The History of Cuba, vol. 5Johnson, Willis Fletcher
History
The History of Cuba, vol. 5
Johnson, Willis Fletcher
Cuba -- Economic conditions; Cuba -- History
Fifty miles further east we have the open roadstead of Gibara, a deep
indentation of the sea that gives, unfortunately, but little protection
from northerly gales, but since Gibara is the exit for the rich Holguin
district of northern Oriente, its commerce is extensive.
Sixty miles further east, after rounding Lucrecia Point, where the coast
for the first time faces due east, we have another fine deep water
harbor known as Banes, on whose shores is located a large sugar mill
known as “Boston,” with an annual output of 500,000 bags.
Some ten miles southeast of Banes we enter the Bay of Nipe, the largest
landlocked harbor in Cuba. Nipe is a beautiful sheet of water, whose
southern and western shores are low, although mountains can be seen in
the distance in almost any direction. Nipe contains forty square miles
of deep water anchorage, with a width from east to west of twelve miles
and from north to south of seven to eight miles. The Mayari River, one
of the most important streams of the north coast of Oriente Province,
empties into Nipe. On the north shore of the bay the little town of
Antilla forms the northeastern terminus of the Cuba Company’s railroad,
connecting Orient with Havana and the western end of the Island. The
land surrounding the bay is exceptionally rich and is owned largely by
the United Fruit Company. Here they originally cultivated large fields
of bananas, but owing to their extensive plantations in Costa Rica, and
to the high price of sugar brought about by the war, their Cuban
properties have been converted into sugar plantations. The splendid
mills of Preston are located on Nipe Bay, from which a half million
bags of sugar are shipped every year to the outside world. The rich
mines of the Mayari district belonging to the Bethlehem Steel Company
are located back of Nipe Harbor and contribute considerably to the
commerce of this port.
Some five or six miles east of the entrance of Nipe we have the deep
double harbors of Cabonico and Levisa; the latter large and circular in
form, while Cabonico is comparatively small, and separated from Levisa
by a narrow peninsula that extends almost into the single entrance of
the two bays. The lands around this harbor are largely covered with
forests of magnificent hard woods, while the soil is rich enough to
produce cane for a quarter of a century or longer without replanting.
Some 15 miles further east we have another fine large bay with a narrow
entrance on the Atlantic, known as Sagua de Tanamo. This bay is very
irregular in form, with many ramifications or branches reaching out
towards the east, south and west, while into it flows the Tanamo River,
draining the forest covered valleys and basins that lie between the
mountains of eastern Oriente and the north shore.
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