Among the independent projected lines of Cuba, the North Shore Road, at present under construction at several different points in the Provinces of Camaguey and Santa Clara, is one of marked importance. This road has its western terminal at Caibarien, on the north shore of Santa Clara, whence it extends eastward, passing through an exceptionally rich valley that furnishes cane to some half-dozen large sugar mills, and continues eastward through Moron, in the Province of Camaguey. It parallels the north coast, extending eastward across the rich grazing lands of the Caunao River, and stretching out further eastward, traverses the virgin forests that lie between the Sierra de Cubitas and the Bays of Guanaja and Guajaba. Leaving the Cubitas slope, it crosses the Maximo and eventually reaches deep water anchorage on the shores of the western extension of Nuevitas Harbor. This line is at present under construction from Nuevitas westward and from Moron both east and west. In the winter of 1918-19 the line was finished from the deep water terminal on Nuevitas Harbor as far west as the Maximo River. When completed it will pass through one of the richest agricultural and mineral sections of the Island. From the crossing of the Maximo a branch line is being built around the eastern end of the Sierra de Cubitas in order to tap the rich Cubitas iron mines, whose deposits are waiting only transportation in order to contribute a large share of wealth to the prosperity of the Republic. CHAPTER XXXIII MONEY AND BANKING A perusal of Cuban history shows that within a few years after the country was settled, questions in regard to the exchange value of its moneys arose, which were not effectually resolved till the lapse of nearly four centuries later, upon the establishment of the Cuban Republic. As with the other early Spanish colonies of the New World, the circulating medium was at first solely metallic. A credit currency was not suited to a primitive country, whose foreign trade was largely clandestine, open to piracy and other perils, its lawful commerce being limited to the port of Cadiz, Spain, under the monopoly of a board of trade known as the “Contratacion de las Indias,” succeeded in 1740 by the “Real Compania de la Habana,” till the English occupation in 1762. The position of Cuba on the highroad between Europe and Latin America made its harbors the Mecca of the Spanish fleets of those days. The gold and silver mines of Mexico and South America poured their millions into the Island after the year 1545, when the deposits of San Luis Potosi were opened to the world, the volume of the output being brought to Havana before distribution to Europe and other parts. Instead of ships making the transatlantic journey alone as at present, large merchant fleets, laden with immense treasure, were convoyed by war vessels at long intervals, as a safeguard against filibusters and buccaneers as well as to preclude possible competition.