[Illustration: “_Many of the mountain passes were so narrow ... that we were forced to run with one wheel on a sloping side wall and the other on the crest of the deepest rut._” SEE PAGE 78.] EL TORO A MOTOR CAR STORY OF INTERIOR CUBA BY E. RALPH ESTEP DETROIT PACKARD MOTOR CAR COMPANY 1909 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Copyright, 1909 BY PACKARD MOTOR CAR COMPANY Printed by THE MATTHEWS-NORTHRUP WORKS Buffalo LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE “Many of the mountain passes were so narrow ... that we were forced to run with one wheel on a sloping side wall and the other on the crest of the deepest rut,” FRONTISPIECE “Once in awhile a good sort of winding dirt road gave promise of speed,” 10 “Insular urchins, partly curious and partly fearful, were half-hidden in the doorways,” 22 “Everywhere was stone.... Each mile was gained by defiant effort,” 22 “A hill like a natural stairway of great, rough limestone steps,” 28 “The clearance of an ox cart is thirty-eight to forty-eight inches,” 32 “At Jaruca, the whole town joined us at luncheon,” 32 “Through the clear rippling water of this first river the car shot with a great splurge,” 36 “We drove under the everlasting palms and among boulders half-hidden in the luxuriant grass,” 44 “On these ruts we tore tires off the wheels at two miles an hour,” 56 “We enjoyed the rare experience of ‘beating it,’” 56 “Palm trees by the thousand, and, scattered among them, small ponds made by heavy rainfall,” 62 “The car looked like some big black beast, wallowing along in boundless marsh,” 62 “The valley became muddier and muddier,” 68 “The sun’s farewell glance spread a woven gold mantilla on the naked shoulders of a grim, forbidding world and the motor car sank, helpless, into the mud as if, also, its day was done,” 68 “A river would be reached by following down a tortuous pass,” 74