The situation of the island is exceedingly favorable to commerce, while the extraor dinary fertility of its soil and the nature of its products give it unrivaled advantages. A range of mountains extends through the island from e. to w., with streams flowing to the sea from each side. Sonic of the elevations reach a height of 8,000 feet. Another range skirts a part of the southern coast for about 200 miles. Between the mountains lie fertile valleys. On the.s. side, from Jagua to point Sabina, the land is a continuous swamp for 160 miles., The rivers number over 250, but they are generally small, the only one that is navigable being the Canto, which empties near Manzanillo. On this river, during the present civil war, several battles have been fought. The river Ay is broken by picturesque falls, some of them nearly 200 ft. high. Mineral springs, mostly of a sulphurous character, abound. Gold, silver, iron, copper, quicksilver, lead, anti mony, arsenic, magnesia, copperas, and other metals exist, but not under conditions which render mining profitable. Rock salt abounds on both the n. and s. coasts. Mar ble and jasper of fine quality are found in some places. The average temperature of the island is about 77°. The mercury rarely rises higher than 100° or falls pelow 50°. The average in the hottest month is 82°, iu the coldest 72°. The seasons are but two, the rainy and the dry; the former being in May or June and ending in Nov. In the dry season, dews are abundant. Thunder storms are violent from June to Sept. Earthquakes are frequent on the eastern side. The healthfulness of the climate is affirmed by some and denied by others. Yellow fever often prevails in the towns on the coast, but is unknown in the interior. The forests abound in woods of the hardest kind, among which may be mentioned lignum-vitre, ebony, rosewood, and mahogany. The fruits are those generally found in the tropics, the pine-apple and the banana being prominent. Of the sweet potato there are several varieties, while cassava and Indian corn tire raised for home consumption. Wild beasts are few and small, the wild dog being the roost prominent. The indigenous birds number 200 species, some of which display a beautiful plumage. Birds of prey are hardly known. Of fishes there are more than 600 species. Turtles abound, oysters are small and poor, alligators are common, and snakes are few and mostly harmless. Among the insects are the tarantula, the scor pion, the sand-fly, a dozen varieties of mosquito, an ant which destroys all living vege table matter, 300 varieties of the butterfly, and as many more of flies. The inhabitants of Cuba are mostly of Spanish or African descent. At first none but Castilians were allowed to settle, but now all classes of Spaniards are found upon the island. They are, however, separated from each other in the social scale, the pure Castilian blood assert ing its superiority. The offspring of foreigners, of whatever color, are called creoles, between whom and the Spaniards there is a feeling of caste that is almost insurmount able. The Spaniards hold all the offices and regard themselves as a privileged race. The trade of the island is mainly in their hands, while the creoles are generally planters or land-owners. The island embraces three military departments—the western, the central, and the eastern. Owing to the disturbed state of affairs, no reliable census of the inhab itants has been taken since 1802, when (including 34,000 Chinese) they numbered 1,339, 438; of whom nearly 765,000 were whites, over 222,000 free colored, and more than 368,000 slaves. It is believed that the population has rather fallen off than increased since this enumeration was made. On June 23, 1870, Spain enacted a law emancipating all slaves who should be born after that date, and also all those who had attained the age of 60 years; but the slaveholders have been powerful enough to prevent the enforce ment of the act. The Chinese imported from 1847 to 1873, numbering over 50,000, have also been virtually reduced to slavery and treated with great cruelty. The chief indus try of Cuba is the raising of sugar and tobacco. Coffee, formerly raised for expor tation, is now produced for home consumption. Cotton is cultivated to a small extent. Oranges and pine-apples are the only fruit for exportation. The mulberry is raised for silkworms with success. Cattle-raising is carried on to a large extent. In the 18th c., the business of ship-building was carried on extensively, the forests furnishing an abundance of the best timber; but the mother country, desiring a monop oly of the business for herself, imposed restrictions which led to its discontinuance. Havana, the capital, is a city of over 200,000 inhabitants. There are a dozen smaller cities, as many towns, and over 300 villages and hamlets. The disturbed condition of the island during the last 12 years has had a most unfavorable effect upon business, diminishing the production of the great staples and reducing trade in the same degree. During the first four years of the civil war, from 1868 to 1871, the average annual pro duction of sugar and molasses was over 7,122,000 tons. The total exports of the island in 1870 were valued at $82,600.666; those of 1871, at $71,251,440. The exports are gen
erally undervalued, but it is officially known that those received in the United States in 1872 amounted to V4,751,956.
