Due South; or, Cuba Past and PresentBallou, Maturin M. (Maturin Murray)
History
Due South; or, Cuba Past and Present
Ballou, Maturin M. (Maturin Murray)
Cuba
The second object of note which the visitor will not willingly miss is
a sight of the famous caves of Bellamar, situated about two leagues
from the city proper. It is customary to make this trip in a volante,
and it is quite the thing to ride, at least once, in this unique
vehicle, the only article ever invented in Cuba. The road to the
caves is extremely rough, and this vehicle is best adapted to pass
over the irregularities. If there are only gentlemen of the party, go
on horseback. On entering the caves the visitor should throw off any
extra clothing that can conveniently be left behind, as it is very
warm within, and on coming out, unless one has an extra garment to put
on, too great a change of temperature will be realized. These singular
caves lead three hundred feet and more beneath the surface, and
present beauties to the eye incident to all such subterranean
formations. They were discovered accidentally, a few years since, by
some stone quarriers, who, on opening into them, imagined they had
broken the crust of the earth. In driving to the caves the Bay Street
road, through the city, should be taken, which forms one of the finest
thoroughfares of any Cuban town. The architecture of the dwellings is
that of combined Italian, Grecian, and Moorish, ornamented with
colonnades and verandas of stone and iron. Fine as the façades of
these houses are,--none above one story in height,--they present a
faded and forlorn aspect, a sort of dead-and-alive appearance, yet in
accordance with life and business, not only in Matanzas, but all over
the island. This one boulevard of Matanzas ends by the shore of the
bay, where the fine marine view will cause you to forget all other
impressions for the moment, but you will not tarry here. Turning
eastward you soon strike the road to the caves, and _such_ a road--it
is like the bed of a dry mountain torrent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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