Visitors at Cabañas during normal times of peace will find soldier guides quite willing to carry one down into the subterranean depths of the fortress and along the narrow dark passageways that were tunneled into the earth, supposedly to detect possible mining operations of the enemy from the outside. During the War of Independence, however, extending from 1895 to 1899, these underground tunnels were occupied by prisoners, most of whom dying in the dismal depths were given burials so shallow by their companions, who must have dug the graves with their fingers, that in passing along by lantern light, shortly after American occupation, one frequently stumbled over skulls and bones that protruded from the earthen floor below. The aspect of Cabañas today, with its well cleaned, whitewashed walls, with its comfortable officers’ quarters and shady grounds, is quite cheerful, and one can hardly believe that less than a quarter of a century ago Cabañas fortress was one of the modern horrors that cried out to the civilized world for the abolition of Spanish control in America. Occupying the low rocky ledge immediately opposite Morro is the picturesque little fort known as the Castillo de Punta, or Fortress on the Point, begun in 1589, and intended to complete the protection to the entrance of the harbor. The style of architecture is identical with that of El Morro, but far less pretentious in size and plan. The fort is protected from the sea by several outlying shelves of coral rock, and was at one time surrounded by a moat as was La Fuerza, the first stone fortress constructed in the Western Hemisphere. The walls are not over 20 feet in height and over the main entrance a tablet gives the name of Governor-General Tejada, during whose period of office it was built, together with the date of its construction. La Punta afforded efficient aid to its companion El Morro, on the opposite side of the bay, during the siege by the English in 1762, and in one corner of the reception room may be seen the fragment of an iron shell, fired from the British fleet during the siege of Havana. La Punta is the headquarters of the Navy Department. Its presence at the angle of the Prado and the Gulf Avenue, that extends west along the sea shore, is a quiet but efficient reminder of the olden days when fortresses of this type formed the only protection enjoyed by the people who were then residents of the capital of Cuba.