The educational system of Cuba was at first conformed to that of Spain, but it has been changed for local reasons. Innocent XIII., with the approbation of Spain, estab lished the royal and pontifical university of Havana in 1772. The Franciscans had pre viously instructed classes in philosophy and theology in their convent. In 1842, the university, which had been administered by the Dominican friars, became a national establishment, and the study of the natural sciences was introduced; but in 1863, uncle] the ministry of gen. Concha, the system of instruction was assimilated to that of Spain. and philosophical studies reduced to very narrow limits. There are two colleges for the clergy—one at Havana, the other at Santiago de Cuba. The expenses of education in the higher branches are defrayed from the general revenue; those of primary educa• tion by the town councils. The statistics are not recent, but, according to the latest reports, there were over 200 public schools, of which less than 100 were for girls. Thd number of private schools was 245. The pupils numbered 22,200 of both sexes, whom 21,000 were white, and 1200 were colored. Less than one half of the white Poo.
ulation (excluding the Chinese) can read and write. In 1868, there were 39 newspapers i published on the island, 21 of them in Havana, 5 in Santiago de Cuba, 3 in Matanzas, and the others in places of less importance.
Until within a comparatively recent period, hind communication between the differ ent parts of the island was difficult; but railroads have been built between the capital and several of the most important towns, with an aggregate length of about 400 miles. The whole population, with the exception of a portion of the foreign residents, is Roman Catholic. An archbishop, residing at Santiago de Cuba, rules the eastern, and a bishop at Havana, the western diocese. The revenues of the island are derived in part from duties on importations, and in part from taxation: formerly they exceeded expenditures by a considerable sum annually; but the civil war has put the balance on the other side of the ledger. While slavery existed in the United States, there was a strong desire among a large portion of the people of this country for the annexation of Cuba. To accomplish this end, the supporters of slavery plotted from time to time, proposing now to wrest the island from Spain by filibustering operations, and now to purchase it. But Spain would not sell, and filibustering did not prosper. In 1848, president Polk, through the American minister at Madrid, without any constitu tional authority whatever, offered $100,000,000 for it; but the offer was promptly rejected by Spain. Indeed, Spain was always as determined not to sell as American politicians were anxious to buy. The United States more than once gave Spain to understand that she would not permit the island to be transferred to any nation but herself, one reason for this being that if it should fall into the hands of England or France, the slaves might be emancipated, and so the island become a center of anti slavery influences inimical to the existence of slavery in the southern states. In 1849, after the failure of the Lopez expedition, which had been mainly if not wholly organized on American soil, president Fillmore refused to unite with England and France in guaranteeing the possession of the island to Spain. In 1854, during the presidency of Franklin Pierce, when the government was almost wholly under slaveholding influences, three American ambassadors at European courts, Buchanan, Soule, and Mason, met in conference at Ostend, and joined in a manifesto, in which it was claimed that if Spain should refuse to sell the island to the United States, and the slaves there should be set free. the latter power would have a right to seize and annex it. Fortunately the slavery question, as connected •with the national government, assumed from this lime forward an aspect which made the execution of this semi-official threat an impossibility. The Spanish revolution of 1868 led to a revolt in Cuba, which had in view the independ ence of the island and the abolition of slavery. The republican home government gave no countenance to this movement, but sent money and troops to resist it. The war has been bloody and cruel. In 1870, the United States, having no longer any desire to con serve the interests of slavery, tendered its good offices in behalf of peace, proposing the sale of the island to the Cubans; but Spain declined the offer. It is believed that Spain has sent no less than 100,000 soldiers to Cuba to aid in suppressing the insurrection. Up to Aug., 1872, 13,600 Cubans had been killed in battle, while 43,500 prisoners had been put Aug., death. In the first three years of the war, Spain expended therein over $73,000,000. The expenditures, both in men and money, since that time, have not been very large, and there has been official proclamation of the end of the rebellion, yet the war continues, with no definite prospect of termination.