Nevertheless those fortifications had serious defects of position, because the city as well as the forts were dominated by many hills easy of access. East of the port was Cabanas, where there was a citadel built later, dominating a great part of el Morro and the northeastern part of the city. West of the town was a suburb, called Guadeloupe, the church of which was situated on an eminence half a mile from the gate of Tierra, and on the same level with it, the highest of all fortifications in that direction. From the northern side of this elevation the gate of Punta could be flanked and from the southeast the shipyard was dominated. The zanja real, or royal trench, in the northern part, descended not far from the Punta de Tierra and then ran into the shipyard where its water was employed in running a mill. Half a mile from said church was the Chavez bridge, built over a rivulet flowing into the bay, which served to unite the central road of the island with that of Baracoa; and from the bridge to the Lazareto was a stretch of two miles with an intermediate hill. A trench between these two points could easily cut the communication of Havana with the rest of the island. From this close description it can be seen that in spite of the imposing impression its fortifications made upon foreigners, Havana was by no means an impregnable fortress at the time of the British invasion, which was brought out at the trial of Governor Prado. But whatever may have been the cause of its capitulation to the British, the period of their occupation at the end benefited Cuba, for it opened the eyes of the government to the needs of the island, and prepared a new era, political, social and economic. CHAPTER VII