Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Etext transcriber's note: Although several typographical errors have been corrected, the variation in the use of Spanish accents has not been altered (ie. both Senor and Senor [tilde n] appear (though this will not be noticeable in the ASCII version).) The INDEX included at the end of this etext (which includes volumes 1 thru 4) appears at the end of volume four of _The History of Cuba_. It is provided here for convenience. THE HISTORY OF CUBA BY WILLIS FLETCHER JOHNSON A.M., L.H.D. Author of "A Century of Expansion," "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal," "America's Foreign Relations" Honorary Professor of the History of American Foreign Relations in New York University _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_ VOLUME ONE [Illustration] NEW YORK B. F. BUCK & COMPANY, INC. 156 FIFTH AVENUE 1920 Copyright, 1920, BY CENTURY HISTORY CO. _All rights reserved_ ENTERED AT STATIONERS HALL LONDON, ENGLAND. PRINTED IN U. S. A. TO THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA CONCEIVED BY JOSE MARTI ESTABLISHED BY THOMAS ESTRADA PALMA VINDICATED BY MARIO G. MENOCAL PREFACE It is my purpose in these volumes to write a History of Cuba. The title may imply either the land and its natural conditions, or the people and the nation which inhabit it. It in fact implies both, and to both I shall address myself, though it will appropriately be with the latter rather than with the former that the narrative will be most concerned. For it is with Cuba as with other countries: In the last supreme analysis the people make the history of the land. Apart from the people, it is true, the Island of Cuba is of unusual interest. There are few countries of similar extent comparable with it in native variety, charm and wealth. There are few which contribute more, actually and potentially, to the world's supplies of greatly used products. One of the most universally used and prized vegetable products became first known to mankind from Cuba, and there to this day is most profusely and most perfectly grown and prepared; while another, one of the most universally used and essential articles of food, is there produced in its greatest abundance. There also may be found an immense number and bewildering variety of the most serviceable articles in both the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, in noteworthy profusion and perfection, together with possibilities and facilities for a comparable development of the animal kingdom.