une n U durable though lacking many of the creature comforts to which northern ers ere are accustomed mere pleasure seekers would better stay away but one j whose health is at stake can afford to te 5 fight abounding vermin and put up J with short commons for a season a fleas roaches spiders api derfl a thousand wriggling crawling stinging creatures beset you continually ou on the isle of pines you find the pests pesta between chef sheets and in the food they preempt your shoes at night and the garments you are wearing by day and it if they do S not take bodily possession of you whole colonies of them settling down corn com fort ably on your ar hair and ears and nos noa tails while you are catching forty winks of troubled slumber in the in 1 I tr vals of warfare you are exception ally fortunate even eden had its ser gor 4 pent delit you know and doubtless a more advanced state of civilization here win evolve isome some means of diminishing the plague of vermin expenses at this spa are very mod ar k ate the beat hotel charges per v diem american money for its choicest accommodations including beths batha sad dle ale horses may be hired st at for per day and carriages at prop proportionate ortto ta rates there exe are many chaoui charmay r walks and drives in the hills and interesting allday all day dair edcur tx curl 1 stone may be made to sugar auger ea tate r and pine apple plantations the natives of isle de lox los pinos are a simple I 1 kand hearted people whose greatest plea pleasure surp seem to io be with arrangers and listening 0 o their he doa OU oe e world tor them a beyond the hor horizons zons rim or ak fe most beyond tte limits of cuba is a terra incognita of more than munchausen wonder the young children go about entirely naked and the universal innocence combined with the utmost dignity and punctilious courtesy is charming to behold the soil is extremely fertile but only small of the island is under cultivation A few of the green valleys are used as cattle ranges tobacco and sugar are cultivated to a limited extent and pineapples are perhaps the staple product there has been some trade in woods mahogany pine and cedar and might be much more spirits of turpentine pitch tax tar sulphur tortoise shell and crystals are also among the possible el exports ports silver quicksilver quick silver and iron exists in the hills and the marble quarries are practically inexhaustible the great swamp known locally as la clinage Ci Cl the crocodile is totally uninhabited except by a few half savage favake negro fishermen most of whom were runaways during slavery days there is no ac access cess to its green jungles except by dangerous and uncertain footpaths foot paths on the land side or by a two days sall sail boat journey from nuevo gerona through tortuous channels known only IX to the initiated the whole place ia mald ald to be swarming with serpents and crocodiles of exaggerated sizes FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD |
